User talk:Nick-D

Hi Nick-D. Thank you for your work on 8th Operational Support Unit. Another editor, SunDawn, has reviewed it as part of new pages patrol and left the following comment:

Thank you for your contribution to Wikipedia by writing this article! Hopefully you have a blessed day today!

To reply, leave a comment here and begin it with {{Re|SunDawn}}. (Message delivered via the Page Curation tool, on behalf of the reviewer.)

✠ SunDawn ✠ (contact) 15:04, 8 January 2025 (UTC)

@SunDawn: Thanks for reviewing the article. I know you meant this message kindly, but I'm an atheist, so I definitely won't be having a blessed day. I would very politely suggest that you not subject strangers to this kind of religious language unless they explicitly identify as Christian or similar. Regards, Nick-D (talk) 09:32, 9 January 2025 (UTC)

		Military history reviewers' award
		On behalf of the Military History Project, I am proud to present the The Milhist reviewing award (2 stripes) for participating in 4 reviews between October and December 2024. Hawkeye7 (talk) via MilHistBot (talk) 00:30, 13 January 2025 (UTC) Keep track of upcoming reviews. Just copy and paste {{WPMILHIST Review alerts}} to your user space

Thank you! Nick-D (talk) 07:43, 13 January 2025 (UTC)

Hi @Nick-D - I've been thinking of nominating both Global Engagement Center and Global Music Diplomacy Initiative for FA status and hope to hear any feedback you might have about their readiness. Thanks! W9793 (talk) 02:16, 14 January 2025 (UTC)

Hi, these are a bit outside my area of competence. Something that will be raised as a problem with both articles is that they look a bit like government websites. I'd suggest restructuring them more as encyclopaedia articles, which would likely involve reducing the length. The lead of the Global Engagement Center article seems too short and it doesn't really summarise the full article at present - e.g. it doesn't discuss the criticism and commentary this centre received. Some elements of both articles seem over-referenced - in general there should be no references in the lead, and especially not multiple references for basic facts. The Global Music Diplomacy Initiative article also doesn't answer the fundamental question of why it exists given that the US music industry is dominant across much of the world and doesn't seem to need the government to promote it or encourage it along. Is the idea to better leverage the sector in countries where US musicians don't regularly tour or similar? Regards, Nick-D (talk) 10:14, 14 January 2025 (UTC)

This is helpful - I will perhaps try doing some initial revision later - thank you! W9793 (talk) 16:34, 14 January 2025 (UTC)

Hi Nick!! Happy New Year!! Both Rhode Island World War II Army Airfields and West Virginia World War II Army Airfields are old articles by Bwmoll3, implicated in his staggeringly large copyvio problem that still remains to be fully addressed. They're also both useless template articles, a listing of airfields by state that for both these states only involves one repeat one airfield - not the 50+ in states like California. Would you be happy to delete them for me or should I follow some more elaborate process? Kind regards, Buckshot06 (talk) 09:25, 29 January 2025 (UTC)

Hi, and happy new year to you! Are these confirmed copyright violations? If not, prod deletions would probably be the best option here. Regards, Nick-D (talk) 09:30, 29 January 2025 (UTC)

Hi Nick, I would like to contribute an essay and two book reviews to the upcoming February 2025 issue of The Bugle. To that object, I have added the 8 featured articles promoted in January 2025 to the newly promoted articles page. Please let me know if that edit is alright, and if I can contribute the essay and book reviews. Matarisvan (talk) 11:09, 30 January 2025 (UTC)

Hello! I Hope you're doing well.

I've been working on bringing up a page, Sher Shah Suri, fairly relevant in your area of expertise being military history. I saw you as possibly available at WP:FAM. Was wondering if you could help me improve this page to bring it further to Featured Article standard? Have done nominations before for it (and got rejected) but improved the article off of it, including a peer review.

Best wishes. Noorullah (talk) 05:33, 5 February 2025 (UTC)

Hi Noorullah, I'd normally say yes and provide an informal peer review, but I'm quite busy with work and personal commitments at the moment, so won't be able to do this. Regards, Nick-D (talk) 09:51, 5 February 2025 (UTC)

@Nick-D Hey, thanks for your reply. Perfectly understand, thanks for the response. Noorullah (talk) 18:52, 5 February 2025 (UTC)

Thank you very much for your recent positive feedback regarding the Baltic Air Policing. :-) Davidsmith2015 (talk) 13:57, 9 February 2025 (UTC)

No worries, and thanks for your work on the article. Nick-D (talk) 07:26, 10 February 2025 (UTC)

Hello there. Noting you re-added Canberra Airport to the category "International Airports in Australia", you may be interested to note the ongoing discussion at Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2025 February 9. Please note I am an involved editor, so not seeking to solicit support for any particular argument, rather I am just letting you know about the ongoing discussion as it provides some additional context as to why the category was removed. Thanks! Dfadden (talk) 10:34, 27 February 2025 (UTC)

