# Random Interesting Bits of History



## SpitfireV (May 14, 2022)

I thought I'd start this thread and people can contribute if they like. It's about those randoms little bits of military history where you think "oh that's interesting" but it might not need a whole new thread or anything. 

Anyway, I thought of this when I was reading up about weather station Kurt. This was a WW2 German weather station that was secretly put up in Labrador and then lay undiscovered for nearly 40 years.  

Weather Station Kurt

Weather Station Kurt Photographs | World War II Database


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## ShamgarTheJudge (May 15, 2022)

Probably Australia’s harshest fight…except that business in Afghanistan 😅

Emu War - Wikipedia


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## TLDR20 (May 15, 2022)

SpitfireV said:


> I thought I'd start this thread and people can contribute if they like. It's about those randoms little bits of military history where you think "oh that's interesting" but it might not need a whole new thread or anything.
> 
> Anyway, I thought of this when I was reading up about weather station Kurt. This was a WW2 German weather station that was secretly put up in Labrador and then lay undiscovered for nearly 40 years.
> 
> ...



I just read Under the Banner of Heaven, and I had no idea about a lot of the history of the Mormon church. It is interesting to learn about.


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## Ooh-Rah (May 15, 2022)

I recently returned from Savanna, Georgia.  During one of the walking tours we learned about Robert Smalls, he was a slave who ended up stealing a Confederate ship and then turning it over to the Union; to include all of the flag and hand signals that the South used. 

The are a few books about him and supposedly a Netflix movie forthcoming.  Definitely someone I want to read more about. 

The Thrilling Tale of How Robert Smalls Seized a Confederate Ship and Sailed it to Freedom


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## Jaknight (May 15, 2022)

Here is a great account of the crusades based on an eyewitness account.


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## AWP (May 15, 2022)

The most expensive weapons program of WWII wasn't the Manhattan Project, but the B-29 Superfortress (the -29's entire story is fascinating).

In an effort to save weight, bombers like the B-29 and B-36 were made with magnesium. Problem is, those bombers' engines would overheat and catch fire due to the workload. Guess what the engine mounts and some components were made of? Magnesium. Guess what is HIGHLY flammable and led to wings literally burning off of the planes?

The US had 4 four-engine bomber types fly combat missions during WWII: B-17, B-24, B-29, and the B-32.

The soldiers with the most combat jumps in history don't even belong to an airborne unit.


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## Gunz (May 17, 2022)

I have three books that are pretty special. Two handed down from my Dad. One is Bill Mauldin's cartoon collection from the ETO, _Up Front: _and the other is a cartoon collection from World War 1 by British Captain Bruce Bairnsfather, _Fragments from France_.


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## Viper1 (May 17, 2022)

The Siege of Baler:

Saw this Spanish film (1898: Our last men in the Philippines) on Netflix and decided to watch. Quite a story. Disease caused most of the casualties, and the men fought for six months after Spain gave up all its territories.

Some themes explored in the film include incompetence, lack of trust, disease in combat, lack of training, misinformation, and what happens when empires fight insurgent populations. 1898: Our Last Men in the Philippines (2016) - IMDb
Siege of Baler - Wikipedia


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## AWP (May 17, 2022)

Gunz said:


> I have three books that are pretty special. Two handed down from my Dad. One is Bill Mauldin's cartoon collection from the ETO, _Up Front: _and the other is a cartoon collection from World War 1 by British Captain Bruce Bairnsfather, _Fragments from France_. There was also a collection of cartoons from the Vietnam War by Corky Trinidad.
> 
> But I think war cartoon books are a lost art. The only cartoons coming out of recent wars are political cartoons. But these books were written and drawn not for the civilian public, but for the guys on the sharp edge, the infantry...the only people who could relate to them and appreciate them.
> 
> ...


I think my copy of Ernie Pyle's _Brave Men_ is at my parents somewhere, but it should be on every reading list for every service ever; no hyperbole and I'm serious. His writing and his story should be known by every servicemember. There's a reason he's one of the few journalists buried in a national memorial cemetery.


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## SpitfireV (May 17, 2022)

AWP said:


> In an effort to save weight, bombers like the B-29 and B-36 were made with magnesium. Problem is, those bombers' engines would overheat and catch fire due to the workload. Guess what the engine mounts and some components were made of? Magnesium. Guess what is HIGHLY flammable and led to wings literally burning off of the planes?
> 
> 
> 
> The soldiers with the most combat jumps in history don't even belong to an airbo



I didn't know that about the B29. Pretty dicey with a combat aircraft. What is the unit?


