General military questions thread

Buba

A total creep
I decided that I'll start a thread for military related questions which keep posters tossing and turning at night :)

My question - is there a special term in English for a palisade/stakewall on top of a stone/brick wall, i.e. with the uprights not driven directly into the ground BUT with a stone/masonry foundation? Would the name be different if the palisade itself was reinforced with stone/brick pillars - or even with such non-organic towers?
 
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Aldarion

Neoreactionary Monarchist
I decided that I'll start a thread for military related questions which keep posters tossing and turning at night :)

My question - is there a special term in English for a palisade/stakewall on top of a stone/brick wall, i.e. with the uprights not driven directly into the ground BUT with a stone/masonry foundation? Would the name be different if the palisade itself was reinforced with stone/brick pillars - or even with such non-organic towers?

The only I know is actually a translation of a Roman Term - Murus Gallicus, or in English, Gallic Wall.
 

Buba

A total creep
The Hotchkiss machine gun, as finalised in the late 1890s, used its iconic stripper feed.
250px-Hotchkiss_M_1914_%28cropped%29%2C_MDLA.jpg


I know that the metal strip was a conscious decision to avoid cloth belts which could get soggy or dirty or rot (this happened in the tropics).
Nevertheless I've seen derivates of that design stated (and photographed) as using belt feed or magazine feed as well, dating to the 1920s.
There also seems to have been an intemediary step, with the strips cut into 3-round bits and then combined into a belt of sorts (used in British WWI tanks).
How difficult - or easy - was it to modify the mechanism to use belts and/or magazines?
Why not earlier?
 

Buba

A total creep
Next question :)
Why the popularity of motorcycles and motorcycles with sidecars before and during early WWII?
Wasn't it a waste of resources? The (almost) very same engines could had been used for light utility cars, carrying more people and/or stores ...
I know that motorcycles are sexy, but having a choice between something like a Kubelwagen or
on one hand, and a Zundap 750 or
on the other, I'd chose the four wheel vehicle every time ...
Besides sexy - what other reasons? The mental equation that a motorcycle is kinda like a horse, and we used to have horses, so ...
 

Zachowon

The Army Life for me! The POG life for me!
Founder
Next question :)
Why the popularity of motorcycles and motorcycles with sidecars before and during early WWII?
Wasn't it a waste of resources? The (almost) very same engines could had been used for light utility cars, carrying more people and/or stores ...
I know that motorcycles are sexy, but having a choice between something like a Kubelwagen or
on one hand, and a Zundap 750 or
on the other, I'd chose the four wheel vehicle every time ...
Besides sexy - what other reasons? The mental equation that a motorcycle is kinda like a horse, and we used to have horses, so ...
They are great scout vehicles. Fast movement over terrain a 4 wheeled vehicle can't go.
 

BlackDragon98

Freikorps Kommandant
Banned - Politics
Next question :)
Why the popularity of motorcycles and motorcycles with sidecars before and during early WWII?
Wasn't it a waste of resources? The (almost) very same engines could had been used for light utility cars, carrying more people and/or stores ...
I know that motorcycles are sexy, but having a choice between something like a Kubelwagen or
on one hand, and a Zundap 750 or
on the other, I'd chose the four wheel vehicle every time ...
Besides sexy - what other reasons? The mental equation that a motorcycle is kinda like a horse, and we used to have horses, so ...
Because you can place a MG on motorcycle w/sidecar and then drive at the enemy full speed, MG 42 blazing.
Remember!
Rush B!
 

PsihoKekec

Swashbuckling Accountant
Motorcycles were great for dispatch riders, you could often bypass the traffic jams and deliver messages, which you couldn't do in four wheeler. And back then fast couriers were still very important, field phone lines were slow to set up, while wireless communications were unreliable and at danger of eavesdropping.

Motorcycles with sidecars were used by scouts as they were more nimble and smaller targets than armoured cars, military police and commanders who looked for more dashing mode of transport than the staff car.

Another reason is that all the production capabilities were already there, it would take time to retool production and retrain workers to make something else.
 

stephen the barbarian

Well-known member
Why the popularity of motorcycles and motorcycles with sidecars before and during early WWII?
logistics and production
e.g. germany had mature motorcycle production and not enough 4 wheeled vehicles to go around, so they used what they had.

the fact that a motorcycle has ~1.75-2x better gas mileage doesn't hurt either
 

ATP

Well-known member
i have my own questions -
1.Assault rifles - russian made Awtamat fedorowa in 1916,why no armies tried the same before WW2?
2.Mortars - no matter 81,60 or 120mm,they could be made before WW1.Why nobody did so?
3.Tanks - were possible to made after american invanted tractor.Why it was made in 1916,not earlier ?
 

