Comments by "Big Blue" (@bigblue6917) on "The Great War" channel.

  1. Hi Indy. With regards to amphibious landings, the British had planned a beach landing which was to flank the Germans trenches on the Belgian coast. For that they designed, built and successful tested a tank with floats on either side. It was the WW1 equivalent of the Duplex Drive Shermans used on D-Day. Though Gallipoli was a failure it did prove valuable in planning D-Day, including small raiding craft used to get troops ashore.
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  2. From what I know the biggest problem with the Schlieffen plan was that he took no account in the troops becoming exhausted and unable to keep to the timetable. So as they advance German troops we less and less able to keep to the timetable. The problem with the German Spring Offensive of Erich Ludendorff was that they he was an excellent tactician he he had no ideas about strategy. He planned battles with great insight but these battles did not lead to an end goal because he had no idea what the end goal was or how to get there, The British 4th Army which took part in the 100 Days Campaign was made up of four division with each division made up of two corps. That is two British corps, two Canadian corps, two ANZAC corps and two American corps. The American troops were taught how to fight like the British and Commonwealth troops to help them fit in better. The army was led by Australian General Montash who was the one came up with the All Armies idea of fighting. Part of the Royal Air Force was dedicated to ground attack and their aircraft were fitted with armour to help them to survive better. When Kaiser Wilhelm II dismissed Bismarck, Bismarck's last words to Wilhelm was never fight England (Britain) as he would lose. Those words came back to haunt Wilhelm.
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  3. I did read a few months ago about the British coming up with the idea for special forces prior to WW1 but they did not follow it through. Having said that WW2 saw the SAS, the SBS, Army and Royal Marine commandos along with the paratroopers, as well as other specialist groups. So when we got there we did not mess about. Also many British regiments were elite forces, such as the Highlanders. The Highlanders were one of the few that the German Prussian regiments did not like to face.
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  4. Whitehead's granddaughter, Agathe Whitehead, married an Austrian navel officer who, during the war, captained a two submarines which sank a number of ships as well as a French armoured cruiser and an Italian submarine. He was Georg von Trapp. Yes, the von Trapp from the Sound of Music.
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  5. The biggest breakthrough in antisubmarine warfare went unnoticed because it came about at the end of the war and never saw action. It was the British R-class submarine. It was what would later have been called a hunter-killer or attack submarine. It was designed to hunt German submarines while they were on the surface. It carried five hydrophones to help detect them. Unfortunately its potential was never realised.
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  6. I did know about the Harlem Hellfighters as I has read about them. Interesting that despite what their own country thought about them the forged such a reputation for their fighting ability. Reminds me of the Tuskegee airman of WW2 who were often praised by the bomber groups they escorted.
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  7. Elijah Hartman. The USS Maine was raised and the evidence is that the explosion was caused by an unseen fire. So that supports what you said here.
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  8. Jon South. I saw that documentary as well. It painted a whole new picture as to what really happened at Jutland.
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  9. The fake backpack was the basis of Operation Mincemeat in WW 2. Also you should check out about deception by the British in WW 2. Whole towns and cities were hidden against German night attacks.
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  10. Archers also used indirect fire, or indirect shooting as no chemical " fire" was involved. This allowed them to shoot on soldiers on castle battlements.
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  11. I did read that something like 0.001% of all combat deaths were in WW 1 were due to the use of the bayonet. There are recorded instances of British troops who when faced with a German soldier at close range and with the bayonet attached to their rifles would still shoot the German rather then use the bayonet. It seems that the physical act of stabbing someone with it was just to much of a step for many people. This may also be because shooting the enemy would have been less of a danger to themselves. i remember reading about the US Armies Sergeant York the day he won the Congressional Medal of Honour. While at the front line they came across a number of dead US and German soldier several of whom had died while simultaneously killing their opponent. They had each stabbed the other with their bayonet.
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  12. The story of the crucified Canadian soldier is true. He was Sergeant Harry Band of the Central Ontario Regiment of the Canadian Infantry. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crucified_Soldier A documentary on the crucified soldier was transmitted in 2002 as part of UK Channel 4's Secret History series and was made by the British documentary film maker Iain Overton.
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  13. Hi Indy, very much enjoyed this video. The name Tank came about because the British were trying to keep its existence a secret so they pretended it was a water tank for Mesopotamia and from there it was referred to as a tank. A lot more catchier then landship.
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  14. Smoking, Well clay pipes were still being used by British men up to WW 1 but these did not survive long in the trenches. Also one of the "advantages" of smoking was a calming effect it had so was often recommended by doctors. This is one of the reasons smoking became so widespread during this time. Interestingly doctors in the US were being used to sell cigarettes in the 50s often sighting there medical advantages, this despite the fact German doctors had shown that smoking was carcinogenic back in the 30s. My paternal grandfather served in the Royal Garrison Artillery at both the Somme and Passchendaele firing the big 60lb shells and I know he suffered from hearing loss. Unlike the infantry gunners would be in the front line for weeks or months at a time.
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  15. In the British Army prior to WW 1 the soldiers were encouraged to grow a mustache which carried on into the war. It was thought that it made the soldier look more manly. But as you stated it went out of fashion because of the gas mask. Interestingly in Ancient Rome men were clean shaven until the Roman General Hadrian became emperor. He, as was common in the Roman Army, wore a beard. As the emperor and his wife dictated Roman fashion civilian men soon adopted the beard as well. There may have been an extra incentive here. You see Romans dry shaved, i.e. no shaving soap and no lather. And the razor was not very sharp, so you can imagine with what trepidation Roman men approached the barbers every morning. One Roman man proclaimed that after a visit to his barber he looked like a gladiator fresh from the arena. Another fashion that changed with WW 1 was the use of clay pipes. They were still in use up to WW 1 but could not the rigours of the trench. This is when smoking cigarettes became more common. Smoking was actively encouraged by doctors because of its relaxing effect on peoples nerves and this led to a greater use of cigarettes.
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