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Post Info TOPIC: Elephants at War


Legend

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Elephants at War
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Just noticed this on Wikipedia...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ww1-elephant.jpg

Cheerssmile

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"Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazggimbatul, ash nazg thrakatulûk, agh burzum-ishi krimpatul"

 



Commander in Chief

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How odd, poor thing looks underfed.

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ChrisG


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Legend

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That's because it had to get up in the morning at ten o'clock at night half an hour before it went to bed, eat a lump of cold poison, work twenty-nine hours a day down t'mill, and pay t'mill owner for permission to come to work, etcetera, etcetera . .

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"Sometimes things that are not true are included in Wikipedia. While at first glance that may appear like a very great problem for Wikipedia, in reality is it not. In fact, it's a good thing." - Wikipedia.



Commander in Chief

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But 'e were 'appy!

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ChrisG


The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity (Dorothy Parker)


Commander in Chief

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James H wrote:

That's because it had to get up in the morning at ten o'clock at night half an hour before it went to bed, eat a lump of cold poison, work twenty-nine hours a day down t'mill, and pay t'mill owner for permission to come to work, etcetera, etcetera . .



...and got sacked because it secretely visited a socialist elephant party meeting...

 



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General

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Looks a bit like the guy at the Kelvin Grange Museum in Glasgow (though I think he's from earlier(?).

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Commander in Chief

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The 'Ammunition' the elephant is pulling looks like a vertical shaping machine, keyway machine or similar. If the British Army had trebuchets then it could be well be ammunition.



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ChrisG


The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity (Dorothy Parker)


Legend

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Apropos of nothing much, it was generally reckoned an elephant could do the work of fourteen men (I assume that's the meaning behind Ian Denys Peek's One Fourteenth of an Elephant). Well, I'd wager they weren't much chop as watchmakers and they'd be a tight fit down most mineshafts nor would their formidable flatulence be welcome there - pit ponies were bad enough, ta very much - but you get the gist.

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Facimus et Frangimus


Commander in Chief

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Hi Steve!

they had the warning system with the canaries but I guess these wouldn't have much of a chance when old Jumbo started to party around.
Further flatulent news: the EU made up some reports on CO2 emission, keeping cattle responsible for a rather high percentage. Strangely enough the EU didn't mention elephants. They missed something there I guess, or were short on man/woman-power as they investigated the influence of ordinary light bulbs on the environment, all resulting in that the good bulb will be banned in the very near future. LED light is the word from then.
I read somewhere they exactly prescribed the size, shape, volume etc. of bananas too.

regards, Kieffer

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Legend

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kieffer wrote:

...they investigated the influence of ordinary light bulbs on the environment, all resulting in that the good bulb will be banned in the very near future. LED light is the word from then. ...


Incandescents have been banned here for some time. They persist in special applications like lights inside ovens and freezers and so on. Also high voltage quartz-halogen types seem to still be allowed (but they are not well-made so far - those seem to dangerous should the outer sheath come away, then a live "active" wire is exposed). But most of the replacements are miniature fluorescent with LED mostly in the niche high-intensity miniature "downlight" and indirect lighting applications (replacing low voltage quartz-halogen types which were the cause of too many house fires anyway). Unfortunately, both fluoro and LED, the giant intellects busily saving the planet have yet to turn their attention to satisfactory disposal/recycling arrangements. You don't want either type in landfill, trust me!
kieffer wrote:

I read somewhere they exactly prescribed the size, shape, volume etc. of bananas too.


Ah yes, trade protectionism by another name. Did the Belgians invent bureaucracy too? They're awfully good at it.

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Legend

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Two articles here of "War Elephants"......

German Jumbo on the western front....

http://oldmagazinearticles.com/pdf/WW%20I%20Elephants.pdf

Popular Mechanics 1917 farmers jumbo with women driver what a combo.....

http://oldmagazinearticles.com/pdf/WW1%20elephant.pdf


Cheerswink

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"Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazggimbatul, ash nazg thrakatulûk, agh burzum-ishi krimpatul"

 



Commander in Chief

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Another combo..from the Bikamir Camel Corps, no elephants, sorry for deviating.



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Legend

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The classical countermeasure against war elephants was ...?

No, no, not mice (minus ten points) it was war pigs - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_pigs_%28ancient_military_weapon%29

And all the time I thought war pigs were these fellows - Halbritter's Waffenarsenal

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Sorry for offtop, but camel is not unusual.

Cossacks of Vermaht, WWII.



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Legend

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Yes camels were much used, especially in the early stages of WW1 but long afterwards too. The AIF even had hat badges (going each way, to confuse and confound the enemy):

http://web.archive.org/web/20050715043849/http://www.diggerhistory.info/images/badges-rsb/camel4.jpg
http://web.archive.org/web/20050715043908/http://www.diggerhistory.info/images/badges-rsb/camel-corps.jpg.

Talking of hat (or beret really) badges here is an early (but post WW1) Australian Armoured Corps one:

Australian Paratus.JPG

Which is the closest Australians came to an Elephant Corps. But, in the future, who knows? Elephants are much cheaper than tanks. Or perhaps a Rhinoceros Corps:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/D%C3%BCrer_rhino_full.png

[Edit to substitute archive.org links for links to the now-defunct diggerhistory.info website - Ted Harris, owner and webmaster died 4th January, 2011 leaving none to keep it going - and to insert image of the "PARATUS" badge, which was never archived from diggerhistory.]



-- Edited by Rectalgia on Monday 23rd of April 2012 04:18:37 AM

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Facimus et Frangimus


Legend

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Australian, British, NewZealand, Indian (Bikaner?) camel corps...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bikaner_Camel_Corps said to have routed the turks in the one and only camel charge of WW1?...

A good pic here of a Sowar Bikaner Camel Corps... 1896
http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/apac/photocoll/other/019pho0000015s5u00038000.html


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Camel_Corps

Ive also seen pics of camels towing guns in the desert as well as mountain gun batterys and large numbers were used to supply the ALH with much needed water in particular on operations at prearranged rendezvous....

Check the AWM for many more pics... theres over 1000 but some are sopwith fighters....

http://www.awm.gov.au/search/collections/?q=camel+&conflict=first+world+war%2C+1914-1918



Cheerswink


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"Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazggimbatul, ash nazg thrakatulûk, agh burzum-ishi krimpatul"

 



Legend

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Ironsides wrote:

... Check the AWM for many more pics... theres over 1000 but some are sopwith fighters....

http://www.awm.gov.au/search/collections/?q=camel+&conflict=first+world+war%2C+1914-1918


Indeed, thanks Ivor - that lot includes a rare Paget plate colour picture of a camel ambulance loading point taken by Frank Hurley. The wounded/sick were carried in balanced cacolets carried either side of the camel as can clearly be seen in the picture. I posted another of the AWM Paget plate pictures here some time ago - it was also of an ambulance (horse-drawn), probably also taken by Hurley (he was a noted exponent of the Paget process - and for many other achievements in photography and cinematography).

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