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CCCCCCCCCOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!

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"During the course of a combat it is well known that the accuracy of fire falls off to an almost incredible degree, and the mean expenditure of bullets per man placed out of action previous to the introduction of long-range weapons never fell materially below 200." Continental vs South African Tactics - Col Frederick Maude, Royal United Services Institute Journal, 1902.

Something you don't see a lot of is the research that the British army did before the 20th century about the wars they fought. This is mostly because they didn't have an organised staff to actually do this research, but interested individuals certainly did.

Maude doesn't cite his sources, but he draws reference to the Napoleonic and US Civil wars as being before the advent of "long-range weapons". Gives you a sense of how inaccurate smoothbore muskets and even mid-century rifles were given the close ranges at which they're firing.

What's also interesting is how much that number grows by the middle of the 20th century. In WW2 it's taking upwards of 5,000 bullets to cause a single casualty, and by some accounts 50,000+ during the Vietnam War.

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An improvised trench catapult used by the British in 1914. Also firing/flinging an improvised grenade known as a 'jam tin bomb'.

London Illustrated News, 1914.

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My first phd supervisor wrote about troops from the British West Indies during the war.

One reason men from across the Caribbean volunteered... was the belief that ‘wartime sacrifice’ would lead to post-war ‘improved standing’. The hoped-for ‘improved standing’ for returned soldiers did not materialise. They were permitted to vote in the first post-war election, but thereafter the colony returned to being a white-only electorate. Fearful of armed uprisings, the colonial government encouraged 4,000 BWIR veterans to emigrate to Cuba and other locations. With the return of peace, Jamaica issued a series of new postage stamps. Two featured the departure and return of the BWIR contingents. A third, portraying Jamaican slaves gaining their freedom, was produced by De La Rue & Company in England and sent to the colony in April 1921. The government considered the stamp too controversial and destroyed the entire stock for ‘political reasons’. Someone Else's War: Fighting for the British Empire in World War I - John Connor.

Classic British Empire.

The Great War was indeed a World War. These gentlemen from the Royal Garrison Artillery represent His Majesty from far-off Bermuda!

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Testing of armour-piercing shells and an armoured cupola at the Hadfield's foundry.

Illustrated London News, 1914.

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Canon de 138mm modèle 1887 dominating the bow of the French Type A riverine gunboat Furieuse on the Aisne, 1916

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The barrels of 15 inch naval guns in the Coventry Ordinance Works. September 1917.

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Members of the dominion and Allied Press Tour watching Vickers Gun tuition at the RAF Cadet School of Armament, September 1918.

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Mrs Margaret Lloyd George (wife of British prime minister David Lloyd George) examining the wreck of the German Zeppelin L 21 at Cuffley, Hertfordshire, 3 September 1916.

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Tommy the tortoise, the pet of Mrs Dudley Beresford, injured by shrapnel during a German air raid on London on 29 September 1917.

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Worker drilling out a cavity in an over-filled shell, No. 14 National Filling Factory, Hereford.

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Munitionettes working at the Lyddite Filling House, No. 14 National Filling Factory, Hereford.

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A Sergeant of the Australian infantry in full marching order, in the courtyard of the Royal Mews, Buckingham Palace in October 1917.

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Company Sergeant Major Canadian Scottish, in full marching order. Taken in the courtyard of the Royal Mews, Buckingham Palace in October 1917.

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The first day’s progress in the building of the torpedo boat destroyer USS Ward at Mare Island, 15 May 1918. The ship was launched 17 days after the keel was laid.

Fuck me that’s impressive.

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Female oil workers of the British Oil Cake Company in Trafford Park, Manchester enjoy a tea break.

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Men of the 1st Battalion, County of London Volunteers (United Arts Volunteer Rifles) at work in the markers pit of the Churt Butts, May 1915.