What's the point?

 
I thought this was amusing. The leader of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, was shown this PowerPoint slide as a way to lay out the current situation in Afghanistan.

His dry response: " When we understand that slide, we will have won the war."

More on this from the New York Times here.

April 23, 1915

 
On April 23, 1915 one of the most famous poets of World War I died of blood poisoning en route to the Dardenelles Campaign.

He is forever remembered for the lines:

If I should die, think only this of me:
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is forever England.
There shall be in that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of England's, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home

It is not often realised that he was not a soldier but a Sub-Lieutenant serving with the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve ashore. Brooke was originally buried by his fellow officers. His body was carried to the olive grove during the night and a simple stone cairn was constructed. A wooden cross bearing the above inscription was erected

Here lies the servant of God, sub-lieutenant in the English Navy
who died for the deliverance of Constantinople from the Turks

At the end of the First World War, at the instigation of his mother, this grave was replaced by the current tomb.

From Free Market Fairy Tales
 

Pirates and Q-ships

 
The following article is from Reuters:

PARIS, April 21 - French forces have captured six suspected pirates in the Indian Ocean after a command and supply ship was attacked by gunmen in speedboats, the French military said on Wednesday.

Pirates in two skiffs attacked the "Somme" ship overnight on Monday, some 300-km (190 miles) off the coast of Somalia. The French fired back and the speedboats fled.

No one was injured and after a brief search of the area, the Somme discovered the assailants' mother ship.

"We found the suspected pirates, petrol and equipment that could be used for anything but fishing," said Colonel Patrick Steiger, a spokesman for the military.

It was the second time in six months that the "Somme" had come under attack while taking part in a European anti-piracy operation in the area.

"In a funny way, the boat looks like a civilian vessel and we think that it was attacked by mistake," said Steiger.

So, as I understand it, the pirates are apparently confused by the innocent-looking ship and on two different occasions have attacked it. Exactly how clever are these guys? Or are they using their spare time for drinking rum and drawing up treasure maps instead of correctly identifying their targets?


Of course, if the pirates are weak in the target identification area why not exploit that? This seems the perfect place to deploy a couple of Q-ships.

Q ships were used during WWI and WWII with varying success to fight submarines. Basically, the Q-ship was a well-armed merchantman that was disguised to look like a "soft" target. Since submarines carried a limited number of torpedoes the plan was to entice a submarine - in this case an unsuspecting German u-boat - to surface and destroy the ship using his deck guns. Once the submarine had surfaced and approached the ship, hunter became hunted and the merchant ship opened fire with its concealed weapons - often successfully destroying the u-boat.

This excerpt is from First World War.com:

Introduced towards the close of 1914 by the British and French - and later deployed by the Italian and Russians navies - Q-Ships were deployed as an initially although decreasingly successful anti-submarine weapon.  Alternatively referred to as Special Service Ships or Mystery Ships, the purpose of Q-Ships was straightforward: to trap enemy (usually German) submarines.

Invariably comprised of small freighters or old trawlers they were loaded with hidden guns in a collapsible deck structure.  In practice U-boats would hail Q-Ships flying (in the case of the Royal Navy) the merchant red ensign and, in the period before the implementation of Germany's policy of unrestricted submarine warfare in 1917, a so-called "panic party" would apparently abandon the Q-Ship prior to the usual German policy of approaching the enemy vessel so as to sink it with the minimum depletion of ammunition.

At this stage the use of torpedoes to sink relatively small vessels was officially frowned upon.Thus with the U-boat effectively lured towards the apparently abandoned vessel the Q-Ship would run up the white ensign and the deck structure would be collapsed by the remaining ship's crew revealing a series of up to four manned guns, which would immediately open fire. Initially successful the Q-Ship ploy resulted in the sinking of some 11 enemy U-boats by the British and French.  As the war progressed production of Q-Ships notably increased so that by the war's close the British alone deployed 366.  However the Germans quickly developed a certain caution in approaching small enemy vessels, wary of decoys.

Torpedoes were increasingly used to sink Q-Ships at longer range; and with the introduction of unrestricted submarine warfare the crews of Q-Ships were not given time to abandon ship before being fired upon.  The British lost 61 Q-Ships in total.  By 1917 the effectiveness of Q-Ship deployment was minimal and the overall endeavour could not be termed a success.

Wikipedia also has some information here.

Back ...

 
Well I didn't go anywhere. But for some reason work overwhelmed my life there for a bit. But back on track - work to live ... not the other way round. Following on from my F 35 post a while ago this caught my eye in the Taipei Times:

Wednesday, Apr 14, 2010 A US$2.5 billion contract to sell 30 AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopters to the Taiwanese Army, sent to US Congress in October 2008 for approval, is on schedule, Defense News reported on Monday.

