This is coolbert:
Here with a new one on me.
Roman marines. Shipboard Roman naval infantry [marines]. Classiarii!
From the Imperial period forward [31 BC - AD 500], fighting infantry, stationed on Roman warships - - but not a prestigious service. Considered second-rate duty, NOT on the same level as a conventional troop in the Roman ground forces, the legions.
Persons, free peregrini, provincials not citizens of Rome, Roman subjects fighting for Rome, but not being accorded or enjoying until after completing a full length of service [twenty-six years] the full rights and privileges of an ordinary legionnaire.
"Being in the Roman "marines" (the milites classiarii) didn't convey the same prestige as being in the modern US Marine Corps does now [British Royal Marine Commando or Russian Marines for that matter either!]. The Roman marines were provincial or foreign auxiliaries that could fight on or off boat."
The normal contingent of a Roman naval vessel would include:
* "milites classiarii". The fighting men. Marines. Naval infantry.
* "nautae". "The ships' specialist crew as well as the seamen who worked the rigging and kept the ship seaworthy."
* "remiges". Rowers.
Naval battles of the ancient period consisting of ramming, grappling, boarding, and defending against same. The Roman perception of naval warfare being as an adjunct to battle on land, the navy secondary in all cases to the land forces, war at sea merely a reflection of land combat.
Those classiarii had a thankless task, and were not highly thought of either? Makes for a bad combination.
coolbert.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Eunuchs!
This is coolbert:
This Indian state minister has suggested that an entire unit of eunuchs be formed to act as para-military border guards. As I have stated before, this is a bad idea!
But that is not the end of the story.
Historically, strangely enough as it may sound, in some cultures, eunuchs have not only served in the military, but done quite well. Eunuchs were often found occupying positions of importance such as staff officers and even commanding generals in the armies of antiquity.
Most decidedly so, in the military of China.
China had a two thousand year history of experience with eunuchs at all levels of governmental affairs, governmental ministers, palace advisers, AND GENERAL OFFICERS IN THE MILITARY!!
Among the most famous of the Chinese eunuch flag officers [general or admiral] are:
* Tong Guan.
* Gang Bing.
* Zheng He. Admiral. Led the various expeditions to the Indian Ocean.
* Yishiha. Also an admiral, a flag officer.
* Li Hsien.
* Hu Sha-hu.
With regard to Hu Sha-hu, commanded a Chinese army that defeated the Mongols under the command of Genghis Khan himself. Only one of two occasions when the great Genghis was defeated in battle.
As I have previously said, it has not only been the Chinese that have employed eunuchs as military commanders. We find from history more than just a few instances of nations, empires, kingdoms, etc. placing eunuchs in the command of armies. Combat leaders quite often very successful! Nations to include:
Vietnam:
* Ly Thuong Kiet.
* Le Van Duyet.
India: [Mughal Empire]
* Malik Kafur.
Morocco:
Judar Pasha.
Egypt: [Ptolemaic]
Ganymedes.
Byzantines:
* Narses. Narses, a contemporary of Belisarius the man also [Narses] an excellent combat commander!
The Byzantines in particular made extensive use of eunuchs in their governmental structure. A very rigid social construct was made, employing this "third sex" in all matters of state, domestic and foreign. Including in numerous case general officers of the military - - those persons less well known than Narses!
I have put the horse before the cart here too. It is worth noting [?] that eunuchs of antiquity came in all "flavors" and "colors". Some merely had the testicles removed, in the case of the Chinese, the entire pudenda was severed - - penis and testicles both!! [ONLY 5 % OF THOSE UNDERGOING THE PROCEDURE WOULD SURVIVE!!]
IT WAS THE CASE TOO THAT THE LAST COURT EUNUCH OF CHINA DIED JUST NOT THAT MANY YEARS AGO!! That 2,000 year experience of the Chinese with eunuchs allowed the observation to be made that eunuchs generally as a rule lived seven years longer than ordinary intact men and did not suffer from male pattern baldness!!
