March 20th, 2012, 05:46 PM | #31 | |
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The 420 mm "Big Berthas" were used at Verdun, but against the French forts, with armor piercing ammunition, and without great success. It was a howitzer, and the range wasn't huge -- 8 miles is what I find by googling. |
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March 20th, 2012, 08:27 PM | #32 | |
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The ghost RE.8
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Meanwhile, another RE.8 had arrived to assist Sandy & Hughes, and the the dogfight continued until a third RE.8 turned up; at which point the German aircraft broke away. The RE.8 of Sandy & Hughes was flying normally and did not seem to be damaged, so the two supporting RE.8's headed off to continue with their allotted tasks. However, Sandy & Hughes never returned to base. Both had been killed instantly during the dogfight when an armour-piercing bullet had passed through Hughes' chest and into Sandy's head. The RE.8 had then entered a gentle banked turn to port and drifted about 50 miles downwind until the fuel ran out. The crash-landing caused little damage to the aircraft and did not result in additional injuries to the (already dead!) crew. The RE.8 had originally been designed to be less stable than the BE.2, but pilots disliked the change so the aircraft was subsequently modified to improve stability ... to such an extent that it could fly, and land (albeit heavily), all on it's own! |
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March 20th, 2012, 08:33 PM | #33 | |
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It was never Falkenhayn's intention to 'win'. The whole cynical reason behind the German attack at Verdun was to hit the French in a place their pride would not allow them to cede. He wanted to bleed the French army white, not take Verdun. |
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March 20th, 2012, 08:53 PM | #34 |
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Unfortunately for Germany, their army bled as profusely as the French.
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March 20th, 2012, 09:12 PM | #35 |
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And the German Army had it's back broken on the Somme according to Ludendorf.
Ah well krieg is krieg und schnapps is schnapps as the Germans would say. |
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March 20th, 2012, 09:38 PM | #36 | |
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Having said that, I do believe Verdun left a scar on France which is still highly visible today.
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March 20th, 2012, 09:53 PM | #37 |
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Good Books
If anyone is interested
The Storm of Steel (Ernst Junger) Eye Deep In Hell (John Ellis) Death's Men (Denis Winter) |
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March 20th, 2012, 10:23 PM | #38 |
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That's what he said. But the strange thing is, he could have taken it
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March 20th, 2012, 11:12 PM | #39 | |
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The Somme is known in history for Western losses, and its incompetent commanders |
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March 20th, 2012, 11:46 PM | #40 | |
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What is also not remembered is that the battle of the Somme which began on July the first 1916 was actually designed originally by the French to get the B.E.F more involved on the western front. And it then became an attempt by an untried British army & it's French allies to take the pressure off the French at Verdun. As for the senior officers. Whilst it's true that some were incompetent. There were also some excellent officers. Such as General Maxse the commanding general of the then 14th eastern division. Or it might have been the 15th. I'll have to go back to the books on that one. The Somme was also the first time that the tank was used in battle. All be it not very succesfully. But the fact is that at that time the tank was also an untried weapon that had to be used somewhere at some time. Thus proving that the high command were not the dunderheads that many historians have claimed them to be. As is well documented on the first day the British suffered nearly sixty thousand casualties. With nearly twenty thousand killed. To this day some of them have no known grave. May they rest in peace.
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