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[makersley]

Never work with children or animals | 28 Oct 1915

#OTD in #WW1 The King falls off his horse, 3rd #Isonzo starts, #tank prototype building, Monro arrives @ Gallipoli

The King Before we get into things today, let’s start with an extended metaphor. As we know, George V of Britain is in France at the moment, shoring up morale by touring the front and inspecting the men, particularly men who’ve just been fighting at Loos (when he isn’t facilitating a whispering campaign against Sir John French, that is). Today, the 12th Sherwood Foresters join other men of their…

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[makersley]

Lukuga | Lake Tanganyika | 24 Oct 1915

#OTD in #WW1 Spicer-Simson's ridiculous journey to #Lukuga ends, Italian setbacks at 3rd #Isonzo surprise nobody

Mimi and Toutou The world’s most ridiculous military operation is at an end. The journey has been some 14,000-odd miles and four months long, from London on the River Thames to Lukuga on Lake Tanganyika by way of Cape Town. They’ve travelled by almost every means of transport known to man. The exception, appropriately, is the aeroplane. It would almost have been cheating for them to fly. They’ve…

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[makersley]

Strumica | Sava | Salonika | 23 Oct 1915

#OTD in #WW1 Invasion of Serbia continues 1,001 years after battle at Strumica; minor Italian success at Third #Isonzo

Serbia Before we get onto the events of the day, someone has just made me aware that 1,001 years ago (give or take a couple of months), the Byzantine and Bulgarian Empires fought a Battle of Strumica, which is of course where we now find the increasingly-overstretched French force trying to defend against the Bulgarian Second Army. Yet more proof that the more things change, the more they stay…

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[makersley]

Suits of armour | 22 Oct 1915

#OTD in #WW1 Italians at 3rd #Isonzo are making suits of armour; the BEF starts Lewis guns & Machine Gun Corps

Third Isonzo At one point when discussing some of the attacks today, the Austro-Hungarian Official History describes the Italian gains on the Carso as “meagre”. This could stand for the entire battle. The challenge for me, trying to talk about this accursed fighting, is in trying to find the new things, the interesting things, the sublime, and the ridiculous. We’ve been at this a year;…

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