They don't like it up 'em Captain Mainwaring.
Be fair, Corporal Jones, who would? Would you? Didn't think so.
Hans
They don't like it up 'em Captain Mainwaring.
I sometimes wonder if the *relative* frequency of bayonet charges by British units in Iraq and Afghanistan is simply because they run out of ammo more often.
No, it's because the Afghanis have not forgotten of the power of the charge of the 3rd Foot and Mouth Regiment
When the King knew that the first battery was taken, he uncovered his head and thanked God, but soon after, learning that the centre had been repulsed, he put himself at the head of the Smaland cavalry and charged the Imperial cuirassiers, the "black lads," with whom he had just before told Stalhaske to grapple. Piccolomini hastened to support the cuirassiers; and the Swedes, being overmatched, retreated without perceiving—the fog having again come over—that they had left the King in the midst of the enemy. A pistol-ball now broke his arm; and as the Duke of Lauenburg was supporting him out of the battle, an Imperial cuirassier came behind him and shot him in the back. He then fell from his horse; and, other cuirassiers coming up, one of them completed the work of death.
It is added on the testimony of a young gentleman named Leubelfing, the son of Colonel Leubelfing, of Nuremberg, and page to the Lord Marshal Crailsham, that being near when the King fell, and seeing that his charger, wounded in the neck, had galloped away, he dismounted and offered him his own horse. Gustavus stretched out his hands to accept the offer; and the page attempted to lift him from the ground, but was unable. In the mean time some cuirassiers, attracted to the spot, demanded who the wounded man was. Leubelfing evaded the question or refused to answer; but the King himself exclaimed, "I am the King of Sweden," when he received four gunshot wounds and two stabs, which quickly released him from the agony of his broken arm, the bone of which had pierced the flesh and protruded. The Imperialist soldiers about the King, each anxious to possess some trophy, had stripped the body to the shirt, and were about to carry it off when a body of Swedish cavalry, charging toward the spot, dispersed them.
My father went into action at Monte Cassino aged 18 and in his first engagement bayoneted a German soldier when they ran into each other by surprise in the rubble. He told me he couldn't pull it out (probably stuck in the guy's spine) and the poor German was wriggling on the end of it. His sergeant knocked him out of the way, chambered a round in the rifle and fired allowing the bayonet to be withdrawn - the German solder was naturally killed. Dad said he threw his rifle away and got a tommy gun. He said he would rather have been killed than have to bayonet a man ever again.
The Indians of the plains are the best skirmishers in the world. In rapidity of movements, in perfect horsemanship, sudden whirling, protecting the body by clinging to the side of the horse, and rapid movements in open and difficult ground, no trained cavalry in the world can equal them. On foot their ability to hide behind any obstruction, in ravine, along creeks, and under creek and river banks, and in fighting in the open plains or level ground, the faculty to disappear is beyond one's belief except he has experienced it. In skulking and sharpshooting they are adepts, but troops properly instructed are a match for them on foot, and never fail to drive and route them, if they will stand and fight and never retreat except slowly with their faces to them. I have seen several times, when caught in a tight place, bands of Indians held by a few men by holding to ridges and slowly retreating, always using our rifles at every opportunity when an Indian was in range, never wasting a shot on them unless there was a probability of hitting them. The Indians have a mortal fear of such tactics.
1791 November 4 Near sources of the Miami of the Lakes, and near site of Fort Recovery, Ohio (St. Clair's defeat)—Maj. Gen. Arthur St. Clair; Regiment of Artillerists; 1st Infantry (?) ; 2nd Infantry; 350 Kentucky militiamen, Lt. Col. Oldham, Peter Faulkner's Rifle Company ; cavalry, against a force of 2,000 Miamis, Delawares, Shawanoes, Wyandots, Ottawas, Chippewas, Potawatomis, led by Red Jacket of the Shawanoes, Buck-ong-a-helos of the Delawares, and Simon Girty. Casualties; 632 killed and 264 wounded of a total force of 1,400.
1873 April 11—20 Lava Beds, Calif. Trs. B, F, G, H. and K, 1st U. S. Cav.; Cos. E, and G, 12th U. S. Infty.; Cos. B, C, and I, 21stU. S. Infty. ; and Bat. A, B, E, G, H, and K, 4th U. S. Artillery; and Indian scouts. Brig. Gen. E. R. S. Canby and Col. A. C. Gillem, 1st U. S. Cav., in command. Gen. E. R. S. Canby killed. Soldiers killed, 6. Citizens killed, 1. Lieut. Walter Sherwood, 21st U. S. Infty., wounded April 11; and Lieut. C. P. Eagen, 12th U. S. Infty., wounded April 15. Soldiers wounded, 13. Citizens wounded, 2.
During its period of exclusive responsibility for transportation activities, the QMC busied itself with plans for the military utilization of the Australian railway system. That system was in general incapable of swift distribution of supplies. It had originally been built and developed by the six Australian states to serve state rather than national needs. This fact accounted for the system's most serious shortcoming—five different gauges. These varying gauges made long-distance shipments impossible without unloading and reloading, occasionally three or four times. Page 49
Yes - I saw something years ago about the confused situation with Australian railroads in the 1930s & 40s.
I would definitely like to get a good picture of which lines were which gauge, along with maps showing where they ran.
Since the 1950s I do know there has been a concerted effort to rationalize ans standardize the gauges, but I'm not sure if they have completed that or not.
I came across this comment in the US Army WW2 history of Quartermaster Operations Against Japan while preparing material for the World War 2 class that I am presently teaching. Comments about the problem of differing rail gauges also show up in the official Australian histories.
Could any of our Australian friends let me know if this situation still exists, or have the Australian railways standardized on the 4 foot 8.5 inch gauge?
The official Australian history AUSTRALIA IN THE WAR OF 1939-1945, SERIES FOUR, CIVIL, VOLUME III, WAR ECONOMY, 1939-1942 has the map for the World War 2 period in Chapter 12, on page 401.
You can find it at this website.
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/RCDIG1070215/
I came across this comment in the US Army WW2 history of Quartermaster Operations Against Japan while preparing material for the World War 2 class that I am presently teaching. Comments about the problem of differing rail gauges also show up in the official Australian histories.
Could any of our Australian friends let me know if this situation still exists, or have the Australian railways standardized on the 4 foot 8.5 inch gauge?
Dual gauge tracks in Wallaroo, South Australia. The outer rail on the right is for Broad Gauge (5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm)), the inner rail is for standard gauge. The corridor was dual gauged by Australian National in the early 1980s. This is a low speed line.
Triple gauge used in the station yards at Gladstone & Peterborough in South Australia