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War You have to be kidding, right!?!

MEDIEVAL WWI TRENCH WEAPONS By Tom Laemlein

From trench maces to knuckle dusters, the truly medieval weapons employed by trench raiders in World War I were employed in some of the most brutal combat seen in the 20th century. In today’s article, Tom Laemlein looks at these trench weapons.

Bats, batons and maces: A British collection of trench maces and clubs made in field workshops, circa 1917. Image: NARA

Almost any time World War I is mentioned, the term “trench warfare” inevitably comes up. Most of those trench warfare references are about the overall condition of the Western Front, particularly the massive battles of 1916-1917, when thousands of men lost their lives in pointless assaults that achieved little more than mass slaughter.

With its powerful blade (10.25″ blade, 15″ long overall), the U.S. M1910 Bolo Knife was useful for clearing away brush and foliage. It was also a fearsome weapon for trench raiders. Image: NARA

By the spring of 1918, American troops were arriving in France at a rate of more than 5,000 per day. The Doughboys had to learn the difficult and very specific lessons of trench fighting. Even though the French and British provided experienced instructors and training manuals to the newest Allied nation, American troops still brought their own special weapons and unique fighting spirit to the brutal business of trench raids.

“Boys, I’m Dying”

Private Dyer J. Bird of the US 42nd Division, 166th Infantry Regiment, was recently deployed to France in 1918 and was stationed at a listening post. He saw a large German raiding party emerge from nearby shell holes and rush toward the American trenches with weapons in hand. The young Doughboy hurled two hand grenades into their midst and when he turned to call out and warn his comrades he was shot through the chest.

This Austrian mace-club was captured in 1918. Nothing fancy, just a cruel instrument of WWI hand-to-hand fighting. Image: NARA

“The Germans are coming in the form of a wedge. Boys, I’m dying.” Dyer’s warning gave his unit enough time to turn back the German raiders. It was part of the hellish introduction to trench warfare that fresh American troops received in early 1918.

Originally intended as a tool for engineers and pioneer troops, the German “Butcher Blade” drew so much ire from Allied troops that it was withdrawn from service in 1917. Image: NARA

In “The Doughboys” (Harper & Row, 1963), Laurence Stallings described the style of training that the young Americans received from their French allies, the Poilus worn down physically and emotionally from 3½ years of bitter fighting.

A Doughboy had to learn the formal trench warfare of the French, with emphasis upon Chauchat and Hotchkiss guns, bayonet and grenade, barbed wire, and the shovel—and little attention to the rifle. Frenchmen pursued Germans in a clash of patrols by throwing grenades at them, as if the Lebel rifle possessed no trigger assembly.

 

If Intelligence desired a raid, with a prisoner brought back for interrogation, it was understandable but deplorable. Some friend might be killed by grenade or bayonet, and a wounded enemy dragged back through the gaps in the barbed wire.

The Doughboys (Harper & Row, 1963)

What the Doughboys lacked in experience in the conduct of trench warfare, they made up for in aggressiveness. The British and French commanders craved the American zeal for combat, while the Germans massed on the other side of the lines, first mocked it, and later feared it.

An American trench raider, smiling with a blackened face, standing next to some of the previous night’s haul of German prisoners. He holds a simple trench club. France, March 1918 Image: NARA

Some of the first prisoners taken by the Americans said things like: “If only we could have met you in 1915 when we too were young!” Stallings recounts the Doughboys’ eagerness to fight: “Each man in the 1st Division wanted to go on a patrol, and then a raid, each wanted to kill a German, to capture one, to be the first.”

A tough-looking Doughboy in the Ardennes during October 1918. In addition to an M1911 pistol, he also carries a captured Mauser C96 “Broom Handle”. Image: NARA

The trench raid was a nasty, brutal business, conducted almost exclusively at night. Raiders reduced their equipment to the essentials of rapid movement and close-quarter killing power, often with specialized trench weapons. Trench raids were tactical reconnaissance in their most aggressive form — quick strikes designed to assess enemy strengths and activity, to cause as much mayhem as possible within enemy lines, and to grab a handful of prisoners and drag them back for interrogation.

Men of the 166th Regiment returning from a trench raid pause for a photo in May 1918. In addition to wire cutters, these Doughboys are carrying the M1911 pistol. Image: NARA

The following description of an American trench raid is from a cable sent by General Pershing’s AEF headquarters to the War Office in Washington DC on June 13, 1918.

Our raiding party consisted of five groups, each under the command of an officer. The raid was executed in the Bois Allonge, the raiding party entering from the west and penetrating to the eastern edge. The first party moving in a northwesterly direction located a lighted and occupied dugout.

On the occupants’ refusal to come out, it was destroyed by the use of phosphorus and other grenades. The second party encountered fire from an automatic rifle as they entered the woods. The gun was rushed, three of the gun crew killed, and the gun captured.

