I'm indy neidell and this is "Out of the Trenches" where I sit here in this chair of wisdom
This mighty chair of wisdom and answer all your questions about the first world war
Ejo says hello Indian Crew my Great-Grandpa
Hello each a so my great-grandfather
was drafted in the first us draft of World war one and
Served as a corporal and then a sergeant and the three hundred and sixtieth infantry regiment of the 90th infantry
division in what his commanding officer first lieutenant Preston G northrup called the suicide club or
the Trench Mortar battery, haha
Though he served in the somme McHale offensive the mews are gone and the occupation of Germany
He never spoke to anyone about the war
And I've been having trouble finding information about Trench mortar batteries and what they did in particular a letter our family has from lieutenant northrop
States my great-grandfather was leading men over the top
What was the role of Trench mortars as opposed to artillery?
Would the men generally fire a volley and then go over the top with the other soldiers?
Thank you all for an amazing show and best of luck in the future. It was very nice, okay
Okay, the mode of mortars
most armies made the difference in where
Heavy and medium Trench mortars were placed under the command of an artillery officer
While light Trench mortars were given over to the infantry
The heavy Mortars and minun buffer were used to actively destroy and Devastate trenches
Obstacles and defensive positions while the light mortars on the other hand were used mainly to suppress the enemy snipers and machine-gunners
They played a major role in
Offensive and defensive operations like in supporting raiding parties or to quickly switch fire on advancing infantry
light mortars were fairly inaccurate, but could be reloaded very quickly and were therefore a tactical support weapon a
British Mortar Battery in 1916 would consist of four times three
Stoke mortars for example However Trench Mortars could also be dangerous for the operators themselves
maybe that's where the nickname suicide club came from
particularly the early versions were crude devices and
Ammunition was often manufactured with simple black powder charges and it could Misfire, or det
Prematurely right for some time married men were forbidden to Join the Trench Mortar batteries just because of the fact that ammunition
accidents could kill whole Mortar teams in One Fatal mistake
And handling the devices led to the formation of specialists
but other than that the subject of Trench mortar batteries isn't really that well researched many rumors still persist like
maybe you don't want to hear this but like it was a place for the
Undesirables of a platoon or that the batteries were so hated by the enemy that they could expect no Mercy
From the enemy during an attack
If anyone out there knows a good book on this please let us know
Brian Tanner hey Indian crew during the Great War Germany threatened to execute American Soldiers using Trench shotguns
And also threaten British engineers whose bayonet had a saw on the spine of the bayonet how could they justify using chemical weapons?
That caused death and horrific damage to eyes and lungs, but object to shotguns and sawed back they annette
well
it
Yeah, it's hard for us to understand today. Why in a war that has seen aerial bombardment?
poison gas razor Sharp Shrapnel barbed wire Yadda Yadda Yadda
Why people would attempt to Outlaw other weapons the justification and reasoning behind these differences?
Might be a bit hard to comprehend so just bear with me for a sec
the
intentional idea as
obtrusive this sound the intentional idea of chemical warfare was not to kill it was intended to panic and
Incapacitate the enemy soldiers since it did not kill instantly like a bullet or shrapnel
it was expected that the enemy would Abandon his post after his trench was hit by a gas grenade if he stayed in the
poisonous gas
Well, it was his own fault right the apologist applied the same reasoning to flamethrowers. They were
Intended to scare and shock the enemy into capitulation most people realize the cynical truth behind that
Vindication but to be completely honest the morale effect of both those weapons was more apparent than the killing capacity
Comparatively few men died of gas or from flamethrowers, but nonetheless the wounds were gruesome and painful and many still died because of those weapons
With the shotguns and sawed back bayonet the reasoning was different those weapons were intended to kill from the start
but the reason they were considered inhumane was that say a
Normal bullet or the blade of a normal Bayonet would either result in a relatively?
clean kill or a
treatable wound
Buckshot pellets and the Sawtooth Bayonet would result in those wounds those wounds being fatal as
The organs and Harder arteries were damaged much more often those weapons would lead to a wounded soldier
inevitably dying in agony without being able to be saved by a doctor and that was the torture II see
McKenzie buckle as a cool name
then a made-up name oh
McKenzie buckle right hello Indian crew loved the show I have a question about equipment that Canadian Soldiers were issued
That they were issued shovels with holes in them that the Canadian Ross rifle was not well liked by troops if that's true
If so, why is that true? If so, why right?
Well the shovel with the hole in them was actually called the macadam or the hughes shovel it was patented in
1913 by Canadian minister of Defense and Militia
Hue's the idea behind it was to give the soldier a portable shovel, okay?
But one he could also use as a shield
See the handle of the shovel
Could be bent to the side to reveal a spike that could be rammed into the Earth
The hole in the spade was for sticking your rifle through right?
at the time this was inspired by
fortifications on the Swiss border
But during the war you can see those types of shields in the trenches mostly on the German French front the iDea was
theoretically solid but to actually
deflect a bullet the steel had to be way sicker than usual like
4.7 millimeters, and that had a weight of 5 pounds, what's that 2.3 kilos?
But it was still not enough to stop a bullet only lighter shrapnel
25,000 of these shovels were ordered by hughes at the cost of
$34,000 was a lot of money back in those times
but the field tests were disappointing in the end it was a
Lackluster combination of a shovel that was too. Heavy a shield that was too thin
They were either they were either scrapped or used to strengthen parapets
The Ross rifle you asked about or the Ross Mark 3 this yeah also endorsed by Sam hughes as a highly accurate reliable
weapon for the Canadian Soldiers
Now this is not entirely untrue in
clean open warfare or Hunters in the Canadian Wilderness, but for Trench warfare
This rifle was just way too, heavy
It was it was longer than the lee enfield and it was really easily affected by the mud and dirt of the trenches
Its biggest weakness was its very finicky bolt which would not only jam really easily under those conditions
But could also easily be assembled wrong if the soldier tried to clean it and this could either lead to
Brick the rifle or in the worst case blow the balls up into the face of the shooter
It wasn't a terrible rifle per se. No, but it was for Trench warfare
Some Canadian Snipers preferred them though because of their higher accuracy
The failure of both of these products would contribute to the downfall of Sam hughes
actually canada managed to fix those problems with the Ross rifle and they were ready for
Reship minh, but the Canadian Soldiers in the field hated the ross rifle so much they wouldn't take them now our friend
Elias who has cien arsenal an awesome channel did an episode about the Ross rifle?
You can click right here if you want to see that and we will see you next time and every time see you soon