I've always been a WWII junkie, but right now find myself craving all information on WWI. I've learned a lot so far and the show Apocalypse World War I is great. Anyone else watching?

Some really good scenes in this new series.
Almost all of them fresh.

In the 50s or 60s BBC put together the ultimate WW1 documentary with interviews and all.

There is also a more recent BBC documentary on the war they have put together that is around 6 or 7 hours total.

(08-19-2014 05:42 PM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  In the 50s or 60s BBC put together the ultimate WW1 documentary with interviews and all.

There is also a more recent BBC documentary on the war they have put together that is around 6 or 7 hours total.

BBC also did a series back in the '70's about the politics behind the lead up to World War I called The Fall of Eagles. Patrick Stewart plays Lenin.

(07-31-2014 05:54 AM)Fo Shizzle Wrote:  

(07-29-2014 08:35 PM)49RFootballNow Wrote:  

(07-29-2014 08:23 PM)TPBlaze84 Wrote:  

(07-29-2014 06:24 PM)49RFootballNow Wrote:  

(07-29-2014 12:35 AM)TPBlaze84 Wrote:  This picture was actually taken in 1917. The lance was only featured because it was a posed photograph. Another reason you can tell it was posed is that the horse is not wearing a special gas mask it would be wearing where this taken in the field.

Plus the Stahlhelm makes it post-1916 as well, before then it would be the Picklehuber. Also, they quickly got rid of their lances in 1914.

Good eye.

Do you know of any actual instances of them going into combat with the lances in the earlier stages of the war? I would be interested to hear details on that. The book I saw this picture in didn't have much information on it

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/cav...ar_one.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horses_in_World_War_I

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1...arges.html

The Soviets tried it against the Wehrmacht:

http://www.history.com/news/the-last-maj...-years-ago

All this stuff is surreal in nature. The fact that the French had cloth hats and colored uniforms in the beginning is crazy. Shells exploding all around and No helmets?...Really?

The old Empire, harking back to the days of black powder when bright colored uniforms were need to tell friend from foe on the field. England lagged far behind, they had not fought a major war 99 years at the time. WWI was probably the worst war ever fought, the tactics used for so long were massively out dated with the weapons used lead to utter carnage on the battle field. It was also, one of the most preventable war and dumbest war ever fought, IMO.

Side note, 306 British soldiers were shot by firing squad for cowardice during WWI, despite nearly every vet saying they were no more a coward than I. In 2006 the British Government issue Pardons to all 306. Many are believed to have had PTSD or shell shock as it was known at the time.

Great documentary on Netflix right now called The First World War from Above.

Hell, it's on youtube, as well.

(04-29-2015 11:05 AM)Smaug Wrote:  Great documentary on Netflix right now called The First World War from Above.

Hell, it's on youtube, as well.

I just watched this two nights ago. It's amazing how they transformed the very earth by trench tool and shell explosions. And the tunnel bombs! No thank you.

(04-29-2015 12:05 AM)ecumbh1999 Wrote:  WWI was probably the worst war ever fought, the tactics used for so long were massively out dated with the weapons used lead to utter carnage on the battle field. It was also, one of the most preventable war and dumbest war ever fought, IMO.

True. It was an unmitigated nightmare and it unleashed all of the horrors to come -- genocide, the Soviet/Nazi dictatorships, etc. -- in the remaining years of the 20th century. Churchill later wrote that cannibalism was about the only means of attack that the warring nations did not employ against one another.

Quote:Side note, 306 British soldiers were shot by firing squad for cowardice during WWI, despite nearly every vet saying they were no more a coward than I. In 2006 the British Government issue Pardons to all 306. Many are believed to have had PTSD or shell shock as it was known at the time.

True. As a footnote, the Viennese shrink Sigmund Freud was brought in by British authorities to try and help explain why so many soldiers were turning into emotional basket-cases. (I think "shell-shock" might even be a phrase that Freud came up with, but not 100% sure). WWI was actually a huge professional opportunity for Freud, and he made the most of it. Pre-1914, he was basically unknown outside of German-speaking medical/academic circles. Post-1920 (and ever since) he has remained one of the most famous people in the world.

Series on Netflix currently called "Great War Diary", that I enjoyed and would recommend.

(08-14-2014 06:14 PM)True Bearcat Wrote:  I've always been a WWII junkie, but right now find myself craving all information on WWI. I've learned a lot so far and the show Apocalypse World War I is great. Anyone else watching?

I have and have also been a WWII junkie.

Friday was the 100th anniversary of the start of the Battle of the Somme, the bloodiest single day in British military history.

Mental Floss article.

http://mentalfloss.com/article/82569/wwi...ddon-somme

I find fascinating the air warfare that took place. Pilots flew in open cockpits with the only protection being their propellers in a frontal attack. Further, parachutes were not available till near the war's end so if you were shot down from any height above 50 feet and could not land in water you were as good as dead.

(07-28-2014 08:06 PM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  "It is and shall remain utterly Europe's problem."

Thousands of Canadians, Aussies and Kiwi's also perished and thousands of miles from home.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I_casualties

Australia & Canada suffered as many combat deaths and MIA"s as the US did and with populations that were (and still are) a fraction of the United States.