March 28, 2015, 09:40 PM | #426 |
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Vey interesting Gary. I have a copy of Doddridge’s: “Notes on the Settlement and Indian Wars.” One of those “crackers” you mentioned was a namesake ancestor of mine from Fort Hinkle on the frontier of western Virginia. He is also mentioned in Doddridge's book. He was with a Virginia militia unit under Gen. Washington and saw the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown in 1781.
Changing the subject a bit, if anyone enjoys reading about the old days of hunting, one could find no better reading than one of Jim Corbett’s books. Corbett (1875-1955) was born and raised in India and grew up in the jungle hunting with an old muzzle loading shotgun and later black powder cartridge rifles before using a large caliber cordite double rifle to take down numerous man eating tigers and leopards. He is credited in the Guinness Book of World records as having killed the two most notorious man-eaters of all time: the Panar Leopard and the Champawt tigress with over 800 human kills between them. A naturalist and outdoorsman, Corbett was more concerned with saving human lives than killing for sport. It is estimated that thousands of native Indian lives were saved by his actions. Corbett’s “The Man-Eaters of Kumaon” is a classic and can be found on Amazon. Last edited by Bishop Creek; March 28, 2015 at 09:50 PM. |
April 5, 2015, 08:05 PM | #427 | |
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Cherry Pie
OK, this account is new in a sense that it takes place during WW II aboard a 110 ft wood hull subchaser. It is told by Pappas, a gunner's mate who often served as the helmsman or as lookout. His skipper was a good guy but the other two officers were from the South and they hated the Yankees like Pappas. The officer involved was from Georgia and was nicknamed Cowboy.
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May 14, 2015, 07:40 PM | #428 | |
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New (old) use for potatoes
Presently reading Ross E. Beard's Carbine: The Story of David Marshall Williams. He's the fellow who invented the short stroke piston that was later used on the M-1 Carbine. Haven't gotten far into the book but there is a useful purpose for Irish potatoes:
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May 22, 2015, 02:51 PM | #429 | |
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End of WW II
The HMS Deane was accepting the surrender of German U-boats. It was accompanied by the yacht Philante. Among the sailors sent from the Deane to board the U-boat was ERA A. J. Brown.
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August 1, 2015, 04:33 PM | #430 | |
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From Rear Admiral Paul Auphan & Jacques Mordal's The French Navy in World War II:
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August 2, 2015, 10:27 AM | #431 | |
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Just finished Rear Admiral Paul Auphan and Jacques Mordal's The French Navy in World War II. The book was copyrighted in 1959 by the United States Naval Institute Press. Here is an interesting passage from its conclusion:
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November 14, 2015, 12:08 PM | #432 |
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From the Annals of Arfcom, here are some amusing stories: http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_5/180...w_thread_.html
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November 29, 2015, 09:41 AM | #433 | |
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V-6, the Combat Cat
During WW II, the navy tugboat, USS Pawnee, had a cat for its mascot. They called it V-6 and the following account is from Theodore Mason's book, Rendezvous With Destiny.
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December 5, 2015, 10:17 PM | #434 | |
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Mischievous riflemen of the 3/95
1814 was not a good year for Napoleon. The Allies were bringing the war to French soil. Among them was a rifleman of the 3/95 (Rifle Brigade).
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December 24, 2015, 10:56 AM | #435 | |
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Muzzle Control - Practice it always!
Always keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction.
Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot. The following account is from an officer of the 95th Rifle Regiment. Quote:
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December 25, 2015, 12:19 PM | #436 | |
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From Ezekiel Baker, maker of the Baker rifle carried by the 5/60 Royal Americans, King's German Legion, Brunswick Oels and the famous 95th Rifles:
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December 31, 2015, 05:14 PM | #437 | |
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More on Boy Scout training circa 1930
The scene takes place in Scotland.
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The above was from Eric Lomax's The Railway Man. As a Signal Corps Officer, Lt. Lomax was sent to Malaysia as part of the 5th Artillery. He was captured there and endured a lot of torture when a small map was found in his kit. Many decades later (nineties) Lomax met with his interrogator who, post-war, became an anti-militarist and a buddhist and very remorseful about what happened to the PoWs - especially Lomax who was waterboarded. Lomax met his interrogator in Malaysia where Lomax saw the temple the interrogator paid for to atone for his conduct. They travel together to Japan where Lomax writes a letter forgiving the interrogator and hands it to him before he returns to Scotland with his wounds finally healed.
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March 2, 2016, 06:20 PM | #438 | |
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Excerpt from Wenches, Wives and Servant Girls: A Selection of Advertisements for
Female Runaways in American Newspapers, 1770-1783. Ed. by Don Hagist.
From page 54 we read: Quote:
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March 8, 2016, 05:33 PM | #439 | |
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Support our Troops
And don't steal from them!
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April 16, 2016, 11:42 AM | #440 | |
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From Ken Tout's By Tank: From D to VE Day.
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September 14, 2016, 05:54 PM | #441 | |
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Took me over a decade to get this two volume set, Memoirs of Major General Riedesel. Riedesel was a Hessian general who served under Burgoyne at Saratoga. His wife's book is more readily available but this two volume set is available now in paperback.
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April 5, 2017, 10:35 AM | #442 | |
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A hero of the war at Cold Harbor
Here is an interesting application of camouflage and stalking from the Civil War. It was not for killing or scouting but for rescuing a fellow soldier.
