Bizarre Facts. It's Fun!
August 25th 2008 09:56
Since no one is interested in my family (weird) history, poetry, or my revelations about our 'Orwellian' world, (except Bill Green, ta!) and since my most financially rewarding post was about a woman pissing in the gutter, I offer the following, to amuse, titillate and educate, but only a little bit!
Quote:
It is perhaps surprising that the first round fired by any Army of the British Empire, including Great Britain, in World War I was by the gunners of Fort Nepean. Situated at the entrance to Port Phillip Bay, Victoria, the Fort fired one round from its 6 inch Mark VII to stop the German freighter Pfalz escaping from Port Phillip a few hours after the declaration of war.
Unquote
Strange but true, according to one of a number of military history websites I am now frequenting.
Anyhoo, I have re-started examining my relative's military records, and it is quite interesting, disturbing and saddening, to see where they fought and the horrors of those particular conflicts, as detailed in some excellent work by historians.
I always knew my father had suffered terribly during his many years of fighting; in Europe, the Middle East and Papua New Guinea, but, like all the men of his era and indeed the WW1 veterans, they spoke only rarely of the experience and who could blame them, they were still suffering terrible post traumatic stress and shock.
As a wee nipper, I still remember my dad waking up in the middle of the night screaming, calling out the name of a friend, who had just had his head blown apart, or worse, when memories invaded his subconscious, about the terrors of the Papua New Guinea jungle at night, and the awful orders they had to follow.
Often, they could not give their position away, so not a sound could be made, meaning whenever they captured a Japanese soldier, and he could not be held prisoner, they had to do him in; while two Aussies stretched his arms back, either side of a tree, after a mouth gag had been put in place, the other soldier had to ram him through the heart with a fixed bayonet.
I shall post further on this research I am doing, even to the point of forking out $25- to the military records department, who will not hand over records until they get some blood money, real blood money in the case of my poor Uncle, who died at the age of 21 years and six months, fighting on the beach at Singapore.
Lest I forget, and that I will not do, ever!
RMS Orontes took a rellie to WW1
Quote:
It is perhaps surprising that the first round fired by any Army of the British Empire, including Great Britain, in World War I was by the gunners of Fort Nepean. Situated at the entrance to Port Phillip Bay, Victoria, the Fort fired one round from its 6 inch Mark VII to stop the German freighter Pfalz escaping from Port Phillip a few hours after the declaration of war.
Unquote
Strange but true, according to one of a number of military history websites I am now frequenting.
Anyhoo, I have re-started examining my relative's military records, and it is quite interesting, disturbing and saddening, to see where they fought and the horrors of those particular conflicts, as detailed in some excellent work by historians.
I always knew my father had suffered terribly during his many years of fighting; in Europe, the Middle East and Papua New Guinea, but, like all the men of his era and indeed the WW1 veterans, they spoke only rarely of the experience and who could blame them, they were still suffering terrible post traumatic stress and shock.
As a wee nipper, I still remember my dad waking up in the middle of the night screaming, calling out the name of a friend, who had just had his head blown apart, or worse, when memories invaded his subconscious, about the terrors of the Papua New Guinea jungle at night, and the awful orders they had to follow.
Often, they could not give their position away, so not a sound could be made, meaning whenever they captured a Japanese soldier, and he could not be held prisoner, they had to do him in; while two Aussies stretched his arms back, either side of a tree, after a mouth gag had been put in place, the other soldier had to ram him through the heart with a fixed bayonet.
I shall post further on this research I am doing, even to the point of forking out $25- to the military records department, who will not hand over records until they get some blood money, real blood money in the case of my poor Uncle, who died at the age of 21 years and six months, fighting on the beach at Singapore.
Lest I forget, and that I will not do, ever!
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Comment by Ash
Australian Traveller
Flashes of memories
Fascinating! I find all this war stuff really interesting and very sad, of course. My dad never talks about his army days. although bears the scars of being blown up in a landmine.
I will never forget a book I read on WW2 during school where a family were having dinner and these soldiers came into the house, telling the wife to shoot her husband, father and kids who were at the table with her. When she refused to, they picked up her small baby, each taking a foot in hand, whilst they held it upside down and ripped it apart.
War is just such a waste of human life, while the people who declare war on one another sit comfy on the other side of the world, never under any threat.
To think of what some have been through in the name of 'fighting for one's country', and like your uncle, at such a young age. Most of those kids who went to war weren`t able to drink, yet were given a gun and shipped off to kill. Images like that would haunt and forever change a persons life.
Terrible, really terrible!
Ash
Comment by Mountain Fog
Infognito
Screen Trek
QUOTE ME NO QUOTES!
yes your Dad would have very deep seated scars from war service, and to have been blown up by a land mine, he is lucky to be alive!
Churchill famously said, "Jaw jaw before war war", meaning talk before you shoot, pity Howard and Bush and Blair didn't take heed of his advice.
Mind you, Churchill was an 'armchair general' himself, sending lots of Aussies and others to needless deaths, because they had upper class twits in control of, and tactically advising, the army, instead of listening to the long service soldiers, those who actually were at the front lines. Gallipoli would have been a different situation had they done their tactical work properly.
cheers
fog