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Now truth more than fiction is strange,
as customs and laws they have changed;
There're things quite absurd
that we've never heard
and some of them seem quite deranged
as customs and laws they have changed;
There're things quite absurd
that we've never heard
and some of them seem quite deranged
WEIRD WAR FACTS
WW1 Female & Male Tanks
Were initially categorized into “males” and “females.” The "Female" tank was a type of armoured fighting vehicle deployed during World War I that carried multiple machine guns instead of the mix of machine guns and cannons mounted by the original Mark I tank. The prototype, nicknamed "Mother", and the first production models of what would become referred to as the Mark I were designed to carry two six-pounder cannons and three machine-guns. The "Male" tank was a category of tank prevalent in World War I. As opposed to the five machine guns of the female version of the Mark I tank, the male version of the Mark I had a QF 6 pounder 6 cwt Hotchkiss and three machine guns. By the end of World War I, tank technology was advanced enough for tanks to be both male and female. (wiki) |
Mark ll Female Tank
Mark l Male Tank
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The Spanish flu
One unusual aspect of the 1918 flu was that it struck down many previously healthy, young people–a group normally resistant to this type of infectious illness–including a number of World War I (1914-18) servicemen. In fact, journalist Gina Kolata has reported that more U.S. soldiers died from the 1918 flu than were killed in battle during the war. The influenza or flu pandemic of 1918 to 1919, the deadliest in modern history, infected an estimated 500 million people worldwide–about one-third of the planet’s population at the time–and killed an estimated 20 million to 50 million victims. http://www.history.com/topics/1918-flu-pandemic |
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Adolf Hitler
Hitler received the final part of his father's estate in May 1913 and moved to Munich where he earned money painting architectural scenes. He may have left Vienna to evade conscription into the Austrian army. Hitler later claimed that he did not wish to serve the Habsburg Empire because of the mixture of "races" in its army. The Bavarian police sent him back to Salzburg for induction into the Austrian Army but he failed his physical exam on 5 February 1914 and returned to Munich. He was 25 years old in August 1914, when Austria-Hungary and the German Empire entered into the First World War. Because of his Austrian citizenship, he had to request permission to serve in the Bavarian Army. Permission was granted and he served as a Gefreiter (lance corporal) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_career_of_Adolf_Hitler |
Old Oaken Bucket
According to legend, the conflict known now as the War for the Oaken Bucket broke out in 1325 after a group of Modenese soldiers dashed into the rival town of Bologna and absconded with an oak pail full of booty. To add insult to injury, the thieves brought the unlikely trophy back to their hometown and proudly put it on display.
LYRICS TO 'THE OLD OAKEN BUCKET'
http://www.lyricsfreak.com/t/tommy+sands/the+old+oaken+bucket_20852450.html
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Surely we must have at least one Ancestor who fought in one or more of these Wars?
What's all the fighting about, anyway? http://www.historyofwar.org/wars.html DATES
The Napoleonic Wars Were a series of major conflicts pitting the French Empire, led by Napoleon I, against an array of European powers formed into various coalitions. Waterloo was the last major battle of the Napoleonic Wars and of Napoleon's career. The Battle of Waterloo - 9 hours 30 minutes. 11:30am The French launched their diversionary attack on Hougoumont. 9.00pm Blücher met Wellington at La Belle Alliance. A fresh Prussian cavalry pursued the retreating French. http://www.napoleonsims.com/timeline/timeline.htm
World War I
Also known as the First World War, or the Great War, was a global war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918. World War Il World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. What Does ANZAC Stand For?
(Australian and New Zealand Army Corps - ANZACS) WW1 Fast Facts on WW1 & Australia's Involvement http://www.civicsandcitizenship.edu.au/cce/fast_facts_file,9614.html The allies withdrew after both sides endured heavy loss of life and many wounded casualties. 8,709 Australian soldiers died at Gallipoli and this had a great effect on Australians back home. The 25 April went on to become the day that Australia honoured those Australians who had served and died in war and military conflicts - Over 100,000 Australians have died in war - 60,000 died in WW1 (In WW1, Australia's population was only 5 million). The Gallipoli campaign was a military failure, but the Australian and New Zealand soldiers' (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps - ANZACS) courage and determination created the ANZAC Legend and is why ANZAC Day is so important to the people of Australia and New Zealand to this very day.
http://www.anzac-day.net/facts.html
Independence
Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland were independent nations following WWI. The League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organisation founded on 10 January 1920 as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. Casualties in World War I
The total number of military and civilian casualties in World War I was over 38 million: there were over 17 million deaths and 20 million wounded, ranking it among the deadliest conflicts in human history. The total number of deaths includes about 11 million military personnel and about 7 million civilians.
Animals in WW1
Horses, donkeys, mules and camels carried food, water, ammunition and medical supplies to men at the front, and dogs and pigeons carried messages. Canaries were used to detect poisonous gas, and cats and dogs were trained to hunt rats in the trenches.
In fact, the original project initiated by the Landships Committee was picturing a vehicle capable of crossing any kind of trenches and destroying barb wire in the process. The Landships Committee was established in February 1915 as a small British War Cabinet commission, headed by the first Lord of Admiralty, Sir Winston Churchill, and composed of various politicians, engineers and officers, with the goal of producing the first armored vehicle before the end of 1915. It could travel as fast as 3 mph (4.8 km/h).
http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww1/gb/little_willie.php
Sternutator gasses - poisonous gas, chlorine, phosgene and diphosgene. Chlorine gas mixes with moisture so it will attack the eyes and lungs. Phosgene was used in lieu of chlorine. It caused much less coughing in the initial assault and more of it was inhaled causing a delayed effect.
Suffocating gasses - Caused severe edema of the lungs and death from asphyxiation could come within hours. No mask could protect a soldier from mustard gas. It penetrated all clothing and was remarkably persistent on the soil or on foliage over which it had been scattered. http://www.wwvets.com/gaswarfare.html
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