Subdeacon Joe

And Laughton plays a comedic role while Douglas plays a dramatic role. It's a very strange movie.

Brain fart. Actually, it didn't seem to post the first time. So I went to post again and thought of a different name.

Beat me to it! I didn't know Skippy was an archeologist.

A one man rabbit hole!

Must be Australia, where even the privy tries to kill you. "Bidet, mate!"

Not at all, but I prefer cotton fabric to hides, clean running water to muddy ponds, and hot showers to sometimes washing hands and face in said muddy ponds.

(before anyone goes off on it, "Axed" is perfectly correct, if somewhat archaic, English. "Axe" has been used alongside "Ask" for 1200 years or more)

Research and experimentation almost always pays off. Otherwise we would still be in caves and hunting with pointed sticks and clubs.

At least in my top 5 depending on my mood

Looks like fun https://www.instagram.com/reel/C2BZ5QyJvmP/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

I never thought about it before. "sanitary car during our Queen Mine Tour in Bisbee, Arizona. The guide was telling about the sanitation system that was used at the time of mining."

So....sorta like black powder compared to smokeless!

Found on FB: "In January 1283 the royal army of West Wales mustered at Carmarthen and Cardigan to 'ride afresh' against the king's enemies. These were Gruffudd and Cynan ap Maredudd, the local supporters of Dafydd ap Gruffudd, now Prince of Wales after the death of his brother, Llywelyn the Last, in December 1282. Attached is a section of the wage roll for the muster at Cardigan. As you can see, the document is in poor condition. A few years ago I had the entire roll translated by Jonathan Mackman at the National Archives. Below is a sample: 'More for the garrison of Cardigan and the army gathered there. Westgate The same accounts for payment to William de Westgate, Kedivor Seys, Res Goch and Robert le Chamberleyn, with 4 covered horses, from 26 December until 14 January, for 20 days, each day counted, £4. Constable and foot-soldiers of Gwent The same accounts for payment to Lewelin ap Phelip, constable, with 1 covered horse, for himself and 100 foot-soldiers from Gwent, from 27 December until 14 January, for 19 days, each day counted, £17 11s 6d. Scouts The same accounts for payment to Philip Vachan, himself the fourth Welsh foot-soldier, assigned by lord William de Valence to scout upon the enemies of the lord king,from 4 January until the 14th day of the same month, for 11 days, each day counted, 7s 4d." For the horse of Res Goch The same accounts for payment to Res Goch for his horse, killed at ‘Clinaeron’ in the county of Cardigan by the enemies of the lord king on the Tuesday next after the feast of St Matthew the Apostle, £6, by order of lord William de Valence. Sum - £90 10d.' And so on. About 80% of the roll is decipherable.

I showed this to my wife. If you need me, I'll be on the couch.

