Al Nofi's CIC
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Issue #145, March 13th, 2006 |
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This Issue...
- Infinite Wisdom
- la Triviata
- Short Rounds
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Infinite Wisdom
"We stumbled along . . . while the enemy grew wise."
| -- | Raizo "Tenacious" Tanaka,
Vice Admiral, IJN
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La Triviata
- During the Italian Campaign of 1943-1945, 45,500 Commonwealth troops died fighting against the Germans and their Fascist stooges, as did 35,400 Americans, and over 90,000 Italians, between regular troops and partisans.
- On March 17, 1909, a battalion of British Guardsmen, reinforced by some artillery, moved from London to Hastings, some 105 miles, by automobile, in one of the earliest "motor marches" in history.
- Tradition has it that during the Waterloo Campaign Prussian Field Marshal Gebhard von Bl�cher was suffering from the delusion that he was pregnant with an elephant by a grenadier of Napoleon's Old Guard, albeit that his "condition" does not seem to have impeded his fighting.
- Although it was Henry VIII who first put physicians in warships, not until 1805 did the Royal Navy authorized a uniform for them, and not until 1847 were they granted commissions.
- Shortly after his regiment had defeated the French 70th of the Line during a battle in the Peninsula, Col. Sir Denis Pack of the 71st Foot was asked why his men had prevailed, to which he replied, "The French found us one to many for them."
- In the summer of 1941, black soldiers of the 93rd Engineer Battalion, training neat Ft. Robinson, Arkansas, were often forced to march in flooded drainage ditches, because the State Police wished to keep "the niggers off the highway."
- Informed by a fellow officer that a certain fortress was "unattackable," Sir Sidney Smith � Napoleon's great nemesis � replied, "Sir, that word is not English," and promptly proved his point
- By 1944 an amphibious landing by an American or British infantry division in the European Theater required some 500 ships, boats, and other vessels varying from 15,000-ton attack transports down to 100-ton LCVP's (Landing Craft, Vehicles and Personnel), excluding vessels needed for naval gunfire support, escort, and anti-aircraft protection.
More...
Portions of "Al
Nofi's CIC" have appeared previously in Military Chronicles,
Copyright � 2005 Military
Chronicles (www.militarychronicles.com), used with permission, all rights
reserved.
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