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## AWP (May 17, 2022)

SpitfireV said:


> I didn't know that about the B29. Pretty dicey with a combat aircraft. What is the unit?



All of them. This was an airframe-specific frame for every a/c built.


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## SpitfireV (May 17, 2022)

AWP said:


> All of them. This was an airframe-specific frame for every a/c built.


Sorry I should have multiquoted. The non airborne unit?


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## AWP (May 17, 2022)

SpitfireV said:


> Sorry I should have multiquoted. The non airborne unit?



1 Rhodesian Light Infantry. They are/ could be considered a commando unit, but they aren't a classic airborne unit. Every soldier wasn't required to be on airborne status and it isn't recognized as an airborne unit. The members of the line infantry units, those who made up the Fireforce, were trained as paratroopers when possible. Every trooper wasn't airborne.


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## SpitfireV (May 17, 2022)

AWP said:


> 1 Rhodesian Light Infantry. They are/ could be considered a commando unit, but they aren't a classic airborne unit. Every soldier wasn't required to be on airborne status and it isn't recognized as an airborne unit. The members of the line infantry units, those who made up the Fireforce, were trained as paratroopers when possible. Every trooper wasn't airborne.



Interesting. I wouldn't have thought of them at all. The Rhodesians did some interesting stuff really. My interest has always been in aviation and them and the SADF really made use of the Alouettes as gunships. Basically sticking a .50 in the door.


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## AWP (May 17, 2022)

SpitfireV said:


> Interesting. I wouldn't have thought of them at all. The Rhodesians did some interesting stuff really. My interest has always been in aviation and them and the SADF really made use of the Alouettes as gunships. Basically sticking a .50 in the door.


The Rhodesians pioneered that, necessity being everything for them.

The SADF were great at taking the good from Rhodesia..and they should because they paid for a lot of “stuff.”


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## Gunz (May 18, 2022)

AWP said:


> 1 Rhodesian Light Infantry. They are/ could be considered a commando unit, but they aren't a classic airborne unit. Every soldier wasn't required to be on airborne status and it isn't recognized as an airborne unit. The members of the line infantry units, those who made up the Fireforce, were trained as paratroopers when possible. Every trooper wasn't airborne.



There was a semi-discrete (and questionably legal) off-base Camp Lejeune recruitment effort post-Vietnam run by a former FBI SA. This was 74-75 and at that time there was no airborne qualification required. IIRC that requirement did not become mandatory until a year or so later.

One of the interesting and surprising things about the Bush War is that in all the years of operations the RLI only lost a hundred or so men killed in combat. They were that good...and the guerrillas were often not.


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## AWP (Jun 10, 2022)

Mark Felton's channel is great, btw.


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## pardus (Jun 15, 2022)

SpitfireV said:


> Basically sticking a .50 in the door.


20mm 😉








AWP said:


> Mark Felton's channel is great, btw.


It really is 👍


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## SpitfireV (Jun 15, 2022)

Ah 20mm even better!


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## Gunz (Jun 20, 2022)

SpitfireV said:


> Ah 20mm even better


.


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## Viper1 (Jun 21, 2022)

If you ever watched “Siege of Jadotville,” on Netflix, you’ll see the film open with the Prime Minister’s murder. 

what a tragedy 

Patrice Lumumba: Why Belgium is returning a Congolese hero's golden tooth


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## Devildoc (Jun 21, 2022)

Viper1 said:


> If you ever watched “Siege of Jadotville,” on Netflix, you’ll see the film open with the Prime Minister’s murder.
> 
> what a tragedy
> 
> Patrice Lumumba: Why Belgium is returning a Congolese hero's golden tooth



That was a really good movie.  I should go back and watch it again.


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## SpitfireV (Jul 4, 2022)

For something a little bit different. 

Napoleon's penis - Wikipedia


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## Marauder06 (Jul 4, 2022)

SpitfireV said:


> For something a little bit different.
> 
> Napoleon's penis - Wikipedia


I DEFINITELY don't want that link popping up in my search history ;)


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## AWP (Jul 4, 2022)

Marauder06 said:


> I DEFINITELY don't want that link popping up in my search history ;)



Coward.


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## Dame (Jul 4, 2022)

AWP said:


> Coward.


That'll get you about as far as the high school boys who said it to me.