BlackDragon98

Freikorps Kommandant
Banned - Politics
i have my own questions -
1.Assault rifles - russian made Awtamat fedorowa in 1916,why no armies tried the same before WW2?
Have you never heard the joke about 3 Germans walking into a BAR?

2.Mortars - no matter 81,60 or 120mm,they could be made before WW1.Why nobody did so?
Mortars were originally a siege weapon and the idea that it could only be used as a siege weapon remained for quite a while
lossy-page1-800px-Virginia%2C_Petersburg%2C_Mortar_Dictator_-_NARA_-_533349.tif.jpg


The Germans were the first to make such a mortar, just before WW1, because they already had 160 of these when the war started.
7.5cm Minenwerfer
German_7.58_cm_minenwerfer.jpg


3.Tanks - were possible to made after american invanted tractor.Why it was made in 1916,not earlier ?
Levavasseur project - Wikipedia
it was a 1903 project.
The problem is that most high ranking officers who are in charge of projects and giving approval are all old conservatives who don't like new things because they're scared it will replaced whatever they hold sacred.
Semyon Budyonny, WW2 soviet marshal that still held faith in the cavalry charge despite 1940 showing the effectiveness of tanks. All because of his experiences as a cavalry commander in the Russian Civil War.
 

Bear Ribs

Well-known member
2.Mortars - no matter 81,60 or 120mm,they could be made before WW1.Why nobody did so?
Mortars existed for quite some time but the high arc shot was harder to aim that more direct-fire cannons so they were a niche weapon up until WW1. In WW1, trench warfare made direct-fire cannons ineffective so mortars were re-introduced to drop explosives down from above and the technology advanced from there.
 

Marduk

Well-known member
Moderator
Staff Member
Next question :)
Why the popularity of motorcycles and motorcycles with sidecars before and during early WWII?
Wasn't it a waste of resources? The (almost) very same engines could had been used for light utility cars, carrying more people and/or stores ...
I know that motorcycles are sexy, but having a choice between something like a Kubelwagen or
on one hand, and a Zundap 750 or
on the other, I'd chose the four wheel vehicle every time ...
Besides sexy - what other reasons? The mental equation that a motorcycle is kinda like a horse, and we used to have horses, so ...
The iconic BMW R75 with or without sidecar had a 26 hp engine. You can make a car with that, like the Kubelwagen, but obviously that's far from ideal for a military vehicle that needs to go offroad. Meanwhile you can have a decent all terrain motorcycle with that power, which being a motorcycle can also go into places car's can't, and be overall cheaper.
For comparison, Kubelwagen's contemporary Jeep MB has 60 hp while being only half heavier.

Some special forces and recon units still use motorcycles, though not with sidecars, they look a lot like motocross ones. During Cold War some motorcycles were also used as recoilless SPG and mortar carriers.

i have my own questions -
1.Assault rifles - russian made Awtamat fedorowa in 1916,why no armies tried the same before WW2?
Conservatism of the general and also costs. Early assault rifles were complicated and unreliable by any standard, and especially so when compared to the bolt action rifles of the era.
Similar concerns also limited later mass use of semi-auto rifles, especially German G-43 and Soviet SVT-40.
Weapon and ammo manufacturing efficiency has improved a lot during WW2, and the change in attitude to more complex weapons was at least in part caused by that - they were no longer a 5-10x the cost to outweight their advantages, and ammo was more available too.
Thompson is a great example of such advances in engineering - over the time of WW2, the same, famously complex but also effective (as all the mobsters agreed) was modified to be simpler and better, with over 75% reduction in production cost.
There are more or less complete lists like this to give you a perspective on it.
When you compare the price of a BAR or Bren to mass used rifles, it becomes obvious why these weren't being reengineered into lighter proto battle rifles rifles of some kind, but instead remained valued and never too common support weapons, and why the Sturmgewehr became the first truly mass produced weapon of similar kind.
 

stephen the barbarian

Well-known member
1.Assault rifles - russian made Automat fedorowa in 1916,why no armies tried the same before WW2?
my $.02;
part of the doctrine att was for rifles to provide the +1000m indirect fires needed to break up enemy formations until machines guns took over the role. even after machines guns were available in sufficient quantities no one wanted to deal with the logistical burden of a 3 cartridge system. this makes assault rifles the "green eggs and ham" of military procurement, no one wanted to be the first to try it.
 

