Questions tagged [military]
Questions pertaining to characteristics of armed forces' structure, manpower, equipment, or expenditures.
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What were the ranks of say, the five crewmen of a Panzer in World War II? [duplicate]
At Normandy, tank ace, Major Michael Wittmann commanded a group of seven tanks. This was probably a unit that had been decimated by casualties. Even so, my understanding is that an officer of Wittmann'...
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1answer
142 views
What made Fort Donelson particularly vulnerable to capture?
In February, 1862, Ulysses S. Grant captured Fort Donelson in a little over a day.
Most forts hold out for "many" days, especially when the ratio of attacking to defending forces is less ...
2
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1answer
362 views
Which superior officer did Princess Elizabeth II report to during her service as a junior officer in WW2?
Prior to her reign, Queen Elizabeth II served in the Auxiliary Territorial Service of the British Army during World War 2. She held the rank of a junior officer (with a promotion to a Junior Commander ...
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2answers
186 views
Initial Japanese success in WWII? [closed]
We all know about Pearl Harbor. But I’m curious how Imperial Japan managed to take Guam, Wake, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and China. The only reason I can think of to explain these conquests were ...
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126 views
Can anyone identify this 19th century US military uniform?
I found this among our family photos and am trying to figure out who it might be.
3
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2answers
331 views
When did armies seriously consider tank-vs-tank warfare to be possible?
It is a known fact that there was one significant confrontation between tanks during the First World War (at the Second battle of villers-bretonneux) between British and German armour, but in the ...
2
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0answers
101 views
Can you identify this dress uniform (Lucknow, India, around 1911)?
My husband’s grandmother, born illegitimate, did not know her father. She was told that this is him. She was conceived in India in November 1911. I would like to identify the dress uniform. I know it’...
0
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2answers
159 views
What is the source of this quote about hope and POWs?
I seem to recall someone who was a POW, possibly held by Japanese, saying something like that the people that survived were the ones that gave up hope of getting out and the people that died were the ...
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73 views
Did any army try speed volley fire by passing pre-loaded muskets to the front line? [duplicate]
Early 16th to 18th century muskets had 2 big disadvantages. Musketeers needed minimum 20-30 seconds to reload them and they were very inaccurate, because projectile (usually small lead ball) was much ...
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119 views
What is this uniform (circa 1900, probably NE USA)?
I'm trying to identify this uniform. The glass negative image is of boys wearing the uniform and the date is 1900-1910 The image is from a glass photo negative circa 1900. It appears to be a boy's ...
3
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1answer
249 views
Can anyone identify this European ?naval uniform from photograph and likely date (belle époque)?)
Possibly late 1800s, early 1900s. Almost certainly from the UK. Epaulettes may indicate Naval?
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139 views
What percentage of troops in the Wehrmacht were front-line combat troops?
As with every army, a given percentage of the troops are dedicated to the logistics and transport of supplies to support that army’s campaigns. The Wehrmacht of World War Two required a great deal of ...
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2answers
708 views
What is the reasoning behind these huge numbers for participants in the Battle of Grunwald 1410?
I was reading about the Battle of Grunwald (Tannenberg) in 1410 during the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War and I found this strange excerpt from current Wikispeedia, (which is based on an old Wikipedia ...
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1answer
328 views
How many battles could a Napoleonic war or ACW infantryman expect to survive?
In battles such as those of the Napoleonic wars or the American Civil War that involved infantry marching across open ground whilst being pummeled by artillery and facing volleys of musket or rifle ...
2
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1answer
126 views
Did Kampfgeschwader 6 operate Me-262s and Bf-109s from the same airfield? If so, which one?
I know that Kampfgeschwader 6 operated both Me-262 and Bf-109s, because they were retraining the extra bomber crew for fighter rolls, and that this was done from several airfields in Czechoslovakia: ...
3
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1answer
205 views
Can anyone help identify this uniform /person?
We have found this old photograph among some family records but have no idea who it is of. Can anyone identify the uniform .... We would love to know who the person is but doubt will be that lucky in ...
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0answers
63 views
What paramilitary group was Nikola Jorgić in?
