The Dems take the House, therefore we will get the same thing from them this two years as last, nothing. The tax cuts are law and de-regulation continues at the Agency level. Congress made themselves moot in the last two years, nothing much will change here. Now they have to negotiate with Donald Trump and Cocaine Mitch. Good luck with that, Nancy.
The GOP gains 3 in the Senate, Cocaine Mitch can get Judges and Cabinet through at will now.
Hillary is not President.
The Dems ran a bunch of stealth ‘centrist’ candidates again who look sane and look like old-school Dems, some of them even served (sort of) in the Military. Being in the JAG does not count, sorry. These fakes will vote lock step with Pelosi and a few will be one term Congressmen for that. So now the focus goes on the Dems in the House. This is a very bad situation for them. They have no real power as Congress quit working and abrogated their duties to the Executive a few years ago. Two years of histrionics and spasmodic Trump Derangement Syndrome to placate their base will cost them both the House and the Presidency in 2020. They won’t be able to fulfill any of their promises to their communist base; there will be no impeachment, de-regulation will continue, investigations will go nowhere…Piss off Trump and he might de-classify ALL OF IT.
If the Democrats think they are going to waste Taxpayer Money investigating us at the House level, then we will likewise be forced to consider investigating them for all of the leaks of Classified Information, and much else, at the Senate level. Two can play that game!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 7, 2018
yup
@ rain of lead:
updated
Trump defines the battle space and preps the field
The question I have is: How does Mueller read this? And Jeff Sessions. Dunno what happens with him.
@ eaglesoars:
Sessions can now be easily replaced.
Ted Cruz is a liability in TX, he has to go. Appoint him to the SC.
@ coldwarrior:
@ coldwarrior:
Agree. He can kick Sessions to the curb. AND Rosenstein.
I’d like to hope that the House actually funds the wall and passes legislation before January.
coldwarrior wrote:
I was hoping that would have happened some time ago.
The Barbarian wrote:
Bwahahaha!!! You would think that. If the GOP inc were actually for Trump’s economic growth policies that they would slam through a ton of that.
@ Buckeye Abroad:
He needs to go away.
@ coldwarrior:
I live in California, CW —- optimism is all I have left.
The Barbarian wrote:
Sadly, true.
Look, I lived in Monterey for a year. I LOVE CA. It’s just beautiful. Mrs Coldwarrior and I can live anywhere we like because of our jobs. CA is not an option because of the mess it is in.
CA makes me sad. It’s a shame really.
Hey Barbarian, wanna see a judge so outraged by a prosecution he – THE JUDGE – argues for jury nullification?
Here ya go
https://reason.com/archives/2018/11/06/judge-advocates-jury-nullification
@ eaglesoars:
This is the type of judicial “activism” I like.
@ coldwarrior:
It IS sad. Democrats have destroyed it. But they hand out so many goodies that people love to vote Democrat.
Spot of GOOD news – Democrats threw bombs at good conservative Tom McClintock (Sacto, Foothills) in a cute bubbly candidate Jessica Morse, of the canoe paddling up the American River and “I’ve worked with Democrats and Republicans” (but RAN as a Democrat which tells me “I’ve worked with” translates to ‘I had a government job'”.
I’m still trying to find out if Jeff Denham lost in the Valley. Nothing yet. May be too close to call. But Josh Harder is a Pelosi stooge.
I do love how the media is calling the House change a “rebuke” against Trump. Uh, then why not shift the Senate? However, I remember in 2010, when the Democrats lost 66 House seats that these same liberal propagandists dubbed it a “White American Temper Tantrum”.
I imagine the Democrats will be giving Dirty Dianne the stink eye over the pick up by the GOP of Senate seats, since I think her dealings and handling of the Kavanaugh situation cost them in this election. Wouldn’t surprise me if Schumer punishes her by removing her from the Judiciary Committee.
By the way, anyone wonder if Avenutti and his psycho client were PRAYING for a Democrat Senate to make that Justice Department investigation request about them go away?
The Barbarian wrote:
that crap is everywhere. cruz barely won so its trumps fault, yet the governor in TX stomped his opponent into the earth.
a couple dems won in gerrymandered districts in the rust belt, so its the workers hating trump
i’m pretty happy with the current situation. now trump can get any nominee he likes through cocaine mitch’s senate…and i have a feeling that this will be happening fairly quickly.
so if buzzy dies right now, will the dems demand that a replacement be put in front of the senate committee immediately, or do we wait for the next senate?