Since the notification, and especially in the wake of the announcement of a US$6.4 billion US arms sale to Taiwan earlier this year, there had been speculation that Beijing would pressure Boeing Co, the manufacturer of the AH-64, into canceling the deal.

Boeing, a subsidiary of McDonnell Douglas, was among the US firms singled out by Beijing as facing potential retaliatory sanctions for participating in the deal. It also sold Taiwan US$37 million in Harpoon training missiles.A letter of offer and acceptance was signed last year between Taipei and Washington and a joint US government-­Boeing team is expected to visit Taipei in the middle of next month to finalize the deal, the magazine reported, citing sources in the Taiwanese and US defense industries.

Okay, I'm not going to go into China vs Taiwan and who can force whom to buy (or not to buy) what ... but why is this happening. That's an awful amount of money for 30 helicopters. And don't we need more? Like say 300? Or a 1000?

When my brother-in-law trained at artillery school in Taiwan, he was very excited about shooting the M2 (50cal). Much to his disappointment, live fire turned out to be pointing the weapon at the target, pulling the trigger and hearing a taped recording of the gun firing. Literally, "rat-a-tat-tat". These guys aren't training for war anymore. So why purchase weapons that are not going to be used? And the argument that these weapons maintain a balance of power across the strait holds no water. This is a huge amount of money that can be used to build schools in the mountains and probably save the National Health System.

This all brings back fond memories of firing off countless rounds of various calibers during infantry training. There were so many live fire exercises that the instructors did not want to haul back leftover ammunition. And we literally lined up after fire-and-movement and fired off the remaining 5.56., 7.62, AP 65 rifle grenades, 60 mm mortars etc. Ah...those were the days...

Okay ... I've had a look at the Apache. And it's beautiful. We have to get some.
 

Sgt. Q.G.M. Smythe - S.A. Victoria Cross Holder

 
In June of 1942, Sgt. Smythe - of the 1st SA Infantry Division - was involved in action in Libya for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross. The citation for his medal reads as follows:

War Office, 11th September, 1942 The KING has been graciously pleased to approve the award of the VICTORIA CROSS to:
No. 4458 Sergeant Quentin George Murray Smythe, South African Forces.

For conspicuous gallantry in action in the Alem Hamza area on the 5th June, 1942.

During the attack on an enemy strong point in which his officer was severely wounded; Sergeant Smythe took command of the platoon although suffering from a shrapnel wound in the forehead. The strong point having been overrun, our troops came under enfilade fire from an enemy machine-gun nest. Realising the threat to his position, Sergeant Smythe himself stalked and destroyed the nest with hand grenades, capturing, the crew. Though weak from loss of blood, he continued to lead the advance, and on encountering an anti-tank gun position again attacked it single-handed and captured the crew. He was directly responsible for killing several of the enemy, shooting some and bayonetting another as they withdrew. After consolidation he received orders for a withdrawal, which he successfully executed, defeating skilfully an enemy attempt at encirclement.Throughout the engagement Sergeant Smythe displayed remarkable disregard for danger, and his leadership and courage were an inspiration to his men.

Smythe, who eventually rose to the rank of Captain,  hailed from Natal and passed away in Durban in 1997.

Below is a graphic depiction of Smythe's actions from the British National Archives. 

Tensions across the Strait

 
This is the latest from the Taipei Times:

US military chief confirms build-up

 Admiral Robert Willard also said Taiwan would need to improve its fighter jet capabilities to counter military imbalances with China.The top commander of US military forces in the Pacific on Thursday confirmed reports that the Chinese army has been upgrading and deploying larger numbers of missiles across the Taiwan Strait. “The PLA has focused considerable effort on building up its integrated air defense capabilities and has deployed an increasing number of upgraded Russian SA-20 PMU 2 along the Taiwan Strait,” Admiral Robert Willard said, ­confirming ­earlier reports by a Canadian defense magazine that said China has deployed eight battalions of advanced missile systems in Fujian Province.

Willard also said that Taiwan must someday improve upon its existing fighter jets to keep pace with China’s increasing air power. Some of China’s other military modernization programs highlighted by Willard’s testimony to the US House of Representatives Armed Services Committee include the development of sophisticated shipboard air defense systems as well as supersonic ­anti-ship cruise missiles.

Yesterday, media reports in Washington said that some US officials are insisting that China’s buildup of both conventional and nuclear forces is aimed solely at possible conflict with Taiwan.

I have yet to speak to a local resident here that believes Taiwan and the PRC will go to war. Everybody here always says the two countries share far too many common factors - not least that they are joined economically at the hip ( and probably a few other places). In addition, nobody here is that deranged to believe that any armed conflict would go the way of Taiwan. A middle-ranking officer in the Taiwan armed forces told me (not that confidentially) that a war with China would be unlikely to last more than two days.

