Posted on 12/23/2015 6:29:40 AM PST by C19fan
Church bells rang on Sunday morning, Aug. 23, 1914 in the Belgian city of Mons — an industrial town that stood in the way of the advancing German army’s plan to crush the British Expeditionary Force.
The Tommies – 70,000 strong – were dug in along the Mons-Conde canal and had occupied the town. Bearing down on them was a German force of 160,000 soldiers and hundreds of artillery pieces. As the faithful made their way to mass, the German 1st Army launched an attack, concentrating on the northernmost point of a salient formed by a loop in the canal.
(Excerpt) Read more at warisboring.com ...
But their enemy was
(1) the generals using bad strategies and terrible tactics, and
(2) the machine guns and artillery on the other side of No Mans Land.
Rifles actually killed relatively few on either side.
As in the US, when the “sniper” (long range rifle accuracy) was held as the Holy Grail of rifle design. Or when the “cheapness” (cost to the Army bureaucracy to build rifles and issue bullets) was held more important than rapid fire after the Civil War.
I discovered what I thought was a very good series on Netflix entitled “Our World Wars.” The depiction of Mons was outstanding.
One of my favorite rifles and given quality ammo, I wouldn’t be ashamed of it as a go-to gun if more modern guns were not available.
Ping
SMLE. Excellent rifle.
Still useful today.
Could work from the arctic to the jungles to the desert.
Very accurate. Even though a both action, can be fired very quickly if needed. Extremely dependable.
So you get the best of both worlds especially if you are fighting in a location with very limited resources...
Same here. I have a Lithgow that’s a great shooter.
Breaker Morant: Great Movie
Edward Woodward: Great Actor
Wonderful rifle, great cartridge (except that it’s rimmed). Hornady makes a nice 174gr, .312” bullet that’s perfect for it.
The British would say:
“The Americans brought a target rifle to the war. The Germans brought a hunting rifle. But the British brought a battle rifle!”
Enjoyed your analysis of the creation of the gold on earth!
However, if I read your comment on this Post correctly, you prefer the “rapid fire” focus rather than the “ ‘sniper’ (long range rifle accuracy)”. Am I correct?
I agree that rifle fire produces less casualties than other forms of mayhem such as artillery or air strikes. However, while I was in the USMC, we were often told of the arrival of the Marines at the Front in WWI.
It seems that the Marines arrived at their designated position and dung in. Shortly thereafter, to their amazement, the Germans arrived and began setting up camp about 100 yards away as was their usual practice. The astonished Marines grabbed their rifles and began picking off the Germans, who promptly moved back to 200 yards.
The whole process began again at 200 yards range.
And 300 yards.
And 400 yards.
And 500 yards.
Finally, at 600 yards, the Germans were able set up camp without harassment.
Marine Primary Marksmanship qualifications in my time were at 200 yards (Standing to Sitting Rapid fire and Offhand [Standing] Slow fire), 300 yards (Kneeling & Sitting Slow Fire, Standing to Prone Rapid fire) and 500 yards Prone Slow Fire. Iron sights, of course.
The 200 & 300 yard targets were 12” bulls-eyes. The 500 yard was a 20” bull, back when we were still using the M-14 7.62. When the M-16 5.56 came into use, we switched to a 20” wide silhouette at 500 yards, due to the greater bullet drop with the 5.56 round.
Admittedly, in fighting in built up areas, long range fire is not as important. However, in most instances, “hold ‘em & squeeze ‘em” (aimed fire) works better than “spray & pray” (Hollywood style, burn through all your ammo at max rate of fire)
Clear and concise. I have it on my FR page. Should be applied to all treasonous bastards.
Indeed. You are in good company; my kid was presented with a Lithgow #1 Mk III S.M.L.E by me for his eighth birthday, and his too is a Lithgow, one of the last of the .303 SMLE's built.
And though it was not Lithgow-built, this fella's #1 Enfield is certainly worthy of note as well. Note the notches above the magazine well; four small [enlisted men] one large [officer.]
My deer slayer!
One of my favorites, but I guess you knew that.
Let’s not forget that great Canadian rifle the ROSS! Straight pull, super accurate! Shoots both ways, forward the bullet back the bolt! Great in mud(for those being attacked).
True.
But in combat ... (And that could also be “And in combat ...” Most of the kills, most of the effective action is done by fewer than 15% of the troops.
Saw a video of the fighting in Hue for example. Five guys behind a wall perhaps 4-5 feet tall. One other guy shooting “blind” over the top of the wall, not aiming at anything, but just shooting with the M16 held over the wall. One effective soldier at the end of the wall taking aimed shots at what he could see by looking around the wall at the enemy.
Every building, every outpost, every bunker or foxhole is a bit different. Washington doesn’t seem to understand that - they are still fighting - are ALWAYS fighting! - the last war “by the book”. Iconically, which was written by the survivors of the last war, not the fighters of the next war. Which can only be written by the survivors of the last war, because the next war has not yet been fought.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.