Hi, if the category is deleted I think that a bot will then remove the redlink to the category from relevant articles. There's no need to do this ahead of the outcome of the deletion discussion. Regards, Nick-D (talk) 06:47, 28 February 2025 (UTC)

Hey, I've noticed you and Gray eyes going at it with adding and removing categories. I'm sorry if I'm out of line, but I'd ask you both to talk about your reasoning with each other- it looks to be edit warring. (Acer's userpage |what did I do now) 00:37, 1 March 2025 (UTC)

Please see the CSD linked in the thread above. Gray eyes removed the categories out of process, and has been asked by two different editors to undo this. I'm now doing some of the reverts for them. This obviously isn't edit warring. Regards, Nick-D (talk) 00:39, 1 March 2025 (UTC)

Oh, I see. I apologize for jumping to conclusions. (Acer's userpage |what did I do now) 00:43, 1 March 2025 (UTC)

No worries. Nick-D (talk) 00:52, 1 March 2025 (UTC)

Hello, Nick-D,

I just noticed that the international airport categories had been refilled by you and another editor and wanted to thank you for helping revert this error. The relevant CFD still hasn't been closed and it was premature to have emptied the categories. Liz ^{Read! Talk!} 01:42, 19 March 2025 (UTC)

Not a problem, and thank you for this post. Nick-D (talk) 08:29, 19 March 2025 (UTC)

Why are you insisting on this. Don't dissrespect Norwegian millitary personell like this. Plenty of sources has been added to the individual mission pages. Some might be hard to find in English or not active, but they are still historicaly correct. Sources are Norwegian and sometimes american / english, german news article and book references.

Sorry, I missed that the sources have since been added for most of that material. Throwing accusations around like me not respecting Norwegian soldiers is pretty silly though. This is an encyclopaedia, not an exercise in nationalism. Nick-D (talk) 08:51, 12 March 2025 (UTC)

		The Good Article Rescue Barnstar
		This is presented to you by the GAR process in recognition of your sterling work in helping David Irving retain its Good Article status. Please feel free to display the GA icon on your userpage. Keep up the good work! ~~ AirshipJungleman29 (talk) 19:30, 18 March 2025 (UTC)

Thank you! Nick-D (talk) 08:27, 19 March 2025 (UTC)

I wonder what you thought made this picture 'uninteresting' ? My mother served in the WAAF at Binbrook and others during WW2 and took many photos of life on the base, WAAFs, members of the RAF Regiment and of course many of the bomber crews. Among those of course was Mack Donald Seale, a very experienced and highly decorated veteran, with his crew. J R Spigot (talk) 06:37, 24 April 2025 (UTC)

Hi, It's a photo of five men sitting in front of a shed, in an article that already has too many photos and on a topic which the AWM has extensive high quality coverage of in its image database. The article does not refer to this pilot, and there's a much superior photo of him in a bomber in the article as well. I'd suggest that you also correct the record for this image at Commons to specify that your mother took the photo rather than you. Regards, Nick-D (talk) 08:28, 24 April 2025 (UTC)

Hello! I want to get my first FA-class article, and as I can see it's strongly advised for me to get an FA mentor. I looked at the list, and you seem to specialise in military history, which is what my article relates to. I've ensured that the article follows the manual of style, that the references support what is said, the images are all public domain, etc etc, basically just checking against the criteria. The page is Third Anglo–Asante War, and I do have prior experience as I have made many pages (along with one related to the same series of wars which is a GA article). I hope you don't mind this, and any help would be very appreciated. Thank you! Setergh (talk) 12:03, 3 May 2025 (UTC)

Hello, I'll look over that article later today. Regards, Nick-D (talk) 22:33, 3 May 2025 (UTC)

Thank you so much! Hoping you find it good, and any criticsm would be highly appreciated! Setergh (talk) 22:42, 3 May 2025 (UTC)

I've just posted some comments on the article's talk page. Regards, Nick-D (talk) 10:37, 4 May 2025 (UTC)

I have the article on Harry Crerar up for review at Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Harry Crerar/archive1. Reviewers are desperately sought. I fear that unless some are found soon, the nomination will be archived. I was hoping you could drop by with a few comments. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 21:49, 11 May 2025 (UTC)

Hi, I'll post a review later this week (possibly tonight). Regards, Nick-D (talk) 07:45, 12 May 2025 (UTC)

The Wikipedia Library: Books & Bytes
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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --10:18, 13 May 2025 (UTC)

The comment absurd list of roles,

I read a ADF Published magazine "CONTACT" and RAAF Recruiting Brochure for Security Force roles dated 1/2025 If one search's RAAF ADG or RAAF Security roles

1. ADG conduct Jungle Warfare training at the Jungle Warfare Centre in Tully QLD also ADG NCO's maybe post to COMSURV which conduct aircrew Survival Field Training phase in Tully Qld. 2. ADG are Trained to operated by Vehicle or on foot in RAAF Desert locations such as around RAAF Base Tindal. 3. ADG conduct Urban Warfare Training at High Range in Qld or in Holsworthy in NSW 4. ADG are equipped with Anti Tank Weapons, Direct Fire Weapons, Markman and Sniper Rifles. and other weapons and equipment

The only change to Roles, possibly is the Bomb Disposal role as I believe this role may not be Shared with 65 Airfield Recovery Squadron which has a EOD Element.

