Al Nofi's CIC
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Issue #172, November 4th, 2007 |
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This Issue...
- Infinite Wisdom
- la Triviata
- Short Rounds
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Infinite Wisdom
"My friends, you have Nieuport behind you, which is in the possession of the enemy; the sea on your left; a river on your right; and the enemy in front: there is no other way for you to pass save over the bodies of these men."
| -- | Prince Maurice of Nassau,
to his troops, just before
winning the Battle of Nieuport
July 2, 1600.
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La Triviata
- In 1851 Louis Napoleon issued a special campaign medal to those in the Army who had supported the coup d’etat that led to his assumption of the title “Emperor of the French.”
- As part of its preparations for World War I, in 1917 the U.S. Navy issued a new model cutlass, with a blade nearly 25 inches long, perhaps in the hope that Uncle Sam’s bluejackets might find it useful for boarding German dreadnoughts.
- Hitler’s private sleeping carriage, which bore the number 10222, is still in service today, reserved for the use of the President of the German Federal Republic, though its designation has been changed to 8940322.
- By 1833 West Point graduates comprised half of all the officers in the Army.
- During the age of sail it was not uncommon for American and British seamen, when clearing for cleared for action to wear their "best clothes" – or at least change their underwear – because it had been observed that infection seemed less likely if a man was wounded while wearing fresh clothing, a phenomenon that probably resulted from the fact that said garments were usually much cleaner than ordinary working clothes.
- In 1935, through the courtesy of the British authorities in East Africa, Adolph Hitler thoughtfully shipped thirty 37-mm anti-tank guns to the Ethiopians, whose country had just been invaded by his fellow-dictator Benito Mussolini.
- Among the approximately 58,000 names on the polished black walls of the Vietnam Memorial are those of 110 Canadians, 27 Filipinos, 20 Irishmen, and seven Germans, as well as those of men from 17 other countries, all of whom died in the military service of the United States.
- During World War II, the common U.S. Navy nickname for an asbestos fire-fighter’s suit was a “Daniel,” because it enabled one to walk safely through the fires.
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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