That's a weekend we're talking about here.

So, much of the weapon talk is posturing and political noise-making. There is also a story (that was told to me by another member of the military) that the close ties in culture, and often family, between Taiwan and the PRC make Taiwan a security risk. By that I mean that the US may be reluctant at times to make cutting edge military technology available to Taiwan for fear that it may end up in China. This could explain why Taiwan is using 2nd generation (or perhaps 3rd) Patriot missile defense systems - when probably the Saudis and certainly the Israeli's have the latest of everything - with all the bells and whistles.

So there is little chance of the following happening right now. From the Taipei Times again:

Meanwhile, [DPP legislator] Tsai said that Willard’s testimony should give the government ample reasons to pursue an aggressive weapons modernization campaign, adding that the MND should explore different ways of acquiring the new F-16s and even F-35s, the US’ newest combat fighter jet.

The Lee-Enfield SMLE

 
A while ago I posted some information about the Mauser. Specifically, those used in the Anglo-Boer War. Mostly as a result of the lessons learned by the British during that conflict, the following rifle was introduced - and proved hugely successful.

This is from the Discovery Channel Website:

THE LEE-ENFIELD SMLE (Short Magazine Lee-Enfield)

Type: Bolt-Action Rifle
Country of Origin: United Kingdom
Caliber: 7.7 x 56 mm (.30 inch)
Cartridge Capacity: 10 rounds
Muzzle Velocity: approximately 2,438 feet per second
Rate of Fire: 15-20 rounds per minute

The standard infantry weapon of British troops from World War I to the 1956 Suez crisis, the Lee-Enfield SMLE (pronounced "smelly") built its reputation on reliability, accuracy and a phenomenal rate of fire. Its magazine carried 10 bullets, the largest capacity of any rifle on the battlefield during the first half of the 20th century. Its short bolt action cocked on closing, and its muzzle cap prevented dirt from clogging the weapon. In the hands of a well-trained infantryman, the Lee-Enfield could perform what was called the "mad minute," i.e., thirty rounds hitting a target 200 meters distant in one minute, a volume of fire that rivals modern semiautomatic weapons.

Visit the website when you have a chance. There are videos of different rifles in action and a poll to vote for the best rifle of all time. The AK 47 leads at the moment.

Five Sons to the Navy

 
The following excerpt is from the most fascinating website - Letters of Note. The editor states that his aim is to gather interesting letters, faxes, telegrams etc. I choose this letter because it so clearly shows the personal side of loss in war.

November, 1942: Five brothers, all serving on the same vessel during World War II, are killed in action as a result of said warship sinking at the Battle of the Solomons. Two months later, after hearing no word from the Navy regarding her sons' well-being, Alleta Sullivan writes the following, deeply moving letter to the Bureau of Naval Personnel. Alleta promptly received a reply from President Roosevelt. That letter can also be read below.

As a result of the Sullivans' plight, the U.S. military introduced the Sole Survivor Policy. The policy attempts to ensure that, should a family member be lost during military service, any remaining siblings be exempt from service.

Transcript

Waterloo, Iowa
January 1943

Bureau of Naval Personnel

Dear Sirs:

I am writing you in regards to a rumor going around that my five sons were killed in action in November. A mother from here came and told me she got a letter from her son and he heard my five sons were killed.

It is all over town now, and I am so worried. My five sons joined the Navy together a year ago, Jan. 3, 1942. They are on the Cruiser, U.S.S. JUNEAU. The last I heard from them was Nov. 8th. That is, it was dated Nov 8th, U.S. Navy.

Their names are, George T., Francis Henry, Joseph E., Madison A., and Albert L. If it is so, please let me know the truth. I am to christen the U.S.S. TAWASA, Feb. 12th, at Portland, Oregon. If anything has happened to my five sons, I will still christen the ship as it was their wish that I do so. I hated to bother you, but it has worried me so that I wanted to know if it was true. So please tell me. It was hard to give five sons all at once to the Navy, but I am proud of my boys that they can serve and help protect their country. George and Francis served four years on the U.S.S. HOVEY, and I had the pleasure to go aboard their ship in 1937.

I am so happy the Navy has bestowed the honor on me to christen the U.S.S. TAWASA. My husband an daughter are going to Portland with me. I remain,

Sincerely,

Mrs. Alleta Sullivan
98 Adams Street
Waterloo, Iowa

Reply

My dear Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan:

The knowledge that your five gallant sons are missing in action against the enemy inspires me to write you this personal message. I realize full well there is little I can say to assuage your grief.

As Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, I want you to know that the entire nation shares in your sorrow. I offer you the condolences and gratitude of our country. We who remain to carry on the fight must maintain spirit, in the knowledge that such sacrifice is not in vain.

The Navy Department has informed me of the expressed desire of your sons, George Thomas, Francis Henry, Joseph Eugene, Madison Abel, and Albert Leo, to serve in the same ship. I am sure that we all take heart in the knowledge that they fought side by side. As one of your sons wrote, "We will make a team together that can't be beat." It is this spirit which in the end must triumph.

Last March you, Mrs. Sullivan, were designated to sponsor a ship of the Navy, in recognition of your patriotism and that of your sons. I understand that you are now even more determined to carry on as sponsor. This evidence of unselfishness and of courage serves as a real inspiration for me, as I am sure it will for all Americans. Such acts of faith and fortitude in the face of tragedy convince me of the indomitable spirit and will of our people.

I send you my deepest sympathy in your hour of trial and pray that in Almighty God you will find the comfort and help that only He can bring.

Very sincerely yours,

(Signed)

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Normal is a Cycle on a Washing Machine

 
The above is the motto of the U.S. Army's Asymmetric Warfare Group. The motto is actually in the Blackfoot Indian language.

The term asymmetric warfare refers to a warfare when one side is far more powerful but the other responds with new and deadly tactics of its own - Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan are good examples. The motto " normal is a cycle on a washing machine " seems to have originated from the Vietnam-war era.

According to the Stars and Stripes:

The AWG is composed of senior enlisted, company-grade officers and contractors [and] the group is deployed, often in pairs, to advise combat units on various asymmetrical warfare threats and how to counter them. One major distinction, according to Greg Melcher, a contractor with the group, is "We don’t conduct operations."

Instead, they’re sort of expert consultants, "operational advisers," who, when deployed, go from unit to unit dispensing their expertise that’s ultimately supposed to save U.S. lives and win the war.

Selection for operational advisers happens only twice a year and includes, in addition to psychological and physical fitness tests, scenarios in which applicants are supposed to demonstrate problem-solving, communication and creativity skills.

The group also has a sort of research-and-development function. One of their claims to fame is a fogger devised to obscure snipers’ views.The Army already had a smoke grenade, but it took a while to actually put out smoke.Something quicker was needed, and they figured out how to do it, Lafferty said, after "blowing up some fire extinguishers."

Then they got it distributed quickly, another distinguishing group characteristic. "Our doctrine teaches us to ‘Do it this way,’ " Melcher said. "It doesn’t allow for that freedom of thought. We’re designed to augment the doctrine." The group also takes credit for the airdigger — which remotely shoots dirt off suspicious mounds to see if bombs are buried.

Language Log has also had a look at this article. Mark Liberman writes:

Versions of the saying "Normal is (just|only|nothing_but) the|a cycle|setting on the|a washing machine" has been around for a while, and it sounds like a Vietnam-era kind of sentiment. The phrase apparently is used in John McAfee's 1993 Vietnam novel Slow walk in a sad rain, and given the  description of the AWG in Stars and Stripes, and the description of the book in this review, it may well be the source of the motto:

The story begins in Special Forces A Camp, number 413, twenty miles from the Cambodian border. The camp's Green Berets, dividing their time between boredom and terror, are ostensibly led by a captain, the narrator of the story. But the officer actually takes his cue from an aggressive sergeant named Shotgun who is alternately crazy and wise, but always irresistibly, frighteningly dangerous. The altogether appropriate motto of A Camp is "Normal is a cycle on a washing machine." Commanding officers issue orders that have no meaning; weapons are used in ways that are the grotesque opposite of their original design. And in an experience that has a real-life counterpart, the Green Berets stumble on a shocking alliance between the CIA and North Vietnam, something they realize they must destroy — even at the cost of bringing both sides down on them.

Can this be right?

 
This has very recently come to my attention...
 
As a former South African national serviceman, I know that it is the duty of each soldier to support the government of the day. As I recall very few conscripts were jumping up and down from excitement at the prospect of joining the army. We went because we had no choice.

And then the next government comes along and basically says that it wants nothing to do with its own fallen soldiers..?

This is from the Voortrekker Monument website.

The Wall of Remembrance has been erected on the VTM Heritage Site to honour members of the SA Defence Force who died on duty. Members are honoured who died between 1961 (foundation of Republic) to 1994 (change to the SANDF). The Wall was erected without any state finance and the VTM raised all the funds through donations. The Wall will be inaugurated on 25 October 2009.







... without any state finance...?!?!?

Marine Sniper

 
Today, I would like to take a moment to talk about this man.