For your consideration

Kindness Regards

E 106.70.86.179 (talk) 04:04, 28 June 2025 (UTC)

Sure, but this doesn't all need to be listed in the infobox as they are roles that are common to air force infantry. Infoboxes are meant to summarise information, and not include absolutely everything. Regards, Nick-D (talk) 05:21, 28 June 2025 (UTC)

Hi Nick-D

Just to clarify, I did not originally list any thing in the Infobox, I just changed the order to make it read,(I believe) a bit better, I checked RAAF Brochures and Information and compared with other World Air Forces as I found some of the information concerning but it turned out to correct and also point of difference between similar organisations I did not feel it would be fair to delete the Original Authors work which I basically peer reviewed

Kindest Regards 106.70.86.179 (talk) 06:29, 28 June 2025 (UTC)

Nick-D

I think you do not understand the RAAF Air Defence Guards Role and tasking beyond your misbelief that they are some sought of Security Guards, The Word "Guard" is a bit misunderstood in the context the full scope of the capacity of RAAF Air Defence Guards,

If you take time to do further reading on the current RAAF Security Forces you will have a better understanding that the ADG is a mustering, the Roles and tasks that all within either Security Force Squadron or additional for NCOs in a Training capacity from Base Training to Combat Survival Training

Regards Exsap (talk) 06:02, 28 June 2025 (UTC)

I actually am familiar with the role of ADGs. We just don't provide this level of detail in infoboxes given their role is to briefly summarise information for readers. Please see MOS:INFOBOXPURPOSE, which notes "The less information that an infobox contains, the more effectively it serves its purpose, allowing readers to identify key facts at a glance. Some infoboxes need to use more than a handful of fields, but information should be presented in a short format wherever possible, and should exclude unnecessary content". The content you are referring to is at Airfield Defence Guards#Duties and mission roles, which would benefit from references - can you please add references to that section of the article? Please also do not post from both IP and logged in accounts. Nick-D (talk) 06:33, 28 June 2025 (UTC)

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team – 13:10, 1 July 2025 (UTC)

Hi Nick-D. Thank you for your work on Conscription in Rhodesia. Another editor, JackFromWisconsin, has reviewed it as part of new pages patrol and left the following comment:

This article is well organized and well referenced. Great work.

To reply, leave a comment here and begin it with {{Re|JackFromWisconsin}}. (Message delivered via the Page Curation tool, on behalf of the reviewer.)

JackFromWisconsin (talk | contribs) 16:25, 6 July 2025 (UTC)

Hi Nick,
Per your suggestion I've created a section in the article about public perceptions. This was partly achieved through reorganising some content and partly by adding content. Can you please have a read and let me know if this was the sort of thing you were thinking and if you have any suggestions for improvement.
Thanks in advance. TarnishedPath^talk 12:24, 21 July 2025 (UTC)

@TarnishedPath: Sorry for my slow response here. That section looks excellent. Nick-D (talk) 10:15, 24 July 2025 (UTC)

I've currently got it listed to be copy edited at WP:GOCER, but it looks like that might take a while. Do you think it's up to good enough standard to go straight to nominating as a WP:FAC? TarnishedPath^talk 10:33, 24 July 2025 (UTC)

I think that this would benefit from a copy edit. I'm far from an expert on grammar, but I'll have a crack over the weekend. Nick-D (talk) 07:44, 25 July 2025 (UTC)

Much appreciated. TarnishedPath^talk 08:19, 25 July 2025 (UTC)

Hi Nicky

Why are you undoing stuff that has been on wikipedia for years, The NZDF has not changed it Pistols, Rifles, Shotguns or Machine Guns so why remove Them ? There is heaps of reference's to draw on to confirm what is current and correct.

Thank you for your time 106.70.86.179 (talk) 05:07, 22 July 2025 (UTC)

Please add references then - see WP:V. I've just removed a range of other very detailed material that lacks references. The article has been tagged as needing references since September 2015, so there has been plenty of time to add them. It would be great if you can do this. There is advice on how to add references at Help:Referencing for beginners that might be helpful here. Please stop re-adding material that has been removed for being unreferenced without first providing a reference to a reliable source. Please let me know if you have any questions about this, and I'll do my best to assist. Regards, Nick-D (talk) 10:02, 22 July 2025 (UTC)

Hi, I noticed you in the FA review pages. I'm planning on nominating James Cook for FA later this year. But before that, I'm looking for a black-belt in military history to do a peer review. Would you be available to do a peer review in early August? No worries if you're too busy. Cheers. Noleander (talk) 12:56, 23 July 2025 (UTC)

Hi, I'll be away in the first week of August, but would be happy to read over the article when I get home. Can you please leave a message when the article is ready? Regards Nick-D (talk) 10:36, 24 July 2025 (UTC)

