Weird stuff of the week: WW1 tech, yo!

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

Mickey Mouse style apparatus to detect where enemy fire is coming from:


The Brewster Body Shield could still stop a machine gun bullet


Royal Artillery reconnaissance in Mesopotamia using the ‘limber pole ladder’


Para-tweeter: British homing pigeons were parachuted in to occupied territory with a request for local civilians to write down local troop positions, attach it to the bird and then release it.


Man over-bed: US sailors were trained to strap on bed mattresses in the absence of lifejackets


Pedal power: German soldiers generating electricity for communications and light


Now Hear This: Recruits at a US Navy training camp in Seattle receive an earful


Both sides would remove shell-damaged trees under cover of darkness and plant fakes – like this one installed at Souchez in May 1918 - to house snipers and lookouts. Made of canvas and chicken wire, it tested the nerve of the bravest occupant


Australian engineers from from 4th Field Company manoeuvre a dummy tank, made of wood and canvas, ahead of an assault on the Hindenberg Line in 1918


Bird’s eye view: A German spy pigeon wearing a time-delay camera on an aluminium breast harness


Bush fire: Camouflage became increasingly elaborate as war progressed. Here, Allied trips show off a captured Turkish sniper near Gallipoli in 1915


Hide and seek: This 1917 US experimental camouflage suit was not deemed a success. The wearer might as well have been carrying a sign on his head


In the saddle – 1915: The Kent Cyclist Battalion on parade. Touted as the new form of cavalry before the war, the bicycle was of limited use in trench warfare

Comments

[dreamville-bg.livejournal.com]

Dropping things that explode from an airplane turned out a good idea in WW1, as our guys could attest (http://www.dieselpunks.org/profiles/blogs/knights-of-the-air-first).

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

Awww, inventing new ways of destroying things from a distance. You guys must be proud!

[dreamville-bg.livejournal.com]

Since military technology usually drives all technology forward, there's quite a bit to be proud about in that regard, yep.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

WWII had some pretty interesting options as well. The British decided that exploding rats was a good idea.

[abomvubuso.livejournal.com]

Gawd, that sounds ominous.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

The exploding rat never saw active use as the first shipment was captured by the Germans. However, it was considered a success as the Germans spent excessive time and resources searching for rat bombs.