Landships II

I'm sorry mate, but I can't resist misquoting some bloke from somewhere;

"There are things I know about that I know. Then there are things I know that I don't know. The things that worry me are the things I know that I don't know about. And worst of all is what I dont know about things I don't even know exist."

What numpty fed that guy that speech!

You may be right, mate, there is a lot of stuff that has been discussed on this site, and it seems as though most of what is practical to model has been scrutinised and clarified.

I think there may be some mileage in a new section on this forum for enthusiastic WW1 novices to ask simple questions and get simple answers. The search facility doesn't work (at least not by logic). And some of the things that have been discussed are probably very boring for someone who is wondering, say, what HMLS stands for, or if there was a Dragonfly. (questions I asked on here, at some time). It may be daunting to ask one of us 'old hands', something 'silly' like what is the difference between a French Renault and an American 'Renault', for instance.

Anyways; good thread James, and a happy sentimental season to you!

Piffle.  Always lots more to find out, and more to discover.  WWI machinery is very much a side interest for me, and may be for other forum members.  When I find something interesting, I'll post it and when I'm looking for something I will look here.

A heartening response, citizens.

MZ's mention of survivors saddens me. They are nearly all gone. (Actually, the last German survivor, whose death became something of a cause célèbre, turned out not to be the last. Several others came forward when his death was publicised)

When they are gone, there will be no one who remembers. And when we are gone, there will be no one who knew someone who remembered. Then it will just be "history", like Blenheim or Agincourt or Hastings. Will the cemeteries be there for ever, or will the time come when it is decided that it was too long ago?

Quite so, Gwyn. I had forgotten that I still haven't identified the Maharaja of Bikaner, who made a gift of 300,000 rupees in 1918 for the purchase of aircraft and Tanks.

I see you are making a little headway with the Japanese angle.

* I tell a lie. Some stuff about him has appeared since I last looked. He was a very large cheese indeed.

Ganga Singh (1880-1943) was a ruler with modern reformist vision of the princely state of Bikaner in present-day Rajasthan, India. He was the only non-Anglo member of the British Imperial War Cabinet during World War I.

This is brilliant: A rare WWI bomber that was discovered in a maharaja's elephant stable in India has been carefully restored on behalf of the UK's Imperial War Museum. The remains of the de Havilland DH9, constructed in 1918, were discovered amid piles of elephant saddles near the Palace of Bikaner in the state of Rajasthan. Much of the aircraft, the first British plane to contain bombs in its fuselage, had been consumed by termites and most of its fabric was missing. The museum acquired the plane in 2000 when the owner, the late maharaja of Bikaner, agreed to handle it to a British collector, who was tipped off about its existence by a backpacker.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/6577629.stm 

-- Edited by James H at 12:03, 2008-12-03