The Barbarian wrote:
THERE MUST BE CONSEQUENCES.
( i was using my Dad Voice)
and 30-40 gop-e (inc) ™ (r) are gone from the house…retired. we have 2 years to reload
@ coldwarrior:
It won’t matter. If Buzzy died or resigned, it would take two weeks for Trump to get a nominee, and two months for SJC and FBI to run the background check and Senate investigation. New Senate will be in place by then. They cannot demand Trump put forth a nominee. They were perfectly happy with 8 justices after we lost Scalia.
As for Texas, Project Veritas has some film of some serious ILLEGAL voting going on. “Beto” was getting tons of free publicity and a $70 million war chest, which I’m sure he’s retained for his 2020 Presidential Run.
@ coldwarrior:
I can’t speak for the other house races, but the Democrats here in Northern California that were forced to run against Republicans were attacking them on Health Care and pre-existing condition coverage. Also, McClintock was attacked as being a “career” politician. Dude’s a staunch conservative – that idiot bubblehead probably just heard “Sacramento” as the district and thought she was home free – he represents a huge chunk of RED California. And they LOVE him.
I know you guys know Bammy sponsored candidates lost, but I just wanted to see it again.
http://dcwhispers.com/everyone-barack-obama-campaigned-for-lost-last-night-every-single-one/#8bt0z1Wk4Cs7GuS6.97
@ yenta-fada:
It was true in 2016 as well. Bammy will be told to “stay home” in 2020.
Sessions has resigned
slight correction. He was ASKED to resign.
YOU’RE FIRED!!
here’s the letter
https://twitter.com/politiCOHEN_/status/1060258045182332930
@ eaglesoars:
Trump wants a DOER, not a Keebler Elf.
Suddenly I imagine Comey, Strzok, Page, Ohr, McCabe, Lynch, Rice, Powers and the rest of them are asking Rosenweasel if he can refer them to a good criminal defense attorney.
Oh, and guess what Mueller baby – this AG has not recused himself for matters regarding emails and Russia. You will now answer to HIM.
eaglesoars wrote:
BOOM!!!! let the games begin
@ coldwarrior:
They’re talking up Trey Gowdy for AG on a permanent basis. Or maybe Lindsay Graham. I would rather see Andy McCarthy or J. Christian Adams.
@ The Barbarian:
Gonna be interesting
Reason No. 562 why I LOVE Iowahawk:
@ The Barbarian:
Rules???
Ha!
Okay, one more…..this one is FUN as hell and just what we need!
Rosenweasel expected at White House at 4:30.
As of now, Mueller investigation is now in the hands of Whitaker.
Of course, Dumbocrats immediately calling for Whitaker to recuse himself and an investigation into Sessions’ firing.
They.Just.Don’t.Get.It.
@ The Barbarian:
Don’t members of the administration serve at the President’s pleasure?
right_wing2 wrote:
yes.
they hand in a resignation letter on day one of their appointment
@ coldwarrior:
I had heard that. That they are told there should be an undated resignation letter ready to go at the President’s request.
I believe that NOW Mueller’s report will be turned into Whitaker. He is not appointed by the House (which would be the “independent” counsel), so it is up to the Justice Department to decide whether to release.
I would love for Whitaker to just sit on the report until Pelosi and Schiff make HUGE noises to have it released. And when he does….it completely exonerates Trump. Eggs on the face all around.
Meanwhile, DOJ is getting to the bottom of the FISA warrant and unmasking and LEAKING to the press by Schiff and House Dems.
so the girl got to dissect a fresh sheep eye in biomed class today…
she thought it was cool
@ The Barbarian:
I have been meaning to. ask you; Judge Napaitano was on FNC opining today.
He claims that if it can be shown that Trump fired Sessions to impede the investigation he can be charged with obstruction. Two things, how do you establish that,and second wasn’t Sessions an at will employee serving at the
pleasure of the President?
@ RIX:
First of all, Sessions had nothing to do with the investigation – he recused himself. Rosenweasel had charge of the investigation. All this does is put Whitaker in charge of the investigation. Rosenweasel is probably on his way out too. Because it looks as if he’s going to have problems with that FISA warrant as well as the other implicated at Justice and the FBI. After all, they screeched that he fired COMEY to stop the investigation and look – the investigation went on. Trump hasn’t obstructed anything. He did say he would not sit down with him and be interviewed but would instead answer written interrogatories. That’s the only brakes he put on this. And it is what ANY good lawyer would have told his client to do in such circumstances.
