Questions tagged [world-war-i]
Questions about World War I (WWI or WW1), also known as the First World War; a global war that lasted from 1914 to 1918.
7 questions
24
votes
1
answer
7k
views
Was the safety of a WW1 helmet called into question because survivorship bias was neglected?
A common story about the British "Brodie helmet", issued first in World War I, is the following:
After introduction of the helmet, the number of reported head injuries increased. This called ...
- 874
19
votes
1
answer
835
views
In WWI, did the British Board of Invention and Research propose conditioning seagulls to associate a submarine's periscope with food?
One of the more unusual ideas proposed by the BIR [British Board of Invention and Research] involved dragging a dummy periscope behind a ship while food was discharged nearby. The aim was to attract a ...
- 9,855
16
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Was the Browning Automatic Rifle kept from US troops during WWI?
On the History Channel show Modern Marvels: Engineering Disasters 2 (S05E30) there is a segment on the French Chauchat rifle. Dr. Jack Atwater, former director of the US Army Ordnance Museum, makes ...
- 489
32
votes
1
answer
9k
views
Was this Indian from British India the first to strike Berlin during World War I?
This article (since deleted, backup here) came to my eye recently.
The article glosses over the exploits of a citizen of British India who, purportedly, rose from utter obscurity to becoming an ace ...
- 639
8
votes
0
answers
475
views
Did Churchill have a hand in the sinking of the Lusitania?
In the hope that the loss of American lives would bring the United States into World War 1, did Winston Churchill play a part in getting the Lusitania to carry ammunition so that it would be sunk by ...
- 609
8
votes
0
answers
15k
views
Was a German WWI soldier made into a hat rack by a furious Scottish Lord?
In the TV show QI XL J16 - Just the Job Jeremy Clarkson tells a story, about a Scottish Lord making a hat rack out of a german WWI soldier. The story goes (from 21:20 in the video):
There were some ...
- 33.9k
2
votes
0
answers
473
views
Was it common among soldiers to put boot blacking on other soldiers' private parts during WW I?
The claim is hidden in a long article about some other ... uhm delicate ... myths surrounding Hitler here:
according to a former comrade of Hitler's from the trenches, Hans
Mend, his comrades used ...
- 1,768