There’s no point in pretending that war isn’t horrible — flag-draped coffins are, in fact, a rather pristine symbol of those horrors. There’s a good reason societies honor their warriors.
An aside: I’ve long thought that prettifying World War II for domestic consumption contributed to both the media shock of Vietnam and the generation gap. WWII and Korea vets, who knew war first-hand, didn’t understand just how shocked their doted-on boomer kids were. “The Good War” wasn’t any more pleasant when you were experiencing it.
Virginia Postrel, “Horrors of War”, Dynamist.com, 2004-04-27.
September 6, 2019
QotD: The horrors of war
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August 4, 2019
QotD: The post-WW2 American army
They were not half so good soldiers as the bronzed men who followed Rommel in the desert, or the veterans who slashed down toward Bastogne.
They were well armed, but their weapons were no better than those of United States design, if as good.
But the American soldier of 1950, though the same breed of man, was not half so good as the battalions that had absorbed Rommel’s bloody lessons, or stood like steel in the Ardennes.
The weapons his nation had were not in his hands, and those that were were old and worn.
Since the end of World War II ground weapons had been developed, but none had been procured. There were plenty of the old arms around, and it has always been a Yankee habit to make do. The Army was told to make do.
In 1950 its vehicles in many cases would not run. Radiators were clogged, engines gone. When ordered to Korea, some units towed their transport down to the LST’s, because there was no other way to get it to the boat. Tires and tubes had a few miles left in them, and were kept — until they came apart on Korean roads.
In Japan, where the divisions were supposedly guarding our former enemies, most of the small arms had been reported combat unserviceable. Rifle barrels were worn smooth. Mortar mounts were broken, and there were no longer any spare barrels for machine guns.
Radios were short, and those that were available would not work.
Ammunition, except small arms, was “hava-no.”
These things had been reported. The Senate knew them; the people heard them. But usually the Army was told, “Next year.”
Even a rich society cannot afford nuclear bombs, supercarriers, foreign aid, five million new cars a year, long-range bombers, the highest standard of living in the world, and a million new rifles.
Admittedly, somewhere you have to cut and choose.
But guns are hardware, and man, not hardware, is the ultimate weapon. In 1950 there were not enough men, either — less than 600,000 to carry worldwide responsibilities, including recruiting; for service in the ranks has never been on the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company’s preferred list of occupations.
T.R. Fehrenbach, This Kind of War: A Study in Unpreparedness, 1963.
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July 13, 2019
Local Boy Saves Nation: The Australian Owen SMG
Forgotten Weapons
Published on 8 May 2019Preorders now open for my book, Chassepot to FAMAS: French Military Rifles 1866-2016! Get your copy here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/…
http://www.patreon.com/ForgottenWeapons
Cool Forgotten Weapons merch! http://shop.bbtv.com/collections/forg…
The Owen submachine gun is one of the ugliest SMGs ever designed, and yet also one of the most beloved by its users. The original basis for the gun was a .22 rimfire submachine gun designed by 23-year-old Australian Evelyn Owen. That prototype was found by his neighbor Vincent Wardell after Owen left for military service. Wardell was the manager of Lysaght Works, an engineering firm, and thought that the gun might be the basis for a useful military SMG. As it turned out, he was right – it became the standard SMG of The Australian military through World War Two and the Korean War, and was one of the best such guns of that period. For more details on the history of the Owen, see my full article:
https://www.forgottenweapons.com/subm…
Thanks to Movie Armament Group in Toronto for giving me the opportunity to bring you this video! Check out MAG on Instagram: https://instagram.com/moviearmamentsg…
Contact:
Forgotten Weapons
PO Box 87647
Tucson, AZ 85754
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June 8, 2019
Tank Chats #48 Centaur Dozer | The Funnies | The Tank Museum
The Tank Museum
Published on 9 Mar 2018A Centaur tank converted into a dozer, part of the Tank Chat Funnies specials. The design had been worked out by 79th Armoured Division in Belgium in autumn 1944. In early 1945, the first conversions were issued to 87th Assault Dozer Squadron, 6th Assault Regiment Royal Engineers; a few saw action in Germany. Some were deployed during the Korean War and the intervention around the Suez Canal in 1956.
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January 26, 2019
The Cold War – OverSimplified (Part 1)
OverSimplified
Published on 24 Jan 2019
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December 19, 2018
HMCS Haida – Guide 027 (Special)
Drachinifel
Published on 13 Aug 2017The most successful Canadian warship, HMCS Haida, is the subject of today’s video
The robotic narration on this video is painfully irritating!
Update, 14 February 2021: Drachinifel updated the narration at some point after I posted the original.
