The FReeper Foxhole - Lazy Sunday and some WW1 Facts - October 17th, 2004

see educational sources

[snippy_about_it]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.


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Just the facts, ma'am.

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WWI Facts



OTHER NAMES FOR THE GREAT WAR

World War One
The War to End All Wars
The War to Make the World Safe for Democracy
The War of the Nations
The First World War
The World War

Famous Alumni of World War One

Humphrey Bogart, Walt Disney, Charles DeGaulle,
Ernest Hemmingway, Pope John XXIII, Lawrence of Arabia,
Winston Churchill, Bella Lugosi, Fritz Kreisler,
Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussollini, Fiorello LaGuardia
Harry Truman, King Edward VIII, General Marshall,
General George Patton, General E. Rommel, G. Marconi
General Douglas MacArthur, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Field Marshall Montgomery, Walter Brennan



CASUALTY FACTS

During the summer and fall of 1914, France lost as many men on the battlefield as the U.S.Army would lose in all of the 20th century!

Russia's losses were never actually counted. It is estimated that over 6 million Russian soldiers were killed in WWI.

During World War One, 230 soldiers perished for each hour of the four and a quarter years it continued.

The world's worst train accident occured in France, in December 1917 with the deaths of over 600 soldiers.

There were 70,000,000 men and women in uniform of that number one-half were either killed, wounded or became prisoners of war.

In Great Britian at the end of the war there were 250,000 wounded soldiers who suffered total or partial amputation.

The Spanish Influenza of 1918 killed 51 million people worldwide!

The U.S. was in the war in actual combat for only seven and a half months. During this time 116,000 were killed and 204,000 were wounded.

In 1916 in the Italian Alps a winter avalanche killed 10,000 men. In four years of conflict on the Italian Alpine Front 50,000 soldiers killed by avalances.

The Italian Front 1915-1918 was the site of the largest scale mountain warfare in history.

During the course of the Great War 11% of Frances's entire population was killed or wounded.

The site of the Battle of Verdun is remembered as the battlefield with the highest density of dead per square yard.

The biggest naval battle in history occurred off the coast of Jutland in the afternoon of May 31, 1916. More than 200 warships and 100,000 men of the rival navies were involved. The British "Grand Fleet" lost 14 ships. The German "High Seas Fleet" lost 11 ships.

Half of the dead of Great War have no known grave.

The largest man made explosion occured at Halifax Harbor, Nova Scotia, Canada 1917 with the collison of 2 ammo ships.

The 10 month Battle of Verdun, 1916 caused over a million casualties.

At the end of the war in France the 650,000 war widows became a powerful voting block .

Italian Front
60,000 Alpine troops would freeze to death in the "high mountains" (Dolomiti Adamello ranges) during 3 years of war.



WORLD WAR ONE FIRSTS

First war to be fought on 3 continents.
First industrialized conflict.
First use of chlorine & mustard gas.
First use of the flame thrower.
First tank battle.
First use of mass airplanes.
First use of x-ray in the military.
First use of a blood bank.
First use of guide dogs by blinded soldiers.
First four-star general, General John J. Pershing
First use of trillion in estimating war costs.
First commissioning of war art for propaganda.
First use of the IQ Test given to Doughboys of 1917.
First U.S. president to visit a European country while in office was Woodrow Wilson on 12/04/18.



WORLD WAR ONE ANIMALS

1917 - "Stubby" a mutt, who wandered into the Connecticut National Armory, goes overseas with the 102nd Inf. Regiment during WW1. The dog saves his regiment from surprise mustard gas attacks and locates wounded soldiers. "Stubby" was decorated for Valor by Gen. John Pershing.

1918 - "Cher Ami" a U.S. Army Singal Corps carrier pigeon is wounded during the Battle of Verdun, France. He dies of wounds in 1919 and is awarded the French Croix de Guerre.

1918 - "Rin Tin Tin" a German Shepherd dog was born in a trench in 1918 and rescued by an American Soldier. The dog became the nation's most famous dog and starred in more than 40 films.

