Michael Emrys Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 17 hours ago, John Kettler said: On a more topical note, I found this great WW I pic on Tumblr. Pretty sure it's combat, not exercises. Unfortunately, there's no caption. Lever action rifles??? Who was using those by WW I? Russia? Austria? The Balkankreuz medal on the soldier on the left would suggest Austria. Maybe. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerKommissar Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 (edited) 8 hours ago, Michael Emrys said: Lever action rifles??? Who was using those by WW I? Russia? Austria? The Balkankreuz medal on the soldier on the left would suggest Austria. Maybe. Michael That is an insane WW1 photo. Those are Russians, for sure -- the medal looks like some variant of the St. George's Cross. Lever actions? Not surprised, rifle shortages were fairly widespread. Edited January 14, 2019 by DerKommissar 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted January 15, 2019 Author Share Posted January 15, 2019 One of my brothers sent me something cool via Messenger. Anyone want a Master's in World War II Studies? It's an online degree program offered by the National World War 2 Museum in conjunction with Arizona State University. You, too, can be like Steve Grammont.https://www.nationalww2museum.org/students-teachers/distance-learning/online-masters-world-war-ii-studies?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=ASU&fbclid=IwAR0cONPMTxijogBJ-eeKMCCJ25_-ufF5QjWhO0kjHmk3Fl8H0wq2uwt72jc Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted January 15, 2019 Author Share Posted January 15, 2019 (edited) Well done, gents! A little digging identified the rifle as being a Russian Winchester 1895 firing 7.62 mm x 54 mm spitzer cartridges from a 5-round magazine. These weren't obsolete rifles but modern ones produced specifically for Russia in two separate and substantial contracts. The video is most informative and has several other pics of this little known rifle in action. Regards, John Kettler Edited January 15, 2019 by John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted January 16, 2019 Author Share Posted January 16, 2019 If you want to see a first rate combat doc, one that's so on the pointy end it may trigger those with PTSD, watch "The Hornet's Nest" on Amazon Prime. It got tremendous reviews and richly deserves them. The chief war reporter/videographer (34 years with ABC News) was embedded in frontline units for a year, and in his last deployment was joined by the son from whom he was alienated by years of missed birthdays, Christmases, graduations, etc. His now adult son said he was going with him whether Dad wanted him to or not, in an opportunity to reconnect under conditions most can't imagine. Thus, it's not just about the war, but also a father's relationship with his son. This isn't some abstract view of the war, but instead, is at the nitty gritty super personal level, whether in or out of battle. Guarantee you will never look at Afghanistan and its people the same way again, and the film shows the terrible human cost of the war for both soldiers and civilians. But it also shows the camaraderie, the humor, the pluck, grit, determination, endurance and self-sacrifice in ways dry medal citations never can. You won't see shot up or dead GIs, but you will see and hear everything else and understand what it's like to sustain casualties, in a way no history can teach. Perceptions of CAS change dramatically when a unit is taking fire from multiple directions simultaneously and men are being hit. Could go on and on, but just watch it, learn and be moved, perhaps, to tears. Be sure to watch the credits, for there are tons of Easter eggs in them! Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted January 16, 2019 Author Share Posted January 16, 2019 Found a Tumblr devoted to WW I, and it's packed full of wonderful goodies on pretty much every aspect of The Great War, tied to a specific date. Found it because I came across a reblogged post from it on an early German fighter ace.https://thisdayinwwi.tumblr.com/ Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerKommissar Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted January 17, 2019 Author Share Posted January 17, 2019 (edited) Something different here, in the form of a civil aviation video. There's a twist, though, for brother Ed's in it! He's the guy in the beard in the flight briefing and piloting the borrowed Nanchang CJ-6 with the checkered nose in the flight portion. The Nanchang CJ-6 was China's PLAAF primary flight trainer and was manufactured continuously from 1959-1985, if you can believe it. Built like a tank and uses pneumatics, not hydraulics. Regards, John Kettler Edited January 17, 2019 by John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted January 21, 2019 Author Share Posted January 21, 2019 This is one of the best videos I've ever seen on military history. It covers Japanese tanks in Malaya, 1942 and is simply astounding. Taught me a wealth of things I never knew and showcases the havoc even a tiny armored force, intelligently and aggressively handled, can inflict. Guderian would've loved this. Got this from one of my CoC colleagues. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted January 23, 2019 Author Share Posted January 23, 2019 (edited) Back in my D&D days, I saw all kinds of nasty monsters thrown at us by GMs, but nothing rivals this. John Kettler Edited January 23, 2019 by John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted January 24, 2019 Author Share Posted January 24, 2019 (edited) For you CBRN history buffs and the usual variety, too. Bet your Disneyana collection doesn't have one of these! Regards, John Kettler Edited January 24, 2019 by John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erwin Posted January 24, 2019 Share Posted January 24, 2019 Maybe you could make a fortune proposing the new WW2 Disney Attraction? Fun for all the family in your bomb shelter (with gas fumes from the hot dog concession stands and parking lot). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted January 26, 2019 Author Share Posted January 26, 2019 (edited) Erwin, Am sure people would swoon over the Disney film on the Boys ATR (plus others), camo designs to hide aircraft plants and other things I don't recall. Believe Disney was involved in propaganda, too, but I don't know the details. Today's pic is of the ladies of the Central Women's School of Sniper Training near Moscow in 1943. Believe this color is original. The PSO-1 scopes are fitted, but very hard to see because of extremely low contrast. Does Steve have this uniform in his camouflage collection? The usual noise discipline was relaxed. Seaforth Highlanders in OPERATION EPSOM, Normandy, France, 1944. Note also that the man behind the piper is carrying a full size shovel. Read about that in an account of another unit at Normandy. Attacking units were issued shovels so they could dig in fast before the Germans detected that they'd lost a position, brought down fire and counterattacked. After repeated reports of problems detecting the enemy while buttoned up, urgent requests from the Tiger 1 units resulted in the fielding of the vaunted die Katze Auge Apparat. Alas, combat stability left much to be desired and the crash program to come up with die Katze Lafette to retain the bio-optical system never yielded a usable mount. Regards, John Kettler Edited January 26, 2019 by John Kettler 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erwin Posted January 26, 2019 Share Posted January 26, 2019 Tigger Tank? