shredward

Whots that, me young trout?

About as likely as any of the Aussie glory-hounds claiming to have shot down MvR I'm going to start some popcorn...

Matthias, Vielen Dank! And welcome to our community :fans: tschüss shredward

At the risk of derailing the thread: Steve Drew - I love the website you and Andrew are putting together. http://www.ozrnas.org.au/ The RNAS has always been my favourite field of interest in Great War aviation, and this is a great thing you are doing. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

I certainly can: your harddrive @ OBDSoftware\CFSWW1 Over Flanders Fields\campaigns\CampaignData\skins off_AlbDII_ace_t_Jasta 2 1916_Oswald_Boelcke.dds off_AlbDII_ace_t_Jasta 2 1916_Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von_Richthofen.dds off_AlbDII_ace_t_Jasta 2 1916_Erwin_Bohme.dds from Makai's studio in Hawaii. Cheers, shredward

No worries! Cheers, shredward

Well said Hellshade! My sentiments exactly. Cheers, shredward

from Wikipedia: June 7, 1917 Battle of Messines Ridge The Battle of Messines Ridge opened at 03:10am on June 7, 1917 with the detonation of 19 enormous mines tunnelled under Messines Ridge. The target of the offensive was the ridge running north from Messines village past Wytschaete village which created a natural stronghold southeast of Ypres . The attack was also a prelude to the much larger Third Battle of Ypres, known as Passchendaele, which began on 11 July 1917. The assault on Messines ridge was conceived in early 1916, as Plumer sought ways to break German control of important strategic locations in the Ypres area. When it became apparent that the French offensive on the River Aisne would not succeed, General Douglas Haig reconceived the Messines operation as a precursor to a larger assault in the Ypres sector and ordered Plumer to proceed with the attack as soon as possible. Not only would capturing Messines Ridge give the British control of important strategic ground, it would also flatten out the southern flank of the Ypres Salient. This would both reduce the manpower needed to maintain the front, and reduce the German strategic and tactical advantages in the area. Over a period beginning more than a year before the attack, Canadian, Australian, and British engineers had tunneled under the German trenches and laid 21 mines totaling 455 tonnes of ammonal explosive. To solve the problem of wet soil, the tunnels were made in the layer of "blue clay", 80–120 feet below the surface. The galleries dug in order to lay these mines totalled over 8,000 yards in length, and had been constructed in the face of tenacious German counter-mining efforts. On several occasions, German tunnelers were within metres of large British mine "chambers". One mine was found by the Germans, and the chamber was wrecked by a countermine. The largest of the 21 Messines mines was at Spanbroekmolen; the "Lone Tree Crater" formed by the blast was approximately 250 feet in diameter, and 40 feet deep. The mine consisted of 41 tons of ammonal explosive, located in a chamber dug 88 feet below ground. On the British side, the assault was conducted entirely by the three corps of Plumer's British Second Army. On the northern edge of the sector was the British X Corps—under the command of Thomas Morland—comprising the 23rd, 47th and 41st Divisions. In the centre was the British IX Corps—commanded by Alexander Hamilton-Gordon—consisting of the 19th British, 16th Irish and 36th Ulster Divisions. To the southeast, Alexander Godley commanded the II Anzac Corps—composed of the 25th British, 1st New Zealand and 3rd Australian Divisions. Each of these corps held a fourth division in reserve—the 24th for the X, the 11th for the IX, and the 4th Australian for the II Anzac—for use in follow-up attacks. Opposing Plumer's Second Army were forces of the German Fourth Army, under the command of Friedrich Bertram Sixt von Armin. To the northeast, the 204th and 35th divisions defended Hill 60 and Battle Wood. In the centre, the 2nd and 3rd Bavarian Divisions defended Messines and Wytschaete. In the southeast, the southern banks of the River Douve were defended by the 4th Bavarian Division. The German defenses relied on an "elastic" defense method; the front-lines were lightly defended, with heavier defensive bunkers up to half a mile behind the front lines. The operation plan for the attack on Messines Ridge called for heavy artillery strikes before zero hour. At 3AM, the mines would be detonated; followed by a frontal assault of nine infantry divisions aimed at securing the ridge. In the week before the attack began, some 2,200 artillery guns bombarded the German trenches with an estimated 3–4 million shells. Equipped with up-to-date and intricate maps of the battlefield, British artillery succeeded in destroying close to 90% of the German field-gun positions on Messines Ridge. At 02:50am on 7 June, the artillery bombardment ceased. Expecting an immediate infantry assault, German defenders returned to their forward positions. At 3:10am, the mines were detonated, killing approximately 10,000 German soldiers and destroying most of the fortifications on the ridge, as well as the town of Messines itself. Reports were made that the shockwave from the explosion was heard as far away as London and Dublin. To make matters worse for the Germans, the explosions occurred while the front line troops were being relieved, meaning both groups (relieving and relieved) were caught in the blasts. Following the explosions, British, Australian and New Zealand troops from three corps (II ANZAC, IX and X) advanced on the Messines salient from three sides. The front lines were overrun without opposition. German troops surrendered "in droves", and the first series of objectives had been secured almost entirely within three hours. Advancing on the southern flank, the New Zealand Division captured the village of Messines proper, despite intricate layers of fortifications beyond the front line. In the center section, 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) to the north, the 36th (Ulster) Division and 16th (Irish) Division advanced in tandem, the Irish capturing the village of Wytschaete and pushing forward to secure their objectives. Many considered this joint effort to be of considerable political significance, given the turmoil in Ireland at the time. The Irish Nationalist Party MP Major William Redmond was fatally wounded in this action. The most serious resistance was in the northern sector, where the 47th (1/2nd London) Division had to navigate across the Ypres-Comines canal. This obstacle slowed the advance considerably, but the Londoners had secured all their objectives by mid-morning, and the goals of the first phase were achieved by 10:00am at all points on the line of attack. Once the first series of objectives was secured, more than forty batteries of artillery were brought forward to support the second phase of the attack. Bombardment continued for several hours, and at approximately 3:00pm the reserve divisions, supported by tanks, advanced towards the second line of objectives. In just over an hour, all these were secured. At 11:00AM, German troops counterattacked at several points along the new British lines. Although British troops had had very little time to consolidate their positions, the German attacks were easily repulsed and ultimately resulted in further territorial gains. Heavy British artillery strikes on 10 June meant that further counterattacks—already being planned and prepared by German commanders—never materialized. There were 4 Victoria Crosses awarded during the battle, two in the Australian 3rd Division (to Private John Carroll and Captain Robert Cuthbert Grieve), one in the New Zealand Division (to Lance-Corporal Samuel Frickleton) and one in the 25th Division (to Private William Ratcliffe). The operation was almost totally successful. Meticulously planned, and well executed, the assault secured all its objectives in less than twelve hours, took more than 7,000 prisoners, and suffered a relatively modest 24,000 total casualties. The combination of tactics proven in other sectors - notably the use of mines, creeping barrages, and small-unit tactics - allowed for almost complete surprise and rapid advances. The offensive also secured the southern end of the Ypres salient in preparation for the subsequent offensive in that area. Although the operation was successful, it had the effect of over-inflating expectations for the Passchendaele offensive. While Messines led Haig and other British commanders to believe that success could be had relatively cheaply in the main offensive as well, the circumstances of the operations were substantially different, and attempts to apply similar tactics would result in a general failure. Not all of the mines that had been laid were detonated. Two of the original 21 mines were not ignited. On 17 July 1955, a lightning strike set off one of the remaining mines. There were no human casualties, but one cow was killed. The 21st mine—the mine abandoned due to its discovery by German counter-miners—is believed to have been found, but no attempt has been made to remove it.