"Nikola Jorgić (1946 – 8 June 2014) was a Bosnian Serb from the Doboj region who was a soldier of a paramilitary group located in his native area.1 On 26 September 1997, he was convicted of ...
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2answers
160 views
Can anyone tell me what military uniform this is?
This is my great grandfather and on the back of the picture it states "France 1913", I am restoring the picture, adding color, and need help identifying the uniform so I can make add the ...
2
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1answer
153 views
Can you identify this uniform? Is it military?
This is a wedding photograph,taken by a photographer in Belfast who was in business between 1919 and 1933. I don't think it is a British or Irish uniform but happy to be corrected on that.
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2answers
240 views
What ship is this in Sasebo, Japan Harbor, Korean War Era?
Identification of Ship in Sasebo, Japan Harbor, Korean War Era from my Flickr page
https://www.flickr.com/photos/photolibrarian/51241341355/in/dateposted-public/
4
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1answer
266 views
Can you help me identify this Italian Royal Army Uniform?
1These are three silver gelatin photograph, each measuring 9 x 6 3/4 inches. I have a total of five photos: three different images, two are repeats. In two of the images, the subject is posing with a ...
26
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3answers
5k views
Can anyone identify the military branch and rank of the man in the front row? This is from Germany @1932
I assume the boy on the right is in a Hitler youth uniform but I don't know the uniform of the man in front, maybe a Prussian uniform? They were from the eastern part of Germany (now Poland) - Silesia....
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139 views
Are these British cavalry uniforms?
Photo either taken in Durban (Port Natal) or Cornwall, perhaps World War 1
Would a military unit wear jackets that didn't match the jodhpurs?
There is no accompanying information for this photo of my ...
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2answers
5k views
Was a bomb or shell ever dropped directly down the funnel of a warship?
I was surprised to learn in this awesome video about the USS New Jersey that the funnel on an Iowa-class battleship is not a straight line, there's a bit of a zig-zag in it. The idea was that, unlike ...
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187 views
Can anyone help to identify this picture of a relative wearing a possibly Polish/Russian/Prussian uniform?
I found this photo and tried to match to uniforms of the time around 1911. Can’t find one with similar pockets or stripes. Can you help to identify? My sister says person on left is grandfather. They ...
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183 views
Can you identify this uniform?
Photo was found in a trunk belonging to my great grandmother, grandparents, passed on to uncle.
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57 views
Who Was The Last Head Of State To Participate In Battle While In Office? [duplicate]
Many historical heads of state, e.g., Charlemagne (ca. 800 CE), Henry V (ca. 1413-1422 CE), George Washington (as head of state during the Revolutionary War ca. 1776 CE), and Napoleon (late 18th and ...
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1answer
126 views
Post WWII Munich- U.S.occupation
Is there any way to find out which unit of the US army of occupation took control of US HQ in Munich after April 30th, 1945?
4
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1answer
242 views
When did military leaders in the field start to put units or ships as tokens onto a map and to move them around?
I've seen many TV documentaries on historical conflicts where actors representing the leaders would gravely look at a map with tokens for military units, reminiscent of WWII air defense situation ...
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0answers
42 views
How effectively did Romans rotate/relieve lines with the cohort system? [duplicate]
There is a similar question on Reddit and the original poster of the question uses a YouTube video to demonstrate the point. That video showcases a rotation of Roman infantry in a cohort.
According to ...
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1answer
208 views
Why didn't the Austrian Empire have Household troops?
In Redcoat: The British Soldier in the Age of Horse and Musket the historian Richard Holmes writes on p. 103:
Most European armies maintained bodies of Household troops - Austria
was a notable ...
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1answer
195 views
Why were the allies so aggressive at the end of WW2? Battle of Berlin, Iwo Jima, Okinawa etc [closed]
Why were the allies so aggressive at the end of WW2? I'm referring to the Battles of Berlin (≈ 350 000 Russian casualties), Iwo Jima (≈ 25 000 US casualties), Okinawa (≈ 60 000 US casualties) etc.
In ...
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1answer
174 views
Can anyone tell me anything about the markings on these shell casings?
These shell casings have been passed down. Can anyone tell me anything about the markings?
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120 views
Can anyone identify these (possibly WW1 Polish) uniforms?