Zachowon

The Army Life for me! The POG life for me!
Founder
The iconic BMW R75 with or without sidecar had a 26 hp engine. You can make a car with that, like the Kubelwagen, but obviously that's far from ideal for a military vehicle that needs to go offroad. Meanwhile you can have a decent all terrain motorcycle with that power, which being a motorcycle can also go into places car's can't, and be overall cheaper.
For comparison, Kubelwagen's contemporary Jeep MB has 60 hp while being only half heavier.

Some special forces and recon units still use motorcycles, though not with sidecars, they look a lot like motocross ones. During Cold War some motorcycles were also used as recoilless SPG and mortar carriers.


Conservatism of the general and also costs. Early assault rifles were complicated and unreliable by any standard, and especially so when compared to the bolt action rifles of the era.
Similar concerns also limited later mass use of semi-auto rifles, especially German G-43 and Soviet SVT-40.
Weapon and ammo manufacturing efficiency has improved a lot during WW2, and the change in attitude to more complex weapons was at least in part caused by that - they were no longer a 5-10x the cost to outweight their advantages, and ammo was more available too.
Thompson is a great example of such advances in engineering - over the time of WW2, the same, famously complex but also effective (as all the mobsters agreed) was modified to be simpler and better, with over 75% reduction in production cost.
There are more or less complete lists like this to give you a perspective on it.
When you compare the price of a BAR or Bren to mass used rifles, it becomes obvious why these weren't being reengineered into lighter proto battle rifles rifles of some kind, but instead remained valued and never too common support weapons, and why the Sturmgewehr became the first truly mass produced weapon of similar kind.
Wasn't the BAR pretty common for standard infantry in WW2, especially as a ww2 SAW? I know it was WIDELY used during Korea.

Also wasn't the US the only country to have mass produced Semi autos at the start of the war while most others were using bolt action still?
 

Buba

A total creep
Wasn't the BAR pretty common for standard infantry in WW2, especially as a ww2 SAW? I know it was WIDELY used during Korea.
As a SAW the BAR was shit - it was too heavy for an assault rifle (albeit designed as one) and too light for a SAW.
Practical ROF - 80 per minute.
Pathetic.
Simply the US Army had painted itself into a corner with the BAR - it was American designed, already in stock, already in production - and was saddled with it until the late 1950s.

Also wasn't the US the only country to have mass produced Semi autos at the start of the war while most others were using bolt action still?
This was an accident of timing plus being across the ocean. In 1939/40 the Soviets were perfecting their SVT, the French were on the verge of putting the MAS 40 into production. The US had the luxury of not being at war and/or not having to equip tens of divisions "like yesterday".
Have the USA go to war in 1939 and the 1903 is likely to be manufacutred by the millions up to 1945, or move WWII to 1941 - then the US would still be fiddling with the M1 Rifle before finalising the design, while France and/or Soviet Union have semi-autos in mass production.
 

Zachowon

The Army Life for me! The POG life for me!
Founder
As a SAW the BAR was shit - it was too heavy for an assault rifle (albeit designed as one) and too light for a SAW.
Practical ROF - 80 per minute.
Pathetic.
Simply the US Army had painted itself into a corner with the BAR - it was American designed, already in stock, already in production - and was saddled with it until the late 1950s.


This was an accident of timing plus being across the ocean. In 1939/40 the Soviets were perfecting their SVT, the French were on the verge of putting the MAS 40 into production. The US had the luxury of not being at war and/or not having to equip tens of divisions "like yesterday".
Have the USA go to war in 1939 and the 1903 is likely to be manufacutred by the millions up to 1945, or move WWII to 1941 - then the US would still be fiddling with the M1 Rifle before finalising the design, while France and/or Soviet Union have semi-autos in mass production.
The BAR was effective. Hell, it was damn good at its jobeven if heavy. My grandfather would rather have a BAR then the M14.
The BAR was reliable from what he told me as well, and he was using them in the early 60s
 

Buba

A total creep
The BAR was effective.
No.
Or to be kind - depends on your metric for "effective". See next comment.
Hell, it was damn good at its jobeven if heavy.
As a SAW it was trash.
a - All other armies had one SAW per squad, but US had to issue 2 - Army, or three - USMC, BAR's per squad.
b - the US had to issue the M1919A6 at company level to provide adequate firepower to its infantry.
My grandfather would rather have a BAR then the M14.
I'm not your grandfather, so I cannot comment.
But I can imagine many situations where a BAR - especially if stripped of bipod and other wannabe SAW bling - is prefereable over the M14.
The BAR was reliable from what he told me as well, and he was using them in the early 60s
It was a reliable weapon. Does not change the fact that it was trash as a SAW. Like I said - practical ROF was 80 rpm or thereabouts.
 

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