Maggie’s Military Jeopardy
- Thread starter Gunfighter14e2
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Weinachtsbaum....
Christmas trees.
Cheers,
Sirhr
Great book vvv
Yeah, should have figured you'd know that one. I was thinking of Dresden and "Slaughterhouse 5" myself. IIRC, Kurt Vonnegut actually saw one --not many people who see those live to tell about it.
This Battle of Britain ace escaped from POW camp so many times, the Germans confiscated what?
Cheers, Sirhr
Cheers, Sirhr
Hey, if you guys nail one and you know you nailed it, please post a new question. It'd be nice if we could keep this thread moving, it's not for points or prizes, so following strict rules I don't think it necessary as long as we don't have so many questions it gets confusing. This has been a really fun thread and I'd like to see it keep going. It's also educational, I've learned some obscure stuff on here myself.
I'll go ahead and pose one again but I'm obviously not the best one to ask questions, but it'll give us something to play with.
Hermann Goering tried to hide this purchase from Hitler, but Hitler found out and made him turn it over. What was it? Who made it, how and why?
I'm hoping this one gets some of you guys.
I'll go ahead and pose one again but I'm obviously not the best one to ask questions, but it'll give us something to play with.
Hermann Goering tried to hide this purchase from Hitler, but Hitler found out and made him turn it over. What was it? Who made it, how and why?
I'm hoping this one gets some of you guys.
Well, I have learned a lot in the last couple of days but unfortunately not the answer to this question.
Stryker's a bit busy, dealing with a Harpie....
In the interim... a multi-part question:
This military refers to a rifle as "The gun that needs to be shaved."
Which military? What gun? And what is the reference to it needing to be shaved?
Cheers,
Sirhr
In the interim... a multi-part question:
This military refers to a rifle as "The gun that needs to be shaved."
Which military? What gun? And what is the reference to it needing to be shaved?
Cheers,
Sirhr
The Ghent Altarpiece is an incredible collection of artwork that has been in and out of controversy over the centuries. Some stolen, some sold, some lost, some retrieved, some damaged.... and there's quite the story behind it for further research.
Them damn nazi's......
And I'll take it that SirH's latest question shall be dubbed the latest "Daily Double", eh? Merry Christmas!
Them damn nazi's......
And I'll take it that SirH's latest question shall be dubbed the latest "Daily Double", eh? Merry Christmas!
Ok... that may have been too tough... But I'll give it a bit more time.
In the mean time... Here's a single part question:
What does it mean to be gazetted?
Cheers,
Sirhr
In the mean time... Here's a single part question:
What does it mean to be gazetted?
Cheers,
Sirhr
SirH, we've had a few 'gun laws' here in Canada that were gazetted, and my search shows many administrative and official positions in India and Pakistan being gazetted, but I'm sure that "being published in a news/gazette/periodical" isn't the trend that you're looking for. Personally, I have very low regard for such a thing, due to the fact that way to high of a percentage of human beings believe that "if it is printed, it must be fact". Both in the 'media' and on the 'innerwebz'.
Galileo himself even stated that 137% of three-quarters of the populace confuse ratios with fractions and then divide them by exponents. That's where they go wrong, because they keep forgetting the square-roots of the hypotenuses. - Facebook, January 2th, 2018
See.
Merry Christmas
Galileo himself even stated that 137% of three-quarters of the populace confuse ratios with fractions and then divide them by exponents. That's where they go wrong, because they keep forgetting the square-roots of the hypotenuses. - Facebook, January 2th, 2018
See.
Merry Christmas
Being "gazetted" relates to English military history and being published in the London Gazette. If you were promoted, it was published in the gazette. If you had a military action of note, mentioned in dispatches, it may also result in you being gazetted.
Pretty sure I'm right, so what is "Roderigue Hortalez y Co?"
Pretty sure I'm right, so what is "Roderigue Hortalez y Co?"
ADA has it right!
And an interesting factoid is that if your promotion or information was 'wrongly published' and there was an error... the British military would run around and make sure that you got THAT promotion. There were a couple of egregious ones in which Leftenants got 'wrongly' promoted direct to major or Colonel... and they were simply... promoted. The Armed forces would never admit their error...