Excellent! I'll notify you (sometime after 7 August) whenever the article is ready for PR. Thanks! Noleander (talk) 15:17, 24 July 2025 (UTC)

@Nick-D: If you are still interested, I created a Peer Review request for James Cook, at WP:Peer review/James Cook/archive4. The article is a Vital Article level 3, so your unique and thoughtful insights (and your special background in military history) would be greatly appreciated. (Another editor jumped in and contributed some suggestions already, but you can ignore that: multiple reviewers are a good thing). Thanks!! Noleander (talk) 16:31, 9 August 2025 (UTC)

Thanks for the note - I'll read this over. Nick-D (talk) 00:48, 10 August 2025 (UTC)

	The Copyeditor's Barnstar
	Thank you very much for copy-editing Ben Roberts-Smith! TarnishedPathtalk 10:59, 25 July 2025 (UTC)

Thank you - I'm only partially through the article. Nick-D (talk) 03:17, 26 July 2025 (UTC)

@TarnishedPath: I've finished my copy edit. I've left some comments on the talk page for your consideration. Nick-D (talk) 06:14, 27 July 2025 (UTC)

Hi Nick-D, the recent update by Defence to the Army, Navy News and Air Force newspaper websites is disappointing. The new websites don't have an archive to search back many years. I think previously it was nearly 15 years of editions. Editions available online now start at 2025. The Trove Army (National : 1980 - 2023) newspaper archive for example is only up to 2023. So, many editions between 2023 and 2025 are now not available online. Melbguy05 (talk) 09:14, 31 July 2025 (UTC)

Thanks for the note. Defence is amazingly awful at things like this. They are also forever breaking links. Many stories published in the service newspapers are now also published in the news section of defence.gov.au, which seems more stable so that might be an option here. Regards, Nick-D (talk) 10:08, 31 July 2025 (UTC)

On 9 August 2025, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article Ann Davis (convict), which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that the jury of matrons who assessed whether Ann Davis was pregnant after she was sentenced to death were the first civilian jurors for a criminal trial in New South Wales? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Ann Davis (convict). You are welcome to check how many pageviews the nominated article or articles got while on the front page (here's how, Ann Davis (convict)), and the hook may be added to the statistics page after its run on the Main Page has completed. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

~~ AirshipJungleman29 (talk) 00:03, 9 August 2025 (UTC)

Nominations for the upcoming Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history coordinator election have opened. A team of up to ten coordinators will be elected for the next coordination year. The project coordinators are the designated points of contact for issues concerning the project, and are responsible for maintaining our internal structure and processes. They do not, however, have any authority over article content or editor conduct, or any other special powers. More information on being a coordinator is available here. If you are interested in running, please sign up here by 23:59 UTC on 14 September! Voting will commence on 15 September. If you have any questions, you can contact any member of the current coord team. MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:03, 1 September 2025 (UTC)

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Hi Nick, since I know you patrol the Operation Barbarossa page periodically, I was wondering if you could revert the changes made by Alexander Makarov 1 to the Historical significance portion of the page. If I need to elaborate on what's wrong with the changes, I can at length, but I am sure it will be clear enough to you. Obenritter (talk) 20:22, 9 September 2025 (UTC)

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Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team – 13:15, 18 September 2025 (UTC)

(This message was sent to User:Nick-D and is being posted here due to a redirect.)

Your good article nomination of the article Conscription in Rhodesia is under review. See the review page for more information. This may take up to 7 days; feel free to contact the reviewer with any questions you might have. Message delivered by ChristieBot, on behalf of Dumelow -- Dumelow (talk) 09:04, 13 October 2025 (UTC)

Your good article nomination of the article Conscription in Rhodesia has been placed on hold, as the article needs some changes. See the review page for more information. If these are addressed within 7 days, the nomination will pass; otherwise, it may fail. Message delivered by ChristieBot, on behalf of Dumelow -- Dumelow (talk) 15:47, 13 October 2025 (UTC)

Your good article nomination of the article Conscription in Rhodesia has passed; congratulations! See the review page for more information. If the article is eligible to appear in the "Did you know" section of the Main Page, you can nominate it within the next seven days. Message delivered by ChristieBot, on behalf of Dumelow -- Dumelow (talk) 07:44, 19 October 2025 (UTC)

Hi Nick-D, I'm interested in reworking Lunge mine. I tried searching for books, and I've so far found Steven J. Zaloga's Kamikaze: Japanese Special Attack Weapons 1944–45, Volume 2 of Leland Ness's Rikugun: Guide to Japanese Ground Forces 1937-1945 (Weapons of the Imperial Japanese Army & Navy Ground Forces), and Gordon L. Rottman's World War II Infantry Anti-Tank Tactics. All of them are published by Osprey, and I'm aware of Milhist's opinion on Osprey. I know that there's pretty limited info on lunge mines, so I was wondering if you can recommend me some books on Japanese anti-tank weapons or suicidal tactics. Other than that, I think my best chance is the 1953 US report on Japanese bombs. Icepinner 04:25, 23 October 2025 (UTC)