The party then moved to the eastern edge of the wood where three men were found in a light shelter. One was killed and the others taken prisoner. The third party was also fired on by a machine gun. This gun was rushed and its crew killed but as the gun was chained to a tree it could not be brought back. The fourth party encountered a group of the enemy and opened fire with rifles. Four of the enemy were seen to fall.

The fifth party reached the eastern edge of the woods and then moved along the edge in a southerly direction. Several shelters and dugouts were located and destroyed by incendiary bombs. It withdrew on the signal of the raid commander who ordered the retirement as soon as he assured himself that prisoners had been captured.

As a result of the raid much information was gained concerning the enemy’s defensive works, which include quarries and connected shell holes in addition to the trenches.

Cable from Gen. Pershing to the U.S. War Department, June 13 1918

This American 1st sergeant wears a handmade sweater, balaclava, scarf, and gloves to go along with his rifle and bayonet. Image: NARA

An earlier cable from Pershing’s HQ gave a description of a typical German raiding party: “Their objective was to capture prisoners and gain information concerning our forces. Arrangements for the raid were shown in orders found on the body of a German officer in command of the raiding party. The attacking party consisted of the commissioned officer, three noncommissioned officers, and five squads taken from troops specially trained for such work. They moved in three sections. Support was furnished by artillery fire, four light trench mortars, four heavy machine guns, and three light machine guns. Of the latter, one MG furnished special protection for each section of the attacking party. Equipment of the attacking troops included eight stick grenades and four egg grenades on average per man. Double rations were carried.”

Laurence Stallings describes the preparations of a German raiding party in “The Doughboys”: “The Assault Company, swaggering among the holding troops, awaited its hour. Some among them took out pocket whetstones and sharpened trench knives, others looked to their Bangalore torpedoes for blasting barbed wire or blew sand from the stringed triggers of potato-masher grenades. Luger pistols were repeatedly cleaned and oiled, bayonet studs looked to.”

This Austrian mace and a companion war-pick were captured in 1918. These could just as easily have come from the 14th century. Image: Author’s collection

The Doughboys quickly learned the deadly game on the Western Front. From the city slickers to the country boys, Uncle Sam’s troops proved themselves to be fearsome fighters. American daytime patrols grew more frequent through the summer of 1918, and the nighttime trench raids more effective. By September, the great Allied offensive was ready to begin.

Weapons of the Trench Raiders

World War I saw the introduction of most of the modern weapons of war we have now become accustomed to, or horrified by — the armored vehicle, the submarine, the aircraft, the machine gun, the flamethrower and poison gas all saw their first significant use in World War I.

Hand-to-hand combat training with Mike Gibbons (right), the middleweight boxing champ. His opponent uses the M1917 trench knife. Gibbons wears an experimental helmet, issued in small numbers during 1918. Image: NARA

But just as war seemed at its most futuristic, the battles fought by the night patrols and the trench raiders reduced combat to its most primitive. Men hacked and slashed at each other with trench maces, clubs and sharpened entrenching shovels, deadly tools that seemed better suited for a medieval battlefield. Melee weapons included bayonets, fighting knives and daggers that were lightweight and silent killers. American forces had two specialized trench knives available to them.

M1917 Trench Knife

Designed to pierce heavy coats and jackets, the M1917 trench knife is less a blade and more of a nasty pick with a knuckle duster handguard. Image: NARA

The M1917 was more of a pick than a true knife — using a triangular stiletto blade with a knuckleduster hand grip. The M1917 was designed to penetrate thick woolen uniforms and while the Doughboys often put it to good use, its stabbing-only blade was a bit of a liability.

Mark I Trench Knife

The American “knuckleduster knife” is a formidable-looking weapon that is a somewhat misunderstood design. The brass knuckle hand guard was meant more to help the soldier keep his grip on the knife in furious close combat. Even so, the opportunity to deliver a devastating punch to the face could make all the difference in a knife fight. The metal stub at the base of the pommel was called a “skull crusher”, adding yet another level of primeval violence to the weapon.

The ominous M1918 trench knife with a 6.75″ double-edged dagger blade, a knuckle duster grip, and a “skull crusher” on the pommel. Image: NARA

Few of the Mark I knives were finished in time to see action in WWI, but many were provided to American troops (particularly paratroops) during WWII.

Small Arms

In addition to the bladed weapons and impact weapons, U.S. troops also had access to some fearsomely capable small arms designed for close-range combat.

M1911 Pistol

The M1911 was the American trench raider’s ace in the hole. The incredible stopping power of the .45 ACP round made the M1911 indispensable equipment for raiders and patrols. Image: NARA

As most pistol shooters know, the .45 ACP M1911 is a handful of handgun. The .45 automatic was greatly favored by American trench raiders for its man-stopping firepower. (Read more about the M1911 in World War I here.)