I imagine Trump planned to fire Sessions if the GOP kept the Senate because he’s been an ineffectual AG that’s basically sat on his ass and chased MS-13 and pot growers.
Didn’t Mueller say he was wrapping up his investigation anyway, and that the report would be ready in a few weeks? So what’s to impede and obstruct? Trump didn’t direct Rosenweasel in the preceding 18 months, why would he do so now? The only good thing is that I believe Mueller now hands his report over to Whitaker rather than Rosenweasel, who would have no doubt leaked it.
And no, you can’t prove the thought process behind it without memos. I’m sure Trump has the paper trail all ready. Napolitano is a big disappointment. He’s totally out of his depth in analysis for this. I’d rather ask Joe deGenova (another good choice for AG).
@ The Barbarian:
Thinks for the explanation. I agree with you about Napalitano,his opinions get more and more weird.
@ RIX:
I imagine they see the direction Fox is heading and are working overtime to be moderate or as left as they can get. I think Napolitano needs to have his contract expire, as with Juan Williams and Shep Smith. If Fox viewers wanted to watch liberals, they could tune in CNN or MSNBC. I hear more and more people are tuning into OANN. It’s gaining ground.
So this has been happening. For two years.
Strange snafu misroutes domestic US Internet traffic through China Telecom
The misdirection was the result of AS4134, the autonomous system belonging to China Telecom, incorrectly handling the routing announcements of AS703, Verizon’s Asia-Pacific AS. “
“incorrectly”
Was listening to Larry O’Conner’s radio show and he was talking about some MIT scientists who want to create a laser to contact aliens. Somebody called in and said he’s seen some things and talked to people in some org I didn’t quite catch. SDIA? SDAI? Anyway, the conclusions are that “they’re already here” and “these guys aren’t using Newtonian physics”
All good things to know, so you’re welcome.
The Barbarian wrote:
Yup,itisgetting a little weird. Shep Smith is unwatchable.
May I have an ‘edit’ button? Please?
@ eaglesoars:
SETI
eaglesoars wrote:
I know THAT feeling especially with the auto-correct doing its own ‘thing’
🙂
eaglesoars wrote:
Well you know where I stand in this regard!
🙂
Could the SDAI be what you heard? It’s the automated collision avoidance system aboard aircraft. Two aircraft chat to each other and decide between then which one goes upright and the other down right if they are approaching head on and about to collide. Oblique angles for potential collisions are more subtle and complex but the decisions are made VERTY FAST and the instruments show the crew which way to steer to MISS the traffic.
Hope that helps.
Maybe ET is getting a bit twitchy about midair collisions and have decided to for a collision avoidance radar!
HEH!
🙂
@ eaglesoars:
I have an edit button. What would you like corrected?
Rosenweasel is OUT on overseeing the Russian probe – will now be taken over by Whitaker. My guess is now that Mueller realizes he won’t be able to charge people with crimes from time immemorial, we’ll see that report that says nothing happened in 10 days.
Aussie Infidel wrote:
Could be. I was in traffic w/ the windows down and it was a bit noisy.
He also said he was talking to people in Vienna who said they’d ‘read some papers’. Those were the people who told him “These guys aren’t using Newtonian physics”. I don’t know who he was referring to. Vienna? Austria? or here, Vienna, Virginia? And what’s there anyway.
But yeah, there are too many knowledgeable people who are convinced that there is way too much evidence for any other explanation.
It WOULD explain Alexandria Occasional-Cortex
@ The Barbarian:
I neglected to close my html tags
Just passing by. Today is Macker’s birthday.
The Barbarian wrote:
cut the fucker’s $$$$
Also, I think this blows up the whole ‘Q’ narrative. As I understood it, Trump and Sessions were just waiting for the mid-terms to drop the hammer. Sessions was just hiding in plain sight. I wanted to believe it, but it was way too Charles McCarry for me. And the evidence is the evidence.
Possum wrote:
yeah, I got the Facebook notice. I thought Jeanne took everything down. Guess not.
@ eaglesoars:
It stays up forever on the Internet, as it should I think.
Even though someone departs to another life their time on earth should not be erased.
A mob of Antifa protesters is currently outside the DC-area home of Fox News personality Tucker Carlson.