Such are the wonders of being an eunuch. [is it an eunuch?]
coolbert.
This Indian state minister has suggested that an entire unit of eunuchs be formed to act as para-military border guards. As I have stated before, this is a bad idea!
But that is not the end of the story.
Historically, strangely enough as it may sound, in some cultures, eunuchs have not only served in the military, but done quite well. Eunuchs were often found occupying positions of importance such as staff officers and even commanding generals in the armies of antiquity.
Most decidedly so, in the military of China.
China had a two thousand year history of experience with eunuchs at all levels of governmental affairs, governmental ministers, palace advisers, AND GENERAL OFFICERS IN THE MILITARY!!
Among the most famous of the Chinese eunuch flag officers [general or admiral] are:
* Tong Guan.
* Gang Bing.
* Zheng He. Admiral. Led the various expeditions to the Indian Ocean.
* Yishiha. Also an admiral, a flag officer.
* Li Hsien.
* Hu Sha-hu.
With regard to Hu Sha-hu, commanded a Chinese army that defeated the Mongols under the command of Genghis Khan himself. Only one of two occasions when the great Genghis was defeated in battle.
As I have previously said, it has not only been the Chinese that have employed eunuchs as military commanders. We find from history more than just a few instances of nations, empires, kingdoms, etc. placing eunuchs in the command of armies. Combat leaders quite often very successful! Nations to include:
Vietnam:
* Ly Thuong Kiet.
* Le Van Duyet.
India: [Mughal Empire]
* Malik Kafur.
Morocco:
Judar Pasha.
Egypt: [Ptolemaic]
Ganymedes.
Byzantines:
* Narses. Narses, a contemporary of Belisarius the man also [Narses] an excellent combat commander!
The Byzantines in particular made extensive use of eunuchs in their governmental structure. A very rigid social construct was made, employing this "third sex" in all matters of state, domestic and foreign. Including in numerous case general officers of the military - - those persons less well known than Narses!
I have put the horse before the cart here too. It is worth noting [?] that eunuchs of antiquity came in all "flavors" and "colors". Some merely had the testicles removed, in the case of the Chinese, the entire pudenda was severed - - penis and testicles both!! [ONLY 5 % OF THOSE UNDERGOING THE PROCEDURE WOULD SURVIVE!!]
IT WAS THE CASE TOO THAT THE LAST COURT EUNUCH OF CHINA DIED JUST NOT THAT MANY YEARS AGO!! That 2,000 year experience of the Chinese with eunuchs allowed the observation to be made that eunuchs generally as a rule lived seven years longer than ordinary intact men and did not suffer from male pattern baldness!!
Such are the wonders of being an eunuch. [is it an eunuch?]
coolbert.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Bad Idea!
This is coolbert:
Put this one into the strange but true category?
"Don't ask - - don't tell" surely does not apply in this case?
"Eunuch regiment needed to protect Indian borders, minister says"
"A regiment of eunuchs should be established to guard India's borders and leading politicians, a state minister said on Tuesday, citing their 'loyalty and integrity'."
"'In my humble opinion, if eunuchs are engaged in policing or paramilitary forces they would do a better service to the nation,' said Tako Dabi, home minister of the north-eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh."
"'Why can't there be a separate regiment of eunuch community in our country?' he wrote in the letter. 'This community would discharge their duties effectively on international borders if enough scope is created for them.'"
"In India, the term 'eunuch' is mostly used to refer to cross-dressers and pre- and post-operative transsexuals."
Surely the nation of Indian has sufficient man-power that it does not need to recruit and create an entire regiment of eunuchs for a paramilitary role?
At least in the case of the transsexuals that have had the "procedure", they will not be able to pass a normal military physical because of their condition. And in all cases, the instance of mental stability will be a question too! Exeptions, all sorts of them, will have to be made for these folks to be inducted, even if the measure is considered!
I supposed the intention is partially to find a suitable and useful role for a group of persons - - nominally out castes among their own people. Loyal to one another, not having familial responsibilities, etc.
