Likewise. I know I'd love to see more of the BEF in this vein, or more about salvage operations by other forces or on other fronts. All I recall is a story from WWII that Tommies teased Joes about "leaving a messy battlefield". That became a weakness against the Việt Cong, scrappers _extrordinaire_ , so by the time I was in the US Army, infantry doctrine included 'preventative' salvage. Also, spent brass pickup.
Who the hell managed to assemble a marching band of Womble redcoats? "Underground, overground wombling free, the Wombles of Ypres in Flanders are we..."
If you place small arms ammunition in an oil bath or even wipe it down thoroughly with oil it fails to function properly. Oil affects propellant very adversely.
Great presentation, thank you. I have searched for information about what things were like on the Western Front immediately after armistice - for example early afternoon Nov 11, 1918, early evening same day - Nov 12, 13 and 14 and into December 1918. I've often wondered, did German troops just leave their positions and walk home? What did it take to fill in the trenches and reclaim the land - and how long did that take, initially. Can you recommend a book covering that information? Historians rush from armistice to the League of Nations.
Those are all fascinating questions. I hope someone can answer them. I've always been interested in what was going on on the home front as well. The stories from the actual battlefield on any given day would be great to know. Especially from the viewpoint of the regular troops. Everyday was probably a fresh hell for them. There are some videos about the trenches and battlefields that the farmers reclaimed after the war. I imagine there are diaries of individual soldiers from World War I but finding them could be difficult for us armchair historians. Some of the returning German soldiers could have possibly walked home couldn't they? As the aggressors and the losers that was probably very dangerous. Your questions have made me think of other questions! Thank you!
I would be interested in this too, guns fell silent... Then what? I can imagine lads slowly gaining confidence to poke heads up, then possibly sitting on the edges of the trenches in view. Did the British and French units hold position for days, weeks? How and when did the Germans start to move out of their positions and the planning and interaction with the allied officers
I'm highly interested in the war of movement prior to the trench warfare. To me this is the last gasp of traditional Napoleonic type warfare fought between trained "professional" armies. It's hard for me to fathom large formations of men trying to find each other in the French and Belgium countryside. Air recon was at its beginning and not fully understood or trusted. Must have been fascinating.
Surely recycling was already an established industry prior to the war, albeit on a smaller scale? If you lived in a London house, for example, your rags, bones, fireplace ashes, horse dung, fats, scrap metal would all be collected on a regular basis by the respective street traders. All those commodities were recycled or had industrial uses. To be fair to the artillery, they were usually liable for action 24/7, obliged to move frequently to support ops or avoid CB fire, and they lacked the personnel & transport lift to remove dumped ammunition. Arty ammo often took days to be dumped in the amounts needed for fire missions (up to 1,000 rounds per gun), and the batteries often had to depart the position in minutes. Possibly the first British Army conflict where the arty ammo could be removed with the battery was Telic 1 in 2003, when DROPS vehicles and palletised ammo were used (and the mob stocks of ammo were pathetically limited...).
I think the point is not that recycling was happening, but the sheer *scale* of it, the Industrial scale in many respects. Yes, recycling was something that happened before, but never on this huge scale and in such a centralised manner. That I think is the major point he is trying to put across.
if only in the succeeding decades we didn't disparage what was learned then, we might not be living in a world awash in plastic. we now live in a society that extols, "use it, and throw it away".
Some time ago I read a book, heretical, I know, I am also capable of joined up writing. The book was about German ersatz products and similar salvage efforts in WW1. Perhaps a video on that may be of interest
Because shipping was an issue, Canada operated a number of forestry companies in England and France, providing lumber products to the allied forces, rather than shipping lumber from Canada
Very interesting, thanks, subbed. I shot 303's a lot, many years ago and so did my dad in WW2. What do you mean by a '5 round clip'? Do you mean a stripper clip? Or a stripper clip and 5 rounds?
What a fascinating talk!
VERY very interesting part of history 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Thank you WFA for the excellent content!
Absolutely fascinating. A completely unknown part of the logistics of WW1
As always, Dr Thompson delivers another interesting and entertaining lecture👍👍👍
Great presentation.
Excellent 👌
Very enjoyable talk.
A part of war usually ignored. So interesting to see this aspect explained.
Likewise. I know I'd love to see more of the BEF in this vein, or more about salvage operations by other forces or on other fronts.
All I recall is a story from WWII that Tommies teased Joes about "leaving a messy battlefield". That became a weakness against the Việt Cong, scrappers _extrordinaire_ , so by the time I was in the US Army, infantry doctrine included 'preventative' salvage.
Also, spent brass pickup.
Always love Dr Rob's talks. Hope they keep coming.
Excellent.