Hi, I have a copy of the Zaloga and Ness books. Zaloga only has a paragraph on this topic I'm afraid. Ness has a few pages on suicide anti-tank weapons, though not much on lunge mines specifically. I'm afraid that I'm not aware of other works on this topic area, though I don't have much of a focus on it. You could ask this at WT:MILHIST, as someone else might be more knowledgeable than me. Regards,

Thank you for your suggestion, Nick-D. I do have copies of Zaloga, Ness, and Rottman, fyi, and it's rather frustrating how they don't have much on lunge mines. Perhaps there's more information on Fukuryu... Icepinner 07:15, 24 October 2025 (UTC)

Hi Nick-D, I hope you're doing well! I'm reaching out because I'm trying to promote 2024 United States drone sightings to Featured Article status and I saw your name on the FAC mentors list. Your interest in history seems to somewhat relate to this topic, as it is recent American history. I've started a peer review here and would love your input if you have some time. I would also appreciate any guidance you might have in navigating the FAC process more generally. Thanks for considering! Anne drew (talk · contribs) 16:20, 24 October 2025 (UTC)

Hi Anne, I'd be happy to leave comments over the next week or so. Regards, Nick-D (talk) 10:28, 25 October 2025 (UTC)

Hello, Nick-D. This message is being sent to remind you of significant upcoming changes regarding logged-out editing.

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Most of this message was written by Mz7 (source). Thanks, 🎃 SGrabarczuk (WMF) (talk) 02:47, 31 October 2025 (UTC)

Starting on 1 November, the month-long 2025 Article Improvement Drive will target a number of content improvement areas and backlogs. Participating editors will be in line for barnstars and other awards; articles from all aspects of the project will be eligible so there will be something for everybody. Interested editors are encouraged to sign up now! MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 20:18, 1 November 2025 (UTC)

Hi @Nick-D, I see you deleted Tippoo Saib (sailing ship) in May 2020; I wondered about creating an article of the same name about the ship, but before I start I thought I'd check whether there was anything useful in the previous version. Can you advise? TIA, - Yadsalohcin (talk) 16:52, 3 November 2025 (UTC)

Hi, I deleted it as it had been created by a prolific block evader, so I'd rather not repost it. The content doesn't look particularly useful, and the editor had a history of posting material not fully supported by the claimed sources. Regards, Nick-D (talk) 07:28, 4 November 2025 (UTC)

Ok, thanks for this, I'll see if I can find enough for an article starting from scratch after all. - Yadsalohcin (talk) 14:30, 6 November 2025 (UTC)

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• An unreferenced articles backlog drive is happening in November 2025 to reduce the backlog of articles tagged with {{Unreferenced}}. You can help reduce the backlog by adding citations to these articles. Sign up to participate!

Hey, Nick-D. Just stopping by to wish you a Happy Wiki-Birthday from the Wikipedia Birthday Committee! Have a great day! DaniloDaysOfOurLives (talk) 06:13, 6 November 2025 (UTC)

Thanks - it's been 20 years! Nick-D (talk) 07:30, 6 November 2025 (UTC)

Hi Nick-D!

Following a yearly reminder by Oshwah at Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard, I checked the log of indefinite IP blocks and found one that you gave to 203.17.23.197 – was it intentional, and can it be turned into a temporary block or lifted, as the disruption lasted only a month and the IP might have been reassigned by now? Chaotic Enby (talk · contribs) 10:42, 6 November 2025 (UTC)

Nick-D - I went ahead and removed that block, since it involved only short-term vandalism that occurred back in March 2025, wasn't part of a series of long-term disruption or other issues from this IP address, and clearly appeared to be applied by mistake, since it was set with "vandalism-only account" as the reason. I'm sure that this'll be fine by you, but if for some reason it isn't (something I likely missed), please let me know immediately so that I can discuss it with you. :-) Cheers - ~Oshwah~^{(talk) (contribs)} 20:14, 6 November 2025 (UTC)

Thanks for this - yes, I must have thought that was a registered account for some reason. I would have imposed a shortish block otherwise. Regards, Nick-D (talk) 07:00, 7 November 2025 (UTC)

Thanks and happy anniversary! Chaotic Enby (talk · contribs) 07:27, 7 November 2025 (UTC)

Hi there @Nick-D - this is going back a little while, but can I persuade you to de-protect Momentum Worldwide please? There is now a draft article that has been through AFC, and via non-aligned editors. So I think it is now OK to release this draft: Draft:Momentum Worldwide. I trust this is OK by you. ChrysGalley (talk) 21:37, 6 November 2025 (UTC)

 Done Thanks for raising this. Nick-D (talk) 07:01, 7 November 2025 (UTC)

Hey @Nick-D. Your wiki edit anniversary was 1 day ago, marking 20 years of dedicated contributions to English Wikipedia. Your passion for sharing knowledge and your remarkable contributions have not only enriched the project, but also inspired countless others to contribute. Thank you for your amazing contributions. Wishing you many more wonderful years ahead in the Wiki journey. :) -❙❚❚❙❙ GnOeee ❚❙❚❙❙ ✉ 04:49, 7 November 2025 (UTC)

Thank you, that's very kind Nick-D (talk) 07:10, 7 November 2025 (UTC)

The Wikipedia Library: Books & Bytes
Issue 71, September–October 2025

• Spotlight: 1Lib1Ref 2025 in Nigeria
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Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team – 15:21, 18 November 2025 (UTC)

(This message was sent to User:Nick-D and is being posted here due to a redirect.)