This was posted at 6:52 pm, so I assume Tucker is already in the studio
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2018/11/breaking-antifa-mob-currently-outside-home-of-tucker-carlson/
Jim Acosta just had his White House press pass pulled
LOL!
lobo91 wrote:
beat me by 3 seconds! AHAHAHAHA!!
touch a female WH intern and see what happens, ABILIO.
coldwarrior wrote:
Describes our situation as well. CA really is a geographically awesome place, well, except for the earthquakes. We could easily find jobs out there, but there is no way that would be prudent, especially this close to retirement … and the gun laws would make me an automatic felon.
The Barbarian wrote:
Praying? Probably not. Consulting witches and mediums? Oh yeah.
eaglesoars wrote:
Good.
eaglesoars wrote:
Outside Newtonian Physics ehhh !Well that would explain how my little grey UFO buddy could pull 500 G and think nothing of it, when he buzzed my aircraft!
🙂
🙂
eaglesoars wrote:
Couldn’t happen to a rougher piece of trash!
Good riddance sunshine and don’t let the door hit you in the arse.
@ Aussie Infidel:
Newton works, relatively.
coldwarrior wrote:
Ohhh VERY Droll!
🙂
HEH!
@ Aussie Infidel:
If ‘they’ are already here, as some think, I wonder how many different ‘they’ there are? All the same life-form/species? Or several? Do they know each other?
do I really want answers? Nope. My continued ignorance is a blessing. The whole thing terrifies me
@ eaglesoars:
With the centenary of the Armistice of WWI just a few days away this is relevant:-
With the start of the German Spring Offensive in March 1918 there was a seismic shift in the character of the First World War. It was as if two boxers who for the opening rounds had fought in a clinch were now standing back and swinging wildly, first Germany, then as it tired, the Allies, each looking for a knockout blow. The nature of war had changed. Attack had supplanted defence as the dominant phase of war. Advances that had been measured in metres were now of kilometres. Infantry attack dispersed, while it was now artillery fire that was concentrated. Weaponry had been transformed: artillery shells had unprecedented accuracy and destructive power; the embryonic tank had mutated into a well-protected and reliable machine; there were now copious light machine-guns for the infantry; and there was a logistics system with trains and trucks to speed the shells and bullets to where they were needed. And there was a tactical concept, the combined-arms battle, to make use of these changes. The only thing that remained constant was the terrible “body count”. The desperate thrashing by the protagonists ensured a “butchers’ bill” as great as in the previous years. And it was on this, rather than the triumph, that the public focused.
Just as the war had changed, so too had the Diggers. The hardened veteran of 1918 was very different from the “new chum” who had fought so valiantly but hopelessly at Fromelles. The newly raised and loosely bonded battalions of 1916 were now tightly knit teams of experienced fighting men who had created their own style of leadership and discipline. By 1918 they were well trained, skilled in battlecraft, and tactically competent. These factors led to confidence in themselves and to high morale, which bred the audacity with which they fought. They were among the very best soldiers on the Western Front.
In early 1918 for the first time the Australians had faced the new “shock” tactics of the German offensive. The Germans were suddenly able to shatter the tactical status quo that had existed on the Western Front. Then when their offensive faded, the British Expeditionary Force responded with its own new tactics and techniques. There was a new character to the war. It was more open and fluid, particularly as the Allied offensive gained momentum. For the previous eighteen months the Australians had fought the grinding battles of the Somme and Flanders. They had fought with courage and suffered terrible casualties but then in early 1918 they had seen their limited gains swept away by the German Spring Offensive. But the lives and the effort had not all been wasted. What they had learned in the hard years they translated into a battle-winning formula. The men had toughened and they had mastered the skills they needed for victory. And importantly their teams had bonded and they had confidence in themselves and their leaders. They had learned they were more than a match for the enemy. When all five Australian divisions came together in the new Australian Corps they constituted a very potent military force.
Their battles of 1918 reflected this skill and their newly established confidence. At Villers-Bretonneux and Hazebrouck they blocked the German offensive and their counter-attacks started the long haul to eventual victory. Their dominance over their enemy was proven in the phase of Peaceful Penetration. Then in four victorious battles of Hamel, Amiens, Mont St Quentin and the Hindenburg Line they made their major contribution to victory over Germany. In 1918, for the heavy cost of 10,500 lives and over 40,000 wounded, they advanced sixty kilometres, took 29,144 prisoners, captured 338 guns and liberated 116 towns and villages. It was a major achievement yet today it is seldom even acknowledged for the feat of arms that it was.
