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  • #46
    Originally posted by rogue06 View Post
    I'm not sure that it's true but I've heard that the reason that the British wore red is so that it would be harder for the enemy to see if they were wounded.
    They couldn't tell by the falling down and screaming?

    Comment


    • #47
      Originally posted by rogue06 View Post
      I'm not sure that it's true but I've heard that the reason that the British wore red is so that it would be harder for the enemy to see if they were wounded.
      Yeah, I had heard that, but if you want to trust Uncle Wiki....

      The adoption and continuing use of red by most British/English soldiers after the Restoration (1660) was the result of circumstances rather than policy, including the relative cheapness of red dyes.[9] Red was by no means universal at first, with grey and blue coats also being worn.[3]:16 There is no known basis for the myth that red coats were favoured because they did not show blood stains. Blood does in fact show on red clothing as a black stain.
      The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

      Comment


      • #48

        Originally posted by Sparko View Post
        They couldn't tell by the falling down and screaming?
        The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

        Comment


        • #49
          Originally posted by Sparko View Post
          They couldn't tell by the falling down and screaming?
          This would be more for the troops that were still advancing.

          I'm always still in trouble again

          "You're by far the worst poster on TWeb" and "TWeb's biggest liar" --starlight (the guy who says Stalin was a right-winger)
          "Overall I would rate the withdrawal from Afghanistan as by far the best thing Biden's done" --Starlight
          "Of course, human life begins at fertilization that’s not the argument." --Tassman

          Comment


          • #50
            Originally posted by Sparko View Post
            The armies also used to wear bright colors and just stand in a line and shoot at each other. I am sure the British didn't like the American Revolutionary tactics of hiding in the woods behind cover and shooting them dead.
            Yup, and in the Anglo-Boer war (called the South African war here in NZ) the British could not understand why the boere were such good shots (boere is Afrikaans for farmers).
            a) the boere were all hunters.
            b) the British were wearing red tunics with a big white X on it....in brown veld grass.
            Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.
            1 Corinthians 16:13

            "...he [Doherty] is no historian and he is not even conversant with the historical discussions of the very matters he wants to pontificate on."
            -Ben Witherington III

            Comment


            • #51
              Originally posted by Sparko View Post
              The armies also used to wear bright colors and just stand in a line and shoot at each other. I am sure the British didn't like the American Revolutionary tactics of hiding in the woods behind cover and shooting them dead.
              That was mainly because of the inaccurate nature of a smooth bore musket (remember, history tells us Washington ran out between the lines in at least two battles, to rally his men, during a hail of gunfire and didn't get hit) and its low firing rate (around 3 rounds per minute). Kind of meaning that lining your army up, in close ranks, will help to maximize your fire. Trying this game, with a rifled barrel and a gun that can fire at a far faster rate, isn't such a great idea. That is why the US Civil War ended up with 700,000 killed and why WWI ended up with millions killed. Running at an army with smooth bore muskets and smooth bore cannon is dangerous and will get people killed, but some will still make it. Running at an army armed with rifles, machine guns, and highly accurate artillery, is a suicide mission.
              Last edited by lilpixieofterror; 01-27-2015, 06:19 PM.
              "The man from the yacht thought he was the first to find England; I thought I was the first to find Europe. I did try to found a heresy of my own; and when I had put the last touches to it, I discovered that it was orthodoxy."
              GK Chesterton; Orthodoxy

              Comment


              • #52
                Originally posted by lilpixieofterror View Post
                That was mainly because of the inaccurate nature of a smooth bore musket (remember, history tells us Washington ran out between the lines in at least two battles, to rally his men, during a hail of gunfire and didn't get hit) and its low firing rate (around 3 rounds per minute). Kind of meaning that lining your army up, in close ranks, will help to maximize your fire. Trying this game, with a rifled barrel and a gun that can fire at a far faster rate, isn't such a great idea. That is why the US Civil War ended up with 700,000 killed and why WWI ended up with millions killed. Running at an army with smooth bore muskets and smooth bore cannon is dangerous and will get people killed, but some will still make it. Running at an army armed with rifles, machine guns, and highly accurate artillery, is a suicide mission.
                It took the Brits seemingly forever to learn that you don't line your men up side-by-side and advance them in a slow march across the battlefield in the teeth of machine gun fire during WWI.

                I'm always still in trouble again

                "You're by far the worst poster on TWeb" and "TWeb's biggest liar" --starlight (the guy who says Stalin was a right-winger)
                "Overall I would rate the withdrawal from Afghanistan as by far the best thing Biden's done" --Starlight
                "Of course, human life begins at fertilization that’s not the argument." --Tassman

                Comment


                • #53
                  Originally posted by rogue06 View Post
                  It took the Brits seemingly forever to learn that you don't line your men up side-by-side and advance them in a slow march across the battlefield in the teeth of machine gun fire during WWI.
                  It took awhile for armies to figure that one out. Look at the US Civil War. In the beginning, it was fought with lines of troops shooting at one another with rifled guns. Not surprising, this lead to hundreds of thousands injured and killed and that was just with rifling and rapid fire guns. It is often said that armies are best at fighting the previous war, as WWI shows us... that is quite true.
                  Last edited by lilpixieofterror; 01-27-2015, 08:53 PM.
                  "The man from the yacht thought he was the first to find England; I thought I was the first to find Europe. I did try to found a heresy of my own; and when I had put the last touches to it, I discovered that it was orthodoxy."
                  GK Chesterton; Orthodoxy

                  Comment


                  • #54
                    It is one thing when celebutards spout off seeking to keep the spotlight pointed in their direction but when a MNBC reporter does it you get some insight as to why their viewership has been reduced to essentially their employees who are forced to watch it in the company break room. On "Morning Joe," correspondent Ayman Mohyeldin claimed that Chris Kyle was merely a "racist" who went out on a "killing spree.":
                    "Some of what people have described as his racist tendencies towards Iraqis and Muslims when he was going on some of these, you know, killing sprees in Iraq on assignment."

