This was true, the officer had a pistol not to kill the enemy, but to shoot anyone who tried to desert.
Which army was that? British officers began to stop carrying personal weapons into combat before Waterloo. By the Great War, officers were too busy coordinating personnel in numbers larger by orders of magnitude to carry anything more than a ceremonial pistol, and most did not bother with that.
That was the image that stayed with me, and also why so many officers died.
Officers died in large numbers because, one, they led men who died in large numbers and two, snipers love the sight of blood on brass. I know Army snipers. This is true.
Spanish influenza killed more Europeans than the War. God, one bad war 90 years ago and people just give up forever. "No, nothing in the world worth fighting for. Or, more specifically, worth me dying for." Sad.
no subject
Which army was that? British officers began to stop carrying personal weapons into combat before Waterloo. By the Great War, officers were too busy coordinating personnel in numbers larger by orders of magnitude to carry anything more than a ceremonial pistol, and most did not bother with that.
That was the image that stayed with me, and also why so many officers died.
Officers died in large numbers because, one, they led men who died in large numbers and two, snipers love the sight of blood on brass. I know Army snipers. This is true.
Spanish influenza killed more Europeans than the War. God, one bad war 90 years ago and people just give up forever. "No, nothing in the world worth fighting for. Or, more specifically, worth me dying for." Sad.