Infinite Wisdom

"Good men of good character are often forced to do bad things in war."

La Triviata

• In 1803 King George III nicknamed the Inns of Court Regiment, a London volunteer formation, "The Devil's Own" by because it was recruited primarily among  lawyers.
• The death rate among Russian troops taken prisoner by the Germans during World War I was about 5.4 percent, a figure that, during World War II rose to at least 35 percent and possibly as high as 60 percent.
• In 1944 a fund raising drive in the British colony of Uganda provided the RAF with enough aircraft to form a fighter squadron.
• The Springarn Medal, awarded annually since 1915 by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People for outstanding achievement by an African-American, has twice gone to career soldiers, Col. Charles Young in 1916 and Gen. Colin Powell in 1991.
• By the summer of 1941, 85 percent of German men aged 20-30 were serving in the armed forces.
• The formation of the Royal Air Force in 1918 prompted proposals for a new system of officer ranks, one of which suggested basing them on a combination of the Gaelic "ard - chief" and "eun - bird", so that, for example, "Third Ardian" or "Squadron Ardian" would have been the equivalent of Rear-Admiral or Major-General.
• Reportedly, among the loot paraded in Julius Caesar’s spectacular four day triumph (July 26-29, 46 BC), was some 600 million sestertii in cash, enough money to feed a million families for a year.
• In his youth Robert Lawley, later the first Baron Wenlock, attended the military school at Brienne with Cadet Napoleone Buonaparte, and reported that the young Corsican had once prepared an application for a commission in the Royal Navy.

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