                    I'm always still in trouble again

                    "You're by far the worst poster on TWeb" and "TWeb's biggest liar" --starlight (the guy who says Stalin was a right-winger)
                    "Overall I would rate the withdrawal from Afghanistan as by far the best thing Biden's done" --Starlight
                    "Of course, human life begins at fertilization that’s not the argument." --Tassman

                    Comment


                    • #55
                      Originally posted by rogue06 View Post
                      It is one thing when celebutards spout off seeking to keep the spotlight pointed in their direction but when a MNBC reporter does it you get some insight as to why their viewership has been reduced to essentially their employees who are forced to watch it in the company break room. On "Morning Joe," correspondent Ayman Mohyeldin claimed that Chris Kyle was merely a "racist" who went out on a "killing spree.":
                      "Some of what people have described as his racist tendencies towards Iraqis and Muslims when he was going on some of these, you know, killing sprees in Iraq on assignment."
                      Because you know... it is racist to shoot those who are going to blow themselves and lots of people to pieces up.
                      "The man from the yacht thought he was the first to find England; I thought I was the first to find Europe. I did try to found a heresy of my own; and when I had put the last touches to it, I discovered that it was orthodoxy."
                      GK Chesterton; Orthodoxy

                      Comment


                      • #56
                        Originally posted by rogue06 View Post
                        It is one thing when celebutards spout off seeking to keep the spotlight pointed in their direction but when a MNBC reporter does it you get some insight as to why their viewership has been reduced to essentially their employees who are forced to watch it in the company break room. On "Morning Joe," correspondent Ayman Mohyeldin claimed that Chris Kyle was merely a "racist" who went out on a "killing spree.":
                        "Some of what people have described as his racist tendencies towards Iraqis and Muslims when he was going on some of these, you know, killing sprees in Iraq on assignment."
                        My bad. Ayman Mohyeldin is a regular NBC reporter rather than MSNBC. He previously worked for Al Jazeera. Woulda never guessed

                        I'm always still in trouble again

                        "You're by far the worst poster on TWeb" and "TWeb's biggest liar" --starlight (the guy who says Stalin was a right-winger)
                        "Overall I would rate the withdrawal from Afghanistan as by far the best thing Biden's done" --Starlight
                        "Of course, human life begins at fertilization that’s not the argument." --Tassman

                        Comment


                        • #57
                          Originally posted by rogue06 View Post
                          It is one thing when celebutards spout off seeking to keep the spotlight pointed in their direction but when a MNBC reporter does it you get some insight as to why their viewership has been reduced to essentially their employees who are forced to watch it in the company break room. On "Morning Joe," correspondent Ayman Mohyeldin claimed that Chris Kyle was merely a "racist" who went out on a "killing spree.":
                          "Some of what people have described as his racist tendencies towards Iraqis and Muslims when he was going on some of these, you know, killing sprees in Iraq on assignment."
                          Mr. Mohyeldin is either stupid, bias or completely uniformed. Kyle made it clear in his book (and was mentioned in the movie) that he probably save as many Iraqis soldiers, who were fighting on our side, as he did our soldiers.
                          Atheism is the cult of death, the death of hope. The universe is doomed, you are doomed, the only thing that remains is to await your execution...

                          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jbnueb2OI4o&t=3s

                          Comment


                          • #58
                            Originally posted by Raphael View Post
                            Yup, and in the Anglo-Boer war (called the South African war here in NZ) the British could not understand why the boere were such good shots (boere is Afrikaans for farmers).
                            a) the boere were all hunters.
                            b) the British were wearing red tunics with a big white X on it....in brown veld grass.
                            There's a third reason, apparently. The spin of a rifle bullet reacts to the downwards curvature of its path by pulling it left or right, depending on which way it is spinning -- think of the last time you held a spinning bicycle wheel, and how strangely it behaved, trying to turn sideways to how you wanted it to; this causes loss of accuracy. That's half the story.

                            The other half of the story is the Coriolis effect, which roughly summarises as, if you fire at a target North or South of you, you are firing at something which is at a different distance from the Earth's axis than you are, hence moving faster or slower than you are, so the path of your bullet as traced on the ground will be a curve to left or right depending on which hemisphere you're in; this causes loss of accuracy.

                            The third half of the story is that for a rifle bullet spinning in the appropriate direction for its hemisphere, the deflections caused by spin and Coriolis effect will mostly cancel out, ensuring high accuracy; or if the spin is inappropriate, the deflections will add, and ensuring reduced accuracy. Guess whose rifles imparted the appropriate spin for the Southern hemisphere, and whose didn't.

                            But few soldiers are sharpshooters, so I expect a) and b) predominated.

                            Here's one British soldier who is a sharpshooter, and very good at it -- scroll down to 'Deadlier than the plague'.
                            http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-31087107

                            Comment


                            • #59
                              Originally posted by Cow Poke View Post
                              I think that's why Vietnam was so tough for us -- we were still fighting a "conventional" (and political) war while "Charlie" was doing whatever it took.
                              I once visited one of the tunnel sites. Some of their tricks and traps were very clever.

                              Comment


                              • #60
                                This is a decent take on the more theological aspects of the controversy:

                                http://www.reformation21.org/blog/20...aise-snipe.php
                                "I am not angered that the Moral Majority boys campaign against abortion. I am angry when the same men who say, "Save OUR children" bellow "Build more and bigger bombers." That's right! Blast the children in other nations into eternity, or limbless misery as they lay crippled from "OUR" bombers! This does not jell." - Leonard Ravenhill

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