It is estimated that over 800,000 horses were killed in the line of duty with the British Forces on the Belgium Front.

Over 40,000 war dogs were killed while serving with the Allied Armies.

Buddy, the offspring of a war dog, is the first seeing eye dog.

The Original Pooh Bear was a Canadian World War One Mascot.

Rin Tin Tin ,a German Shepherd war dog, helped shape our image of dogs, as a problem solver, paved the way for Lassie and made the dog into an American Folk Hero.

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FReeper Foxhole Armed Services Links

[Diva Betsy Ross]

Hello Foxhole freeps! I just wanted to stop by and say a quick hello and a sincere thank you to all of our Veterans. I am mindful that no matter who wins the presidency in a few weeks, I have the veterans of the United States of America to thank for my right to vote, for my freedoms,for my quality of life and for my children's freedom. And for that I am so thankful.

[Grzegorz 246]

You rather won't buy it in the bank anymore, however It isn't difficult to buy it in some numismatic shop or through internet. This one is made of real gold, so It cost a fortune, however there are are also versions of the same coin made of silver and made of copper and nickel.

http://e-numizmatyka.pl/store/product_info.php?products_id=289

http://e-numizmatyka.pl/store/product_info.php?products_id=276

http://e-numizmatyka.pl/store/product_info.php?products_id=622

[Grzegorz 246]

Here is another one Solidarity coin, however I'm affraid that it was issued only in golden edition.

[U S Army EOD]

When I sailed back from England on my sailboat in 1977 we met a Polish sailboat in Lisbon. We had quite a few sail boats rafted out in the harbor. We were there for Christmas and had a party on a large British sailboat and had people there from about ten or more different countries. We sang Christmas carols in all the different languages that night and did a lot of drinking. About three o'clock in the morning the Pole's started the ethnic jokes with, "How many Russians does it take to unscrew a light bulb"? That got it going with the British telling Irish jokes, the Swedes telling Norwegian jokes, the Germans on the French, and me being from the South, telling Yankee jokes.

As far as WWII with the initial start, had England and France attacked Germany right after they invaded Poland, they could have been in Berlin in a few weeks. Poland was a much harder nut to crack than the Germans planned on and they had to shoot up most of their ammunition reserves. Germany never went on a war time economy until 1942. They would have not had enough ammo at that time for a two front war.

[Grzegorz 246]

No. There is also Golden Nordic version. This should be quite cheap.

[Professional Engineer]

On a 10 mile front in Flanders Field, Belgium in 1917 over 5,000,000 artillery shells were fired in 3 day period.

HOLY CRAP!!

[Professional Engineer]

Hi miss Feather

[SAMWolf]

Like the BAttle of Britain coin.

[SAMWolf]

LOL!

[SAMWolf]

See if they have any Warsaw Uprising coins. ;-)

[SAMWolf]

When Gypsies are buying steal (?) insurances

When Gypsies are buying theft insurance.

[SAMWolf]

Thanks Matt.

My dad told me about the importance of the Crown on the Polish Eagle.

[SAMWolf]

Afternoon Diva Betsy Ross.

Thanks for dropping by on a Lazy Sunday.

[SAMWolf]

During this year's reenactment I heard those feathers in action

That had to be soemthing to hear!

[SAMWolf]

Thanks for sharing that story EOD.

telling Yankee jokes

So, got any good one?

[SAMWolf]

Betrayed in 1939 and "Rising '44" shows how you were betrayed again in 1944.

Great pictures, thanks Matt.

[SAMWolf]

Artillery, the god of war.

[MHT]

WWI was the marker at which the 19th century became the 20th. WWI also offered a variety of new warfare technology (gases, aerial combat, tanks). Furthermore, the annihilation of the Armenian nation was the most effective genocide of the 20th century and inspiration for Hitler's "remedy". When questioned about his master plan for the Jews, Hitler is quoted as having said, "Look what they did to the Armenians, and no one noticed." By comparison, Hitler's Holocaust was not particularly successful, and WWII statistics of loss were a gift compared with the Great War.