Nominations now open for the WikiProject Military History newcomer of the year and military historian of the year awards for 2025! The top editors will be awarded the coveted Gold Wiki. Nominations are open here and here respectively. The nomination period closes at 23:59 on 30 November 2025 when voting begins. On behalf of the coordinators, wishing you the very best for the festive season and the new year. MediaWiki message delivery via MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 18:42, 30 November 2025 (UTC)

Correction: nominations are open until 23:59 (UTC) on 14 December 2025. MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 03:21, 2 December 2025 (UTC)

Hi. I took a month long mental break from FAC, haha. I copied your comments on Aomori Prefecture to here: User:MisawaSakura/Sandbox2. I commented out most comments after I worked them because it made it easier to track for me. My co-nom will soon look it over too. I was hoping you could look over the current version, it's certainly better for having worked your comments, and let me know what critiques you still have. After that I'll likely send it to peer review. Feel free to directly edit that sandbox2. Any talk page stalkers are free to comment in that sandbox too. Thanks. MisawaSakura (talk) 23:00, 2 December 2025 (UTC)

Hi Nick-D,

I was looking over the December A-class reviews today and noticed that on Operation Forager logistics, a second support (from Matarisvan) was added yesterday. It looks like Hawkeye has addressed all but one* of the points you've raised in your section (the exceptions being the map, which he's indicated he has not located but it sounds like that was a "nice-to-have"; and the "more detailed summary of the operation in the background section" which is still outstanding). Matarisvan has also indicated that they're planning on doing image/source reviews soon. I'm not sure if you had any additional concerns not mentioned there, but just wanted to give you a heads up in case it fell off your radar, as your support would make the third necessary for promotion(once the remaining source/image reviews are completed). ⇒SWATJester ^{Shoot Blues, Tell VileRat!} 20:36, 13 December 2025 (UTC)

Thank you for this reminder. Nick-D (talk) 03:21, 14 December 2025 (UTC)

Voting is now open for the WikiProject Military History newcomer of the year and military historian of the year awards for 2025! The top editors will be awarded the coveted Gold Wiki. Cast your votes here and here respectively. Voting closes at 23:59 on 30 December 2025. On behalf of the coordinators, wishing you the very best for the festive season and the new year. MediaWiki message delivery via MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 01:55, 15 December 2025 (UTC)

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Thank you today for Foreign volunteers in the Rhodesian Security Forces, introduced (in 2023): "This article covers an interesting element of the Rhodesian Bush War; the involvement of foreign volunteers (sometimes considered mercenaries) on the side of the repressive Rhodesian regime. Due to secrecy during the war and difficulties accessing Rhodesian records, the number of these volunteers is not known but is generally considered to have been between 800 and 2,000. They were most commonly motivated by racism, but a desire for adventure also played an important part. The Rhodesian government never fully trusted the volunteers, and many deserted after receiving a hostile reception from their Rhodesian comrades who typically considered them to be adventurers. Despite their modest impact on the war, the volunteers are admired by modern white supremacist and far-right groups."! -- Gerda Arendt (talk) 08:31, 21 December 2025 (UTC)

Thanks Gerda Nick-D (talk) 08:55, 21 December 2025 (UTC)

Happy New Year!

Nick-D,
Have a prosperous, productive and enjoyable New Year, and thanks for your contributions to Wikipedia.
Abishe (talk) 13:54, 31 December 2025 (UTC)

   Send New Year cheer by adding {{subst:Happy New Year fireworks}} to user talk pages.

Abishe (talk) 13:54, 31 December 2025 (UTC)

Hi Nick-D!

I have been playing around with the idea of writing a review essay in The Bugle about the reliability of the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. As someone who has not directly contributed to the newsletter before, is this something I can just do? Do you think that this topic is a good idea? While nothing is publishable yet, I have been working on the essay privately and could share it once it is done. It is worth noting that one of my sources would be a conversation I had with staff who worked on the series. Is that acceptable?