The .45 caliber M1917 revolver was introduced as a stopgap measure for the lack of M1911 pistols. It soon became a favorite among Doughboy trench raiders. Image: NARA

Alongside the M1911, the .45 ACP M1917 revolver was also popular, and it packed just as deadly a punch. As cops carrying backup guns know, one pistol is good, two is better, and many Doughboys carried a second pistol during a trench raid — often using a captured German Luger, Mauser pistol, or one of the many smaller caliber German semi-auto handguns.

Trench Gun

There has been a fair amount of controversy surrounding the Doughboys’ use of the M1897 12-gauge shotgun, or trench gun. The Germans complained it was a violation of the law of war (specifically Article 23 of the 1907 Hague Convention) and claimed that it showed that American troops were not only inept marksmen but also barbarous.

The Germans further claimed that any American captured with a shotgun (or shotgun ammunition) could be subject to summary execution. The U.S. government responded quickly: “Inasmuch as the weapon is lawful and may be rightfully used, its use will not be abandoned by the American Army…”

The famous M1897 12-gauge trench shotgun, equipped with the M1917 bayonet (17″ blade). Image: NARA

U.S. officials also responded that they knew exactly what to do in the way of reprisals should any American soldier taken prisoner be harmed, stating, “If the German Government shall carry out its threat in a single instance, it will be the right and duty of the United States to make such reprisals as will best protect the American forces, and notice is hereby given of the intention of the United States to make such reprisals.” Uncle Sam wasn’t messing around, and the Germans quickly backed down. Given the fact that the Germans introduced poison gas and flamethrowers to the battlefield in WWI, shotguns seemed a curious objection for the Kaiser’s men to have.

Doughboys armed with M1903 rifles learn trench assaulting skills at the French training center at Gondrecourt in the spring of 1918. Image: NARA

For its part, the trench gun was a fearsome close-range weapon. Fitted with a perforated heat shield above the barrel, and a lug to accept the M1917 bayonet, the trench gun has an intimidating profile. Hold the M1897’s trigger back, and you can slam-fire five rounds of 00-buckshot (with nine .32 caliber pellets in each shell) in an exceptionally short time — perfect for clearing a trench or providing suppressing fire to cover a withdrawal. Most of the 00 buckshot shells issued during World War I used a paper casing, and these could cause jamming issues if the shells were allowed to get wet. Some all-brass shotgun shells were issued but ordnance officers generally burst into tears over the cost of all-brass shotgun shells.

This German trench, taken by U.S. troops in 1918, was the battleground of trench raiders carrying medieval melee weapons. Image: NARA

Laurence Stallings recounts in “The Doughboys”, that the trench shotgun was the weapon of choice for some: “One of the 33rd’s Medal of Honor performers was First Sergeant Johannes S. Anderson. First Sergeants were armed with the Army’s brutal .45 automatic, which left an exit hole in a man’s back the size of a derby hat; but the Chicago sergeant, undergoing much hostile fire to reach a concrete pillbox, made his entrance through the stage door of the pestiferous machine gun nest bearing a sawed-off shotgun.

Two buckshot blasts and the twenty-three performers left on their feet surrendered. Like Sergeant Gregory, a mile to his right, Anderson was scornful of conventional weapons, and there were others who felt the same.”

Conclusion

Combat in the trenches of World War was simultaneously modern and medieval, but always brutal. And these capable — yet terrifying — close-range weapons made it even more so.

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This great Nation & Its People War You have to be kidding, right!?!

U.S. Navy’s WWII Radar-Guided Bat Glide Bomb By Tom Laemlein

Striking enemy ships with airborne munitions became a priority after World War I. While the challenges were monumental at the time, the rewards for success were too great to pass up. However, bombs and torpedoes dropped by early naval strike aircraft stood little chance against armored warships bristling with AA guns. Faced with this, the United States Navy sought a solution based in some of the most advanced technology of the era.

ASM-N-2 Bat glide bomb carried by Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer
ASM-N-2 Bat glide bombs are carried on the wings of a Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer — one on each wing. Image: U.S. Navy

At the beginning of World War II, radar was coming into service with British armed forces. England shared that technology with the United States, and in 1940 the US Navy coined the term “radar” as an acronym for “radio detection and ranging”. At the same time, television technology was being refined and incorporated into military applications.

The desperate arms race drove technology farther and faster than ever before, and by April 1945, the US Navy deployed the ASM-N-2 Bat radar-guided glide bomb, the first automated anti-ship weapon to be used in combat.

Enter the Dragon

The concept of a TV-guided weapon arrived even before America was at war, as the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) proposed an anti-ship weapon in January 1941 that leveraged RCA’s television technology. Nicknamed the Dragon, the weapon used a nose-mounted TV camera to allow its operator to guide the glide-bomb to its target. The system worked well from a mechanical standpoint, but the early TV guidance technology was wonky, and the Dragon proved inaccurate.

