Question of the Hour

[stukirkpatrick]

The German Mauser M1918 13.2 mm bolt action rifle?...  in 1918 I'd assume...

 

[redleafjumper]

That's the ATR!  The Mauser 13mm T-Gewehr of 1918 was the first anti-tank rifle.  Gosh, I'm going to have to come up with another hard one again...

What is the largest officer corps in the Canadian Forces?

 

[mo-litia]

Thanks mo-litia, I've been a military history buff since I was a wee lad and long before there were such things as search engines!

Well, I guess I'm busted on where I sourced my information on the Wilhelm Gustloff from.  

What is the largest officer corps in the Canadian Forces?

I dunno, but our DND HQ officer cadre is huge, if not necessarily a corps.   ;D

If I was to hazard a guess I would have to say that the largest officer corps is likely the logistical officers corps; the shaft of the spear is usually bigger than the pointy thing at the killing end.

What was Operation Sea Lion and what date was it set to begin on?

 

[PPCLI MCpl]

That's the ATR!   The Mauser 13mm T-Gewehr of 1918 was the first anti-tank rifle.   Gosh, I'm going to have to come up with another hard one again...

What is the largest officer corps in the Canadian Forces?

The CIC

Although Cadre makes it sound kind of elite doesn't it?

 

[stukirkpatrick]

What was Operation Sea Lion and what date was it set to begin on?

Aha I've heard of this - it was the German plan to invade Britain, on the condition that the RAF had been destroyed during the Battle of Britain...which it wasnt... the exact date it was planned for I am unsure of  :-\

 

[Bill Smy]

Commanded 25 Platoon at Caen Canal Bridge (Pegesus Bridge)...BTW It was 25 Platoon , D Company 2nd Batallion The Oxford and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. 6 June 1944

Correct. Historian Stephen Ambrose claims that a burst he fired from his Sten gun "were the first shots fired by the 175,000 British, American, Canadian, Free French, Polich, Norwegian, and other nationalities in the Allied Expedionary Force set to invade Normandy..." and that "he was the first Allied soldier to be killed by enemy fire on D-Day."

 

[redleafjumper]

The CIC

Although Cadre makes it sound kind of elite doesn't it?


PPCLI MCPL is correct.  The largest officer corps, with about 4,500 members is the Cadet Instructors Cadre, formerly called the Cadet Instructors List.

What was the significance of the battle of Crecy? 

 

[redleafjumper]

Sea Lion was to start September 15, 1940.

 

[stukirkpatrick]

What was the significance of the battle of Crecy?  

That would be the battle that signified the end of the age of knights and chivalry, when English and Welsh peasant longbowmen spectacularly defeated a larger force of French Knights by using superior tactics, during the 100 years war.

 

[mo-litia]

redleafjumper - Not to split hairs, but I am pretty sure that Op Sea Lion was to start on 17 Sept 40 rather than 15 Sept 40.

Can anyone else clarify this?

 

[geo]

Battle of Crecy - signalled the end of Knights in shiny armour...... and the recognised supremacy of the english longbow.

 

[redleafjumper]

Mo-litia, based on your good comment, I have had another look at Sea Lion.
According to German Air Force General Werner Kreipe, in The Fatal Decisions, 10 August was the date that Hitler first postponed the invasion that was originally scheduled for the end of August.    It was again postponed to dates including September 15 and September 24  postponed again on 17 September and cancelled on October 12 .  September 15 is celebrated to this day as Battle of Britain Day to commemorate that the naziis didn't come as it was the day that the air battle was won.  There is some divergence in the various sources on the dates as it appears that that there were numerous changes...

About Crecy, good answers, yes, this was the battle that spelled the end of the armoured knight as it was the first permanent defeat of the nobles in armour by infantry.  This battle ended the dominance of the feudal cavalry and meant that the trained archer was a force to be reckoned with.  The knights never regained the battlefield stature that they had previously enjoyed.

 

[redleafjumper]

Who was the operations officer for Panzer Group Guderian in June of 1940?  Clue - this same officer later served as Chief of Staff to Rommel.

 

[PPCLI MCpl]

Lieutenant-General Fritz Bayerlein


Here's one that's not to hard, but informative none the less:   What is the name and history of the snake and rod on the Medical capbadge?

 

[Michael OLeary]

Here's one that's not to hard, but informative none the less:  What is the name and history of the snake and rod on the MedA/Tech capbadge?

The Caduceus  of Mercury (Roman)

http://drblayney.com/Asclepius.html

Professional and patient centred organisations (such as the NZMA, in fact most medical Associations around the world including the World Health Organization) use the "correct" and traditional symbol of medicine, the staff of Asclepius with a single serpent encircling a staff, classically a rough-hewn knotty tree limb. Asclepius (an ancient greek physician deified as the god of medicine) is traditionally depicted as a bearded man wearing a robe that leaves his chest uncovered and holding a staff with his sacred single serpent coiled around it, (example right) symbolizing renewal of youth as the serpent casts off its skin. The single serpent staff also appears on a Sumerian vase of c. 2000 B.C. representing the healing god Ningishita, the prototype of the Greek Asklepios.

The probable medical origin of the single serpent around a rod: In ancient times infection by parasitic worms was common. The filarial worm Dracunculus medinensis aka "the fiery serpent", aka "the dragon of Medina" aka "the guinea worm" crawled around the victim's body, just under the skin. Physicians treated this infection by cutting a slit in the patient's skin, just in front of the worm's path. As the worm crawled out the cut, the physician carefully wound the pest around a stick until the entire animal had been removed. It is believed that because this type of infection was so common, physicians advertised their services by displaying a sign with the worm on a stick.

 

[PPCLI MCpl]

It is actually not the Caduceus, but the Aesculapius.

In Greek mythology, Aesculapius, son of Apollo, (often referred to as the god of medicine or healing) was a Greek healer who became a Greek demigod, and was a famous physician.   The staff of Aesculapius with a coiled serpent became the traditional symbol of medicine.

Edit:  I'm trying to deal with the power outages currently plaguing us in Shilo, my references will follow shortly...

 

[redleafjumper]

In November 1939 the British and French governments came into possession of secret plans.  What were these plans, how did these governments obtain them and what was done with the information?

 

[larry Strong]

In November 1939 the British and French governments came into possession of secret plans.   What were these plans, how did these governments obtain them and what was done with the information?

The initial plans for the invasion of France etc, The german plane ran out of fuel I think. I can't get at my books with out waking the missus - not a wise health choice - and I will get the third part asap.

 

[STA Gunner]

In November 1939 the British and French governments came into possession of secret plans.   What were these plans, how did these governments obtain them and what was done with the information?

I remember something like this from a recent viewing of the "History Channel".

Was it a set of plans or a prototype of the Enigma machine, supplied by some Polish agents?

 

[larry Strong]

I was wrong my response happened, in Jan of 1940