Vimy Ridge Battle 100th Anniversary Today

[DogOnPorch]

2 hours ago, ZenOps said:

Civil war... Kind of for blacks anyhow.  The first wars were fought to be free from British rule (white tax slavery to the crown)  It all starts somewhere but the reasons are usually embedded in things like "British Superiority" "White Superiority" or "American Greatness".

A gun is still a gun.  The US burned 100% wood for fuel in 1850 so technically the energy grid was no better than caveman days, gives it a point of reference as to conditions back then.

That's wonderful...I can assure you than one gun isn't equal to another gun. The Union troops carried the Springfield Rifle which fired a 50 cal slug with and effective range of well over 500 meters. The Rebs generally carried the Brown Bess and similar weapons which were good only out to about 100 meters.

Either way...WW1...a very colourful war in terms of events and discoveries.

At the Battle of Bolimov in 1915...the very first use of "gas"....but it was around -40C on the battlefield so the agent refused to vaporize properly. The Russians were unaware they'd been 'gassed'...

[Wilber]

2 hours ago, ZenOps said:

Civil war... Kind of for blacks anyhow.  The first wars were fought to be free from British rule (white tax slavery to the crown)  It all starts somewhere but the reasons are usually embedded in things like "British Superiority" "White Superiority" or "American Greatness".

 

Civll war for blacks anyhow? Certainly blacks did fight in that war but the nearly half million whites who died on the Union side don't count as far as you are concerned? While slavery was a blot on the West, it is still common in some parts of the world.  BTW, Britain abolished slavery some time before the US and did it without a war.

Everything starts and ends somewhere. The Battle of Chalons 451, The Battle of Tours 732, Spain 1492 and The Battle of Vienna 1683  all ended or turned back Central Asian, Arab and Ottoman invasions of Europe.

[Wilber]

25 minutes ago, DogOnPorch said:

 

Either way...WW1...a very colourful war in terms of events and discoveries.

 

Yup, the two world wars advanced technology by decades, as wars tend to do. Hell of a way to do it though.

[DogOnPorch]

24 minutes ago, Wilber said:

Yup, the two world wars advanced technology by decades, as wars tend to do. Hell of a way to do it though.

 

Plus stunning examples of almost Medieval style warfare...cavalry charges...brightly coloured uniforms, etc...well at first.

This action always stood-out for me...from 1914 and the Great Retreat from Mons.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_at_Néry

[herples]

My great grandfather was on the German side. His position was in artillery. When he moved to BC he threw most of his medals and a gun into the Fraser river. 

[PIK]

On 4/9/2017 at 4:14 PM, eyeball said:

No it doesn't, it represents another example of dupes running off to fight their better's battles for them.

They say Canada became a nation at Vimy and I have to agree that subservient sycophancy is probably what best defines Canadians.

 

Blame the leaders but keep the soldiers out of it. They did what they were ordered to do and probably saved 1000's of live

[DogOnPorch]

3 minutes ago, PIK said:

Blame the leaders but keep the soldiers out of it. They did what they were ordered to do and probably saved 1000's of live

WW1 saw some of the worst generals in history.

Napoleonic figures fighting modern wars.

[Wilber]

Most wars are fought according to the standards of the previous war. The American Civil war was fought using Napoleonic war tactics when rifled muskets had changed everything. The British learned the hard way during the Boer war that repeating rifles had changed everything again. In WW1, the machine gun changed everything. Warfare was at a stage where existing technology determined defence trumped offence no matter what generals did. They were still trying to fight a war of maneuver which was not possible at the time. The tank, aircraft and aircraft carriers developed during and just after WW1 changed everything again in WW2.

[SpankyMcFarland]

It was certainly an event of firsts but the moral landscape was a lot foggier than WWII. We supported our team is about it really and that often has to be enough of a reason. You can't say Britain, France and Russia really looked out for the rights of small nations or treated the subjects of their Empires better than the Germans and Austrians did theirs. 

My grandfather was in the Inns of Court regiment but had the great good fortune to start training in October 1918. 

Edited April 18, 2017 by SpankyMcFarland

[hot enough]

On 4/9/2017 at 2:46 PM, Wilber said:

We are such a shitty people living in such a shitty country, created by other shitty people.

Is there another way to describe purveyors of genocide, Wilber?