Historically, there have been many societies that have employed eunuchs in a military capacity, but primarily as general officers, staff personnel, etc.
NOT having entire combat units consisting of persons NOT totally male or female. A "third sex" sometimes referred to.
This idea is just grandstanding on the part of Mr. Tako Dabi and bad concept from the get-go!!
coolbert.
Put this one into the strange but true category?
"Don't ask - - don't tell" surely does not apply in this case?
"Eunuch regiment needed to protect Indian borders, minister says"
"A regiment of eunuchs should be established to guard India's borders and leading politicians, a state minister said on Tuesday, citing their 'loyalty and integrity'."
"'In my humble opinion, if eunuchs are engaged in policing or paramilitary forces they would do a better service to the nation,' said Tako Dabi, home minister of the north-eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh."
"'Why can't there be a separate regiment of eunuch community in our country?' he wrote in the letter. 'This community would discharge their duties effectively on international borders if enough scope is created for them.'"
"In India, the term 'eunuch' is mostly used to refer to cross-dressers and pre- and post-operative transsexuals."
Surely the nation of Indian has sufficient man-power that it does not need to recruit and create an entire regiment of eunuchs for a paramilitary role?
At least in the case of the transsexuals that have had the "procedure", they will not be able to pass a normal military physical because of their condition. And in all cases, the instance of mental stability will be a question too! Exeptions, all sorts of them, will have to be made for these folks to be inducted, even if the measure is considered!
I supposed the intention is partially to find a suitable and useful role for a group of persons - - nominally out castes among their own people. Loyal to one another, not having familial responsibilities, etc.
Historically, there have been many societies that have employed eunuchs in a military capacity, but primarily as general officers, staff personnel, etc.
NOT having entire combat units consisting of persons NOT totally male or female. A "third sex" sometimes referred to.
This idea is just grandstanding on the part of Mr. Tako Dabi and bad concept from the get-go!!
coolbert.
Undefeated!
This is coolbert:
This is deja vu all over again?
I had originally had this post in mind for some time, but the speedy departure of General Mc Chrystal from the scene has accelerated the blogging process!
In the above quotation, I have taken liberties to alter for my purposes!
I am of course speaking NOT of the Afghan war, but the Seminole Wars from American history. Also the names of Mc Chrystal and Osama are more correctly understood as being Jessup and Osceola respectively!!
"The greatest lesson of the Afghanistan War shows how a government can lose public support for a war that has simply lasted for too long. As the Army became more deeply involved in the conflict, as the government sent more troops into the theater, and as the public saw more money appropriated for the war, people began to lose their interest. Mc Chrystal’s capture of Osama, and the treachery he used to get him, turned public sentiment against the Army. The use of blood hounds only created more hostility in the halls of Congress. It did not matter to the American people that some of Mc Chrystal’s deceptive practices helped him achieve success militarily. The public viewed his actions [Mc Chrystal - - his - - impertinent and imprudent comments] so negatively that he had undermined the political goals of the government."
This is deja vu all over again?
I had originally had this post in mind for some time, but the speedy departure of General Mc Chrystal from the scene has accelerated the blogging process!
In the above quotation, I have taken liberties to alter for my purposes!
I am of course speaking NOT of the Afghan war, but the Seminole Wars from American history. Also the names of Mc Chrystal and Osama are more correctly understood as being Jessup and Osceola respectively!!
It has been suggested that the war in Afghan is the LONGEST CONFLICT ever engaged in by the U.S. military. This is not exactly so.
The longest war [conflict] as fought by the U.S. military was rather the Seminole Wars.
"The Seminole Wars, also known as the Florida Wars, were three conflicts in Florida between various groups of Native Americans, collectively known as Seminoles, and the United States. The First Seminole War was from 1817 to 1818 . . . the Second Seminole War from 1835 to 1842, and the Third Seminole War from 1855 to 1858."
American Indians, the Seminoles [Seminole means "wild ones"], refusing forcible resettlement west of the Mississippi river - - into what was called at the time "Indian Territory".