This is something I've never considered. Sending wounded men to hospital and bringing the, back is also a form of recycling.
I miss the day when we did this in from of an audience, on a stage. I guess these will have to do...Thank you for doing these.
thank you for this, I am so sick of military documentaries about the large aircraft carriers or whether the M4 could beat a tiger tank.
Who the hell managed to assemble a marching band of Womble redcoats? "Underground, overground wombling free, the Wombles of Ypres in Flanders are we..."
Amazing... they didn't want to waste anything... except lives.
If you place small arms ammunition in an oil bath or even wipe it down thoroughly with oil it fails to function properly. Oil affects propellant very adversely.
I thought I only heard mention of the weapons themselves, though.
Is that price tag for the war a day adjusted for inflation? Cause I just went "holy hell" when I put it into a inflation calculator...
The United Kingdom cleared that debt sometime in 2001, as I recall.
Great presentation, thank you. I have searched for information about what things were like on the Western Front immediately after armistice - for example early afternoon Nov 11, 1918, early evening same day - Nov 12, 13 and 14 and into December 1918. I've often wondered, did German troops just leave their positions and walk home? What did it take to fill in the trenches and reclaim the land - and how long did that take, initially. Can you recommend a book covering that information? Historians rush from armistice to the League of Nations.
Those are all fascinating questions. I hope someone can answer them. I've always been interested in what was going on on the home front as well. The stories from the actual battlefield on any given day would be great to know. Especially from the viewpoint of the regular troops. Everyday was probably a fresh hell for them. There are some videos about the trenches and battlefields that the farmers reclaimed after the war. I imagine there are diaries of individual soldiers from World War I but finding them could be difficult for us armchair historians. Some of the returning German soldiers could have possibly walked home couldn't they? As the aggressors and the losers that was probably very dangerous. Your questions have made me think of other questions! Thank you!
I would be interested in this too, guns fell silent... Then what? I can imagine lads slowly gaining confidence to poke heads up, then possibly sitting on the edges of the trenches in view. Did the British and French units hold position for days, weeks? How and when did the Germans start to move out of their positions and the planning and interaction with the allied officers
Had to miss the original owing to a volunteer job. So glad I can at least watch if not actually take part
Someone Said," Amatuers talk tactics, Professionals talk Logistics." WHAT IS THE SONG AT THE BEGINNING/END? IT"S BRILLIANT!
th-cam.com/video/rtt6i2SGKPc/w-d-xo.html
"Madamoiselle From Armentieres"
Madame moiselle from armentieres.
I'm highly interested in the war of movement prior to the trench warfare. To me this is the last gasp of traditional Napoleonic type warfare fought between trained "professional" armies. It's hard for me to fathom large formations of men trying to find each other in the French and Belgium countryside. Air recon was at its beginning and not fully understood or trusted. Must have been fascinating.
Surely recycling was already an established industry prior to the war, albeit on a smaller scale? If you lived in a London house, for example, your rags, bones, fireplace ashes, horse dung, fats, scrap metal would all be collected on a regular basis by the respective street traders. All those commodities were recycled or had industrial uses.
To be fair to the artillery, they were usually liable for action 24/7, obliged to move frequently to support ops or avoid CB fire, and they lacked the personnel & transport lift to remove dumped ammunition. Arty ammo often took days to be dumped in the amounts needed for fire missions (up to 1,000 rounds per gun), and the batteries often had to depart the position in minutes. Possibly the first British Army conflict where the arty ammo could be removed with the battery was Telic 1 in 2003, when DROPS vehicles and palletised ammo were used (and the mob stocks of ammo were pathetically limited...).
I think the point is not that recycling was happening, but the sheer *scale* of it, the Industrial scale in many respects. Yes, recycling was something that happened before, but never on this huge scale and in such a centralised manner. That I think is the major point he is trying to put across.
if only in the succeeding decades we didn't disparage what was learned then,
we might not be living in a world awash in plastic.
we now live in a society that extols, "use it, and throw it away".
Some time ago I read a book, heretical, I know, I am also capable of joined up writing.
The book was about German ersatz products and similar salvage efforts in WW1. Perhaps a video on that may be of interest
I have two of those salvaged rifles Enfield Mk III's. Smoothest bolt action in history.
Fantastic study of a completely forgotten area, the return loop. Very weak area in 2003.
Because shipping was an issue, Canada operated a number of forestry companies in England and France, providing lumber products to the allied forces, rather than shipping lumber from Canada
Very interesting, thanks, subbed. I shot 303's a lot, many years ago and so did my dad in WW2. What do you mean by a '5 round clip'? Do you mean a stripper clip? Or a stripper clip and 5 rounds?
Wish he didn't keep flapping his hands about, very distracting.