To: GOPJ
This is a little off topic, but...
Back in the Brittish colonial heyday, there was a revolt started in india over something similar. The brittish troops were angry over serving alongside hindu and muslim indians, so they started a rumor. In those days, rifles were single shot and the ammo that was used had a paper(instead of brass) casing that needed a hole BITTEN in the end of it before being placed in the rifle. Well, some brittish soldiers thought it would be clever to tell all the indian recruits that the paper ammo casings were made waterproof with a mixture of beef and pig fat. The indians became extrememly upset and started a war.
What I would like to know is this: Did these indians continue to bite the paper bullet casings in order to fight this war against beef/pig fat coated bullets?
To: mamelukesabre
" Did these indians continue to bite the paper bullet casings in order to fight this war against beef/pig fat coated bullets?"My understanding of this is that the new rounds were issued covered in wax and the rumor started amongst the native troops that they were coated in beef/pig fat so as to break caste in the Hindu levies and to violate the ban on pigs for the Moslem levies.
Throughout the Mutiny, the native troops simply continued to use the old uncoated rounds.
To: mamelukesabre
So, when asked to bite the bullet, did they? Good one. If this is true, it's a great story, if it's not true, it should be...
Back in the British colonial heyday, there was a revolt started in India over something similar. The British troops were angry over serving alongside Hindu and Muslim Indians, so they started a rumor. In those days, rifles were single shot and the ammo that was used had a paper (instead of brass) casing that needed a hole BITTEN in the end of it before being placed in the rifle. Well, some British soldiers thought it would be clever to tell all the Indian recruits that the paper ammo casings were made waterproof with a mixture of beef and pig fat. The Indians became extremely upset and started a war.
What I would like to know is this: Did these Indians continue to bite the paper bullet casings in order to fight this war against beef/pig fat coated bullets?
139 posted on
02/21/2002 10:02:06 AM PST by
GOPJ
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson