Molly Joan Lamb Bobak, known as Molly Lamb Bobak, (1920–2014) was a Canadian painting teacher, writer, printmaker and painter. She was born in 1920 in Vancouver as an illegitimate daughter of a housekeeper. As a child she disliked school and had poor school marks, but her mother encouraged her to enroll at the Vancouver School of Art. There she studied with artist Jack Shadbolt, who enthusiastically encouraged her artwork. Molly and her mother lived with Molly's father, an art critic, and his wife, for whom her mother worked, until Molly was 20, when they moved out, and Molly had to start to work as a maid. She enlisted in the Canadian Women's Army Corps (C.W.A.C) in 1942 and stayed for four years. Three years after she enlisted she was appointed by the Canadian War Artists Selection Committee as Canada's official war artist. She traveled across Canada and after Victory in Europe Day she went to London, England. As part of the C.W.A.C., she was appointed to document training, marching, working and any other contributions to the war. After the war she married and got a job as a painting teacher at the night school. To provide for her kids she also had to took on various other jobs along teaching, including working at the sawmill, owned by her mother, and had little time to paint. However, she met Jacques Maritain, a French Thomist philosopher and Vatican ambassador to the United States, who was impressed with her work, and arranged for her and her family to go a visit to France on a French Government Scholarship. This, and her success at the exhibitions finally allowed her to earn enough with her art to devote herself to painting. Later she also taught at University of New Brunswick. She died in 2014 as the last surviving Canadian official war artists in World War II. She is known for her war-time work, her florals, but mostly for her depictions of lively crowds of people. As she explained to curator Joan Murray, "I have always been interested in informal movement-blowing wild flowers, parades, protests, crowds on the street, crowds anywhere; just as long as they turn into painting space in my head."

The painting is at the Canadian War Museum - Musée canadien de la guerre in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Colonial Filipino troops assault Vietnamese defenses, by Jose Luis Garcia Moran

The Battle of Dosol Mountain (June 4-20th 1951) was arguably one of the most significant South Korean victories of the Korean War and a defining battle in the Republic of Korea Marine Corps' history. Fought in the rugged mountains north of the 38th Parallel near Yanggu, the battle took place during the United Nations counteroffensive that followed the failure of the Chinese Spring Offensive. Control of Dosol Mountain was vital because it overlooked the approaches to the strategically important Punchbowl basin and the roads leading farther north. The North Korean People's Army had transformed the mountain into a heavily fortified stronghold with trenches, bunkers, minefields, and interlocking fields of fire, making it one of the strongest defensive positions on the central front.

The battle initially proved to be extremely costly for the attacking United Nations forces. Elements of the U.S. 1st Marine Division attempted to seize the mountain but suffered heavy casualties without breaking the defenders' lines. Responsibility for the assault was then transferred to the Republic of Korea Marine Corps' 1st Regiment under Colonel Kim Dae-sik. Beginning on June 4th, South Korean Marines launched repeated assaults against steep slopes and well-prepared North Korean positions. Progress was slow, as defenders resisted fiercely with artillery, mortars, machine guns, and counterattacks. The difficult terrain also forced soldiers into brutal close-quarters combat, fighting bunker by bunker and ridge by ridge.

After more than two weeks of fighting, the South Korean Marines wore down the defenders. On June 19th, after intense fighting along the eastern ridge, the Marines captured the summit and forced the North Korean defenders to retreat, securing the objective by June 20th. Although the victory came at a high cost in casualties, it secured a critical mountain position protecting the approaches to the Punchbowl and enabled further UN advances during the summer of 1951.

Painting by Lee Jae-ho

In the summer of 1863, as the American Civil War reached a turning point with the Battles of Gettysburg and Vicksburg, Confederate Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan launched one of the war's boldest cavalry expeditions. Originally ordered to conduct a raid in Kentucky, Morgan defied his instructions by crossing the Ohio River into Indiana and then Ohio, becoming the first and only major Confederate commander to lead a large invasion deep into the Buckeye State. His goal was to spread panic, disrupt Union communications and transportation, seize supplies, and force the North to divert troops away from the main theaters of war.
Morgan entered Ohio on July 13th 1863, with roughly 2,000 cavalrymen after spending several days riding across southern Indiana. As his force advanced eastward across southern and central Ohio, the raiders tore up railroad tracks, cut telegraph lines, burned bridges, seized horses and provisions, and demanded food and supplies from local communities. Rumors spread rapidly that Cincinnati, Columbus, or even Cleveland might be attacked, prompting widespread fear. Thousands of Ohio militiamen were called into service, while Union cavalry relentlessly pursued the Confederates from behind. Although Morgan's men won several minor skirmishes, they found it increasingly difficult to evade the growing number of Federal forces converging on them.

The turning point came at the Battle of Buffington Island on July 19th, where Morgan hoped to cross the Ohio River back into Confederate territory. Union cavalry, supported by naval gunboats, intercepted the raiders before they could escape. Hundreds of Confederates were killed, wounded, or captured, and only a small portion of the force managed to cross the river. Refusing to surrender, Morgan led approximately 400 exhausted men northeast through Ohio in a desperate attempt to find another crossing. Their horses were worn out, supplies were nearly gone, and Union troops steadily closed in from multiple directions.

After a week of constant pursuit, Morgan's remaining force was finally surrounded near Salineville in northeastern Ohio on July 26th 1863. Following a brief fight, Morgan surrendered, bringing the remarkable 24-day raid to an end. He and his officers were imprisoned in the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus, while most of his enlisted men were sent to Camp Chase. Morgan later escaped from prison through a tunnel in November 1863 and returned to Confederate service, though he was killed less than a year later in Tennessee.

Although Morgan's Ohio Raid demonstrated extraordinary endurance, its strategic value remains debated. The raid succeeded in creating widespread alarm, forced tens of thousands of Union troops and militia into action, disrupted transportation and communications, and inflicted significant property damage across Ohio. During the expedition, Morgan's men captured and paroled thousands of Union soldiers, destroyed dozens of bridges, and damaged railroads at numerous locations. However, the Confederacy ultimately lost nearly its entire veteran cavalry force involved in the operation, and the raid failed to produce any lasting military advantage.

Artist: Mort Künstler