Mark has let me know that sniper in the photo above is in fact not Carlos Hathcock but Dalton B Gunderson. Thanks, Mark for bringing this to my attention. I was thinking about taking down the picture but in truth it's an amazing photo and - with Mark's permission, of course - I'd like to keep it up here.

Below is a photo of Carlos Hathcock.

Gunnery Sergeant Carlos Hathcock II , United States Marine Corps. Hathcock holds the record for the longest confirmed sniping kill of the 20th Century. Unlike modern military snipers in Iraq and Vietnam who use vastly superior weapons and technology when engaging the enemy, Hathcock relied on a 30 year-old rifle, the Winchester Model 70 and stalking skills.

This is from a USMC site:

After his training was completed Carlos began his new assignment. Operating from Hill 55, a position 35 miles South-West of Da Nang, Hathcock and his fellow Marine snipers renewed a Marine tactic which had been born in the islands of the Pacific in World War II. Within a short period of time the effects of the Marine snipers could be felt around Hill 55. Carlos rapidly ran up a toll on the enemy that would eventually lead to a bounty being placed on his head by the NVA.

As a result of his skill Sergeant Hathcock was twice recruited for covert assignments. One of the them was to kill a Frenchman who was working for the North Vietnamese as an interrogator. This individual was torturing American airmen who had been shot down and captured. One round from Carlos' modified Winchester Model 70 ended the Frenchman's career. On another occasion Sergeant Hathcock accepted an assignment for which he was plainly told that his odds for survival were slim. A North Vietnamese general was the target, and the man died when a bullet fired by Carlos struck him from a range of 800 yards. Hathcock returned to Hill 55 unscathed. In one incredible incident an enemy sniper was killed after a prolonged game of "cat and mouse" between Carlos, with his spotter, and the NVA sniper. The fatal round, fired at 500 yards by Hathcock, passed directly through the NVA sniper's rifle scope, striking him in the eye.

Hathcock would eventually be credited with 93 enemy confirmed killed, including one Viet Cong shot dead by a round fired from a scope-mounted Browning M-2 .50 caliber machine gun at the unbelievable range of 2500 yards. (I see Wikipedia puts the distance at 2347 yards or 2146 meters. The .50's cyclic rate was slow enough to adjust it to fire single rounds.)

     
The M2 .50 Caliber Browning






I have Hathcock's biography  Marine Sniper written by Charles Henderson. It's well worth the read!

The Mauser Model 95

 
Which (see below) got me to thinking about those Mausers...

 

A Model 1895 (Mexican Army)







In the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902, Boer Commandos - armed with Model 1893/1895 Mausers - proved to be an exceedingly tough match for the Brits. One of the constant themes of the conflict was the accurate, long-range fire the Boers rained down on their adversaries. As the Boers would put it, "Vertroue in God en die Mauser" --"Faith in God and the Mauser."

This is interesting. "The Model 95 (7x57) was  adopted by Chile, Mexico, Uruguay, Persia, China, the Transvaal and the Orange Free State. In fact, some of the Chilean Model 95s carry the code "O.V.S.", standing for the "'Orange Free State." Reportedly, because of the success of the British blockades, these rifles never reached South African shores, were returned to the factory where the Chilean crest was applied to the receiver ring, and sold to Chile as part of the contract." (From Guns Magazine, August 2007)

And this article from Wikipedia  discusses the 7x57 ammunition. Here's an excerpt:

The qualities of the 7x57mm as a military round were shown in the Spanish-American War and the Second Boer War in South Africa. Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders took very heavy casualties attacking an inferior force armed with 7 mm Model 93 Mauser rifles. Likewise, British soldiers fighting in South Africa were obliged to re-evaluate rifle and ammunition design and tactics after facing Boer sharpshooters and snipers armed with Model 1895 Mauser rifles firing 7x57mm rounds with withering effectiveness, easily outranging the .303 British cartridge as regards accurate long-range fire. The .303 cartridge at that time was still using cordite propellant, in contrast to the Mauser's higher-performance ballistite type smokeless powder.

I found this photo of a slightly newer Mauser rechambered for a NATO 7.62mm. 





 
That's beautiful...

The Battle of Rensburg

 
Here's a bit of history from the Second Anglo-Boer War. The narrative sets out to praise the courage of the British and Australians which is not to be denied. But it is quite clear that the South Africans' superior shooting skill and tactics held the day.

On February 13, 1900, at Pink Hill (also known as Hobkirk's Farm) , in the Cape Colony, the Battle of Rensburg was fought. Australian and British troops were attacked by a superior Boer force resulting in the deaths of 7 Australians and the wounding of 22 others.

The following account of the battle was given by a Boer prisoner to a correspondent from the Daily Mail:

I saw a long row of their dead and wounded laid out on the slope of a farmhouse that evening - they were all young men, fine big fellows. I could have cried to look at them so cold and still. They had been so brave in the morning, so strong, but in the evening a few hours later they were dead, and we had not hated them nor they us.

It was a cruel fight. We had ambushed a lot of the British troops - the Worcesters, I think they called them. They could neither advance nor retire; we had them penned in like sheep, and our field cornet, van Leyden, was beseeching them to throw down their rifles to save being slaughtered, for they had no chance. Just then we saw about a hundred Australians come bounding over the rock in the gully behind us. There were two great big men in front cheering them on. 

We turned and gave them a volley, but it did not stop them. They rushed over everything, firing as they came, not wildly, but with the quick sharp upward jerk to the shoulder, the rapid sight then the shot. They knocked over a lot of our men, but we had a splendid position. They had to expose themselves in order to get to us, and we shot them as they came at us. They were rushing to the rescue of the English. It was splendid but it was madness.

On they came and we lay behind the boulders, and our rifles snapped and snapped again at pistol range but we did not stop those wild men until they charged right into a little basin which was fringed around all its edges by rocks covered with bushes. Our men lay there as thick as locusts, and the Australians were fairly trapped. They were far worse off than the Worcesters up high in the ravine.


Our field cornet gave the order to cease firing and called on them to throw down their rifles or die. Then one of the big officers -- a great rough-looking man, with a voice like a bull, roared out "forward Australia! no surrender!" These were the last words he ever uttered for a man on my right put a bullet clean between his eyes and he fell forward dead. We found later that his name was Major Eddy, of the Victorian Rifles.

He was as brave as a lion but a Mauser bullet will stop the bravest. His men dashed at the rocks like wolves; it was awful to see them. They smashed at our heads with clubbed rifles or thrust their rifles up against us through the rocks and fired. One after another their leaders fell. The second big man went down early, but he was not killed. He was shot through the groin, but not dangerously. His name was Captain McInerney.

There was another one, a little man named Lieutenant Roberts; he was shot through the heart. Some of the others I forget. The men would not throw down their rifles; they fought like furies. One man I saw climbed right on to the rocky ledge where big Jan Aldrecht was stationed. Just as he got there a bullet took him and he staggered and dropped his rifle. Big Jan jumped froward to catch him before he toppled over the ledge, but the Australian struck Jan in the mouth with his clenched fist and [he] fell over into the ravine below and was killed. 

We killed and wounded an awful lot of them, but some got away; they fought their way out. I saw a long row of their dead and wounded laid out on the slope of a farmhouse that evening - they were all young men, fine big fellows. I could have cried to look at them so cold and still. They had been so brave in the morning, so strong, but in the evening a few hours later they were dead, and we had not hated them nor they us. 

Right-clicked  from here

"I am the Old Ghost of the Shangani Patrol And the last bullet will be mine..."

I found a reference to this battle quite by accident a few years ago. As a South African I find this kind of history fascinating. And the truth is - much like Zimbabwe - South Africa also has great stories like this but time and politics have meant that few know or care much anymore.

The Shangani Patrol was a group of white Rhodesian pioneer police officers killed in battle on the Shangani River in Matabeleland (now in Zimbabwe) in 1893.

During the First Matabele War, a column of soldiers were despatched to attempt the capture of King Lobengula, leader of the Ndebele nation. The column camped on the south bank of the Shangani River about 40 km north-east of the village of Lupane on the evening of 3 December 1893. Late in the afternoon, a dozen men, under the command of Major Allan Wilson, were sent across the river to reconnoitre. Shortly afterwards, Wilson sent a message back to the laager to say that he had found the king, and was requesting reinforcements.

The commander of the column, Major Patrick Forbes, unwilling to set off across the river in the dark, sent 20 more men , intending to send the main body of troops and artillery across the river the following morning. However, on their way to the river the next day, the column was ambushed by Ndebele fighters and delayed. The Shangani Patrol, numbering 34 men, were cut off by a rising river and they faced three Matabele impis alone. None survived.

Then came the development they had all been expecting and dreading. In the half-light they heard the clicking of rifle bolts and from behind a tree stepped a warrior wearing the induna's headring. He fired his rifle. It was the signal for a scattered volley which intensified as more warriors came running through the bush. More here.

There were no survivors, and this is the proud epitaph on their memorial. No one knew of their fate until two months later, when James Dawson, the trader, was led to the spot by a party of natives and found their skeletons. The trees all round were scored by bullet marks. The Matabele spoke of them reverently and had been so impressed by their bravery that they had refrained from mutilating their bodies and had left them where they fell. Dawson dug a large grave and gave them temporary burial close to a tree on which he cut a cross and the words, "To Brave Men". Their bones were later interred at Zimbabwe, since they had all come from Fort Victoria, and in 1904 removed to the Matopos, to the hilltop "consecrated and set apart for ever for those who had deserved well of their country."

