Milsurp After Hours

When a ship carrying war materials from the US to Britain was sunk by a German Sub in those days the submarines made an effort to see that the crew had time to make some kind of life boat escape. Some were taken aboard the sub.....but not all.

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When you really have to reach out and touch somebody...and a long bayonet just won't do.....

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Not when your rifle with bayonet fixed would probably span a trench from front to back
And that taught you a thing or two!

Trenches are one reason why rifles shrunk from full length to intermediate to carbine length. And when 20th century forces engaged in combat.....and it progressed to a knife fight......it only showed that something didn't go as planned.

German Machine guns in "action". Against the Russians...so says intrepid reporter. Click the images to make larger.

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That's a training range .................

And a really "brave" soldier sitting casually against the tree.........

Maybe the photographer was Brian Williams' great-grandfather............

From a hundred years ago. "Waiting for action". Notice the trees behind them don't look like they have ever been a target for artillery. And....if they were in proximity to danger...particularly artillery fire, they wouldn't just lay down in mass formation. They would...or at least should...have spread out so one hit wouldn't take out a lot of men at one time.

http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/ ... d-1/seq-1/

And the US hasn't even gotten into it yet.

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How about this for military preparation a hundred years ago today.

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