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April 7, 2017, 08:30 AM | #443 |
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A timid rifleman'
'Our men are splendid, always a cheery look or word when you go round; though even Riflemen are sometimes "stumours." One poor fellow; who had not covered himself with glory, when invited to jump over the parapet on wiring duty at night, protested to his Captain (Frewen) that he seemed to intend him to go and join his wife. "Where is she?" asked the Captain. "In Heaven." "heavens, man!" said the gallant Captain, "if she saw you looking like that she'd kick you right out at the door".'
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April 9, 2017, 02:49 AM | #444 |
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Fascinating reading ! I have of late been playing around on the forum Civilwartalk.com, and find that a dog and I can spend hours in a chair with a computer on my lap just perusing the old info., and I'm not necessarily what you would call a civil war buff..
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May 17, 2017, 12:38 PM | #445 | |
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Old Stony - I'm also at Civil War Talk. Like here, it's a good group of people from worldwide.
From page 50 of William Ash's Under the Wire: The World War II Adventures of a Legendary Escape Artist and "Cooler King". Ash was a Texan who grew up in and about Dallas. As a boy, he saw the depression and as he got older, rode the rail and wandered among hobos. When war broke out, he made his way to Canada to join the RCAF. They rejected him as underweight and he returned home, borrowed $20 and ate as much as he could for two weeks to gain weight. He passed this time and was trained to fly Spitfires. Assigned to 411 Squadron in Group XII, he shot down a couple of planes before being shot down himself. Ash recalled one brave Lincolnshire farmer who carried out his own private war with the Luftwaffe. Overnight, he would drive his tractor to a Q-site, a dummy airfield that was designed to lure enemy bombers to drop their bombs over a harmless place and spare a real airfield from damage. The farmer rigged two long planks in the position of a wing with a red lamp on on the left wing and a green one on the right. When the Luftwaffe came over, he would drive his tractor as if it were an taxiing airplane. The next day after the raid, he would triumphantly return to his pub and order a pint. "Got the bastards to drop three sticks on me last night." Quote:
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May 17, 2017, 04:20 PM | #446 | |
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Since the Civil War was mentioned.
Ash tunnels out and is wandering around Lithuania when he decides he want to steal a small boat to escape to Sweden. Unable to move the boat, he approached some workmen and asked for help. One apologizes and says that while they would help, as German soldiers they cannot and Ash is again captured. He is returned to Luft Stalag III and finds there are Americans there in an adjacent compound. Both sides want to coordinate an escape and while the guards are distracted on both sides, Ash climbs the fence, cross the barbed wire barrier to the second fence, and swaps place with an American colonel who takes his place on the British side.
He spends a night in the American camp. From page 272: Quote:
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July 29, 2017, 09:27 PM | #447 | |
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Negligent discharge
Remember Rule #1: Always point the gun in a safe direction.
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August 3, 2017, 03:29 PM | #448 |
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Reading a modern (Vietnam) era tank book, Praying For Slack. That's the name of one marine's M48A3. During the voyage on the LCD, our hero was told to clean the breechblock. He accidentally breaks his platoon sergeant bottle of whiskey which was stowed in a bag outside on the tank deck. He apologizes to the sergeant and figures he's in deep fecal matter. The other two sergeants who were with his sergeant laughed since it's a court martial offense for smuggling alcohol aboard a Navy ship. The injured sergeant sends our hero away. Anyway, our hero writes home and begs his mother to send a bottle which she does. After mail call, he calls his sergeant over and gives him the fresh bottle. The sergeant offers him and the lt. (who was present) a couple of shots and it is one of the sergeant's most memorable time of his two tours in 'Nam. Drinking good whiskey. All is forgiven and he's good with sarge again.
So, he pleads with his mother to send a second bottle to a buddy with whom he attended tank school. Like a good mother, she does that too. Then one day a government car pulls up to the house. She can see the white license plate and that it is a federal person. Oh no! The dread all mothers fear for their sons who are serving overseas - My son is dead and he's here to break the news to me. The knock on the door follows and a very officious person in civilian attire is there. She opens the door and after the stranger identified himself as a Postal Inspector, asked if she was Mrs. XZY. "Yes," she responds, bracing for the worse. "Did you send a bottle of whiskey to a soldier in Vietnam?" "Yes." "That bottle broke. Did you know it's against federal laws to send alcohol through the mail?" The absurdity of the moment struck her and she breaks out into hysterical laughter. "What's so funny? This is a serious federal offense." She explained that she thought he was there to deliver her son's death notice and that she was all worked up to receive the bad news. That he wasn't harmed made the matter of the bottle so trivial. The federale realized the awkwardness of the moment, gave her a mild warning and excused himself. Case closed.
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August 4, 2017, 07:56 PM | #449 | |
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How to make axle grease
This is from the Diary of Sgt. Henry W. Tisdale, 35th Massachussetts, who was captured during the Overland Campaign. As a PoW, he was at Libby Prison and then the notorious Andersonville. Move to another camp, he describes making axle grease:
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November 9, 2017, 08:22 AM | #450 |
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From I Do Wish This Cruel War Was Over, ed. by Christ and Williams.
After making good our retreat and clear of the peril which a few moments ago surrounded us, an amusing little dialogue took place, in which our Captain got the worst of it. At a halt every man came up "pell mell"; Witt came up minus his hat, when the Captain remarked, good humoredly, "Luther, where's your hat?" Luther instantly replied, "in the brush," and continued he hesitatingly, "and Captain I've lost my pistol too," says the Captain rather sharply, "Uh, you MUST have been in a hurry," says Luther. "Yes, I was trying to KEEP UP with my Captain."
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