Interesting facts of military history

The things you learn.
"This is a model of an Aerial Torpedo Dr. Henry W. Walden made in 1915 for a patent application. The missile was to be air-launched against ground targets and controlled by radio signals from the mother aircraft. The pilot would visually observe the Torpedo and activate the controls through radio signals. The signals activated servos that moved steering vanes on the Torpedo. Although Walden's patent was granted, it never became official; he never paid the fee, having received no support from the US government."
http://airandspace.si.edu/collections/artifact.cfm?id=A19580052000

 

I think there might be a minor "typo" here.

 

First British shots of WW1 in Europe were fired during an engagement between C Squadron, 4th Dragoon Guards and German Uhlans near Le Casteau, Belgium on 22nd August 1914.
The last shots of the war were fired by the 116 Canadian Infantry Reg. also near Le Casteau on 11th November 1918-
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/firstshot_01.shtml

 

A short history of mutinies in the US military-
http://militaryhistorynow.com/2013/09/25/no-sir-a-short-history-of-mutinies-in-the-u-s-military/

 

"Soldiers would kick a football back and forth as they charged out of the trenches during assaults.”

That's from a great recent article about the role football (soccer) played in the tragic meat grinder of WWI. That senseless slaughter combined with a game I love haunts me. Here's the full article, titled "Soccer in Oblivion":

http://grantland.com/features/world-war-one-soccer-game/

 

Eugenie Mikhailova Shakhovskaya became the world's first female military pilot on November 19th 1914-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenie_Mikhailovna_Shakhovskaya
Sabia Gokcen of Turkey became the world's first female fighter pilot in 1937-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabiha_G%C3%B6k%C3%A7en

 

First VC of WW1 was awarded posthumously to Lieutenant Maurice Dease of the Royal Fusiliers at the battle of Mons, 23rd August 1914.
http://1914centenary.com/2013/08/24/lieutenant-maurice-dease-vc/
However, the first VC of the war to be officially listed in the London Gazette was awarded to Captain Francis Grenfell of the 9th Lancers on 24th August 1914, also at the battle of Mons-
http://www.nam.ac.uk/microsites/war-horse/explore/charge/%E2%80%98the-first-vc-of-the-european-war%E2%80%99-1914/

 

Some stuff here I'd never heard of.
"Ten Facts About Football in the Second World War"
http://www.iwm.org.uk/history/10-facts-about-football-in-the-second-world-war

 

Much the same can be said about baseball here in the United States.

 

Something I discovered when I read Cornelius Ryan's book "The Longest Day" was that there was only one major Luftwaffe attack on the Normandy beaches on D-day. It was done by Luftwaffe ace Josef Priller.

 

That is one of Ryan's very few failures. Luftflotte 3 flew a little over 300 sorties against the Normandy beaches during the day, and another 200 some the night of June 6/7. Still, the Luftwaffe was effectively absent from the battlefield the first few days, when you compare the 300 German sorties against the 14,674 sorties that the Allies flew against Normandy on June 6, 1944.

 

I should read a little more into that. I got the impression that because the Luftwaffe strength in the Normandy area was very weak compared to the air dominance of the Allies that the Luftwaffe was unable to perform any kind of sorties against the Allies on D-Day. But like you said when you compare 300 to 14,674....

 

Well there could have been only one major attack on the beaches. I would think the ships would have been where most of the effort went as far as the 300 sorties is concerned. In this regard what was considered a "major attack"?

 

I liked seeing this. Major Patrick Ferguson (1744–1780) is my 1st cousin 10x removed (My 8th great grandfathers 1st cousin)

 

Florence Green (19/2/1901- 4/2/2012) was a member of the Women's Royal Air Force and the last surviving veteran of WW1- from any country-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Green

 

Field Marshall Sir William Robertson was the first - and only- British soldier to rise from Private to Field Marshall-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_William_Robertson,_1st_Baronet

 

A new update at:
http://www.strategypage.com/cic/docs/cic447a.asp
a couple of interesting mentions of naval wargaming: an early Japanese PH raid and a British raid on the High Sea Fleet prior to WWI, the latter on the second page.

 

Well now...
"The last survivor of the Crimean War was Royal Navy ship mascot Timothy the Tortoise. It died in 2004 at age of 165."
https://twitter.com/MilHistNow/status/671252382055968768?utm_source=fb&utm_medium=fb&utm_campaign=mcrmilhist&utm_content=671442203970027520

 

A list of the last survivors of various European wars from the 1600s onwards, sparked by the memory of watching a tv programme years ago which interviewed the last survivors of the Boer War-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_European_veterans_by_war

 

On November 16, 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt ended almost 16 years of American non-recognition of the Soviet Union following a series of negotiations in Washington, D.C. with the Soviet Commissar for Foreign Affairs, Maxim Litvinov.

https://history.state.gov/milestones/1921-1936/ussr