Author: Fred Ray
-
White Death
A quick look at the world’s most successful sniper, Simo Häyhä of Finland. During the brief Russo-Finnish “Winter War” of 1939-40, Häyhä was credited with killing an astounding 500 Russian soldiers before he was wounded. In spite of being hit in the jaw with an explosive round he survived the war and lived into his […]
-
Short Takes
States Rights—it’s not just for George Wallace any more. Whether it’s correctly called a movement, a backlash or political theater, state declarations of their rights – or in some cases denunciations of federal authority, amounting to the same thing – are on a roll. After 230 years the Army is dropping bayonet training. Lt. Gen. […]
-
Those Rainbow Trajectories
Commentators on the rifle musket have made much of its so-called “rainbow” trajectory that made the rifle ball travel in a much higher arc than than today’s rifles due to its slow muzzle velocity. However, a lot of misunderstandings have also crept in. Most pundits seem to have looked at the illustration in Jack Coggins’ […]
-
More on Battle Ranges
Last week I looked at a study by a serving US Army officer, Maj. Thomas Erhart, about the need for longer range infantry weapons in Afghanistan. While looking at some of the supporting material I came across a fascinating study the Army conducted in 1960 (once classified secret) that led directly to the introduction of […]
-
Col. G. F. R. Henderson on the Civil War
We have had a lively discussion of my observations of the Civil War and landscape (comments welcome, as always), so I thought I’d take the opportunity to post some of the thoughts of Col. G.F.R. Henderson of the British Army, who wrote and lectured prolifically on the American Civil War, and is best remembered for […]
-
Battle Ranges
The range at which an enemy soldier can be engaged on the battlefield is a factor that has occupied both soldiers and pundits since the invention of firearms. In Civil War circles much of the recent controversy has centered around Paddy Griffith’s revisionist work Battle Tactics of the Civil War, in which he argued that […]