The Fairburn-Sykes fighting knife.

 
Shortly before World War II William Fairburn and Eric Sykes designed this weapon, the Fairburn-Sykes fighting knife.

The knife was used by the British commandos ( including the just created S.A.S ) in WWII  but became popular with many other special forces units as the war progressed. The knife also saw service in Korea and Vietnam. This is from Wikipedia.

The length of the blade [ 7 inches]was chosen to give several inches of blade to penetrate the body after passing through the three inches of the thickest clothing that was anticipated to be worn in the war, namely that of Soviet greatcoats. Later production runs of the FS fighting knife have a blade length that is about 7.5 inches.

The F-S Fighting Knife was designed exclusively for surprise attack and fighting, with a slender blade that can easily penetrate a ribcage. The vase handle grants precise grip, and the double-edged blade is integral to its design. Fairbairn's rationale is in his book Get Tough! (1942).

"In close-quarters fighting there is no more deadly weapon than the knife. In choosing a knife there are two important factors to bear in mind: balance and keenness. The hilt should fit easily in your hand, and the blade should not be so heavy that it tends to drag the hilt from your fingers in a loose grip. It is essential that the blade have a sharp stabbing point and good cutting edges, because an artery torn through (as against a clean cut) tends to contract and stop the bleeding. If a main artery is cleanly severed, the wounded man will quickly lose consciousness and die."

Fairfield himself had a colorful history.He served as an instructor in the Shanghai Municipal Police for many years and trained UK, US and Canadian Commando forces, along with Ranger candidates in close-combat, pistol-shooting, and knife-fighting techniques during WWII.

I have to include this excellent quote from Richard Dunlop's  Behind Japanese Lines :

British Major Fairbairn, who had been chief of police in Shanghai before the Japanese capture of the city, taught the Fairbairn method of assault and murder. His course was not restricted to Camp X, but later given at OSS camps in the United States. All of us who were taught by Major Fairbairn soon realized that he had an honest dislike for anything that smacked of decency in fighting.

The Gladius

The military successes of the Roman legionaries stemmed from their intensive training and very strict discipline. And this weapon - the gladius.  

Which literally means sword. The word gladiator comes from this word as well as  Gladiolus - a flower with sharp, sword-shaped leaves.

The gladius was a short sword  that was used by Roman legionaries from the 3rd century BC and designed specifically for making short, powerful thrusts.


The weapon was about 60 cm (22 inches) long and generally weighed 3 pounds (1.4 kg) . In battle the Gladius was used in a thrusting action together with a large rectangular shield, the scutum.

This stabbing technique was most effective on the battlefield because its result was a deep stabbing wound to the midsection of an opponent. Unlike other swords that were used in strike to inflict glancing lacerations the thrust of a Gladius was almost always fatal.




On another continent, Shaka Zulu came to a similar realization about the deadly effect of stabbing in close quarter combat and virtually did away with the primary Zulu attack weapon of the time, the assegaai throwing spear, and introduced the iklwa .

The iklwa [was] a short stabbing spear, with a long, sword-like spearhead. It is said to have been named after the sounds made by its penetration into and withdrawal from the body.

The gladius and iklwa are separated by more than 1000 years, the Zulu weapon emerging later, but I have to wonder what would have happened if a Roman legion had met a Zulu impi in battle.

 My money would be on the boys from Rome.

"The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but that's the way to bet" Damon Runyan

 

 

 

Just found this. Nike Gladiator Sandals. For if you take your training really seriously, I guess.

 

Rice Paddy

 
Yesterday I was mainly here - helping on the farm. It looks a little like a scene from Platoon -  Is that Charlie moving in the treeline ... ?














Platoon was filmed in the Philippines. (Hey, Tears of the Sun, the SEAL movie set in Nigeria was filmed in Hawaii.)

This is interesting. Below, the iconic picture of Sgt Elias Grodin (Platoon) dying as the US helicopters depart the LZ.

And this is the photo it was based on.

As fellow troopers aid wounded buddies, a paratrooper of A Company, 101st Airborne, guides a medical evacuation helicopter through the jungle foliage to pick up casualties during a five-day patrol of Hue, South Vietnam, in April, 1968. (AP Photo/Art Greenspoon)

The Longbow

 
An old friend - a former marine - has taken up bow hunting. Ghillie suit, sweat, stalking in the bush under the African sun. Recently, he took a deer at 20 m. Just look at that bow!