Tpr. Louis Lucas Oliver, 4th Australian Light Horse Regiment, described his last days on the peninsula in a letter written from Heliopolis, Egypt, on 13th January 1916. His letter is full of details, telling of the 'silent periods' employed to get the Turks used to no sounds coming from their lines; the delayed action 'drip rifles'; the destruction of stores that could not be removed; and the more lethal things deliberately left behind — booby traps. “I did about 4½ months on the game, not counting travelling there and back in the submarine danger zone. I left there on the 12th December, and the last lot of men left on the 18th at Anzac. We were one of the first lot to leave so the evacuation of Anzac took only a week. The 4th Battalion were on the peninsula longer than any Battalion or Regiment, except the Battalions of the 3rd Infantry Brigade. All the other crowds had spells on Lemnos Island, so that made up for the three weeks the infantry were on Gallipoli before we landed. All the other Light Horse had spells. There were only about twenty men in the regiment who stuck to it from start to finish. As you know, I had a 10 weeks' spell. A lot of chaps were wounded and sick, went away, and never came back again. Some of them got a pretty cool reception when we met them. There are still a lot who have good easy jobs and don't intend leaving them. When we left the Peninsula we thought that we had some special job on, especially as we knew that some artillery and A.M.C. were going with us, but after we were at Lemnos a few days and saw the army pouring in, we knew that It was “Finish Gallipoli.” We hope to meet Jacko again and square accounts. In Lemnos harbor we saw the s.s Aquatania, sister ship of the Lusitania. It is a hospital boat now. Had my second Xmas. day on the water and was landed in Egypt. We are now taking care of the horses. During the snow In Gallipoli we had a bad time with the water as the pipes were frozen up and no water could be pumped up from the condensers on the beach. We had to go round collecting snow and melt it down. It took about a gallon of snow to make a mouthful of water. We had to walk right down to the beach with water cans and wait several hours there. Taking it all round I had a picnic the last time compared with what I had the first go. You will remember me telling you about Courtney's Post where we were the first three weeks. I suppose you have read in the papers an account of the big Turkish counter attack in June. It was mentioned as a specially warm corner. It is also known as Steel's Post, and is near Quinn's Post and the Chessboard at the head of Shrapnel Gully. I meant to tell you about a couple of Turks who came in during the snow. One morning the cook of the 7th Light Horse woke up and found his fire blazing away. He went out to 'chew' up the men who had lit it, as wood was scarce, and found two Turks sitting beside it. They said, “Turkey very cold.” Our lot were on the extreme right during the last few weeks. We were at Leane's trench for a couple of weeks after I went back, but we shifted down to Ryrie's Post which is separated from the shore, near Gaba Tepe, only by Chatham's Post. This post is named after Brigadier-General Ryrie of the 2nd Light Horse Brigade. The 4th Light Horse had the honor of being the first to occupy these trenches last July. I was one of the first parties to go out and dig ourselves in there on No Man's Land under a pretty stiff shell fire aided by snipers. We were only about 30 yards from Jacko. For a while I was on a listening job down a tunnel. My tunnel was dug out right under their trenches, and I had to sit in this for 4½ hours a day and listen for the Turks sapping, It was a very easy job, and I got a good sleep every night. Of course there is always a slight chance of going skywards, but it would be an easy death. The noise of the guns is very indistinct down there, it is quite dark, and the air is not too good. I suppose by this time Jacko has had a good look at it. As to the evacuation. To start with we had poor Jacko puzzled. We had orders to cease fire all along the line at a certain time. This was a good many days before we left. It seemed so very strange not hearing a shot fired from our side. We kept this up for a few days, and Jacko nearly went mad. He couldn't make anything of it. Then we broke out again. A few days later we tried the same scheme, and in several places along the line the Turks hopped out and started to bomb us. They got a bad shock. These tactics were repeated again and again, so that when the real time came for leaving the trenches Jacko thought we were at our old games again, and it made him cautious. For days before the evacuation the heads had been preparing everything. Stores were being burnt or destroyed in other ways; places were being heavily mined; guns and such stuff that could not be taken away were blown up. When orders came to pack up, we were relieved by a battalion of infantry, and later on some of these were relieved. All men not in the firing line were rushed off into barges, lighters, etc. Everything worked without a hitch. At other times we have had to wait hours on the beach but this time as soon as we walked on to the beach we were rushed off. Then the relieving of the men in the firing line started. All those except the few who were on observation at the time were sent down to the beach. This left about four men on each observation post. At a certain hour these four men were relieved by one man, leaving the line very weak. The four relieved men put pieces of torn up blankets on their feet as mufflers and gob away in quick time. At a certain hour again three men (the last to leave) put on their mufflers and left. Abdul was so used to our tricks that I expect it was days before he found out he was blowing up empty trenches. Precautions were taken to make him think we were still there. They had tricks like this. A rifle was loaded and propped up in a loop hole with a small light tin tied to the trigger. Another tin was placed above it full of water and a hole punched in the bottom so that It would drip slowly into the tin attached to the trigger. When the tin got a certain weight it would pull the trigger. Other methods were used with candles, which would burn a string and release a weight attached to the trigger. They were timed differently so that for some hours after the trenches had been deserted the Turks would hear rifles going of. There were other schemes, too, for inquisitive Jacko. For instance, a blanket carelessly lifted would send the “lifter” into Paradise in about 500 pieces. Mines and bombs were everywhere.” [1] [1] 'Benalla Standard' (Victoria), 7th March 1916. Image: “A delayed action device, commonly called a drip rifle, invented by Lance Corporal William Charles Scurry (later Captain W C Scurry MC DCM) of the 7th Battalion, AIF, for firing a rifle by means of weights operated through water escaping from one tin into another. A rifle could be left to operate 20 minutes after the device was set. Six rifles were left by 3rd Brigade to fire following the departure of the last party.” AWM G01291.

https://worldwarwings.com/pink-p-40-isnt-photoshoped-actually-brilliant-camouflage/