ASM-N-2 Bat air to surface guided missile
Shown here is an ASM-N-2 Bat air-to-surface guided missile during development and testing. Image: U.S. Navy

In 1942, the US Navy struggled to counter the U-boats operating off the Atlantic seaboard, and a radar-guided bomb seemed a good solution for America’s thinly stretched defenses. In June 1942, the Navy began testing the Pelican, which used new “semi-active” radar homing technology. A year later, Western Electric upgraded the Pelican design with its “active radar” homing system.

Coupled with a 2,000-pound warhead, the upgraded Pelican achieved a 50% hit rate during tests at NAS New York. Additional tests and modifications followed, and the warhead was reduced to 1,000 pounds as the smaller explosive was shown to be sufficient for the expected types of targets. For a time, it seemed the Pelican would be the Navy’s production missile, but as the target types changed to surface vessels, the Pelican gave way to the Bat.

ASM-N-2 Bat undergoes pre-flight checks
U.S. Navy technicians perform pre-flight checks on a ASM-N-2 Bat. Image: U.S. Navy

The ASM-N-2 Batwas a self-contained weapon system. While the Pelican required its mothership to continuously paint the target with a radar beam, the Bat’s onboard homing allowed much more flexibility with the launch aircraft. This early “fire and forget” system was considered a significant advantage in the face of enemy interceptors and AA fire.

Becoming the Bat

The Bat was a product of many fathers, with contributions by the National Bureau of Standards, assisted by the Navy’s Bureau of Ordnance, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Bell Telephone Laboratories. While the Bureau of Standards developed the Bat’s aerodynamic and gyroscopic stabilizing systems, Bell Labs worked with MIT on the guidance mechanism.

close up of Bat glide bomb attached to the wing of a PB4Y-2 Privateer
A close up photograph of a Bat glide bomb attached to the wing of a PB4Y-2 Privateer. Image: U.S. Navy

The Navy’s Bureau of Ordnance said in its final review of the system:

“Bat was the product of many hands and minds. Of the groups working, Division 5 sponsored the Bureau of Standards organization, which built and tested the airframes and servomechanisms, the MIT Servomechanisms Laboratory, and the MIT Field Experimental Station. The results obtained can amply sustain credit for all concerned.”

Throughout the development process, radar systems were continually upgraded, and this demanded ongoing modifications to the Bat’s operating system. Advancing technology “moved the goal posts” several times, and the necessary modifications needed to make the Bat a workable weapon system, often seemed more of a setback than an enhancement. Plans were established to produce nearly 500 Bat bombs per month in the late summer of 1945—but at the end of 1944, the development team feared the war would be over before their brainchild could see service.

Consequently, development was refined enough to build 72 Bat glide bombs by the end of March 1945. Along with a cadre of experts, these were sent to the Naval Air Station at Kaneohe, Hawaii for training. The ASM-N-2 Bat (or SWOD, “Special Weapons Ordnance Device”,Mark 9 Modification 0) using an NBS airframe carrying a 1,000-pound AN-M65 GP bomb was readied for combat.

comparison of Bat tail types
There were two different tail types used during the Bat program. Both are shown here. Image: NARA

The Navy designated Number Two Wing, comprising squadrons VPB-109, VPB-123 and VPB-124, flying Consolidated PB4Y Privateer patrol bombers (the naval version of the B-24 bomber) as the initial Bat carriers. Other Navy aircraft were modified to carry the Bat, including the including the Vought F4U Corsair, the Curtiss SB2C Helldiver, and the Grumman TBF Avenger, but the PB4Y-2B Privateer was considered the best launch platform. The Privateer could carry one Bat under each wing in combat.

VPB-109 was sent to Hawaii to train with the new bombs, but only 10 days were provided to train the radar operators and ordnance teams. A few of the development team’s scientists accompanied the Privateer squadron to the PTO, helping to train the Bat operators and consult with the ordnance teams on assembly and maintenance.

The Bat Defined

The US Navy defined its radar-guided Bat in the following terms in its “Explosive Ordnance Manual”:

S.W.O.D. (Special Weapons Ordnance Device) Mk 9, or “Bat”, is a glide bomb. equipped with a radar homing set mounted in the nose. It is designed primarily for attacking. marine targets and is effective for night or day attacks upon shipping in any weather in which the parent plane can fly. The launching planes need not stay in the vicinity of the target and may release as many as four of these missiles in salvo.

The airframe consists of plywood sections which are fitted around the Bomb AN-M65. Control surfaces consist of an elevon on each wing which can be moved to control pitch or bank. There are no control surfaces on the tail.

engineering drawing of Bat glide bomb
Shown here is an engineering drawing of a later variant of the Bat glide bomb. Image: NARA

In order to ensure destruction of the intelligence system the Demolition System Mk 122 is used.

Installation of the Fuses Mk 235 and Mk 236, with their outside windmills and flexible arming stems, is standard.

