Military Despatches Vol 17 November 2018 World War I Commemorative Issue World War I Facts, figures and trivia Moth O Founder of the Memorable Order of Tin Hats An unsung hero Eugene Bullard, the first black fighter ace Steel Monsters The tanks of World War I Head-to-Head World War I weapons and equipment For the military enthusiast CONTENTS November 2018 Page 6 Click on any video below to view How much do you know about movie theme songs? Take our quiz and find out. Hipe’s Wouter de The old South African Goede interviews former Defence Force used 28’s gang boss David a mixture of English, Williams. Afrikaans, slang and World War I techno-speak that few outside the military Facts, figures and trivia could hope to under- 27 stand. Some of the terms Features Head-to-Head were humorous, some Is that a fact 38 were clever, while others 16 Some facts about World War I. Weapons & Equipment WWI were downright crude. We must remember them Short, sharp and to the point. This month we compare the Raymond Fletcher looks at the weapons and equipment of the significance of Remembrance 30 major combatants in the First Part of Hipe’s “On the Day and imagines what it must The story of Moth 0 World War. couch” series, this is an have been like to fight in the Early this year the Memorable ‘war to end all wars’. Order of Tin Hats celebrated interview with one of Quiz author Herman Charles its 90th anniversary. This is the 20 story of the man who began the 51 Bosman’s most famous Order. characters, Oom Schalk An unsung hero Many will have heard of the World War I Quiz Lourens. 32 This month we’re looking at A taxi driver was shot Hipe spent time in Tuskegee Airmen, or General The centenary of the Two- World War I. Here are 38 ques- dead in an ongoing Hanover Park, an area Benjamin O. Davis Junior. Yet plagued with gang Minute Silence tions, some easy, others not so war between rival taxi not that many will have heard easy. organisations. violence, to view first- of Eugene Bullard, the man On Monday 14 May 2018, the hand how Project who came before all of them. Noon Day Gun in Cape Town Ceasefire is dealing with fired not once, but twice. And there was a very special reason the situation. 22 for this. Hipe TV brings you videos ranging from actuality to humour and every- Silent Night thing in between. Interviews, mini-documentaries and much more. The day the guns on the West- ern Front fell silent. Check out Hipe TV and remember to like, comment, share and subscribe. 00 3 CONTENTS Page 64 Editor’s PUBLISHER Sitrep Hipe Media EDITOR Matt Tennyson DEPUTY EDITOR o, this month it’s been Often while researching an John Verster 100 years since the sign- article you come across a pile of This month in military history ing of the Armistice to new information, and this often PHOTOGRAPHER S Regine Lord end World War I. leads to other ideas for articles. I trust that every one of our I can’t believe that next month CONTRIBUTORS Famous Figures Battlefield readers will be attending one of is Christmas. Of course most of Janine, Cassidy, Raymond the Remembrance Day Parades the big shops already started Fletcher, Regine Lord, Ryan 44 46 or, at the very least, observing putting up Christmas decora- Murphy, Matt O’Brien, Matt two minutes of silence. tions half way through October. Tennyson. Anthony Beauchamp-Proctor Dogfights Some of you will notice that I’m far more interested in see- Andrew (Anthony) Frederick For as long as warfare existed, this month, with the exception ing how much media coverage Military Despatches is pub- Weatherby Beauchamp-Proc- it was fought on land and sea. of six articles, all of the articles will be given to Remembrance lished on-line every month. tor, VC, DSO, MC and bar, In 1914, however, the skies used in this issue have previ- Day this year. The vast majority The articles used in Military DFC (4 September 1894 - 21 over Europe would become a ously appeared in the magazine. of the media, especially in this Despatches are copyrighted June 1921) was a South African new battlefield. Front Cover This is because with the ex- country, do not consider it to and may not be used without recipient of the Victoria Cross. ception of ‘This month in mili- be very newsworthy. Hey, who prior permission from the edi- He was South Africa’s leading The ghostly image of a Brit- tary history’, all of the articles knows, perhaps this year will tor. ace of