Hi Guys, Some of these posts have skated over the line, and I've had to whistle them down. No more talk about 'crack' please - we'll have the DEA after us! :warning2: Cheers, shredward

from The New York Times: June 5, 1916 Kitchener Lost LONDON HUSHED BY SUDDEN NEWS City's Life Seemed Almost to Stop When Kitchener's Death First Became Known Special Cable to The New York Times. LONDON, Wednesday, June 7. -- The scene in the streets when the newspapers appeared yesterday afternoon with the first public announcement of the loss of the cruiser Hampshire with Lord Kichener on board was one not to be forgotten. What most impressed the observer was the deep and poignant emotion aroused by the news, the sudden hush as it were, which this tragic passing away of a great soldier caused and which seemed for the moment almost to arrest the busy life of the great city. Only on one other occasion since the war began has any news so gripped the public mind and seemes so completely to stay for a time the roaring tide of the streets. The first occasion was last Friday, when the first Admiralty announcement of the North Sea battle was made. Last week the British and German fleets met in the North Sea and thousands of lives were lost in the greatest naval battle of modern times; but the shock of that was much less than the shock of hearing that 'K. of K.' was dead. It was partly owing, of course, to the circumstance of his being Minister of War, but much more to the fact of his being KITCHENER. A dispatch to the Times from Edinburgh says that the people in Edinburgh who know the Orkney Islands hold out no hope that any one who sailed in the Hampshire may be saved. The precised locality in which the disaster occurred is not yet stated. All that is known is that it was west of the Orkneys, apparently in sight of shore. The western coast of the islands presents to the Atlantic an inhospitable front of high, rugged cliffs, the haunts of millions of sea birds, backed by ridges of hills which for the most part are desolate. No surprise is expressed in Edinburgh that the search of such a shore from the sea could be completed before the search from inland, and Jellicoe's fear that the search from land must also be hopeless is shared by all there. See also: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history...oryId=worldwari