Control: This missile has its own radar transmitter and receiver. When the target is located on the scope of the monitor unit in the plane, it is put into the range step of the missile’s scope and is automatically kept there. At the correct instant, determined by a glide ratio scale, the missile is released and is guided to its target by the radar signal in its own scope. The guiding. radar supplies corrections to the servo system, which is also controlled by a gyro pilot, the device which maintains flight attitude

1,600-pound “Bat” S.W.O.D. Mk 9 (Air-to-Surface Missile)

Overall length 11.9 feet.

Wing span 10 feet

Total weight, 1,600 pounds.

Warhead: 1,000-pound GP bomb AN-M65

Fusing: Nose: Mk 235 Mod 0 Тail: Мk 236 Mod 0

Notes from the Bat Manual

I am certainly not a rocket scientist, so found portions of the wartime Bat operator’s manual to be helpful in describing some of the more technical aspects of weapon system.

TBM Avenger carries Bat glide bomb in flight
A TBM Avenger, which was a TBF Avenger manufactured by General Motors, carries Bat glide bomb in flight. Image: U.S. Navy

Theory of Operation:

In SWOD Mk 9 Mod 0 the basic flight control of the air stabilizer is accomplished by two rate gyros (a pitch gyro and a turn gyro) which close and open contacts, operating the clutches of the servo. These air-driven gyros are powered by a Venturi tube projecting into the air stream.

A third gyro, designated “bias gyro”, sensitive to yaw motion only, is included in the gyro panel for the purpose of effecting a damping of yaw oscillations or hunting. A self-contained S-band radar transmitter and receiver is used to illuminate the selected target and to receive the returning echoes from it. The transmitter radar pulses from the antenna are directed by the rotating parabolic reflector so that the beam scans a cone-shaped area directly ahead of the missile. The returning target echoes are received by the same antenna, and the amplitude of the returning echoes varies with the directional pointing of the antenna beam. The returning target echoes are distributed by a commutator, mechanically coupled to the parabolic reflector, to four channels so that as the antenna beam is pointed down, right, up, or left, the returning echoes are segregated by quadrants. The echoes in each quadrant are converted by the directional control circuit of the radar into a direct current voltage which is proportional to the amplitude of the echoes of that quadrant.

The complete missile is suspended from the parent plane by means of a special bomb frame equipped with a standard bomb release unit such as Bomb Rack Mk 51 Mod 7. Sway braces are provided to keep the missile in a fixed position on the plane until release. The bomb fuses are mechanically armed after release by air vanes attached to the fuselage of the air stabilizer. Arming wires attached to the bomb rack release the air vanes at the time of drop-away in the conventional manner.

BAT operators position on Privateer
The Bat operator’s position in the PB4Y-2B Privateer bomber. Image: NARA

The Bat was considered breakthrough technology at the time, but even so it was fragile, sensitive, and sometimes downright wonky. The operator’s manual offers several “easier-said-than-done” tips for successful use:

“The parent plane should be straight and level for the last five seconds of the time that the SWOD Mk 9 is being readied for release. This permits the BAT to drop away normally on its glide path. The dropping aircraft should also be heading directly toward the target. Preferable air speed at the time of release is between 180 and 200 knots, with 140 knots as the minimum and 210 knots maximum.”

Land attacks were particularly tricky, given that ground clutter easily confused the radar guidance system:

“Isolated target which gives a strong signal from 10 miles distance and is at least 2 miles from any equal or stronger signal.”

Meanwhile, overwater attacks were little easier, enemy ships rarely cooperated with adequate spacing.

“Target over water must be isolated by ½ mile from targets of equal or greater strength.”

Finally, the care and maintenance of the Bat demanded gentle handling and preferably a clean, dry, and temperate environment.

“It cannot be too strongly stressed that the SWOD Mk 6 Mod 1 (Gyroscopic assembly) contains gyro units which must be handled with as much care as normally would be given to a precision electrical meter. While units can withstand the mild shocks they will receive in transportation and normal use, they cannot be dropped or otherwise mistreated.”

The Bat in Action

As VPB-109 began operations on Palawan atoll during April 1945, the squadron soon found their greatest enemy wasn’t the Japanese, but rather the extreme environment of their Pacific island base. The sensitive mechanics of the new technology did not operate well within the extreme heat and high humidity.

Loaded onto the Privateers on the hot and sweaty Palawan runway, condensation soon formed inside the Bat’s radar brain when carried to their operational altitude (15,000 to 25,000 feet). Mechanical problems were common, and several Bats simply failed completely. Ground crews worked tirelessly to learn, adapt, and correct the problems.

TBM Avenger launches a Bat glide bomb
TBM Avenger launches a Bat glide bomb Image: U.S. Navy

The Bat’s first combat launch came on April 23, 1945, during VPB-109’s attack on Balikpapan harbor. Eight of the missiles were launched at a large Japanese freighter—and immediately half fell out as inoperable. The remaining four did not strike the designated target, their radar confused by the land mass clutter behind the target.