[hot enough]

On 4/9/2017 at 9:03 PM, Wilber said:

Could also be that they would be wondering why they wasted their time and lives on people who have zero appreciation for what they went through and just look at them as fools.

Could be they are also wondering at your predilection for wandering wildly off topic?

[hot enough]

On 4/9/2017 at 9:06 PM, Army Guy said:

Wilber:

It seems to be the new thing around here lately.....contempt for the military, like we created all these problems and issues....

Nope, you just joined in them. Instead of thinking for yourself. 

[hot enough]

On 4/9/2017 at 10:27 PM, bush_cheney2004 said:

with the lefties and progressives spitting on you while in uniform.

Let's do try to maintain a sense of history. If that occurred it was to let US troops know that they were involved in a massive set of war crimes in SE Asia. A lot of them got it, a lot of soldiers really understood which is why they took such extreme measures as fragging their "superiors". 

And it worked. The US came limping home with its tail between its hooves. 

[Wilber]

1 minute ago, hot enough said:

Let's do try to maintain a sense of history. If that occurred it was to let US troops know that they were involved in a massive set of war crimes in SE Asia. A lot of them got it, a lot of soldiers really understood which is why they took such extreme measures as fragging their "superiors". 

And it worked. The US came limping home with its tail between its hooves. 

The topic is Vimy,  you might want to stay on it instead of "wandering wildly off topic"

[hot enough]

On 4/10/2017 at 11:56 PM, eyeball said:

Trudeau definitely swallows the kool-aid so... 

  

Not defending Trudeau but he has to. It's a real tightrope appeasing and then criticizing the nazis.

[hot enough]

On 4/10/2017 at 5:21 PM, capricorn said:

To Eyeball and Topaz, and others on here whose relatives have served, I'm so very grateful for their service.

Have you learned any other memes, capricorn.

Edited April 18, 2017 by hot enough

[SpankyMcFarland]

I'm a lot happier celebrating the heroes of 1812 who united to save Canada from oblivion. 

[Wilber]

10 minutes ago, SpankyMcFarland said:

I'm a lot happier celebrating the heroes of 1812 who united to save Canada from oblivion. 

You mean the British?

[SpankyMcFarland]

9 hours ago, Wilber said:

You mean the British?

The British, the French, the First Nations - they all did their bit to stop the American invasion.

[Wilber]

48 minutes ago, SpankyMcFarland said:

The British, the French, the First Nations - they all did their bit to stop the American invasion.

They had a part but it was British regulars and the navy that did most of the heavy lifting.

[Army Guy]

21 hours ago, hot enough said:

Nope, you just joined in them. Instead of thinking for yourself. 

Hey look , I'm not the guy that has a problem with my career choice.....I made it of my own free will....... but you sure do...and based on that fact you have a developed a problem with me, and you've said your not judgemental....go figure.

[hot enough]

7 minutes ago, Army Guy said:

I made it of my own free will.

Based on lies. That's not free will. Contracts have to be open, honest and forthright. 

[SpankyMcFarland]

On 2017-04-18 at 11:32 AM, Wilber said:

They had a part but it was British regulars and the navy that did most of the heavy lifting.

If the French and Indians had sided with the Americans, we would probably have been toast. 

[Wilber]

1 hour ago, SpankyMcFarland said:

If the French and Indians had sided with the Americans, we would probably have been toast. 

Quite probably, you can't protect people who don't want to be protected but whyever would they? All the American border states were against the war and carried on trade as much as they could in spite of it. The American war Hawks were from the southern and western frontier states like Kentucky and Ohio which wanted to expand west into Indian territory. Britain guaranteed French Canada things the US would have never allowed.

[August1991]

On 4/10/2017 at 11:19 AM, Boges said:

WW1 was a useless war and only lead to an even worse war. Doesn't take away the fact that Canadians acted bravely in winning a battle that many others thought was impossible. 

Boges, I disagree with you.

WWI was not a useless war.

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Over the past few years, I have walked around Ypres, Verdun to understand this first European war. Heck, I have walked around the Tannenberg Memorial.

Memorials, battles, wars do not create anything. I reckon that it is individual effort.

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IME, most people at the CBC/Radio-Canada are well-intended leftists (American Liberals) but clueless.  They don't understand Tolstoi.