Post by rsm2ndbtnlf on Jan 14, 2009 22:05:59 GMT -8
Gentlemen...
We.. as WW1 reenactors.. are fully aware and conversant with the one major feature of WW1 that puts it into a class of its own.. over wars fought since or prior to it. That major feature is the Trench.
When one reads period articles about the conflict, one detects a certain undertone as to the unexpectedness of the developement of trench warfare. What one does not detact, is the fact that, through the thinking and attitudes of the period, the inevitable progression into trench fighting was never envisaged.
I have this past few days, been browsing through certain volumes of my period British Army Wardroom publications, and came across a certain passage concerning the 'Intrenching Tool'. The publication in question is: Military Engineering (Pt. 1.) Field Defences, 1908. Upon page:12 can be found.. section: 4 - Intrenching Tool and the Execution of Earthworks.
To the right of page: 12, is Plate: V, a full page illustration of the various intrenching tools in service with the British Army during the time period to which the volume previously mentioned relates.
Allow me now to share with you the opening paragraph to Section:4. I shall leave in the references to the illustrations of Plate: V.
Definition of Intrenching Tools.
Under the heading of intrenching tools are included pickaxes, shovels, spades and crowbars. The light intrenching tool will also be included as soon as it is issued to the army.
Pickaxes.
The latest pattern of pickaxe has a 4.1/2-lb steel head, and a wooden helve with a steel ferrule to fit the head. The object of this ferrule is to strengthen the helve at the weakest point, and to make it easily detachable from the head. Fig.1, Pl.V.
R.E. shovel.
The R.E. shovel is a commercial pattern of shovel weighing about 5-lbs. Fig.2, Pl.V.
The G.S. shovel is a shovel similar to the above, but weighing 3.1/2-lbs, and having a much smaller blade. Fig.3, Pl.V.
Spades.
Only a very small proportion of spades are carried, as they are of little use in the field. They are employed for cutting sods, for working in clay, and for digging generally when a pickaxe is not required. Fig.4, Pl.5.
Crowbars.
Crowbars also are carried only in small numbers. They are of use for loosening rocks, making holes for pickets in hard ground, etc;. Fig.5, Pl.V.
The above passage has totally opened my eyes as to how the importance of intrenching tools was so sparsley addressed in the British Army of the pre-Great War preriod. Prior to the Boer War in South Africa: 1899-1902, the intrenching tool had been completely deleted from the British Army inventory. As can be seen in the first paragraph of Section:4, the intrenching tool was not as yet issued to the individual soldier in the battalion.
When I think of how, 6 years into the future, the thinking of the illustrated secion: 4.. was to be shown a stark reality... the actual consiquences to the troops on the ground at the time, must have been frightening!
Seph
We.. as WW1 reenactors.. are fully aware and conversant with the one major feature of WW1 that puts it into a class of its own.. over wars fought since or prior to it. That major feature is the Trench.
When one reads period articles about the conflict, one detects a certain undertone as to the unexpectedness of the developement of trench warfare. What one does not detact, is the fact that, through the thinking and attitudes of the period, the inevitable progression into trench fighting was never envisaged.
I have this past few days, been browsing through certain volumes of my period British Army Wardroom publications, and came across a certain passage concerning the 'Intrenching Tool'. The publication in question is: Military Engineering (Pt. 1.) Field Defences, 1908. Upon page:12 can be found.. section: 4 - Intrenching Tool and the Execution of Earthworks.
To the right of page: 12, is Plate: V, a full page illustration of the various intrenching tools in service with the British Army during the time period to which the volume previously mentioned relates.
Allow me now to share with you the opening paragraph to Section:4. I shall leave in the references to the illustrations of Plate: V.
Intrenching Tools.
Definition of Intrenching Tools.
Under the heading of intrenching tools are included pickaxes, shovels, spades and crowbars. The light intrenching tool will also be included as soon as it is issued to the army.
Pickaxes.
The latest pattern of pickaxe has a 4.1/2-lb steel head, and a wooden helve with a steel ferrule to fit the head. The object of this ferrule is to strengthen the helve at the weakest point, and to make it easily detachable from the head. Fig.1, Pl.V.
R.E. shovel.
The R.E. shovel is a commercial pattern of shovel weighing about 5-lbs. Fig.2, Pl.V.
The G.S. shovel is a shovel similar to the above, but weighing 3.1/2-lbs, and having a much smaller blade. Fig.3, Pl.V.
Spades.
Only a very small proportion of spades are carried, as they are of little use in the field. They are employed for cutting sods, for working in clay, and for digging generally when a pickaxe is not required. Fig.4, Pl.5.
Crowbars.
Crowbars also are carried only in small numbers. They are of use for loosening rocks, making holes for pickets in hard ground, etc;. Fig.5, Pl.V.
The above passage has totally opened my eyes as to how the importance of intrenching tools was so sparsley addressed in the British Army of the pre-Great War preriod. Prior to the Boer War in South Africa: 1899-1902, the intrenching tool had been completely deleted from the British Army inventory. As can be seen in the first paragraph of Section:4, the intrenching tool was not as yet issued to the individual soldier in the battalion.
When I think of how, 6 years into the future, the thinking of the illustrated secion: 4.. was to be shown a stark reality... the actual consiquences to the troops on the ground at the time, must have been frightening!
Seph