"She guards her virginity with a battle axe."  <--- locker room


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## Kaldak (Jul 4, 2022)

Dame said:


> That'll get you about as far as the high school boys who said it to me.
> 
> 
> "She guards her virginity with a battle axe."  <--- locker room



Why were you in the boys' locker room? ;)


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## Dame (Jul 5, 2022)

Kaldak said:


> Why were you in the boys' locker room? ;)


Lol. I wasn't. Reliable source.


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## SpitfireV (Jul 5, 2022)

Is a peephole a technical or human source I wonder.


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## Andoni (Jul 6, 2022)

SpitfireV said:


> Is a peephole a technical or human source I wonder


It's a jail time source lol 

(edited that lol in there cause I wrote it with smile)


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## Gunz (Jul 10, 2022)

SpitfireV said:


> Is a peephole a technical or human source I wonder.



With two you get a stereoscopic view.


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## Viper1 (Jul 18, 2022)

SpitfireV said:


> For something a little bit different.
> 
> Napoleon's penis - Wikipedia


Try Rasputin next. 😈👹


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## AWP (Jul 27, 2022)

For you airplane nerds, you can lookup any aircraft that is, or was, at the AMARC boneyard.

The current inventory, @Brill and @DA SWO, your planes are probably on this list.

AMARC Experience - Aircraft Type Summary

And if you really want to nerd out, they have inventories going back to 2005:

AMARC Experience - Downloads


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## Ooh-Rah (Aug 3, 2022)

I thought this was cool-as-hell.


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## pardus (Aug 5, 2022)

Ooh-Rah said:


> I thought this was cool-as-hell.


I've been fascinated by the Antikythera device for many years! We have lost/forgotten so very much technology and knowledge over the millennia. 
I have always been frustrated by academics who announce every 10 years or so "turns out our ancestors weren't retards", well no shit motherfuckers, try and live 50,000 years ago, make fire/tools, hunt/forage, raise a family/group while living through the worse weather hominids have ever experienced, for a month and tell me how stupid they were, you can't do it and neither could I, and I think being an Infantry Soldier I'd be better suited to doing so.


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## pardus (Aug 5, 2022)

Forgotten 1943 Battle Between America & Canada


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## RackMaster (Aug 6, 2022)

pardus said:


> Forgotten 1943 Battle Between America & Canada



I remember learning about that in school but never about the friendly fire.  Thanks, it was a good video.


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## amlove21 (Sep 2, 2022)

Felt more appropriate here- Chief Mike Lampe is an absolute legend. His time in Vietnam and with Project 404 are absolutely insane. 

Part 2 drops tomorrow.


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## Devildoc (Sep 2, 2022)

amlove21 said:


> Felt more appropriate here- Chief Mike Lampe is an absolute legend. His time in Vietnam and with Project 404 are absolutely insane.
> 
> Part 2 drops tomorrow.



I saw this yesterday, very much enjoyed it.  I took up your colleague's advice (Peaches??) and looked him up.  Holy hell ....that cat's resume' is incredible.


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## amlove21 (Sep 2, 2022)

Devildoc said:


> I saw this yesterday, very much enjoyed it.  I took up your colleague's advice (Peaches??) and looked him up.  Holy hell ....that cat's resume' is incredible.


If they made a movie, they would have to delete some parts of it to make it believable.


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## amlove21 (Sep 3, 2022)

Part 2... wild.


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## Jaknight (Sep 25, 2022)

_



_


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## pardus (Sep 25, 2022)

Jaknight said:


> _
> 
> 
> 
> _


Fascinating stuff


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## Jaknight (Sep 26, 2022)

pardus said:


> Fascinating stuff


I was surprised on how deep Hitler actually sounded compared to the high pitch yelling of his speeches. Also Stalin man it seems Russian leaders are cut from the same scummy cloth


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## JedisonsDad (Sep 27, 2022)

Jaknight said:


> I was surprised on how deep Hitler actually sounded compared to the high pitch yelling of his speeches. Also Stalin man it seems Russian leaders are cut from the same scummy cloth


Part of Hitlers iconic voice was from WW1 mustard gas attack, where he received an award.


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## Jaknight (Sep 27, 2022)

JedisonsDad said:


> Part of Hitlers iconic voice was from WW1 mustard gas attack, where he received an award.


Interesting I had no idea


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## CQB (Sep 28, 2022)

ShamgarTheJudge said:


> Probably Australia’s harshest fight…except that business in Afghanistan 😅
> 
> Emu War - Wikipedia


Then there's this guy. 

John Francis Peggotty: The Birdman of Coorong


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