FReeper Canteen ~ Part V of the Mongols ~ December 7, 2004

ANCIENT WARFARE

Part V of The Mongols

Mongolian Bow

Because the Old Mongols lived in an environment where survival skills were always of the utmost importance, it was a matter of course that they should develop excellent tools, both civilian and military. One piece of equipment that was of great significance in war as well as in the daily life of the Mongols was their composite bow. Perhaps this bow is not quite as well-known in the West as the English longbow, which was the best bow ever to emerge in Europe.

Yet the Old Mongolian bow was incomparably superior to everything seen in the West. Not until the advent of breach-loading firearms in the 1800's was the Mongolian bow decisively surpassed as a long-range shooting tool. Still the original Mongolian bow remains a formidable tool for targeting, war or hunting, and the people around the Bajkal sea regularly used these bows for hunting at least up to the twentieth century.

Military Use

When we are talking about Mongolian bows, the first thoughts go the their military use, although hunting and target practice certainly were more prominent activities. Every day was not filled with war, but hunting and the training of skills were part of the daily routine. However, we will start with the military aspect.

In the military, each soldier carried two bows on horseback. One bow was for long-range shooting, another for shooting at close distances. Also, each soldier had two quivers with arrows for different purposes. To mention but a few of these, there were armor-piercing arrows with a particularly heavy arrowhead of tempered steel, there were incendiary arrows for setting buildings afire and spreading fear in the enemy ranks, as well as whistling arrows for signalling. Of course, the most arrows they carried were ordinary arrows where the arrowhead and length of the shaft were adjusted to the normal range at which the particular type arrow was to be used. The standard, according to James Chambers, was that each soldier should have at least sixty arrows with him or her. Yes; it merits mention once more that the strongest and most courageous Mongolian females rode along with the men and fought bravely. Also, the women who did not ordinarily participate in military activity nevertheless had to learn how to wield the bow, a necessary skill for self-defence as well as hunting.

The Construction

We are now going into the details of the Mongolian bow. As already mentioned, it was the best bow in the world, and probably still is. Even though the modern high-tech compound bows are in some ways more convenient to use and can be made equally powerful, the sheer simplicity of the Mongol composite bow with its complete indepencence of foreign equipment and complicated parts that the archer cannot easily repair or replace makes the Mongol bow on balance a superior solution. In order to show the Mongols and their extraordinary bow the proper respect, the story is mostly told in the present tense, which also serves to emphasize the salient point that these things can be done today as well.

The Mongol bow is not as large and long as the English one, but it is vastly more powerful. The draw weight of an English longbow averages around 70-80 pounds, whereas the Old Mongol bow had a pull that, according to George Vernadsky, averaged at around 166 pounds. Chambers states that the pull varied from 100 to 160 pounds. This seeming discrepancy certainly reflects the fact that draw weight varied with the strength of the user, and with what use the bow had been made for. As could be expected, there was a considerable difference in shooting range. Whereas the English longbow could shoot at distances up to 250 yards or around 228 meters, the Mongol counterpart can hit its target at 350 yards or 320 meters and, if the archer is well trained for the task, even beyond that.

There are people who claim that the Old Mongols could shoot and hit their target over truly astonishing distances. Gongor Lhagvasuren, Deputy Director at the Mongolian National Institute of Physical Education, has written an article called "The stele of Chinggis Khan." There, Lhagvasuren refers to an ancient inscription on a stone found in the basin of the river Kharkiraa, a left tributary of Urlengui river which flows into the trans-Bajkal river Erdene. The text of the inscription, supposedly dated from 1226, may be interpreted as follows: "While Chinggis Khan was holding an assembly of Mongolian dignitaries, after his conquest of Sartaul (East Turkestan), Esungge shot a target at 335 alds" (536m). Lhagvasuren draws the conclusion in his article that such feats were rather common for Mongolian archers during the 1200's, and writes: "This case illustrates the strength, accuracy and sharpness, physical prowess of the Mongolians who lived more than 700 years ago." Whether or not we find it likely that Mongolian archers could regularly hit their targets at the distances Lhagvasuren claims they could, there is no question that they and their and bows are outstanding in all of archery's history.

When we take a closer look at the Mongolian bow, we see that it is an intriguing construction indeed. The backbone of the bow is a wooden frame, which will typically be birch, because that wood is resilient and is also readily available. The total length of the frame is 150-160 cm. When the bow is unstrung, it looks like a semi-circle with a beautifully curvaceous shape, but when a string is attached the whole thing is stretched out so that its limbs are bent inward. Even so, these limbs with string attachments are bent slighly away from the archer, forming a double curve. It is this double curve that delivers explosive acceleration and awesome velocity to the arrow. From these limbs or bends of the bow behind the string attachments where the impact is greatest, the frame is covered with elongated and flattened pieces of mountain sheep's (or other wild or domesticated ungulate's) horn or/and bone which adds snapping power to the resilient wood in the frame. These hard parts form a layer that covers the whole area of the so-called belly, which is the part between the grip and the limbs. Chambers describes how the back parts of the bow, nearest the archer, were those covered with horn and/or bone while the sinew layer was applied to the outer side.