Seminoles, tribesmen belonging to the civilized Indian nations [Choctaw, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Creek], migrating south from what are now the states of Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, taking refuge in the hinterlands of Florida, the semi-tropical forests and swamplands - - unoccupied and vacant land.
Seminoles - - again - - not desiring to be forcibly displaced from their homeland, rather, desirous to continue their traditional way of life.
Seminoles, resisting with great tenacity and skill further encroachment by white settlers, engaging in three campaigns of guerrilla warfare against the combined forces of the U.S. Army, Marines, Maritime Revenue service [Coast Guard], and local militias. The Seminole able to flummox and frustrate the efforts of the American military with an almost casual effort!
Nor was the situation helped when the senior commander, Jessup, behaved in a craven manner, using duplicitous methods [betrayal of a white flag of truce!!] to capture the most senior Seminole of them all - - Osceola.
The Seminoles even gaining a great measure of grudging admiration from their American opponents. The Seminole NEVER having been actually defeated in battle, nor having surrendered, comporting themselves with a bravery and courage to be admired.
[today in the United States there are a number of counties, villages, towns, named in honor of Osceola, but I would dare say few counties, villages, towns named in honor of Jessup!!]
The final Seminole War only being concluded when the remainder of the Seminole population was finally either dead from battle loss, starvation, disease, OR removal and relocation to Indian Territory, voluntary or forcible!!
But that is not the end of the story!!
It was NOT UNTIL THE 1950's THAT THE LAST REMNANT OF THE SEMINOLE POPULATION WAS IDENTIFIED - - CONTACTED PEACEFULLY - - AND FINALLY PERSUADED TO GIVE UP THEIR ANCIENT WAY OF LIFE!! "Wild Ones" that for over a period of about one hundred years had remained UNDEFEATED!!
Truly remarkable!!
coolbert.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Marines.
This is coolbert:
DAWN BLITZ.
From the Chicago Tribune of 20 June, 2010.
The very existence of the U.S. Marine Corps is being challenged? The nature of warfare and the role of the U.S. Marines has changed to such an extent that various persons of high position now question the further NEED for the Corps as has been understood.
"Sea change looms for Marines"
"With amphibious assaults perhaps history, fate cloudy"
"CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - - On a stretch of white southern California beach, thousands of young Marines this month charged forward from the sea, leaping from helicopters and jumping off landing craft, echoing the exercises [combat actions] conducted decades prior when earlier generations of Marines trained for Iwo Jima and Inchon." [this landing exercise is "Dawn Blitz"]
Amphibious assaults on the scale of Saipan, Iwo Jima, ARE a thing of the past? NO longer will you ever see those vast armadas of surface ships, landing craft in prodigious numbers carrying ashore and discharging multi-divisional formations of U.S. Marines [or army for that matter]!!
That is all passe' now, a thing of the past!! An anachronistic way of warfare NOT to be seen again!
"the Marines have not engaged in such a fight since the Korean war [sixty years now]. And influential military thinkers . . . have begun to question whether the Marines will again be asked to storm a hostile beach."
For many decades now the Marines have NOT "done" beach landings. So much so that:
"85 % [of the Marines involved in this current exercise] had never been on a ship. Many would vomit [seasickness]."
As has been the case a number of times in the past, the Marines do have a justifiable fear that their usefulness, their entire reason for "BEING" is now a topic for discussion. The Marines might go the way of the dodo [extinction] with cut-backs and such?
There is a very sound reason for the existence of the Marines SOLELY from the standpoint of "approach" to warfare? The Marines are noted for "looking" at the entire subject of warfighting in a manner different from the U.S. Army.
"There is a lot of value in having an independent Marine Corps, simply because they do have a different of view of land warfare than the Army"
Call it what you will - - "second opinion", "devil's advocacy", a "fresh approach", etc. This is no bad thing, this is a good thing. A healthy and spirited and free-ranging discussion on a complex subject [warfighting]!
