Military Misdemeanours

Corruption, incompetence, lust and downright stupidity

by Terry Crowdy

Bungled cover-ups, acts of blinding incompetence, miscarriages of justice, sexual escapades, and downright stupidity have all helped to make the world’s armed forces the much loved institutions they are today. Packed with more than 70 scandals, Military Misdemeanours takes an irreverent look at the public outcries that both governments and soldiers would rather we forgot. From Julius Caesar’s sex life and the frolics of Charles d’Éon, the fearless dragoon and noted transvestite, to the sinking of the Kursk, Terry Crowdy delves into the darker reaches of military personality defects, vice and slip-ups. No military organization is safe from exposure. Learn the truth about Nelson and Lady Hamilton, the drafting of Heavyweight Champ Muhammad Ali, the sinking of The Rainbow Warrior and satanism in the Royal Navy as we step back through the pages of history and see how corruption, lust, bigotry, incompetence vanity, and the occasional bout of insanity have coloured conduct throughout time.

CONTENTS

AN INTRODUCTION … OF SORTS 8

THE PROLOGUE: ‘INIQUITY IN ANTIQUITY’

  • The One That Got Away
  • He Came. He Saw. He Was Conquered!

 

ACT I: ‘OUR INGLORIOUS PAST’

  • The Infamous Lieutenant Bird
  • A Victim of the Press
  • Boldless Byng
  • The Transvestite Knight
  • In the Dock, Then Off the Hook
  • The One about the Cat
  • The Boney Man
  • ‘Abdallah’ Menou
  • Mutiny and Murder Afloat
  • Baron Crocodile
  • Cintra Shame
  • The Grand Old Duke of York
  • The Peterloo Massacre

 

ACT II: ‘MANIFEST INFAMY’

  • Misrule, Britannia
  • Mutiny!
  • Crimean Shame
  • The Fairfax Raid
  • The New York Draft Riots
  • The Belknap Scandal
  • Surviving Custer
  • The Shambles in Africa
  • Scandal at Tranby Croft
  • Dreyfus
  • J’Accuse!
  • Misery in the Camps
  • Compromised Positions
  • The Passion of Colonel Redl
  • The Zabern Affair

 

ACT III: ‘NOT SUCH A GREAT WAR’

  • The Wrong Trousers
  • The Shell Scandal
  • The Lusitania Medal
  • A Martyred Nurse
  • The Mexican Connection
  • With ‘Snow’ on Their Boots
  • How To Win Important Friends and Influence People
  • Red Letter Day
  • M'Lady’s a Tramp
  • The Midway Leak
  • The Slapping Incident
  • The Death Match
  • The D-Day Witch Trial

 

ACT IV: ‘COLD WAR FALLOUT'

  • The Atomic Spies
  • Un-American Activities
  • The Poisoned Apple
  • Fools’ Gold
  • The U-2 Scandal
  • The Profumo Affair
  • Operation Ranch Hand
  • Drafting Ali

 

ACT V: ‘EVEN IN OUR ENLIGHTENED TIMES?’

  • Murder at Lillehammer
  • ‘Gotcha!’
  • The Baby Snatchers
  • KAL 007
  • Satanic Operation
  • Irangate
  • Iran Air Flight 655
  • A Princess in Love
  • Draft Dodger-in-Chief
  • The Myth of the Flying Cow
  • The Massacre of Cermis
  • Smart Bombs are Still as Dumb as Their Users
  • Coffingate
  • Sinking of the Kursk
  • A Career on the Rocks
  • The Brothel Bills Scandal
  • The Sultan of Spin
  • Saving Private Jessica
  • Equatorial Guinea Coup
  • The Devil’s Own
  • Swiss Pleas

Afterword

Endnotes

Book details

Price: £9.99 / US $16.95 / CAN $21.95
US Publish date: 18th September 2007
UK Publish date: 10th September 2007 - OUT NOW
Format: 185 x 120mm, hardback
Number of pages: 296pp
ISBN: 978 1 84603 148 9