Don't know if I've ever seen a leave system spelled out for German pilots, but having been through many of their records in detail, I can say that they did have frequent periods of leave, often either a fortnight or a month long stay. Some seemed to have been away a lot more than others - der Dicke comes to mind. Cheers, shredward

The Vickers and the Lewis fired exactly the same round. However, as the Lewis on the Noop 16 was on a wing mount, firing over the top of the airscrew, it could fire unrestricted, ie at full rate of fire, rather than controlled by an interrupter gear. Cheers, shredward

His Tardis moved him ahead 20 years in time. Cheers, shredward

from the Great War Forum, History Channel, Wikipedia: May 20 , 1915 Renewed Attack: Battle of Festubert On May 20, 1915, British, Canadian and Indian troops launch a new round of attacks against a reinforced German line around the village of Festubert, located in the Ypres Salient on the Western Front. The Battle of Festubert formed part of the large-scale Artois Offensive spearheaded by Joseph Joffre, commander in chief of the French forces. Launched by British commander Sir Douglas Haig after pressure applied to the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) by Joffre, Festubert marked the BEF's second attack of the offensive, after a largely unsuccessful assault on May 9 at Neuve Chapelle. A four-day-long artillery bombardment of the German positions by 433 Allied guns firing over 100,000 shells preceded the attack on Festubert. Although the bombardment failed to cause significant damage to the German front line, the initial attack, the first night attack of the war by the British army, was a partial success. The two Indian divisions advanced rapidly in fair weather conditions on the night of May 15, as the German Sixth Army (commanded by Crown Prince Rupprecht) retreated to positions directly in front of the village of Festubert. The British 2nd and 7th divisions continued the attacks on May 16, but within two days had to be withdrawn due to heavy losses. On May 18, under heavy rain, the Canadian Division, assisted by the 51st (Highland) Division, began another onslaught, but were forced to retreat under heavy German artillery fire. The British forces then entrenched themselves at the new front line in conditions of heavy rain, to consolidate the small gains made so far, as the German command sent a fresh injection of reserves to reinforce their lines. On May 20, the Allies renewed the attacks at Festubert; over the next four days, they were able to capture the village from the Germans, a position that would be held by the Allies until the final German spring offensive in 1918. Still, by the time the Allied command called off the attacks on May 27, the Battle of Festubert had resulted in gains of less than one kilometer of territory—at a cost of 16,000 Allied casualties.

from the History Channel: May 19 , 1916 Britain and France Divide Up Arab Lands On May 19, 1916, representatives of Great Britain and France secretly reach an accord, known as the Sykes-Picot agreement, by which most of the Arab lands under the rule of the Ottoman Empire are to be divided into British and French spheres of influence with the conclusion of World War I. After the war broke out in the summer of 1914, the Allies—Britain, France and Russia—held many discussions regarding the future of the Ottoman Empire, now fighting on the side of Germany and the Central Powers, and its vast expanse of territory in the Middle East, Arabia and southern-central Europe. In March 1915, Britain signed a secret agreement with Russia, whose designs on the empire’s territory had led the Turks to join forces with Germany and Austria-Hungary in 1914. By its terms, Russia would annex the Ottoman capital of Constantinople and retain control of the Dardanelles (the crucially important strait connecting the Black Sea with the Mediterranean) and the Gallipoli peninsula, the target of a major Allied military invasion begun in April 1915. In return, Russia would agree to British claims on other areas of the former Ottoman Empire and central Persia, including the oil-rich region of Mesopotamia. More than a year after the agreement with Russia, British and French representatives, Sir Mark Sykes and Francois Georges Picot, authored another secret agreement regarding the future spoils of the Great War. Picot represented a small group determined to secure control of Syria for France; for his part, Sykes raised British demands to balance out influence in the region. The agreement largely neglected to allow for the future growth of Arab nationalism, which at that same moment the British government and military were working to use to their advantage against the Turks. In the Sykes-Picot agreement, concluded on May 19, 1916, France and Britain divided up the Arab territories of the former Ottoman Empire into spheres of influence. In its designated sphere, it was agreed, each country “shall be allowed to establish such direct or indirect administration or control as they desire and as they may think fit to arrange with the Arab State or Confederation of Arab States.” Under Sykes-Picot, the Syrian coast and much of modern-day Lebanon went to France; Britain would take direct control over central and southern Mesopotamia, around the Baghdad and Basra provinces. Palestine would have an international administration, as other Christian powers, namely Russia, held an interest in this region. The rest of the territory in question—a huge area including modern-day Syria, Mosul in northern Iraq, and Jordan—would have local Arab chiefs under French supervision in the north and British in the south. Also, Britain and France would retain free passage and trade in the other’s zone of influence.