Which got me to thinking about the English - or Welsh - longbow. Most famously used at the Battles of Crecy and Agincourt where men armed with these bows destroyed waves of attacking cavalry - specifically, killing hundreds of heavily armoured knights.

Typically made from yew and around two metres in length, the longbow was a powerful weapon in the right hands. It was accurate and could kill at ranges of up to 230 metres. However, it was its use as an area weapon (i.e firing massed volleys at specific areas rather than individual targets) which proved most effective. It was hard to draw the bow - probably impossible for most men today - and skeletons of longbow archers show deformations such as enlarged left arms and bone spurs on wrists, shoulders and fingers.

This account in Wikipedia testifies to the penetrating power of the arrow of the longbow:

In the war against the Welsh, one of the men of arms was struck by an arrow shot at him by a Welshman. It went right through his thigh, high up, where it was protected inside and outside the leg by his iron cuirasses, and then through the skirt of his leather tunic; next it penetrated that part of the saddle which is called the alva or seat; and finally it lodged in his horse, driving so deep that it killed the animal.

Saxton Pope, the author of  Hunting with the Bow and Arrow ( available through Project Gutenberg), describes his efforts to test the power of the longbow:

"To test a steel bodkin pointed arrow such as was used at the battle of Cressy, I borrowed a shirt of chain armor from the Museum, a beautiful specimen made in Damascus in the 15th Century. It weighed twenty-five pounds and was in perfect condition. One of the attendants in the Museum offered to put it on and allow me to shoot at him. Fortunately, I declined his proffered services and put it on a wooden box, padded with burlap to represent clothing. Indoors at a distance of seven yards, I discharged an arrow at it with such force that sparks flew from the links of steel as from a forge. The bodkin point and shaft went through the thickest portion of the back, penetrated an inch of wood and bulged out the opposite side of the armor shirt. The attendant turned a pale green. An arrow of this type can be shot about two hundred yards, and would be deadly up to the full limit of its flight."

Up in the morning before the sun...

 
Following on my Macbeth cauldron theme from yesterday.

Made a South African traditional "potjie" yesterday - on a charcoal fire.  One Chicken. The whole bottle of wine went in to keep it company. The family dog ( a combination of husky and another - as yet unidentified - canine) did not leave my side for the 4 hours of cooking. The stew fed what seemed to be an entire platoon of kids. 

Up at 0415 this morning. This is what happens when you take your vacation on a farm.

There is a company of  marines up on the side of the hill nearby - they're attached to the very large Air Force Base that lies just north. I haven't heard them yet but I will soon. They make an ungodly amount of noise screaming at each other in the early morning. I don't get that. A nicely hidden base, camo nets etc. but everybody within earshot - and that's a distance of about 3 clicks on a cold morning - knows where they are.

Of course, if it was a training base that would be different. Nothing makes sense there. See below. Nobody would normally do this.













Ah, 20 years and 30 kilograms ago...

Project Razor

 
The China post editorial of February 2nd caught my attention. It seems there is a proposal to create a museum dedicated to a group of Cold War pilots - known as the Black Cat Squadron. These R.O.C. pilots flew 102 reconnaissance missions in U2's over what was North Vietnam, North Korea and Mainland China in the 1960's and 1970's. Five pilots were shot down - 3 died and two were imprisoned for for almost two decades. Another seven men died when their U2's crashed. This from the China Post:

Jointly operated by the United States (U.S.) and the R.O.C, “Project Razor” had U-2 aircraft deployed at what is now a naval aviation base near the Taoyuan airport.
At the time, it was the only deployment of U-2 aircraft to bases not controlled by U.S. forces, and these were the only U-2 aircraft piloted by non-U.S. personnel.
Each of the 102 missions flown by the Taiwan-based pilots had to be authorized at the highest levels of government both in the U.S. and in Taiwan.
In essence, R.O.C pilots took all the risks for the missions, while the U.S. provided the equipment and intelligence for the reconnaissance objects.
Starting in 1961, members of the Black Cat Squadron flew at heights reaching 70,000 feet to snap photographs of strategic locations and troop movements during the height of Cold War tensions.
An ordinary mission would usually require at least eight hours of flying over hostile territory in a fragile plane possessing no defensive weapons that was easily damaged by enemy fire.
The information they collected played a major role in maintaining security in the region.
Information they supplied confirming movements of troops and weapons to the Soviet border also played an important part in convincing Washington that the split between communist powers in Beijing and Moscow was genuine.

And...

The proposed museum would also bestow belated respect and honor to the R.O.C pilots who lost their lives or spent years languishing in mainland Chinese prisons after being shot down on the dangerous missions.

More here.

Well, it wouldn't be the first time that a government "forgot" about its own soldiers.

This is a website that is dedicated to some of these pilots.