And THERE IS MERIT IN THIS!! Perhaps even GREAT MERIT! And the Marines do have THEIR OWN WAY of doing things.
See FMFM-1. The Marine handbook, the field manual - - very well written I might add, that describes in a succinct fashion, Marine concepts and doctrine as it pertains to war and war fighting as understood in the traditional fashion!
"When we all think alike, no one is thinking" - - G.S. Patton! As long as the Marines are around, much to the credit of everyone, we will NOT be all thinking alike. And this is to the advantage of the U.S. military as a whole?
I think so!
coolbert.
DAWN BLITZ.
From the Chicago Tribune of 20 June, 2010.
The very existence of the U.S. Marine Corps is being challenged? The nature of warfare and the role of the U.S. Marines has changed to such an extent that various persons of high position now question the further NEED for the Corps as has been understood.
"Sea change looms for Marines"
"With amphibious assaults perhaps history, fate cloudy"
"CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - - On a stretch of white southern California beach, thousands of young Marines this month charged forward from the sea, leaping from helicopters and jumping off landing craft, echoing the exercises [combat actions] conducted decades prior when earlier generations of Marines trained for Iwo Jima and Inchon." [this landing exercise is "Dawn Blitz"]
Amphibious assaults on the scale of Saipan, Iwo Jima, ARE a thing of the past? NO longer will you ever see those vast armadas of surface ships, landing craft in prodigious numbers carrying ashore and discharging multi-divisional formations of U.S. Marines [or army for that matter]!!
That is all passe' now, a thing of the past!! An anachronistic way of warfare NOT to be seen again!
"the Marines have not engaged in such a fight since the Korean war [sixty years now]. And influential military thinkers . . . have begun to question whether the Marines will again be asked to storm a hostile beach."
For many decades now the Marines have NOT "done" beach landings. So much so that:
"85 % [of the Marines involved in this current exercise] had never been on a ship. Many would vomit [seasickness]."
As has been the case a number of times in the past, the Marines do have a justifiable fear that their usefulness, their entire reason for "BEING" is now a topic for discussion. The Marines might go the way of the dodo [extinction] with cut-backs and such?
There is a very sound reason for the existence of the Marines SOLELY from the standpoint of "approach" to warfare? The Marines are noted for "looking" at the entire subject of warfighting in a manner different from the U.S. Army.
"There is a lot of value in having an independent Marine Corps, simply because they do have a different of view of land warfare than the Army"
Call it what you will - - "second opinion", "devil's advocacy", a "fresh approach", etc. This is no bad thing, this is a good thing. A healthy and spirited and free-ranging discussion on a complex subject [warfighting]!
And THERE IS MERIT IN THIS!! Perhaps even GREAT MERIT! And the Marines do have THEIR OWN WAY of doing things.
See FMFM-1. The Marine handbook, the field manual - - very well written I might add, that describes in a succinct fashion, Marine concepts and doctrine as it pertains to war and war fighting as understood in the traditional fashion!
"When we all think alike, no one is thinking" - - G.S. Patton! As long as the Marines are around, much to the credit of everyone, we will NOT be all thinking alike. And this is to the advantage of the U.S. military as a whole?
I think so!
coolbert.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Gas!
This is coolbert:
In those years just prior to the outbreak of the Second World War [WW2], it was the fear of the British government that in case of conflict the German was prepared to conduct an aerial bombardment campaign of overwhelming intensity - - a bombardment to have included the use of poison gas on a widespread - - massive scale.
Chemical munitions dropped from aircraft in an indiscriminate manner on the British civilian populace, saturation bombing with conventional explosives augmented to a large degree by poison gas of an advanced nature development, gases having a lethality far exceeding the old-fashioned variety poisons as employed by the various combatants of the Great War [WW1].
CASUALTIES OF AN APOCALYPTIC AND MIND-BOGGLING NATURE WERE PREDICTED!!
Here from the Internet article:
"AIRMINDED"
"Airpower and British Society, 1908-1941" (mostly)"
"the widespread belief in the 1920s and 1930s was that at the beginning of the next war, a huge fleet of enemy bombers would suddenly strike at London and other cities and destroy them with high explosive bombs, incendiaries, and poison gas, causing hundreds of thousands of civilian casualties within a matter of hours or days, shattering essential infrastructure and leading to mass panic."
"British government officials in 1938 predicted [what] might happen if a war started in 1939 . . . over a million casualties per month, half of them fatalities, over only two months . . . you can see why everyone was so worried!"
MILLIONS OF CASUALTIES, HALF OF THE FATAL!! In all probability a high percentage of the casualties and death being from chemical munitions dropped from German bomber aircraft! NOTHING of the sort ever transpired, BUT THE FEAR OF SUCH A THING OCCURRING WAS IN THE MINDS OF THE GOVERNMENT AND AVERAGE CITIZEN BOTH!!
A fear - - even a paranoid malignant terror, to an extent exacerbated by a 1937 movie - - "Things To Come by H. G. Wells (1937)".
Persons already on the edge scared witless [?] by a movie showing in graphic detail a civilian population subjected to saturation bombing which INCLUDED THE WIDESPREAD AND INDISCRIMINATE USE OF GAS!
"The use of gas bombs is very much [a] part of the film . . . In real life, in the build-up to the Second World War, there was much concern that the Germans would use poison gas, which they had done during the Great War. Civilians were required to carry gas masks and were trained in their use."
"By 1939, these gases had been refined and had the potential for being far more effective . . . so it was believed was a military’s ability to deliver poison gas – and create new and more deadly versions [Tabun]".
"The use of poison gas in World War Two was a very real fear. Poison gas had been used in World War One and many expected that it would be used in World War Two. As a result people in Britain were issued with gas masks and gas mask drills became a routine."
During the blitz of London, 1940, as was the case in Israel, 1991, the civilian populace was equipped with gas masks, in anticipation of poison gas attack!
Such a thing did not occur, but the fear WAS there!!
coolbert.
In those years just prior to the outbreak of the Second World War [WW2], it was the fear of the British government that in case of conflict the German was prepared to conduct an aerial bombardment campaign of overwhelming intensity - - a bombardment to have included the use of poison gas on a widespread - - massive scale.
Chemical munitions dropped from aircraft in an indiscriminate manner on the British civilian populace, saturation bombing with conventional explosives augmented to a large degree by poison gas of an advanced nature development, gases having a lethality far exceeding the old-fashioned variety poisons as employed by the various combatants of the Great War [WW1].
CASUALTIES OF AN APOCALYPTIC AND MIND-BOGGLING NATURE WERE PREDICTED!!
Here from the Internet article:
"AIRMINDED"
"Airpower and British Society, 1908-1941" (mostly)"
"the widespread belief in the 1920s and 1930s was that at the beginning of the next war, a huge fleet of enemy bombers would suddenly strike at London and other cities and destroy them with high explosive bombs, incendiaries, and poison gas, causing hundreds of thousands of civilian casualties within a matter of hours or days, shattering essential infrastructure and leading to mass panic."
"British government officials in 1938 predicted [what] might happen if a war started in 1939 . . . over a million casualties per month, half of them fatalities, over only two months . . . you can see why everyone was so worried!"
MILLIONS OF CASUALTIES, HALF OF THE FATAL!! In all probability a high percentage of the casualties and death being from chemical munitions dropped from German bomber aircraft! NOTHING of the sort ever transpired, BUT THE FEAR OF SUCH A THING OCCURRING WAS IN THE MINDS OF THE GOVERNMENT AND AVERAGE CITIZEN BOTH!!
A fear - - even a paranoid malignant terror, to an extent exacerbated by a 1937 movie - - "Things To Come by H. G. Wells (1937)".
Persons already on the edge scared witless [?] by a movie showing in graphic detail a civilian population subjected to saturation bombing which INCLUDED THE WIDESPREAD AND INDISCRIMINATE USE OF GAS!