Thanks! GGOTCC 03:59, 26 January 2026 (UTC)

@GGOTCC and Ian Rose: That would be great. I'd suggest drafting the article in your user space, and then Ian or I can move it across to the next edition of the Bugle after it's ready - please let us know when you would like it to be moved across. The reliability of DANFS has been discussed by the project quite a few times, so an article on this topic will be really interesting. Regards, Nick-D (talk) 05:19, 26 January 2026 (UTC)

Thank you for the reply! The draft is currently a Google doc, and I'll kick it to one of my subpages once I finish. It should be good for the February, or later, editions. I greatly appreciate all of your effort for the newsletter! GGOTCC 05:30, 26 January 2026 (UTC)

Excellent, and thank you! Nick-D (talk) 05:31, 26 January 2026 (UTC)

Hello again Nick-D! Just as an update, I have midterms on Friday and would finish up the essay this weekend. GGOTCC 23:04, 18 February 2026 (UTC)

Thanks for the update, and good luck with your exams! Nick-D (talk) 00:16, 19 February 2026 (UTC)

Thank you very much! The op-ed is located at User:GGOTCC/February 2026/Review essay. This is my first time writing such an op-ed, so feel free to modify it as you see fit/tell me to stop yapping and get to the point. I'll make some more copyedits, but everything is set up. GGOTCC 06:29, 25 February 2026 (UTC)

(talk page stalker) Thanks GGOTCC. Nick (and GGOTCC), I haven't had time to read in detail yet but on first glance I wonder if this might sit better under the op-ed section (which is in fact how GGOTCC characterises it once or twice above) rather than review essay, which we've generally used for physical artefacts like museums... Cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 06:51, 25 February 2026 (UTC)

Op-ed would be much better. I was mistaken before and had the two mixed up! I'll change the draft title for the sake of clarity. Cheers, GGOTCC 06:59, 25 February 2026 (UTC)

Nevermind, I am unable to move my own userpage due to the global blacklist. GGOTCC 07:01, 25 February 2026 (UTC)

Thank you for this fantastic and very interesting article. I've just posted it at Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/News/February 2026/Op-ed. As a reflection as an Australian, until the last few years there was nothing comparable on the Royal Australian Navy to DANFS. Thankfully the RAN's Sea Power Centre has been writing high quality (though not always entirely neutral) accounts of ships' histories. These are covered by copyright though, but are great sources. Nick-D (talk) 07:13, 25 February 2026 (UTC)

The Wikipedia Library: Books & Bytes
Issue 72, November–December 2025

• Renewed partnerships
• Spotlight: Strengthening Wikimedia Collaborations with and for Open Science

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team – 12:43, 29 January 2026 (UTC)

(This message was sent to User:Nick-D and is being posted here due to a redirect.)

Hey, Nick. The Manual of Style does not say that the lead sentence should contain the article title in boldface. On the contrary, it says that descriptive titles should not be bolded, citing the examples of Electrical characteristics of dynamic loudspeakers, Iraq–Pakistan relations, and 2011 Mississippi River floods. Surtsicna (talk) 10:29, 5 February 2026 (UTC)

Can you please provide a link to where the MOS says this? You appear to be referring to MOS:REDUNDANCY. I think that the original wording in those articles is in line with this and with MOS:BOLDSYN. Regards, Nick-D (talk) 08:59, 6 February 2026 (UTC)

Sure. In MOS:LEADTITLE: "Similarly, if the article title is merely descriptive—such as Electrical characteristics of dynamic loudspeakers—it does not need to appear verbatim in the first sentence." Then in MOS:AVOIDBOLD: "If the article title does not lend itself to being used easily and naturally in the first sentence, the wording should not be distorted in an effort to include it."
All examples listed in MOS:BOLDSYN are proper names; article titles such as Australian contribution to the Battle of Normandy are not proper names but descriptive titles designed for Wikipedia. Surtsicna (talk) 10:44, 6 February 2026 (UTC)

I think that the wording here is fine, as it's a fairly natural way of starting those articles off. I don't include the titles in the first sentence of all the articles I develop to high standards - as you note, it often looks forced or weird doing so. Regards, Nick-D (talk) 02:45, 7 February 2026 (UTC)

The problem now is that we are not supposed to mix boldface and links; see MOS:BOLDLINKAVOID.

The Australian contribution to the Battle of Normandy involved more than 3,000 military personnel serving under British command.

And surely, links to essential articles aid readers more than boldface, do they not? Surtsicna (talk) 02:55, 7 February 2026 (UTC)

Hope you get well soon. Perhaps see you at Event:WikiCon Australia 2026 in April? Also: I have more book reviews if you want another one for the February bugle. I have created the February timeline. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 00:49, 22 February 2026 (UTC)

Thank you! It was a preventative thing mainly, and I should be OK in a few days. Yes, I'll be at the WikiCon - one of the other things I need to do during my time off is start working on a presentation for it. Regards, Nick-D (talk) 00:58, 22 February 2026 (UTC)

User:Hog Farm/Book review/Gudmestad is available when the Bugle needs another ACW book review. Hog Farm _Talk 02:14, 23 February 2026 (UTC)

Thank you! I'll add it to this month's edition. Nick-D (talk) 03:04, 23 February 2026 (UTC)