While war is not to be glorified, neither should the achievement of our soldiers be trivialised. We have allowed their victories to be obscured by the legends that have come to dominate the public imagination. The public has chosen, or been led, to ignore the triumph. Our art, architecture, literature, films, popular histories and memorial services all focus on the horror. For a hundred years the Australian public has viewed the First World War through a dark glass of legends. We have allowed our imagining of the war, and particularly its final year, to be distorted by those legends. It is time to put aside the legends and to seek a balance between the horror and the triumph.
What was to have been the Germans’ Winter Line fell in early autumn of 1918. To the north the New Zealand Division had taken the small French town of Bapaume in late August, and the nearby city of Arras had fallen to the Canadians. With the loss of Mont St Quentin, the architect of the German Spring Offensive, General Erich Ludendorff, had no option other than to order the twenty-kilometre withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line. Against a persistent German rearguard, the pursuit, which for the Australian Corps began on September 5, was over rolling open hills and wide marshy valleys. By September 10 they had advanced to the trenches of the old British Reserve Line and in front of them lay the 1917 battlefield, with its old British Main and Outpost Lines and their belts of rusted wire obstacles. And beyond that, on the hill crest, lay what was called the German Outpost Line.
The Hindenburg Line, or to the Germans the Siegfried Line, was the most comprehensive defensive position developed until that time, and was also the sole remaining established defensive barrier before the German frontier. It had been progressively developed through 1916 and 1917, and therein lay both its great strength and two critical shortcomings. While it reflected years of development it also carried outdated concepts of a series of linear defences rather than the newer approach of scattered and mutually supporting strong points. But its greatest weakness was its devotion to the concept of “defence of the reverse slope”. Early in the war, as the effectiveness of artillery had improved, it was thought better to hide the main defences from view behind a lightly held hill line. For the Hindenburg Line that lightly held, or Outpost Line, was to be the ridge in front of the St Quentin Canal behind which the German Main Line defences had been developed.
Realisation then dawned that if the lightly held Outpost Line fell, the main defences would then be overlooked from the heights above and be vulnerable to direct and observed fire. Recognising this weakness, the Germans worked hard through 1918 to redevelop the Outpost Line on the ridge into a new Main Line and to push their Outpost Line forward into what had been the old British trenches. Essentially they shifted the centre of gravity forward and deepened the Hindenburg defences. This led to a defensive position seven to nine kilometres deep, containing five or more defensive lines. It was seemingly impregnable. Even if the new Outpost and Main lines fell, and the defences were overlooked from the ridge, there remained the old Main Line and, in front of it, the St Quentin Canal. The canal, with steep fifteen-metre banks, and water two metres deep and ten metres wide, was a daunting obstacle. There was, however, a point directly opposite the Australian advance, where the canal ran for five and a half kilometres through a tunnel. The ground above was the obvious approach and hence drew heavier defences than elsewhere, with an extra three lines of trenches and wire obstacles hundreds of metres deep.
By mid-September the Australian 1st and 4th Divisions, which had been resting after their exertions in the savage post-Amiens battles of August 9 to 14, returned to make the initial attacks on the Hindenburg Line. British General Henry Rawlinson launched his Fourth Army in an assault on the Outpost Line on September 18. As at Amiens it was a dawn attack, beginning at 5.40 a.m., supported by tanks and a creeping barrage by 1600 guns. The Australian Corps attacked in the centre, flanked by the British III Corps on its north and British IX Corps to its south. Only eight tanks were available to assist the Australians but their paucity was compensated by massing 200 medium machine-guns and using their indirect fire to supplement the barrage. It had rained during the night, leaving a morning mist, which was thickened by a weight of smoke shells in the barrage. The Australians quickly took the first and second objectives of the old British Main and Outpost lines.
