This blog is mostly going to consist of information and pictures of weaponry, technology, steampunk, and other interests I may have.
US M6 Bradley Linebacker with 4 FIM-92A Stinger SAMs & M242 Bushmaster 25mm auto-cannon.
Today I asked a relative of mine if they knew what the Korean War was. They said they had no idea what I was talking about. They were only 14, but still. I find that very sad. Many Americans fought and died in this war and they shouldnt be forgotten. So Ive decided to start posting about the…
During WWI, when you see unique flame and toxic weapons used by the British who do you think of? I think of William Howard Livens. Born in 1889, as soon as WWI broke he enlisted as soon as possible, but unfortunately for him he just basically became a messenger boy at Chatham. After finding out about the sinking of the RMS Lusitania he vowed to kill an equal number of Germans to how many civilians died on the ship. And at the end of April 1915 he began his experimental work with flames and toxins. Then late in August 1915, Livens left Chatham to join one of the newly formed Royal Engineer Special Gas Companies where he was one of very few officers to have a background in engineering rather than chemistry. This is where his truly destructive work was created.
The Livens Large Gallery Flame Projector was a famous weapon of his that was used in WWI. It was 2.5 ton flame thrower that was carried into underground tunnels and assembled their. When in use a nozzle would pop out from underground in no man’s land and would begin to shoot diesel and kerosene that would be ignited and continuously burn. It wasn’t used many times because of how exact conditions would need to be for its use. But when it was used it was extremely successful. There is also a small documentary on this weapon where a team of historians and archaeologists try to find parts to one of these weapons and attempt to rebuild one. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGxP7F2GUwY
Another one of Livens weapons was The Livens Projector. Which was capable of sending canisters of toxic gas or flammable materials arcing towards Germans. The Livens Projector was also used to fire other substances. At one time or another the drums contained high explosive, oil and cotton-waste pellets, thermite, white phosphorus and “stinks”. Used as giant stink bombs to trick the enemy, “stinks” were malodorous but harmless substances such as bone oil and amyl acetate used to simulate a poison gas attack, thereby compelling the enemy to put on their cumbersome masks (which reduced the efficiency of German troops) on occasions when gas itself could not be safely employed. You can see troops loading the Livens Projector in the image above.
So I just found out this little interesting rifle exists. Now I have seen this before but I just never knew what it was until today. My first thought on it was that a Spas-15 and a AR-18 had sex and this was their child. But no, this is neither American or Italian. It’s an Australian Leader Dynamics Series T2 MK5.
I have done my research and found out a few things about this weapon such as it fires a 5.56, unfortunately. It was in production from the 1980’s-1996. Apparently there was a sub-machine gun version made. This was Australia’s first entry into the domestic design and sale of a select fire/semi auto carbine/pistol/SMG for both military and civilian sales in Australia.
I sometimes think to myself what would happen and how different today would be if If England deiced to go through with their plan, and gas German cities with anthrax and chem weapons during WWII. The best conclusion I have thought of is that public perception would definitely taken a dive and would probably exist to this day, dominions and colonies would probably have aligned themselves even more closely with the US both politically and militarily afterwards. I’d even go so far as to say that Canada and Australia would have probably become republics depending on how much the public received news of chemicals weapons being deployed.
WOW! I can’t believe the filmmakers of this documentary managed to get a Soviet WWII vet to admit to illegally killing surrendered German soldiers. This is a crazy end to a very good, in depth documentary on WWII, covering, for once, the Eastern front as well as the other fronts.
WWII was unbelievably barbaric and cruel, but especially so on the Eastern Front, and this is readily apparent in recent scholarship on the behavior not only of the Wehrmacht, but of the Red Army as well.
Obviously, no Russians want to hear about the ‘Rape of Germany’, just as no American likes to find out that Allied forces on the Western front were behind some 20,000 rapes (I won ‘t go into the numbers for the Eastern front….they’re pretty controversial. Think ‘low’ millions. Also, understand that these Red Army men were probably terribly destroyed by their experiences in the War, and would act accordingly). But I feel that it is important, as a historian, to get as close to the truth as possible. Because, however unpleasant it may seem, that’s how we come to understand why these terrible things happen, and how we can prevent them from happening again.
Fallschirmjager of the Fallschirmjager-Aufklärung-Abteilung 12 about to do some reconnaissance in a type 82 Kübelwagen, near Saint-Lô France, July 1944.
General Dynamics F-16
Courtesy: Sindre AHN