Even so, a small freighter was struck at the pier, a picket boat was hit while patrolling the harbor, and two Bats slammed into a nearby oil refinery. The first Bat strike was not a resounding success, but the crews and their new weapon had drawn blood, and the radar-guided missile concept was being proven.

The Navy Bureau of Ordnance commented on the early Bat missions:

“It was evident, even to the Japanese, that something was brewing when the squadron arrived on Palawan. The Bats had to be slung outside the carrying plane, one hung under each wing, and that was a tip-off. What was afoot turned out to be the first use of a completely automatic homing aerial bomb in combat.

At intervals from May until August 1945, a number of Bats were released experimentally against the enemy. As Japanese shipping was disorganized by that time, the only available targets were small ships, usually in or near harbors. In spite of the increased difficulty this situation presented to the operators, good hits were obtained. From distances of several miles, well beyond effective anti-aircraft fire, the Bats followed moving targets relentlessly until destruction was accomplished. The most spectacular of the hits occurred when an ammunition-laden picket boat vanished in one terrific blast and when a hapless destroyer had its bow blown off.”

Bat air to surface glide bomb strikes a target ship
An ASM-N-2 Bat air-to-surface glide bomb caught in this photo just a moment before it struck a target ship. Image: U.S. Navy

By mid-May, VPB-109 moved to Okinawa. The conditions on Yontan Field were particularly soggy, and heavy rain greatly interrupted Bat operations. Also, the special tools, test instruments, and spare parts were lost when the squadron transport aircraft ditched in bad weather on the flight to Okinawa. Meanwhile, Japanese shipping was moving almost exclusively by night, and Privateers were forbidden to fly after dark to prevent being mistaken for Japanese night raiders.

Even so, VPB-109 made 13 Bat launches during its month on Okinawa—and three of these were hits. Privateer squadrons VPB 123 and VPB 124 joined the fight in July, and conducted several strikes on Japanese destroyers—with one direct hit recorded on a destroyer escort. VPB-109 launched the last Bat in combat on August 10, 1945, a near miss on a tanker off the coast of Korea.

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The Green Machine You have to be kidding, right!?!

More proof that US Army Chopper Pilots are a little plum off at times!

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California You have to be kidding, right!?!

This state and its people are so fucked

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All About Guns You have to be kidding, right!?!

I see that somebody has a sense of humor

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All About Guns War You have to be kidding, right!?!

Sturmtiger! The Weirdest Tiger Tank

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HUH! War You have to be kidding, right!?!

From the Daly Kona – “What was some surprising insight from an 1970’s wargaming simulation of “Operation Sealion” The German Invasion of England in WWII

I pulled this off Quora, I saw it taking a “Microbreak” at work surfing the phone. so I shamelessly clipped it.

In 1974, surviving WWII commanders wargamed Hitler’s invasion of Britain and made a darkly comedic discovery: the Royal Navy wouldn’t even need to fire its guns to sink the German fleet.

The highly detailed simulation of Operation Sea Lion was held at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and featured actual combat veterans making the decisions, including Luftwaffe General Adolf Galland and Kriegsmarine Admiral Friedrich Ruge.

The wargame yielded several unexpected insights, starting with the initial assault. Most historical assumptions suggest the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy would have crushed the invasion fleet before it ever reached the beaches.

Instead, the Sandhurst simulation showed that the Germans would have successfully landed around 90,000 troops in Kent and Sussex. Because the British Army had abandoned most of its heavy equipment during the evacuation of Dunkirk just months earlier, the coastal defenses were too weak and disorganized to stop the initial beachhead. The German army quickly pushed inland, capturing their early objectives.

But the success was short-lived, largely due to the fatal flaw in German logistics. The Kriegsmarine lacked purpose-built landing craft, forcing them to commandeer hundreds of flat-bottomed river barges from the Rhine to transport men and supplies across the English Channel.

Once the British realized a full-scale invasion was underway, the Royal Navy unleashed the Home Fleet from Scapa Flow. When the British cruisers and destroyers arrived in the Channel, they found that they did not need to rely on their main guns to destroy the German supply lines. Simply steaming through the invasion flotilla at high speed would generate enough wake to swamp and capsize the flimsy, unseaworthy river barges.

With the Channel completely severed by the Royal Navy and the RAF, the 90,000 German troops who had successfully landed were suddenly trapped. Cut off from food, medical supplies, and artillery shells, their advance ground to a halt.

The Luftwaffe suffered massive losses attempting an improvised aerial resupply. Facing a fully mobilized British defense and completely out of ammunition, the entire German invasion force was compelled to surrender within six days, proving that without absolute naval and air supremacy, Sea Lion was a guaranteed trap for the German army.