This is to let you know that Bombing of Obersalzberg has been scheduled as today's featured article for 25 April 2026. Please check that the article needs no amendments. Feel free to amend the draft blurb, which can be found at Wikipedia:Today's featured article/April 2026, or to make comments on other matters concerning the scheduling of this article at Wikipedia talk:Today's featured article/April 2026. Please keep an eye on that page, as notifications of copy edits to or queries about the draft blurb may be posted there. I also suggest that you watchlist Wikipedia:Main Page/Errors from two days before it appears on the Main Page. Thanks, and congratulations on your work! Z1720 (talk) 21:19, 26 February 2026 (UTC)

Hey Nick, just requesting you add No. 74 Squadron to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Nick-D/RAAF_sqns . The unit has not existed in the past, but is listed as a posting under the new Space Operations roles on the ADF Careers website, and some people I have spoken with indicate that it will be raised in the near future, once there are sufficient numbers of Space Operations personnel to man it. Decooldude (talk) 01:40, 27 February 2026 (UTC)

Thanks, I'll keep an eye out for news stories about this unit being established. Nick-D (talk) 07:56, 27 February 2026 (UTC)

News and updates for administrators from the past month (February 2026).

Administrator changes

• Brendanconway
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CheckUser changes

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Guideline and policy news

• Following an RfC, the web archival service archive.today has been deprecated; links to the site should be removed.
• A request for comment is open to discuss retiring CSD criterion R3 in favour of handling such redirects through RfD.

Arbitration

• Following a motion, remedy 9.1 of the Conduct in deletion-related editing case has been amended to limit TenPoundHammer to one XfD nomination or PROD per 24-hour period.
• Following a motion, the Iskandar323 further POV pushing motion has been rescinded.
• The Arbitration Committee has passed a housekeeping motion rescinding a number of outdated remedies and enforcement provisions across multiple legacy cases. In most instances, existing sanctions remain in force and continue to be appealable through the usual processes, while some case-specific remedies were amended or clarified.

Miscellaneous

• Following the 2026 Steward Elections, the following editors have been appointed as stewards: A09, AmandaNP, Barras, Count Count, M7, SHB2000, Teles and VIGNERON.
• An Unreferenced articles backlog drive is taking place in March 2026 to reduce the backlog of articles tagged with {{Unreferenced}}. You can help reduce the backlog by adding citations to these articles. Sign up to participate!

You looked at Manhattan Project feed materials program and it is now at FAC at Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/Assessment/Manhattan Project feed materials program but I need another reviewer or two. Could I trouble you for a few comments? Hawkeye7 (discuss) 23:04, 2 March 2026 (UTC)

Sure - I'll leave a review later this week or over the weekend. Regards, Nick-D (talk) 09:33, 3 March 2026 (UTC)

@Hawkeye7: I've added a review. I'd suggest as well that you respond to Borsoka's comments. I think that they're somewhat exaggerated given the scope of the article and WP:NOTPAPER type issues. Regards, Nick-D (talk) 07:04, 8 March 2026 (UTC)

Hullo Nick, just noticed you posting something; anything you want add to the Bugle before I despatch? Cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 11:17, 18 March 2026 (UTC)

Hi Ian, I've made a single tweak, and that looks good to go. I was hoping to have a book review, but ended up spending my reading time working on the article I've just taken to FAC! Regards, Nick-D (talk) 08:20, 19 March 2026 (UTC)

News and updates for administrators from the past month (March 2026).

Administrator changes

• ARandomName123

• Biblioworm
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Guideline and policy news

• The content of Wikipedia:Writing articles with large language models has been updated following a request for comment. It now prohibits using LLMs to generate content, with exceptions for translation and copy-editing.

Arbitration

• Following a motion, the GSCASTE extended-confirmed restriction in the Indian military history case has been narrowed. It now applies to caste-related topics in South Asia, and the preemptive protection remedy has been amended accordingly.
• The arbitration case Pbsouthwood has been closed.
• The arbitration case Maghreb has been opened. Evidence submissions in this case will close on 7 April.

You are invited to participate in the Destubathon of the Americas, a contest/editathon which will run from May 1 to May 31. The goal is to destub as many of our 475,000+ stubs for the Americas (from Alaska down to Chile) as possible. A good chance to have fun in expanding many of our old stale stubs and win up to £2000 ($2680) in Amazon vouchers for expanding stub articles. Sign up in the Contestants/participants section on the contest page if interested. Even if not interested in prizes you are still warmly welcome to participate in it as an editathon! Hopefully we can achieve something significant in the month of May together! ♦ Dr. Blofeld 17:21, 15 April 2026 (UTC)

Aliceinthealice (talk) has given you a kookaburra as kind thanks for coming to Wikimedia Australia's WikiCon 2026 in Canberra (Kanbarra) either in person or online.

This kookaburra is an homage to our lovely hosts at the (Australian) National Film and Sound Archive and are to thank you for coming along, learning alongside each other and helping make the event what it was. We hope the kookaburra brightens your day!

Make someone else's day and spread some WikiLove'

Aliceinthealice (talk) 23:38, 16 April 2026 (UTC)