Yesterday's Weapons Forums

I finally scored a translation of "Le Feu" (Under Fire) and just finished reading. It's the French counterpart to "All Quiet on the Western Front".

The bulk of the book relates to the deprivation and misery of the common "poilu" or French soldier on the Western Front. Lice - mud - rotten food - "Bosches" (Germans) - splinters from Bosche artillery - unburied dead... What happened in Viet Nam was a Sunday picnic compared to this.

I poked around online to find the author apparently was actually there for the duration. I sincerely believe it drove him mad.

The book is very sobering, but it depicts life in the trenches as it actually was. If you go in for non-fiction, it's worth a read.

After reading this and All Quiet on the Western Front, I'm amazed there was another war. Especially since Hitler was a Cpl who was wounded and gassed. I have visited the bunker where he lived near Ypres and can easily see how it would be impossible to not have lice. Very close quarters. SW

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Slava Ukraini!!

...where did you find it...?

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....Naj puška govori!....
.............deplorable typical "bitter clinger"....

Barnes & Noble. If you'd like to read it, I'll send it along when the PO is open next week. SW

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Slava Ukraini!!

...yes pleeeeze...

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....Naj puška govori!....
.............deplorable typical "bitter clinger"....

Aparently the author was a rabid communist extremist ... A

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In the end, there can be only ONE

I can easily believe that. Bolsheviks were able to convince many soldiers who felt their countries considered them cannon fodder that communism was the way to change things for the better.

Things changed, all right but seldom for the better. The way I understand it, there are still a lot of communists in France.

No matter the author's political persuasion, I felt he was able to convey how the average French soldier felt in those dark days.

To get a feel for WW1, I feel this and All Quiet on the Western Front should both be read.

Back to communism... I'm currently reading a book on Russian tanks and armored vehicles. In the 1920s, a Russian tank designer was unable to design adequate suspension components for medium & heavy tanks. He suggested American designer, Chrisite's suspension mechanisms be used on Russian tanks.

Stalin had him executed. SW

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Slava Ukraini!!

yup - commies always execute those that disagree , just look at history - funny how many still subscribe

But Stalin did buy Chrisite's suspension system. It was the basis for the T34 tank we all know and hate ...
The famous succesful airplane designer/engineer Tupolev was arrested on Stalin's orders and was forced to continue his work from jail ... He was re-instated later.
Much later.
In ex-USSR countries people still mutter "Thank you uncle stalin" whenever something goes bad. Like when you drop an egg while preparing a cake or somebody spills you beer or your car won't start in the morning or your girlfriend gets pregnant ...
;-)

BRGDS, A
PS: He exceeded Hitler's score by several million innocents.
But to the victor go the spoils ...

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In the end, there can be only ONE

Now there's a debate! "Who was worse - Hitler or Stalin?" Kinda like debating if cancer is worse than plague.

Happily for the world, both are roasting in pieces.

Still... I think we know how both would have dealt with the influx of illegals into Europe. Things get much worse in Germany, National Socialism just might come back! SW

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Slava Ukraini!!

They've got socialism now ...
All of europe has.
We're so screwed.

A

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In the end, there can be only ONE

that's a really good observation , in the end the immigrant influx could well result in a new revival of the national socialist party , its almost what is happening here ....on a smaller scale - the dems that want it always call those that dont racists and bigots , we had a dose of that here last week - im preparing an open letter to the governor that told us tax payers to "leave the state" because we dared to ask what was being spent and what it was being spent on ,

the dems are going after not just the second amendment but also the first these days , they call you a bigot if you fail to agree with them or ask the tough questions about how they are spending our tax dollars - funny how they always look at that money as theirs , they do serve at our pleasure and they did take an oath to uphold the constitution ,

"Our" politicians won't allow this to happen. Despite the negative polls, despite the protests, despite the rise in crime figures, despite the huge investment of money they don't have, despite the fact that WE DON'T WANT ANOTHER mUSLIM INVASION !

If you're against those bastards you're a nazi racist KKK. If you cuddle one of those scum you are a good human being. Makes me puke.

Europe is lost, forever this time.
A

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In the end, there can be only ONE

it will be a different place , as will this , im not convinced that this muslim invasion has been accepted yet - repelled before with blood , it may get to that again , but perhaps it will be less costly in lives than the previous only more costly in currency up front , yet i did hear a radio piece on the influx of refugees compared to the trojan horse recently ....

it was suggested that international forces set up a safe zone within the country and not allow either the refugee exodus nor the fighting elements to transgress the perimeter , i kinda see that as a possibility in this case .......just thinking out loud here...............

but we can start playing cowboys and ?????????? whenever its needed , we are the only free country that is more than fully armed and willing to protect our freedoms to the blades of grass we walk on - after all - i don't dial 911 until after the threat is neutralized

During the war in Yugoslavia people were taken care off locally.
That's what should happen now too.
BUT (a big butt!), what we have now is not a refugee influx, this is conquering by numbers. 99,9% of these bastards are not real refugees and 60% are not even coming from a country at war.
They come for the handouts, asa they reach european shore they've won the lotto.

A

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In the end, there can be only ONE

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Slava Ukraini!!

Of course I'm right

Ease of manufacture. Yep, they got us there. Whole factories were dismantled, moved by RR, and rebuilt in remote areas when the German army came within sight of the kremlin.

One major disadvantage for Russian tankers was the lack of communication equipment in their charriots. Messages were transmitted by Oleg sticking his head out of the cupola and waving flags. Needless to say, being Oleg sucked big time

BRGDS, A

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In the end, there can be only ONE

Probably off topic from the "WW1" forum, but Russian tank design still has serious flaws. Like the ammo storage will cook off when the turret gets smacked by an RPG.
This vid is from Syria.

From Desert Storm to Libya & now Syria, we see consistent turret separations, too.

Unless that's just a symptom seen only in their "monkey model" export versions. American, Isreali, and German designs are much more "crew friendly". SW

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Slava Ukraini!!

You can see that in a lot of pictures from Afghanistan and Chechnya as well.
I've been wondering about that. Probably some design glitch they haven't been able to work out yet.

A

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In the end, there can be only ONE