German invasion barges, many of them commandeered river vessels, waiting at Boulogne Harbour in France during the Battle of Britain. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
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All About Guns Anti Civil Rights ideas & "Friends" Born again Cynic! You have to be kidding, right!?!

SCOTUS Brief Calls Part of the 2A ‘Extinct’ by Larry Z

Every now and then, a Supreme Court filing comes along that makes you stop, reread the argument and wonder if you understood it correctly the first time.

This is one of those filings.

Connecticut attorney David A. Robinson has submitted an amicus brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold bans on AR-15s and similar semiautomatic rifles. His central argument is not simply that certain rifles can be regulated. He wants the Court to declare part of the Second Amendment “extinct.”

Yes, that is the word used in the brief.

The AR-15 Case Before the Court

The filing comes in the consolidated cases of Viramontes v. Cook County and Grant v. Higgins. The cases challenge bans imposed by Cook County, Illinois, and Connecticut.

The question before the Supreme Court is straightforward: Do the Second and Fourteenth Amendments protect the right to possess AR-15-platform rifles and similar semiautomatic firearms?

The Court granted review on June 30, consolidated the two cases and scheduled oral arguments for December 2, 2026.

Robinson’s brief supports the governments defending their bans. However, an important distinction needs to be made. This is not a ruling, a government filing or the official brief from either respondent. Robinson wrote and funded it himself. As of October 27, the Supreme Court docket listed it as “submitted.”

If the Amendment Process Fails, Ask the Court?

Robinson says he previously tried to build support for a proposed 28th Amendment that would rewrite the constitutional protection for arms. He self-published a short book, purchased Amazon and Facebook ads and contacted elected officials.

The campaign went nowhere.

That failure becomes part of his argument to the Court. Robinson reasons that because Americans could not agree on new constitutional language, the justices should step in and declare which portions of the existing Second Amendment remain alive.

That is where the argument starts running backward.

The Constitution already provides a process for changing its language through Article V. If an effort to amend the Constitution fails, the original language remains in effect. Failure to persuade the public does not normally create permission for judges to rewrite the provision themselves.

Robinson nevertheless asks the Court to declare the militia clause “extinct.” He then argues that the protection for keeping and bearing arms should survive only to the extent judges consider a weapon necessary for personal defense or hunting.

That turns an explicit constitutional limit on government into a government-approved list of permitted purposes.

The Brief Takes Some Wild Turns

Robinson compares the Second Amendment’s militia language to Major League Baseball’s pre-1947 exclusion of Black players. He claims both concepts may have made sense to people in their respective eras but are now outdated.

He also compares firearm-capacity limits to speed limits on cars.

That analogy skips over a fairly important detail. Driving at a particular speed is not an enumerated constitutional right. The right to keep and bear arms is.

The filing goes further by suggesting that AR-15 owners who cite protection against tyranny must believe they have the right to shoot police officers attempting to enforce a firearm ban. Robinson describes gun owners as combining a “1791 mentality” with a modern AR-15.

That is a massive leap from opposing government overreach to advocating violence against individual officers. It substitutes an extreme hypothetical for the actual question before the Court: whether commonly owned semiautomatic rifles fall within the protection of the Second Amendment.

The brief concludes with an imaginary conversation between a 9-year-old student and her teacher during an active-shooter drill. Robinson says the hypothetical conversation “proves” semiautomatic rifles are not constitutionally protected.

It may illustrate his policy concerns, but an invented conversation is not historical evidence or constitutional analysis.

The Argument Collides With Heller

The biggest problem is that Robinson’s “extinct militia” theory runs directly into District of Columbia v. Heller.

In Heller, the Supreme Court held that the Second Amendment protects an individual right that is not dependent on service in a militia. The Court also explained that the amendment’s prefatory clause announces a purpose but “does not limit or expand the scope” of its operative guarantee.

Robinson quotes Heller’s statement that courts cannot pronounce the Second Amendment extinct, but then asks the Court to do essentially that.

His claim that the militia no longer exists is also hard to square with current law. Federal law still recognizes both an organized militia and an unorganized militia. Whether that statute resolves the AR-15 question is another matter, but it certainly complicates the claim that the militia has simply vanished.

Robinson also argues that because Garland v. Cargill did not decide whether bump stocks receive Second Amendment protection, semiautomatic rifles may be banned. But Cargill addressed whether a bump-stock-equipped rifle qualified as a machine gun under federal statutory language. The Court’s decision not to reach a separate constitutional question did not answer it against gun owners.

Why This Brief Is Getting Attention

The filing probably will not become the central argument in these cases. It is one independently submitted amicus brief among dozens, and it does not speak for Cook County, Connecticut or the Supreme Court.

Still, it puts a remarkably blunt version of the anti-AR argument into the official record.

The Constitution is too old. The militia is obsolete. Modern rifles are too effective. The amendment process failed. Therefore, judges should declare part of the Second Amendment dead and let governments decide which arms citizens really need.

