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Historical Moments On this day

SnafuSmite

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Good soldiers died on all sides of the conflict. I think towards the end knowing it was a hopeless situation they fought for each other. There is no greater bond in combat. Good to see you around snafusmite.
Thanks Mark, took a bit of a break, but will linger around a bit again.
 
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Tuesday 6 March 1945.

Members of the Dutch Resistance when attempting to hijack a truck in Apeldoorn unwittingly ambushed Lt. Gen. Hans Rauter, a fervent Nazi SS officer.

During the following week , German troops executed 263 Dutch in retaliation.
 
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Thursday 9 March 1916.

Germany declared war on Portugal for honouring its alliance with Great Britain by seizing German ships anchored in Lisbon harbour.

Portugal became a republic in 1910 after a revolution toppled King Manuel the second.
 

Joseph Cosgrove

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It was on this day 09 March 1935
That Hitler announced to the world the creation of the Luftwaffe. Completely going against The Versailles Treaty that ended World War I prohibited military aviation in Germany.
Nazi leader Adolf Hitler began to secretly develop a state-of-the-art military air force and appointed Goering as German air minister. (During World War I, Goering commanded the celebrated air squadron in which the great German ace Manfred von Richthofen–“The Red Baron”–served.) In February 1935, Hitler formally organized the Luftwaffe as a major step in his program of German rearmament.

The Luftwaffe was to be uncamouflaged step-by-step so as not to alarm foreign governments, and the size and composition of Luftwaffe units were to remain secret as before. However, in March 1935, Britain announced it was strengthening its Royal Air Force (RAF), and Hitler, not to be outdone, revealed his Luftwaffe, which was rapidly growing into a formidable air force.

The announcement sent shock waves through France and Great Britain.
 

Rapace

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Tuesday 6 March 1945.

Members of the Dutch Resistance when attempting to hijack a truck in Apeldoorn unwittingly ambushed Lt. Gen. Hans Rauter, a fervent Nazi SS officer.

During the following week , German troops executed 263 Dutch in retaliation.
Rauter didn't die in this ambush, but was only wounded. He was arrested in the hospital where he'd been taken, tried, sentenced to death by a Dutch court and finally executed.
 

Joseph Cosgrove

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The Legion was created on this day the 10th of March 1831 by Louis Philippe. So happy birthday to the Legion.

Surprisingly enough, it is not celebrated by the Legion.

For those who may tell you that it was on the 9th, it is not true. the law was drawn drawn up on the 9th, however, the king signed it on the 10th. And until a law is signed, it is not official. I mean it's not as though the king has said "hey, today, why don't we create an army of foreigners. that will help us in our occupation of Algeria and, more importantly be part of the solution to the all the foreigners which are in France. Then a secretary typed it up, photocopies were made and Hey presto, the Légion étrangère was created.

On your corporal's course the correct answer to 'when was the legion created?' is 10th of March 1831. BTW it was a Thursday.
 

Surfguy

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It was on this day 09 March 1935
That Hitler announced to the world the creation of the Luftwaffe. Completely going against The Versailles Treaty that ended World War I prohibited military aviation in Germany.
Nazi leader Adolf Hitler began to secretly develop a state-of-the-art military air force and appointed Goering as German air minister. (During World War I, Goering commanded the celebrated air squadron in which the great German ace Manfred von Richthofen–“The Red Baron”–served.) In February 1935, Hitler formally organized the Luftwaffe as a major step in his program of German rearmament.

The Luftwaffe was to be uncamouflaged step-by-step so as not to alarm foreign governments, and the size and composition of Luftwaffe units were to remain secret as before. However, in March 1935, Britain announced it was strengthening its Royal Air Force (RAF), and Hitler, not to be outdone, revealed his Luftwaffe, which was rapidly growing into a formidable air force.

The announcement sent shock waves through France and Great Britain.
I think most allied forces knew Germany was expanding its forces , shame everyone in power ignored it or else WWII may have been avoided .
 

Le petit caporal

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Blame the USA and thé Wall street crash
Blame the French and thé treaty of Versailles
Blame the royalty
Blame Churchill who was begging for this
Say thank you to the Godina for saving our arse
 

Joseph Cosgrove

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On this day 11March 1963 US Defense Secretary Robert MacNamara orders the adoption by the US military of the M16 assault rifle, originally designed as the AR-15 by Eugene Stoner

In 1964, the M16 entered US military service and the following year was deployed for jungle warfare operations during the Vietnam War. In 1969, the M16A1 replaced the M14 rifle to become the US military's standard service rifle. The M16A1 improvements include a bolt-assist, chrome-plated bore and a 30-round magazine.