The only hint I have is that the gentlemen in the picture were Polish and it was reputed to have been taken in 1917. So far I suspect that they may be cavalry?
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3answers
186 views
Looking for 3 examples of prisoners of war being incorporated into the conquering army
When POWs were captured, they were either executed, exchanged, put into slavery or sometimes incorporated into the enemy army. I'm trying to find a few examples (3 would do) of the last category. ...
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1answer
233 views
What are some examples of rulers immediately incorporating conquered population's army into their own? [closed]
I can vaguely remember reading about armies conquering a land, and then fortifying their own numbers by the armies of conquered populations, but I can't remember specific instances. Would love to know ...
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1answer
155 views
Did US soldiers typically keep an official journal or log during the Civil War era?
During the Civil War, or time in US history thereabouts the end of the 19th Century, into the Indian Wars west of the Mississippi, would it be common practice for a member of a group of soldiers to ...
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1answer
121 views
Which operation came last in World War 2? [closed]
Which operation came last in World War 2?
I know that the Kwantung Army was defeated on the 2nd of September 1945 during the Soviet Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation (9th of August - 2nd of ...
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0answers
117 views
Are there examples of encrypted messages with deadlines?
I'm looking for historical records showing that parties using coded messages (from the Egyptians to the Romans to actors in the American Civil War, etc) would sometimes stipulate deadlines by which a ...
0
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2answers
292 views
Was the danger of radiation in the case of nuclear war overestimated during the cold war?
This article tells about signal "Atom" and its intended effect on Moscow metro:
All trains stop, escalators automatically start move downwards.
After 15 min, all hermetic gates on metro ...
3
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1answer
275 views
Can you help identify this European military uniform?
This picture was found in the possessions of a great-aunt who immigrated from Volhynia, Russia to Canada around 1908. My family is ethnically German, and many of the Volhynian Germans originally came ...
1
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2answers
164 views
What constitutes a country's military being called a "Defence Force"? [closed]
I've been looking at countries around the world, particularly Commonwealth countries.
I've noticed Australia and New Zealand call their military a defence force. Is there a legal reason for this?
This ...
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0answers
75 views
What is the context of the use of injustice/unrightousness (不義/fugi) in WW2 era Japanese propaganda?
The Imperial Japanese military song Nihon Rikugun (日本陸軍) begins with the line "天に代わりて不義を討つ" ("defeat injustice in place of righteousness").
What exactly did they consider 不義/fugi ...
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4answers
15k views
Why would silk underwear disqualify you from the United States military draft?
I recently encountered a post by Kerry Callan where he provided a pictorial image from the September 1966 issue of Esquire magazine of conditions that will exempt you from the draft.
(click to ...
5
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1answer
309 views
Was Russia ready for amphibious invasion of Istanbul in 1914?
I've been reading The Russian Origins of the First World War by Sean McMeekin, in which he makes some very interesting claims about what the strategic situation prior to the July crisis looked like ...
0
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1answer
256 views
How was the Cuban military capable of performing African interventions?
Cuba has led many interventions in Africa during the Cold War:
Instructors sent in Angola
Up to 400 000 soldiers, including instructors, tank brigades, air wings in Angola to help the fight against ...
2
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1answer
212 views
What uniform is this chap wearing?
I'm trying to identify the uniform the chap in this photo is wearing.
The photo was taken I believe about WW1 period.
The reverse has the inscription 'The Count' Letta's fiance. I know who Letta is ...
2
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0answers
151 views
Did the Duke of Cambridge wear rouge?
I'm looking for evidence that the Prince George, Duke of Cambridge - Queen Victoria's cousin and the Commander-in-Chief of the British Army - enhanced his complexion by the judicious and semi-discreet ...
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67 views
Did military politically participate and intervene in the Second Spanish Republic? [closed]
I'm currently studying Spanish Civil War. It seems that it was a tradition, that the military had power to intervene politics in Spain, at least before the establishment of Second Spanish Republic.
...
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2answers
251 views
What time period is this uniform?
I know this person was a family member. I have family on this side who served in the Civil War as well as WWI and WWII. I identified the hat pin as Infantry, 8th Regiment, Company B. Also, I think ...