For gun owners, that sequence is exactly why constitutional protections exist in the first place.

What do you think? Is this brief simply an outlier, or does it say the quiet part out loud about the broader effort to remove AR-15s from Second Amendment protection?

===========================================  In my humble opinion. I kind of doubt that this court would do something so opposed to their previous holding on the 2nd Ad. . But then the crazier things than this have happened before. Grumpy

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This great Nation & Its People You have to be kidding, right!?!

The Accidental Outpost La Navidad By Will Dabbs, MD

Depending upon how you count them, there are between 193 and 195 recognized countries in the world today. The Vatican and Palestine are the two most ambiguous examples. Nowadays, nations go to war over the most trivial geographical infractions. However, the world was once a much more rollicking, less regimented space.

This fetching lad is the esteemed Christopher Columbus. Depending upon your perspective, he was either a valiant explorer or a bloodthirsty imperialist.

The Guy

In fourteen hundred ninety-two
Columbus sailed the ocean blue.

He had three ships
The Nina, The Pinta and the Santa Maria, too.

He left from Spain;
He sailed through sunshine, wind and rain.

Most everybody knows that Christopher Columbus was the first European to explore the Americas. There is controversy and ambiguity, because there will forever be controversy and ambiguity. Leif Erikson the Viking just popped over for a visit but didn’t stick around some 500 years earlier.

And there is the Native American perspective that they didn’t really need exploring at all and would sooner have simply been left alone. Regardless, 534 years ago, Chris and his mates were poking around Hispaniola (modern-day Haiti) when rank laziness conspired to shape the affairs of men.

This is a reproduction of the Santa Maria, Columbus’ flagship. Considering what was being asked of it, she wasn’t much of a boat.

The Ship

Columbus’ flagship was the Santa María. She was a 15th-century carrack that had been previously christened La Gallega. It was a long time ago, and the specific dimensions are in dispute. Most historians agree that the Santa Maria was about 62 feet long on deck and displaced some 125 tons. She was crewed by between 40 and 45 sailors.

62 feet is not a terribly big boat to be traversing the entire breadth of the Atlantic Ocean. And that was the largest of his three. Columbus’ expedition was indeed a fairly bold enterprise.

On Christmas Day 1492, Columbus and his buddies had just killed an eventful few days navigating around the northern coast of Hispaniola, avoiding obstacles and trading with the local Taino people.

They had gone two nights without sleep and were all fairly spanked. With the sea a dead calm (“like water in a bowl” per his later description), Columbus retired to his cabin for a little shut-eye. He left the ship in the hands of his capable but equally exhausted helmsman.

At around 11 pm, the helmsman, feeling like there really wasn’t much untoward that could occur in seas this smooth, passed the reins off to a grumete or cabin boy and hit the rack himself. Columbus had specific standing orders never to do this. However, when the cat’s away …

The Accident

As everybody else on the Santa Maria slept soundly, this poor, inexperienced kid just held the course. Without anyone being the wiser, prevailing currents pushed the heavy vessel toward a sandbar. The first inkling that something was amiss occurred when the rudder scraped the sand.

The poor kid screamed like he was being skinned. Columbus and the ship’s master, Juan de la Cosa, rushed to the deck. However, by then it was too late. The ship was most thoroughly grounded.

This was bad, but it wasn’t the end of the world. These were experienced sailors. Columbus directed De la Cosa to launch a small boat, secure an anchor, and then winch the Santa Maria backward off of the sandbar. However, the tide was going out. The clock was ticking.

The Coward

There was no Coast Guard cutter or rescue helicopter standing by. They were a zillion miles from home, surrounded by unexplored territory and a bunch of sketchy natives. If they screwed this up, these guys were done. As such, when De la Cosa got out in his small boat, he just scuppered off to the nearby Nina and left Columbus to fend for himself.

The Nina’s skipper wisely refused to allow the coward De la Cosa to board, so he returned to the Santa Maria a humble and broken man. However, by then the damage was done. The Santa Maria was doomed.

The Catastrophe

These big wooden ships looked substantial, but they weren’t designed to support their own mass outside the water. As the sea receded, the ship’s seams split. The Santa Maria was irretrievably ruined. As the tide came back in, she filled with water.

A local Taíno chief named Guacanagaríx paddled out to help along with some of his mates. The crew salvaged the cargo and harvested as much of the ship’s timber as possible. However, the remaining crew members would not all fit aboard the remaining ships.

Columbus used the salvaged materials from the Santa Maria to construct a fortified settlement, the first of its kind in the Americas. He named it La Navidad (Christmas) because the accident occurred on Christmas Day. Necessity forced him to leave behind thirty-nine of his men.

So the first official European settlement in the New World was the result of a sleepy helmsman, a cowardly ship’s master, and a cabin boy who was just doing the very best he could.

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You have to be kidding, right!?!

The Soldier Who Stole England’s Crown Jewels