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sublime Posted January 29, 2019 Share Posted January 29, 2019 Illl give you a like for the kitty pic JK that is a good find. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sid_burn Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 (edited) Do you still plan on doing John Kettler Investigates? I need to ask, straight up, who killed JFK? @IICptMillerII and I have a bet going. Edited January 30, 2019 by sid_burn 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rinaldi Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 4 minutes ago, sid_burn said: Do you still plan on doing John Kettler Investigates? I need to ask, straight up, who killed JFK? @IICptMillerII and I have a bet going. Yikes. Imagining asking him that when you can ask him the much more burning question: Who killed Vince Foster? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sid_burn Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 2 minutes ago, Rinaldi said: Yikes. Imagining asking him that when you can ask him the much more burning question: Who killed Vince Foster? Kettler actually made a really good post about that, you can check it out here: https://johnkettler.com/hillary-clinton-makes-a-mockery-of-justice/ Dab on the deep state, Regards, Sid 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted February 1, 2019 Author Share Posted February 1, 2019 Sid-Burn and Rinaldi, You can find me you know where and ask or PM me, and I'll give you my email. No way I'm responding here. Also, thanks for kudos. On 1/29/2019 at 3:42 PM, Sublime said: Illl give you a like for the kitty pic JK that is a good find. Sublime, Glad you liked it. There's another one I've seen in which the regimental mascot, a little boy in a small version of the uniform is perched similarly atop a King Tiger's gun barrel, but I believe much farther back. Just as well since kids are nowhere nearly resilient when dropped as cats! Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted February 1, 2019 Author Share Posted February 1, 2019 (edited) Great news for war film/Tolstoy film buffs. Sergei Bondarchuk's "War and Peace" has been completely remastered and will be shown at the Lincoln Center in New York City on February 13. For those unfamiliar with this epic (roughly 8 hour running time, but shown in four segments), this behemoth of a film for a long time held the Guinness World Record for the most expensive film ever made, millions in the early 1960s, with a cast of 100,000 (Red Army depicting the French and the Russians in full uniforms, horse galore and more cannon than I've ever seen in a film; unlike in Hollywood, when these guns fire, they roll back from the recoil and have to be muscled back into battery). Got to see the original when I was in junior high. We boys (coed school) practically lost our minds over the past stunning military parts, especially Borodino, and suffered through the rest (romance, court scenes, politics), but really didn't care because seeing this film got us off campus for extended periods over a span of days. This film was a Grade One spectacle, and I can but imagine how dazzling it will be in its digitally restored form. If you can get there, be there!https://www.filmlinc.org/daily/trailer-premiere-sergey-bondarchuks-restored-epic-war-and-peace-opens-february-15/?fbclid=IwAR3ltEZsfSBWFt3k6TjJBUvzk8MMIFcLCGV1O_vlaAmxtHlypKN8E3-t38E On a playful historical note, I saw the pic on Tumblr and couldn't resist the urge to wisecrack over on the CoC page at FB. "The Germans were so poor before the war economy got cranking they couldn't afford a second Sigrun! Here's the proof." Regards, John Kettler Edited February 1, 2019 by John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted February 2, 2019 Share Posted February 2, 2019 (edited) 7 hours ago, John Kettler said: Great news for war film/Tolstoy film buffs. Sergei Bondarchuk's "War and Peace" has been completely remastered....suffered through the rest (romance, court scenes, politics) I got a copy of this on DVDs a few years back. Gave up less then halfway through the first disk, so never got to see the good parts. A great disappointment as I had been looking for it since it came out. Even Life magazine had touted it. But the acting and direction were beyond wretched by today's standards. Even run of the mill tv shows have better acting nowadays. Watch it if you want to, but my advice is not to shell out much (or even any) money for the experience. Michael Edited February 2, 2019 by Michael Emrys 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sublime Posted February 2, 2019 Share Posted February 2, 2019 Kettler aont talkin. That could.only meam he found proof of a ice cream pzkampwagen mk I witha treacherous horst wessel lied that played as a countdown jingle jangle (of course just instrumental didnt want to offend anyone) This obviously meams a nuke was used at Kursk so therefore deep state killed Kennedy at HRCs orders (ahe was very intelligemt even as a 'child' and you know those reptilian shape shifters - devious as can be) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted February 2, 2019 Author Share Posted February 2, 2019 Michael Emrys, Probably just as well I was no film critic, then, since it might've ruined my viewing experience, except that mine was really all about the war stuff, since I knew nothing of the novel it was based on. Sergei Bondarchuk also did the excellent "They Fought for the Motherland," and his son, Sergei Bondarchuk, Jr., did the iconic and harrowing "Ninth Company" covering an Air Assault unit in Afghanistan. Regards, John Kettler 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erwin Posted February 2, 2019 Share Posted February 2, 2019 OMG! Just realised 9th Co should be available on Amazon Prime streaming. Going to put it on "My List" right now. Bye... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOS:96B2P Posted February 2, 2019 Share Posted February 2, 2019 4 hours ago, John Kettler said: his son, Sergei Bondarchuk, Jr., did the iconic and harrowing "Ninth Company" covering an Air Assault unit in Afghanistan. Cool!!! Another movie to watch!! Thanks John!! +1 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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