The reader will have noticed that I use the term horn and/or bone. This is because the precise details of how the bows were built could vary over the Siberian area, although the main features are clear. The bone elements, when added, are no more than a small part at the center of the bow, and may originally have served mainly ornamental and possibly magical purposes.

source: http://www.coldsiberia.org/monbow.htm

Next Tuesday Part VI of The Mongols

DUNN, JOHN HOWARD

Name: John Howard Dunn
Rank/Branch: 04/United States Marine Corps
Unit: VMFA 323
Date of Birth: 03 September 1930
Home City of Record: Glendive MT
Date of Loss: 07 December 1965
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 194000N 1080229E
Status (in 1973): Returnee
Category: Returnee
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4B
Missions: 10+
Other Personnel in Incident: Frederick, John, remains returned 03/13/74 DIC

Source: Compiled by P.O.W. NETWORK 23 March 1997 from one or more of the
following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with
POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews.

REMARKS: 02/12/73 Released by DRV


SOURCE: WE CAME HOME  copyright 1977
Captain and Mrs. Frederic A Wyatt (USNR Ret), Barbara Powers Wyatt, Editor
P.O.W. Publications, 10250 Moorpark St., Toluca Lake, CA 91602
Text is reproduced as found in the original publication (including date and
spelling errors).
UPDATE - 03/97 by the P.O.W. NETWORK, Skidmore, MO

J. HOWARD DUNN
Colonel - United  States Marine Corps
Shot Down: December 7, 1965
Released: February 12, 1973

Born: 3 September 1930 in Glendive, Montana.

Father: Clifford H. Dunn of Mesa, Arizona, retired from International
Harvester - deceased.

Mother: Annie Mae Dunn - deceased.

Stepmother: Kathleen Dunn.

Brother: Eugene R. Dunn of Joshua, Texas, retired captain. Flew with
American Airlines.

Schooling: Billings, Montana and Salt Lake City, Utah. Linfield College,
McMinville, Oregon -1 year. University of Utah, Salt Lake City - 3 years. 
Bachelor of Science Degree. Pi Kappa Alpha, National Social Fraternity.

Flight training: 1951 to 1953 at Pensacola, Florida and Corpus Christi, 
Texas. Wings and commission as Second Lieutenant in March 1953.

At time of shoot-down over North Vietnam, was Executive Officer of 
Marine Fighter/Attack Squadron 323 based at DaNang.

Two children - Kathryn Dunn and Clifford Dunn.

Shot down on 7 December 1965 while on high-altitude classified fighter escort
mission; captured 13 December 1965. Lived in seven different POW camps
(prisons and jails); spent 34 months in solitary confinement.

Detention could be characterized as "months of nothingness, punctuated by
moments of stark terror." Treatment prior to November 1969 was bad. Food was
insufficient in quantity. Many men were in solitary; no time outside of cells
and frequent torture and harsh punishment.

Prisoners were tortured primarily to force participation in propaganda efforts
that would benefit the North Vietnamese government and to attempt to break up
our prisoner of war organization, which is provided for under International
Law.

After Sontay Raid by a combined ARForce/Army Elite Force, December 1970 no
mass torture purges; food was adequate but quality remained poor. Prisoners
were allowed to live 20 to 40 men to a room and two to four hours daily of
outdoor time. No textbooks, pens, paper or outdoor athletic games until
August-September 1972 except for selected groups for very brief periods.
These actions designed to garner favorable publicity for North Vietnamese
government.

Feel that faith in a Heavenly Being, dedication to country, trust in our
families, and trust in and loyalty to each other were main motivating factors
in our resistance and determination to survive.

Am pleased and grateful that President Nixon took measures that made it
possible for us to come home honorably and on our feet rather than bowing,
begging, or kneeling.

B-52 bombings during December 1972 was highlight of my imprisonment in North
Vietnam.

UPDATED 1997 with information from J. Howard Dunn.
Col. Dunn had been the pilot of the F4B with the VMFA-323 when he was shot
down. He says his release after 7 years, 2 months and 5 days of captivity
was like a "rebirth of freedom." Howard Dunn retired from the United States
Marine Corps as a Colonel in August of 1974. He resides in Colorado where he
works as an environmental consultant. He enjoys both water and snow skiing,
and loves woodworking.


Col Dunn passed away January 14, 1998.


The Florida Times-Union
Friday, January 30, 1998

Vietnam POW dies; memorial service set
From staff

   A memorial service will be at 2 p.m. tomorrow at Jacksonville 
Jacksonville Naval Air Station's All Saints Chapel for Marine 
Col. J. Howard Dunn, a combat pilot who was a prisoner of war in 
North  Vietnam for seven years and was the senior Marine 
recruiter in Jacksonville from 1960 to 1964.

  Col. Dunn, 67, died Jan. 14 in Longmont, Colo. At the time of
his death, he was a sales consultant for a wastewater equipment 
manufacturer in Colorado.

  Col. Dunn was a native of Glendive, Mont., and a graduate of
the University of Utah. He received his officer's commission as 
a naval aviator in 1953 at the Pensacola Naval Air Station and 
flew combat missions in Vietnam as executive officer of Marine 
Fighter/Attack Squadron 323, based at Da Nang.

  Col. Dunn was shot down over North Vietnam Dec. 7, 1965, while
flying an F4B Phantom jet, captured and held prisoner until his 
release Feb. 12, 1973. During his imprisonment, he was held at 
seven POW camps and served 34 months in solitary confinement. He 
received two Purple Hearts, two Bronze Stars, two Legion of 
Merit awards and the Silver Star.

  He retired from the Marine Corps in 1974. Col. Dunn is survived
by two children, Clifford Dunn of Jacksonville and Kathy Dunn of 
Tampa; and a brother.

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