Arthur "Bomber" Harris is believed to have benefitted from this when he received a permanent commission as Major at the end of WW1. He likely should have been reduced to Captain or 1st Leftenant upon getting his permanent commission from a reserve commission. But instead, they published him as a Major and that's where he was left. It is likely that this helped him be 'in the right place at the right time' to become the bomber commander at the time when his theories, strengths and abilities... were most needed.
A typo that changed history.
Good job ADA.
Cheers,
Sirhr
And an interesting factoid is that if your promotion or information was 'wrongly published' and there was an error... the British military would run around and make sure that you got THAT promotion. There were a couple of egregious ones in which Leftenants got 'wrongly' promoted direct to major or Colonel... and they were simply... promoted. The Armed forces would never admit their error...
Arthur "Bomber" Harris is believed to have benefitted from this when he received a permanent commission as Major at the end of WW1. He likely should have been reduced to Captain or 1st Leftenant upon getting his permanent commission from a reserve commission. But instead, they published him as a Major and that's where he was left. It is likely that this helped him be 'in the right place at the right time' to become the bomber commander at the time when his theories, strengths and abilities... were most needed.
A typo that changed history.
Good job ADA.
Cheers,
Sirhr
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It was the vehicle by which the French funneled money to the American Revolution through Spain...
Cheers,
Sirhr
Cheers,
Sirhr
Sirhr for the win on Roderigue Hortalez y Co. It was a shell company created in 1775 to funnel weapons and money to the American revolutionaries from our friends in France and Spain.
A couple of weeks ago, Sean, I think, posted a picture of a Mills bomb part. Well, here's an actual Mills bomb. At a battlefield archaeological site in Combles, France in 2016. Martin Pegler and I were visiting it. It's UXO... but almost certainly inert at this point. Almost. We didn't hit it with hammers, though!
Cheers,
Sirhr
Cheers,
Sirhr
Attachments
While contemplating the shaving of guns in the Sinai.... ID these items:
Cheers,
Sirhr
The top ring piece looks like the top of a mortar round...
Very cool. And fwiw, I can provide other pictures of other parts of the Mills Bomb. If anyone were to actually be interested in such. As I'd said in the clues, most anyone would throw these away, before using them.
And SirH, my guess would be that it is a 'timed' artillery shell, for anti-personnel purposes. To be fired over enemy lines, and set to burst at different times of flight/distances.
Sean. You have hit the nail on the head for the two fuse rings. One complete (in the back) and one fragment with its gradients still visible after 100 years in the dirt. The flat pieces are parts of the brass or copper sealing ring that goes around the base of a shell to engage with the rifling. And the 'balls' are lead shrapnel balls. In an hour, I picked up about 500 of them from the dirt. Give you an idea of how intense the fire was. Combles was one of the battlefields where my grandfather fought. Albiet, by then, as a field grade officer, not a front line junior officer. He was in the Victoria Rifles artillery. There is a good chance that he commanded the guns that fired those rounds into the German lines.
For those who remember my 2016 Motorcycle trip in EU... this was one of the stops. The site where I excavated these was directly behind Martin Pegler's house, where I was staying. Potato field. The amount of ordnance there is simply incredible. Most, at this point, not dangerous. But we were shown pictures of gas shells and told that if we find one of these... mark it and back off. The gas, in warm weather, can become active. Fortunately, it was cold weather. And we didn't find any gas shells.
It was an amazing experience!
Cheers,
Sirhr
For those who remember my 2016 Motorcycle trip in EU... this was one of the stops. The site where I excavated these was directly behind Martin Pegler's house, where I was staying. Potato field. The amount of ordnance there is simply incredible. Most, at this point, not dangerous. But we were shown pictures of gas shells and told that if we find one of these... mark it and back off. The gas, in warm weather, can become active. Fortunately, it was cold weather. And we didn't find any gas shells.
It was an amazing experience!
Cheers,
Sirhr
SirH, you're a smarter man than I, with interesting'er experiences than me too.... go crazy with another question. Or questionS.
Is the gun for fighting, or for fun?
http://www.passioncompassion1418.com/decouvertes/english_fusees_collection_gb.html
http://www.passioncompassion1418.com/decouvertes/english_fusees_collection_gb.html
I’ve really been enjoying scrolling down this thread and playing along. Lots of interesting facts, and I’ve learned a lot so far; just thought I’d include a link for anyone who does what I do, and digs a little deeper into the answers origins/history.
I agree... very cool site! This is pieces off many different shells... but I think you are right. The upper and lower rings are from a No. 80 series.
Cheers,
Sirhr
Cheers,
Sirhr
Ok, since noone has an answer on 'The Gun that Needs to be Shaved."
In the 1970's, the US provided a lot of M16's to Israel. Later, they produced them under license and built their own.
The guns were sensitive to the blowing sand in the Sinai. And the IDF solders found that the best thing for cleaning sand out of them was a cut-down shaving brush -- the bristles cut back to about 1/2" All IDF soldiers were issued shaving brushes back then... but few used them because aerosol shave cream was available. So they cut down their issue shaving brushes and used them to keep their M16A1's firing.
The Hebrew name for their gun translated to "The gun that needs to be shaved."
Sorry, can't remember the word... just the story.
Cheers,
Sirhr
In the 1970's, the US provided a lot of M16's to Israel. Later, they produced them under license and built their own.
The guns were sensitive to the blowing sand in the Sinai. And the IDF solders found that the best thing for cleaning sand out of them was a cut-down shaving brush -- the bristles cut back to about 1/2" All IDF soldiers were issued shaving brushes back then... but few used them because aerosol shave cream was available. So they cut down their issue shaving brushes and used them to keep their M16A1's firing.
The Hebrew name for their gun translated to "The gun that needs to be shaved."
Sorry, can't remember the word... just the story.
Cheers,
Sirhr
Guess we need to get back on track. This comes from the "back when it was hard" section. If you know anything about the air war in Europe, you know about the raids on Ploesti. If you don't, you should read up on it. Operation Tidal Wave, one of the first big raids on the oil refineries at Ploesti, was as costly an operation as the USAAF ever experienced, and produced a net increase in oil production for the Axis. Tidal Wave was supposed to be a synchronized attack that ended up not so synched. There was a constellation of problems that dismantled the "plan" which ended up costing 53 aircraft and 660 airmen. It was known as "Black Sunday." Despite the problems, some of the aircrews displayed extreme bravery and bad-assery. The air defenses around Ploesti had been recently revamped by Luftwaffe General Gerstenberg, because of an earlier raid by B-24s from the Halverson Project. Those beefed up defenses were not expected and the synched attack definitely should have produced less casualties. The 98th Bomb Group and the 44th Bomb group were flying their target runs over completely alerted and ready German defenses. During their run, going through fires, smoke, secondary explosions and all manner of hell and death, flying at 50 ft. AGL, what did special weapon they encounter and what was the outcome? Col. John R. "Killer" Kane and Col. Leon W. Johnson both won MOH for their leadership during this raid - btw.
/https://public-media.smithsonianmag.com/filer/14/58/1458d410-f4f2-46da-8758-300b40035a4f/ploesti.jpg)
Sumbeach!! 50' agl. them smokestacks look taller'n that. Just one more way to ruin yer day.
Flak towers maybe?
Flak towers maybe?
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YES! A flak train! Best part is they killed the shit out of them. The gunners aboard the aircraft apparently had the advantage killing many of the AA crews. Good on them.
The armored flak train was nicknamed the "Caterpillar". It had 10 wagons and one engine. It had 36 light and medium AA guns on board and was camouflaged as a freight train. The wagons had fake walls, which would come down to reveal the arsenal inside. The most deadly pieces onboard proved to be two 4x20 mm guns, which could rotate 360 degrees. Out of the 10 wagons, only 6 were firing platforms. The rest were sleeping quarters, kitchen and mess hall, communications center and even a club wagon. Everything it needed. It was put under the command of Hauptmann Joseph Brem.
General Gerstenberg had ordered the Caterpillar to be positioned north of Ploiesti in order to catch the bombers, which would have just come out of the target area by surprise. Instead it caught by surprise the 77 B-24Ds of the 93rd and 98th bomber Groups approaching Ploiesti from the north, as planned. "Killer" Kane, the CO of the 98th (CMO), estimated he lost 7 aircraft to the flak train and many other were damaged. A bomb took out the train's engine and it eventually derailed.
After 23 August 1944 the train retreated northwards from Ploiesti firing on the oil wells in its way. It was stopped by a 7 men team, which blew it up near Baicoi.
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