"There are countless horrible things happening all over the world and horrible people prospering, but we must never allow them to disturb our equanimity or deflect us from our sacred duty to sabotage and annoy them whenever possible." -Auberon Waugh
Friday, April 9, 2021
I learn something new practically every day
For example, I didn't know that the Germans carried out bombing runs over England in WWI with giant zeppelins.
13 comments:
Veeshir
said...
I knew the Brits, French and Italians fought German zeppelins with biplanes, but I didn't know that either.
Yes WW1 was more like a primer for WW2 than people now realise I guess, with the focus now so much on battlefields on the European continent. Google WW1 in the Pacific and you'll see New Zealanders and Australians fighting Germans on land and sea, mostly around former German colonies like Samoa and New Guinea.
We were the aggressors though, seizing their colonies, as ordered by Britain. I can well understand that it was harder then for the US then (before you got into the war) to see who were the bad guys, as it was as opportunistic on our part as much as defensive (U Boats had sunk our ships I think, have to look it up). I mean in some cases we took over these places from a lot of Lutheran missionaries, and it was about expanding the British Empire. We were itching to grab these places and run the Germans/Euros out, just like the Japanese were in WW2.
I've been listening to some audio books lately about WW2 at Hone & comb. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZFg46Y1WtByBTHZgtwhtrg/videos
A lot of interesting books.
I never knew of the mass slaughter of civilians by the Germans as well as militia in Poland after the 1939 invasion. Horrific. The Germans despised the Poles. I knew the Russians did their best to wipe out the Polish military leadership, but that was apparently the tip of the iceberg. Would you believe they mass-executed boy scouts for running as couriers for the Polish military, set up torture chambers, and mass-executed priests and tens of thousands of civilians?
Well Bruce, there were valid strategic reasons for grabbing German colonies and islands. Prime among them was to deny German commerce raiders bases for repair, refueling, and resupply. The RN, in combination with the colonial defense forces, drove regular enemy warships from the oceans by removing any possible support.
And it wasn't just British colonies. In addition to besieging and taking the German colony and fleet base of Tsingtao, Japan also snatched a lot of German islands in the South Pacific, which were later awarded them under League of Nations Mandates.
Incidentally, the Japanese acquisition of territory in the Pacific was a godsend to US war planners. Until then, War Plan Orange had faced an insurmountable obstacle: how to support the US fleet advance westward towards the Philippines and the Japanese home island? US planners, among them the maverick Marine Lt. Col. Pete Ellis, realized that the islands provided stepping stones for the advance. And thus, the USMC reinvented themselves as amphibious warfare specialists and the USN developed the mobile fleet train that permitted the WWII victory over Japan.
My paternal Grandfather ended up in London after surviving Gallipoli and the bloodbath at Fromelles on the Western Front. He was wounded there and taken to London to be patched up. He kept a diary every day for the 5 years he spent there. It says on the first day he was well enough to have a good look around London he very nearly bought it when a Zeplin crashed and exploded very close to him.
He did Paco. He was wounded another two times on the Western Front and eventually made it back to Australia in late 1919. He lost his left arm and his left leg was badly damaged but he lived a productive life and produced a huge number of descendants. I often reflect at family reunions that if the bullets and shrapnel hit an inch left or right then none of us would exist.
Thanks Bruce and Paco. Sorry if I rambled but the Zeplin story always struck me as ironic as he nearly died in relativley peaceful London after spending so much time in the probably the deadliest places that mankind created.
Rambled? No it was all fascinating. My grandfather was a machine gunner on the western front but came back same as before. Your grandfather's story is pretty unique to me.
13 comments:
I knew the Brits, French and Italians fought German zeppelins with biplanes, but I didn't know that either.
Yes WW1 was more like a primer for WW2 than people now realise I guess, with the focus now so much on battlefields on the European continent. Google WW1 in the Pacific and you'll see New Zealanders and Australians fighting Germans on land and sea, mostly around former German colonies like Samoa and New Guinea.
We were the aggressors though, seizing their colonies, as ordered by Britain. I can well understand that it was harder then for the US then (before you got into the war) to see who were the bad guys, as it was as opportunistic on our part as much as defensive (U Boats had sunk our ships I think, have to look it up). I mean in some cases we took over these places from a lot of Lutheran missionaries, and it was about expanding the British Empire. We were itching to grab these places and run the Germans/Euros out, just like the Japanese were in WW2.
I've been listening to some audio books lately about WW2 at Hone & comb.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZFg46Y1WtByBTHZgtwhtrg/videos
A lot of interesting books.
I never knew of the mass slaughter of civilians by the Germans as well as militia in Poland after the 1939 invasion. Horrific. The Germans despised the Poles.
I knew the Russians did their best to wipe out the Polish military leadership, but that was apparently the tip of the iceberg.
Would you believe they mass-executed boy scouts for running as couriers for the Polish military, set up torture chambers, and mass-executed priests and tens of thousands of civilians?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5bpIwtLm-I&t=7313s
Mass insanity is nothing new.
Well Bruce, there were valid strategic reasons for grabbing German colonies and islands. Prime among them was to deny German commerce raiders bases for repair, refueling, and resupply. The RN, in combination with the colonial defense forces, drove regular enemy warships from the oceans by removing any possible support.
And it wasn't just British colonies. In addition to besieging and taking the German colony and fleet base of Tsingtao, Japan also snatched a lot of German islands in the South Pacific, which were later awarded them under League of Nations Mandates.
Incidentally, the Japanese acquisition of territory in the Pacific was a godsend to US war planners. Until then, War Plan Orange had faced an insurmountable obstacle: how to support the US fleet advance westward towards the Philippines and the Japanese home island? US planners, among them the maverick Marine Lt. Col. Pete Ellis, realized that the islands provided stepping stones for the advance. And thus, the USMC reinvented themselves as amphibious warfare specialists and the USN developed the mobile fleet train that permitted the WWII victory over Japan.
Thanks for the extra detail on the Pacifc theatre Steve.
My paternal Grandfather ended up in London after surviving Gallipoli and the bloodbath at Fromelles on the Western Front. He was wounded there and taken to London to be patched up. He kept a diary every day for the 5 years he spent there. It says on the first day he was well enough to have a good look around London he very nearly bought it when a Zeplin crashed and exploded very close to him.
He reckoned trouble followed him around.
Mick: Fascinating family history. Sounds like your grandfather had amazing survival skills (and a very vigilant guardian angel).
He did Paco. He was wounded another two times on the Western Front and eventually made it back to Australia in late 1919. He lost his left arm and his left leg was badly damaged but he lived a productive life and produced a huge number of descendants. I often reflect at family reunions that if the bullets
and shrapnel hit an inch left or right then none of us would exist.
Sounds like a mighty, mighty man! God rest his soul.
Wow Mike, he was remarkable indeed.
Sorry, Mick.
Thanks Bruce and Paco. Sorry if I rambled but the Zeplin story always struck me as ironic as he nearly died in relativley peaceful London after spending so much time in the probably the deadliest places that mankind created.
Rambled? No it was all fascinating. My grandfather was a machine gunner on the western front but came back same as before. Your grandfather's story is pretty unique to me.
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