Hi Guys, I'm off on detached duty to the Bighorn dam and power station for the next month, and I will have sporadic, or no contact with other units. If anyone would like to contribute to the thread 'On This Day in the Great War', please do. I will return when the front line spotters report 'les Cigognes' - the Storks - inbound, escorting a brand new fighter pilot to the home aerodrome. Cheers, shredward

Paarma and Winder are working on the awards programme. It will be available "soon" :lmaosmiley: This is a small example of the accompanying English text of what you may see: The Roter Adlerorden, or Order of the Red Eagle, founded in 1705, was an order of chivalry of the Kingdom of Prussia. It was awarded to both military personnel and civilians, to recognize valor in combat, excellence in military leadership, long and faithful service to the kingdom, or other achievements. As with most German,and most other European orders, the Roter Adlerorden could only be awarded to commissioned officers or civilians of equivalent status. By 1914, the Order had evolved into six classes: * Grand Cross - typically available to male members of the royal family, members of the Order of the Black Eagle, nobility, and foreign royalty * 1st Class - available to general officers, high nobility, and heads of foreign state * 2nd Class - available to general officers and nobility * 3rd Class - field grade officers and minor nobility * 4th Class - available to company grade officers * Medal - available to enlisted men Cheers, shredward

Hi Stumpy, I just ordered the Datafile yesterday. When it gets here, I'll scan and send it if you still need it (it will be a month from now - I'll be away from home and the Forum until that time). Cheers, shredward

Guys, Wings of War is a Great War board game. http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/9203 What Hajj needs is for some kind chaps to take some screenies of some happy soul train-busting in the magnificent scenery of Flanders Fields to use in campaign. I'm sure he'll come around to fly the skies Over Flanders Fields in due course. Cheers, shredward

Can't keep this to myself... Sandbagger has just delivered 60 Squadron's SE5s... Those of you who are switch-hitters um errrr who play for both sides ahhmmmm who like colourful a/c - yes, that's what I meant will love these Cheers, shredward

Sort of a bump, but it does have an SE http://www.flickr.com/photos/nlscotland/3016333087/ Cheers, shredward

They'll fix you up right as rain. Had mine fixed 30 years ago, never looked back. Cheers, shredward

from the History Channel: May 15 , 1916 Trentino Offensive On this day in 1916, the Austrian army launches a major offensive operation against Italy on the Trentino front, in the Dolomites. After considering their options carefully, and weighing offers from both sides, Italy had accepted considerable promises of post-war territory from the Allies and declared war on Austria-Hungary (but not on Germany) on May 23, 1915. This opened up a new front in World War I, stretching 600 kilometers—most of them mountainous—along Italy's much-contested border with Austria-Hungary in the Trentino region. Upon declaring war, the relatively ill-equipped Italian army immediately advanced into the South Tyrol region and to the Isonzo River, where Austro-Hungarian troops met them with a stiff defense. The snowy and treacherous terrain made the region poorly suited for offensive operations, and after several quick Italian successes, combat settled into a stalemate. The Austrian offensive of May 15, 1916, began with an opening bombardment of the Italian positions by nearly 400 guns. Though they resisted gamely, the Italians were driven off the mountain peaks and forced to retreat south of the town of Rovereto. Nine days after the offensive began, a heavy snow fell, putting a halt to the Austrian advance before they could capture the 4,000-foot peak of Mount Pasubio. Within a week, however, the offensive resumed, and the Austrians continued their resolute advance through the mountain peaks and passes. By the final day of May, thoroughly exhausted but triumphant, they had captured 30,000 Italian prisoners and gained a total of 12 miles of territory since the start of the offensive.

Hello Jani, Welcome to the Forum! Nearly everyone here will gladly answer your questions and help get you going, but you could also seek out Paarma - he is a member of the team, and hails from Helsinki. Cheers, shredward

And what exactly is wrong with chatting up chorus girls? Yes, I know it's a tough job, but...