Bit of background here:

In July 1960, General Curtis LeMay was impressed by a demonstration of the ArmaLite AR-15. In the summer of 1961, General LeMay was promoted to U.S. Air Force, Chief of Staff, and requested 80,000 AR-15s. However, General Maxwell D. Taylor, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, advised President John F. Kennedy that having two different calibers within the military system at the same time would be problematic and the request was rejected. In October 1961, William Godel, a senior man at the Advanced Research Projects Agency, sent 10 AR-15s to South Vietnam. The reception was enthusiastic, and in 1962 another 1,000 AR-15s were sent. United States Army Special Forces personnel filed battlefield reports lavishly praising the AR-15 and the stopping-power of the 5.56 mm cartridge, and pressed for its adoption.

The damage caused by the 5.56 mm bullet was originally believed to be caused by "tumbling" due to the slow 1 turn in 14-inch (360 mm) rifling twist rate. However, any pointed lead core bullet will "tumble" after penetration in flesh, because the center of gravity is towards the rear of the bullet. The large wounds observed by soldiers in Vietnam were actually caused by bullet fragmentation created by a combination of the bullet's velocity and construction. These wounds were so devastating, that the photographs remained classified into the 1980s.

The original M16 fared poorly in the jungles of Vietnam and was infamous for reliability problems in the harsh environment. As a result, it became the target of a Congressional investigation. The investigation found that:

  • The M16 was billed as self-cleaning (when no weapon is or ever has been).
  • The M16 was issued to troops without cleaning kits or instruction on how to clean the rifle.
This bit is for Crawdad, Surfguy, Snafu and anyone else who may be interested (and yes why not, Dusa):

  • The M16 and 5.56×45mm cartridge was tested and approved with the use of a DuPont IMR8208M extruded powder, that was switched to Olin Mathieson WC846 ball powder which produced much more fouling, that quickly jammed the action of the M16 (unless the gun was cleaned well and often).

  • The M16 lacked a forward assist (rendering the rifle inoperable when it jammed).

  • The M16 lacked a chrome-plated chamber, which allowed corrosion problems and contributed to case extraction failures (which was considered the most severe problem and required extreme measures to clear, such as inserting the cleaning-rod down the barrel and knocking the spent cartridge out).
1583900656083.png
 

SnafuSmite

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Should have taken the FAL, they had them in their trials when they were looking at replacing the M1 Garand, they opted for the M14 instead.

Interestingly the Belgians and Brits were working on the FAL in a .280 caliber, however the went to 308 because the Americans decided they preferred 308. Now 70 years later the Americans are looking at the .280 type caliber again...M16 has proved itself though after a rocky start.

However in my humble opinion, the FN FAL is probably one of the best rifles ever produced.
 

dusaboss

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I think most allied forces knew Germany was expanding its forces , shame everyone in power ignored it or else WWII may have been avoided .
I ask my self that question too. Why they ignored until was too late? No way England and France did not know that Germany building up army and bluntly breaking treaty of Versailles.
Also they knew about crazy Nazi ideology so, what did they expected?

Russians (Stalin) had non-aggression agreement which was made in '39. At that time was probably too late to react. Than, they paid price for making deal with Hitler. I mean what they also expected? They sow what Hitler did with "Arian" communists in his country. Why think that would be different with communists of lesser (Slavic :)) race?
 
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Thursday 11 March 2004.

10 bombs detonated by mobile phone explode on 4 trains during the morning rush hour in Madrid. 190 people were killed and nearly 2000 injured. The attacks were later linked to Islamic extremists.
 

Rapace

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Saturday, 13 March 1954 : beginning of the battle of Ðiện Biên Phủ. Strongpoint “Béatrice” held by III/13e DBLE falls after a heavy and totally unexpected shelling by the Vietminh artillery followed by a hand-to-hand infantry fight. The CO, Major Paul Pégot, and his staff are killed in their command post by a direct hit, in the early minutes of the engagement. Later in the same evening Lt-Col Jules Gaucher, commanding the 2 battalions of 13e DBLE present at DBP is also killed the same way.
 
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Friday 16 March 1945.

WW2, after months of fighting, the Pacific island of Iwo Jima was declared secure by the US military. More than 6,000 Marines died battling for the island along with almost all of the 21,000 Japanese soldiers trying to defend it.
 
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Sunday 18 March 1962.

France and leaders of the Algerian National Liberation Front signed a peace agreement ending the seven year Algerian War. This signalled the end of 130 years of colonial French rule in the North African country.
 

jonny

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Sunday 18 March 1962.

France and leaders of the Algerian National Liberation Front signed a peace agreement ending the seven year Algerian War. This signalled the end of 130 years of colonial French rule in the North African country.
And Jonny, along with a large number of the French army was pissed off. As were of course all the European settlers in Algeria, aka pied noirs, and the harkis and their families. A very sad day to remember for many.
 
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And Jonny, along with a large number of the French army was pissed off. As were of course all the European settlers in Algeria, aka pied noirs, and the harkis and their families. A very sad day to remember for many.

A very sad day for my great and late friend Michel Sanchez. His father was murdered by the terrorists. They had to leave their farm and eventually returned to France. Volt may remember I had some correspondence about him as might another more recent member of this forum
 
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