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November 11, 2018
Mark Knopfler – “Remembrance Day”
Bob Oldfield
Published on 3 Nov 2011A Remembrance Day slideshow using Mark Knopfler’s wonderful “Remembrance Day” song from the album Get Lucky (2009). The early part of the song conveys many British images, but I have added some very Canadian images also which fit with many of the lyrics. The theme and message is universal… ‘we will remember them’.
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July 5, 2018
World of Warships – HMCS Haida
The Mighty Jingles
Published on 3 Jul 2018Oh Canada! Your ship finally made it into World of Warships even if your flag didn’t. I could just tell you what I think of her right now but that would spoil the video, so go on, watch it!
Little White Mouse Haida Review: https://forum.worldofwarships.com/top…
All music licensed from www.epidemicsound.com and www.machinimasound.com Really, I’m not kidding. Stop trying to claim license-free music you record company scumbags!
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July 1, 2018
Naval Legends: HMCS Haida | World of Warships
World of Warships Official Channel
Published on 28 Jun 2018“The most fightingest ship of the Royal Canadian Navy”, and the last survivor of the Tribal-class! Find out more in the new Naval Legends episode!
Naval Legends is a series about the construction, service, and daring deeds of legendary 20th-century ships. Very few vessels survived World War I and II — most were decommissioned and scrapped. The Naval Legends production crew travels all across the globe to visit almost every active museum ship and chronicle her story.
Each episode has our own footage, military chronicles, and data from archives. The story of each ship is narrated by military historians, museum staff, and navy veterans for maximum historical accuracy. Computer graphics based on archival blueprints illustrate critical engineering elements and components, along with the ship’s armament, so you can observe these colossal war machines from your armchair!
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January 30, 2018
DicKtionary – A is for Air Force – Curtis LeMay
TimeGhost
Published on 17 Jan 2018A is for Air Force, you know that of course
And we turn to the states to look at the dates
When the man in command, that some couldn’t stand
Is our hero today, General Curtis LeMay.Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TimeGhostHistory
Like TimeGhost on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TimeGhostHistory/
Written and Hosted by: Indy Neidell
Based on a concept by Astrid Deinhard and Indy Neidell
Produced by: Spartacus Olsson and Astrid Deinhard
Executive Producers: Bodo Rittenauer, Astrid Deinhard, Indy Neidell, Spartacus Olsson
Camera and Edit by: Spartacus Olsson
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November 11, 2017
Mark Knopfler – “Remembrance Day”
Bob Oldfield
Published on 3 Nov 2011A Remembrance Day slideshow using Mark Knopfler’s wonderful “Remembrance Day” song from the album Get Lucky (2009). The early part of the song conveys many British images, but I have added some very Canadian images also which fit with many of the lyrics. The theme and message is universal… ‘we will remember them’.
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August 4, 2017
Experimental Lightweight Browning High Power
Published on 3 May 2017
One of the handguns that resulted from the post-WW2 interest in standardizing arms among the future members of NATO was a lightweight version of the Canadian produced Browning High Power. Experiments began in 1947 to create first a lightened slide by milling out unnecessary material, and then additionally with the use of machined and cast aluminum alloy frames. The first major batch of guns consisted of six with milled alloy frames, with two each going to the Canadian, American, and British militaries for testing.
This would reveal that the guns were in general quite serviceable, except that the locking blocks tended to distort their mounting holes in the alloy frames under extended firing. The cast frames were generally unsuccessful, suffering from substantial durability problems. The program was cancelled in 1951 by the Canadian military, and the last United States interest was in 1952. The example in today’s video is one of the two milled frame guns sent to the US for testing.
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November 11, 2016
Mark Knopfler – “Remembrance Day”
A Remembrance Day slideshow using Mark Knopfler’s wonderful “Remembrance Day” song from the album Get Lucky (2009). The early part of the song conveys many British images, but I have added some very Canadian images also which fit with many of the lyrics. The theme and message is universal… ‘we will remember them’.
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November 11, 2015
Mark Knopfler – “Remembrance Day”
A Remembrance Day slideshow using Mark Knopfler’s wonderful “Remembrance Day” song from the album Get Lucky (2009). The early part of the song conveys many British images, but I have added some very Canadian images also which fit with many of the lyrics. The theme and message is universal… ‘we will remember them’.
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November 11, 2014
Mark Knopfler – “Remembrance Day”
A Remembrance Day slideshow using Mark Knopfler’s wonderful “Remembrance Day” song from the album Get Lucky (2009). The early part of the song conveys many British images, but I have added some very Canadian images also which fit with many of the lyrics. The theme and message is universal… ‘we will remember them’.
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