World War I, credited ish soldier gazes over a field of are about World War I. be different. The views stated in this mag- with 54 aerial victories. poppies. This image was creat- You will also see that from It will also be interesting to azine do not necessary reflect ed in Adobe Photoshop using this month ‘Military Despatch- see how the other big cities the views of Hipe!, the editor, 44 three separate images. es’ has its own website. We will around the world handle the the staff, or Hipe Media. Harold Ackroyd update the website as often as event. The unassuming, bespectacled possible, so bookmark it and Now that this issue is done, I Hipe! World War I medical officer keep on checking for updates. want to get started on the De- P.O. Box 31216, Tokai, 7966 that did everything in his power I was recently chatting with cember issue. If I finish it ear- South Africa. to save the lives of others. someone and they mentioned ly enough, maybe I can take a that putting together a maga- break over Christmas and New email Forged in battle Movie Review zine like this must take a lot of Year. [email protected] work. To be honest, it does. Until next month. 52 62 Yet when you really enjoy Back Issues World War I Tanks doing something, it doesn’t feel To view any back issues of They were slow and unreliable, World War I Movies like work. And I must admit Military Despatches, go to yet the introduction of the tank This month we look at eight of that I really do enjoy putting www.militarydespatches.co.za in World War I changed the face the best World War I movies the magazine together every or click here. of warfare forever. available. month. Matt 4 5 cy known as Schrecklichkeit telegraph wires. ing units on the Western (“frightfulness”). Its pur- • Big Bertha was a 48-ton Front. pose was to terrify civilians howitzer used by the Ger- • In early 1917, British cryp- World War I in occupied areas so that mans in World War I. It was tographers deciphered a tel- they would not rebel. named after the wife of its egram from German Foreign Facts, figures and trivia • During World War I Brit- designer Gustav Krupp. It Secretary Arthur Zimmer- A few facts, figures and trivia about World War I. On 11 November it will mark 99 years since ‘The ish tanks were initially cat- could fire a 930 kg shell a mann to Germany’s minister Great War’ ended. This article was originally published in the November 2017 issue. egorized into “males” and distance of 15 km. How- in Mexico. The telegraph en- “females.” Male tanks had ever, it took a crew of 200 couraged Mexico to invade cannons, while females had men six hours or more to as- U.S. territory. The British t was called ‘The Great Smallest armed forces of (France) 75 heavy machine guns. semble. Germany had 13 of kept it a secret from the U.S. War’ and ‘The War to end World War I 3. Major William Bishop (Ca- • “Little Willie” was the first these huge guns or “wonder for more than a month. They prototype tank in World War weapons.” wanted to show it to the U.S. all Wars’. Later it became 1. Montenegro - 50,000 nadian) 72 I I. Built in 1915, it carried a • Tanks were initially called at the right time to help draw known simply as World War I. 2. Portugal - 100,000 4. Major Edward ‘Mick’ Man- crew of three and could trav- “landships.” However, in an the U.S into the war on their From 28 July 1914 to 11 No- 3. Greece - 230,000 nock (British) 68 el as fast as 4.8 km/h. attempt to disguise them as side. vember 1918 more than 70 mil- 4. Belgium - 267,000 5. Major Raymond Collishaw • Artillery barrage and mines water storage tanks rather • Woodrow Wilson’s cam- lion military personnel were 5. Serbia - 707,343 (Canadian) & Oberleutnant created immense noise. In than as weapons, the British paign slogan for his second mobilised in one of the largest 6. Romania - 750,000 Ernst Udel (Germany) 62 wars in history. 6. Major James McCudden 1917, explosives blowing decided to code name them term was “He kept us out of up beneath the German lines “tanks.” war.“ About a month after It was a war fought on a glob- Greatest military losses of (British) 57 al scale and would result in 7. Captain Anthony Beau- on Messines Ridge at Ypres • French Second Lieutenant he took office, the United the deaths of over nine million World War I champ-Proctor (South Af- in Belgium could be heard Alfred Joubaire wrote in his States declared war on Ger- 1.