And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Tuesday, January 9, 2018
105mm shells from an allied bombardment all fired in a single day on German lines, 1916.
My Dad had a gorgeous brass ashtray made from a 105mm shell, with a cork knob in the center for tapping his pipe.
I was greatly saddened when I learned that he had given that magnificent ashtray, along with his pipes & other paraphenalia, away to GoodWill; he'd stopped smoking, but never mentioned it to me.
It was also awkward to discover this, as I found out when I'd brought him a humidor made from Western Australian jarrah & karri wood as a birthday gift.
It wasn't the only time I wish he'd told me something; he always seemed to think that I'd just know, somehow. Sure miss him.
Dan Carlin’s podcasts ‘Hardcore History’ talks about the amazing quantities of shells used in WW1 battles. Mind boggling! Battles that literally drove men insane.
You might want to Google "Iron Harvest" in France. You can even find maps of honest to god "NO GO" areas. All 100 years old now. Still uninhabitable, still dangerous, and the poisons are starting to leach out into the surrounding aquifers now.
The Germans clearly wanted to win on that day...and I would NOT want to be on the receiving end.
ReplyDeleteMy Dad had a gorgeous brass ashtray made from a 105mm shell, with a cork knob in the center for tapping his pipe.
ReplyDeleteI was greatly saddened when I learned that he had given that magnificent ashtray, along with his pipes & other paraphenalia, away to GoodWill; he'd stopped smoking, but never mentioned it to me.
It was also awkward to discover this, as I found out when I'd brought him a humidor made from Western Australian jarrah & karri wood as a birthday gift.
It wasn't the only time I wish he'd told me something; he always seemed to think that I'd just know, somehow. Sure miss him.
Dan Carlin’s podcasts ‘Hardcore History’ talks about the amazing quantities of shells used in WW1 battles. Mind boggling! Battles that literally drove men insane.
ReplyDeleteYou might want to Google "Iron Harvest" in France. You can even find maps of honest to god "NO GO" areas. All 100 years old now. Still uninhabitable, still dangerous, and the poisons are starting to leach out into the surrounding aquifers now.
ReplyDelete