"The use of gas bombs is very much [a] part of the film . . . In real life, in the build-up to the Second World War, there was much concern that the Germans would use poison gas, which they had done during the Great War. Civilians were required to carry gas masks and were trained in their use."
"By 1939, these gases had been refined and had the potential for being far more effective . . . so it was believed was a military’s ability to deliver poison gas – and create new and more deadly versions [Tabun]".
"The use of poison gas in World War Two was a very real fear. Poison gas had been used in World War One and many expected that it would be used in World War Two. As a result people in Britain were issued with gas masks and gas mask drills became a routine."
During the blitz of London, 1940, as was the case in Israel, 1991, the civilian populace was equipped with gas masks, in anticipation of poison gas attack!
Such a thing did not occur, but the fear WAS there!!
coolbert.
Monday, June 28, 2010
NAG.
This is coolbert:
During the air raid - - Bari - - the most significant American casualties were among the U.S. Navy Armed Guards.
Naval personnel serving in units consisting primarily of low ranking enlisted personnel with a smattering of officers in command positions. Naval personnel serving - - however - - on civilian merchant vessels, NOT on warships.
his was a duty, an assignment, unknown to me!
"United States Navy Armed Guard units were established during World War II in an attempt to provide defensive firepower to merchant ships in convoy or merchant ships traveling alone."
Naval personnel, embedded among the crew of a civilian merchant vessel, manning guns and providing protection "to merchant ships in convoy or merchant ships traveling alone"! STRICTLY A WARTIME MEASURE!
[that word "embedded" would not have used at the time. That is a modern word!]
"Hazardous duty considerations"
"The assignment as an Armed Guardsman was often dreaded because of the constant danger and because the merchant ships were among the slowest to receive updated equipment. Early on in the war some ships only had a few machine guns and painted telephone poles to replicate the barrels of larger guns. The most common armament to be installed on merchant ships during the war were the MK II 20mm machine gun and the 3"/50, 4"/50, and 5"/38 deckguns."
Right! Machine-guns, rapid fire cannon [20 mm], and naval guns of smaller caliber to deal with the potential attack from German aircraft, surface raiders and surfaced submarines.
And I would think too, that in most circumstances, if under attack, you were more or less left to your own devices. YOU HAD to do the job yourself, NO support being available.
coolbert.
During the air raid - - Bari - - the most significant American casualties were among the U.S. Navy Armed Guards.
Naval personnel serving in units consisting primarily of low ranking enlisted personnel with a smattering of officers in command positions. Naval personnel serving - - however - - on civilian merchant vessels, NOT on warships.
his was a duty, an assignment, unknown to me!
"United States Navy Armed Guard units were established during World War II in an attempt to provide defensive firepower to merchant ships in convoy or merchant ships traveling alone."
Naval personnel, embedded among the crew of a civilian merchant vessel, manning guns and providing protection "to merchant ships in convoy or merchant ships traveling alone"! STRICTLY A WARTIME MEASURE!
[that word "embedded" would not have used at the time. That is a modern word!]
Here some NAG personnel during a meal. They all need haircuts! That meal according to the menu sounds pretty good. I hope this is not a posed picture! Please note the youth of these men teenagers or barely in their twenties. Typical of the American man that fought World War Two!
"Hazardous duty considerations"
"The assignment as an Armed Guardsman was often dreaded because of the constant danger and because the merchant ships were among the slowest to receive updated equipment. Early on in the war some ships only had a few machine guns and painted telephone poles to replicate the barrels of larger guns. The most common armament to be installed on merchant ships during the war were the MK II 20mm machine gun and the 3"/50, 4"/50, and 5"/38 deckguns."
Right! Machine-guns, rapid fire cannon [20 mm], and naval guns of smaller caliber to deal with the potential attack from German aircraft, surface raiders and surfaced submarines.
And I would think too, that in most circumstances, if under attack, you were more or less left to your own devices. YOU HAD to do the job yourself, NO support being available.
coolbert.
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