Landships II

Hi Hugh,
two pictures, the captions only tell where these were, but I presume they are German.
Pict.1 near Chaulnes, south of the Somme
Pict.2 Varneville, a German one, taken at 22th of October by the Americans

Sources are The First World War, by Hew Strachan, and a compilation of WWI pictures from one of these books you only buy for the photo's, and with rather inaccurate text.

regards Kieffer

I've searched about my files regarding "pill boxes", and will share a bit of data gathered some years ago.    Though my sketching is a bit crude,  I'm hopeful  you may find the information useful.
It's important to know these later positions were designed for occupant survivability during the severe artillery bombardments.  In addition to the usual sleeping accommodations, these positions were fitted with rations stowage,  a latrine, and a sump.  Rushing out to engage attackers from a protected open view aided in preventing the usual flanking maneuvers that so often neutralized strong points in the past.   They were told to hold; the inevitable counter attack of their comrades would relieve them.

There's a discussion and some plans on the GWF here: http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?s=0a84a4685c624c1c673e7565958636f5&showtopic
=102130&st=25&p=962165&#entry962165

There's a monstrously expensive book, Pill Boxes on the Western Front by Peter Oldham. Can't find any way of browsing it, but you might be able to get it through the library service.

kieffer wrote:

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...what exactly is the difference between a pill box and a bunker, is it the size?...

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Interesting question. According to the Military History Companion the terms are essentially interchangeable.Term for a cylindrical fortification, first used in the Second Boer War, when many British blockhouses were circular. It gained wide currency in WW I, and was applied to concrete bunkers built by Allies and Germans alike, though most were rectangular and so ceased to resemble the traditional round chemist's box. - add "blockhouse" to the synonyms according to that source. I would have thought it was a matter of size/function but maybe not ...

Well done! That one is not so common but still current in English. There will be small shades of difference in meaning¹ stemming from the origins of the words and the history of their usage (for instance it seems bunker is specifically meant to be covered/underground, others maybe not) but by and large the terms seem to be interchangeable to all intents and purposes in current usage.

¹American author Lester del Rey once said words to the effect "For me, there is no such thing as a synonym," I know exactly what he meant but alas such precision in the language has generally been lost beneath the juggernaut of popular mass media and "common usage". To resist the flow is maybe to descend into unintelligibility for ordinary purposes and before broad audiences - or at least the nicety is unheeded.

-- Edited by Rectalgia on Tuesday 1st of June 2010 07:25:16 AM