World War I generals were no longer swashbuckling leaders on the charge but managers calling the shots from a boardroom of war. ibid.
World War I was the first industrial war. ibid.
Civilian innovations in kit and supply transformed war just as much as the guns. ibid.
Death on a scale that had never been seen before. Over the course of World War I three million British soldiers were killed or injured. ibid.
A key to winning any battle lies in having the right kit. Professor Saul David, Bullets, Boots and Bandages: How to Really Win at War II: Stealing a March
Impatience to fight has caused many generals to overlook some basic rules of kit and logistics. ibid.
It was his [Marlborough’s] ability to move his armies swiftly that was the key to his military success. ibid.
Napoleon styled his army on that of ancient Rome. ibid.
Just like horses, tanks needed feeding. ibid.
D-Day June 6th 1944: the greatest sea-borne invasion in history. ibid.
A secret project codenamed Mulberry ... a huge artificial floating harbour. ibid.
Weapons. The cutting edge of battle. From longbows to cruise missiles – the very tools soldiers need to fight – has always been a deciding factor in fighting wars. Professor Saul David, Bullets, Boots and Bandages: How to Really Win at War III: Raising Arms
Having a better kit than your enemy has always been critical for success. ibid.
Large guns firing barrages from distance would change the very nature of war. ibid.
The Boar War was a wake-up call to British commanders. ibid.
26,065. In 1908 the entire army was upgraded. ibid.
World War I changed everything: modern total industrial war. ibid.
Automatically feeding ammunition, the Vickers machine gun used up bullets at the same rate as eighty conventional rifles. ibid.
During the Vietnam War an incredible seven million tons of bombs were dropped on Indo-China. ibid.
It’s estimated that Afghanistan has already cost the British Taxpayer £18,000,000,000. ibid.
The essential point of the system was social equality between officers and men. Everyone from general to private drew the same pay, ate the same food, wore the same clothes, and mingled on terms of complete equality. If you wanted to slap the general commanding the division on the back and ask him for a cigarette, you could do so, and no one thought it curious. In theory at any rate each militia was a democracy and not a hierarchy. It was understood that orders had to be obeyed, but it was also understood that when you gave an order you gave it as comrade to comrade and not as superior to inferior. There were officers and N.C.O.S. but there was no military rank in the ordinary sense; no titles, no badges, no heel-clicking and saluting. They had attempted to produce within the militias a sort of temporary working model of the classless society. Of course there was no perfect equality, but there was a nearer approach to it than I had ever seen or than I would have thought conceivable in time of war. George Orwell, Homage to Catalonia **** audiobook 8.05.29