From around 9 a.m. the battalions were arriving on the second objective. The third objective, the German Outpost (cum new Main) Line, was to be taken by “exploitation” if possible but no plans for a deliberate attack had been prepared. Without the cover of a barrage the 1st Division pushed on uphill using fire and movement and seizing every opportunity as it arose. By 10.30 it had started to reach the crest and now overlooked the St Quentin Canal and by 12.30 it had occupied most of its Phase 3 objective. On its right the 4th Division faced deep and uncut wire obstacles that stopped its progress. They waited until evening and at 10.55 p.m. Raymond Leane’s 12th Brigade attacked behind a creeping barrage. Although the barrage did little damage to the wire it held down the German heads while it was negotiated by small parties. Remarkably these small scattered groups of the 46th and 48th Battalions, clambering up the hill, were attacking at least nine German battalions, which they drove from their trenches. Having secured the crest the 46th Battalion then bombed its way north along the trench line until it met its sister battalion from the 1st Division, the 14th Battalion, working its way south. The Australians had seized a key part of the Hindenburg Line. In the process they had taken 4300 prisoners and captured seventy-six guns at the cost of 1260 casualties.
For Rawlinson’s army it had been a day of mixed fortunes. Once more the techniques of the combined-arms battle had triumphed. The combination of creeping barrage and tanks got most of the infantry forward. The German artillery defensive fire had been minimal for two reasons. Again the 4th Army had been favoured by mist to supplement its smokescreen but it also had the advantage of the detailed map of the defences, albeit dated February 1917, captured by the armoured cars at Amiens. In consequence the counter-battery fire had been precise and deadly. The Australians by the end of the day had reached all of their objectives; the IX Corps would shortly do so; only III Corps had failed.
Once more the Australians had achieved a great feat of arms and, unbeknown to themselves, had broken their way into the new Main Hindenburg Line. While the Germans recognised this as a catastrophic loss, the Allies were yet to realise its tactical significance.
Even before the battle of September 18 the planning for the next phase was in hand. In a display of confidence Rawlinson delegated the task to General Monash, whose concept was to launch the two US divisions that were temporarily under his command in an attack from the German Outpost Line to secure the tunnel zone. Two Australian divisions would then pass through and secure the Support Line in depth beyond the tunnel zone. There were two risks to this plan. First, it was to be an assault on a very narrow five-and-a-half-kilometre front, the length of the canal tunnel, where lay the heaviest concentration of German defences. Rawlinson intervened, and fortuitously arranged for IX Corps to attempt a concurrent crossing of the canal to the south. The second and major risk to Monash’s plan, however, was that the start-line of the northern US division was the old III Corps third objective of September 18, which still remained in German hands.
Once more the guns played an important part in the battle, contributing with both positive and negative effect. That an attack was imminent was obvious to the Germans. As there was little point to secrecy, which had figured so emphatically at Amiens, and with so many guns and copious shells available, a preliminary bombardment was to be laid lasting four days from September 25. This barrage, which included 30,000 mustard gas shells in their first use by the British, fell heavily on the tunnel zone, but no longer with the intent of “destruction”, but rather to cut the heavy wire obstacles and to seal the defenders in their deep bunkers. Counter-battery fire, with observation from the ridge, and with the aid of the captured map, was devastating to the German guns, which then contributed little to the battle. As had become customary, any assault that kept close to the creeping barrage succeeded, but where the infantry lost contact it invariably failed. Sadly this was again the case on the northern flank.
In a preliminary operation on September 27 the US 27th Division attempted to seize its start-line, III Corps’ infamous third objective of September 18, which was still in German hands. It attacked in fog and soon lost the creeping barrage. There were conflicting reports of partial success that meant few knew where the men of the 27th were after the battle. It was feared they were scattered in isolated groups across the battlefield. This failure and then confusion meant that, when the main attack was launched on September 29, the left flank had still to secure its start-line but it could not be provided with a creeping barrage for fear of shelling the remnants of the earlier attack. The other ingredient for a successful combined-arms battle was frustrated when the accompanying tanks ran into a minefield and were lost. Inevitably the attack failed and, in the process, the US 27th Division and the following Australian 3rd Division became entangled.
The failure of the left flank was widely attributed to the inexperience of the US 27th Division. This overlooks the original failure of III Corps on September 18 and its subsequent unsuccessful efforts. It is also significant that this was the one area of the Hindenburg Line where the Germans applied the new concept of mutually supporting strong-points rather than linear defence. Here they relied on the ruins of two heavily fortified farmhouse complexes, Gillemont and Quennemont, which held out until late in the afternoon of September 29, thereby partly frustrating Monash’s plan.
Meanwhile on the right the US 30th Division, attacking from the position secured by the Australians on September 18, and keeping with its creeping barrage, reached its objective on the tunnel zone. The 5th Division then passed through and, although enfiladed because of the failure on its left flank, managed to get a toehold in its objective of the Support Line beyond the canal tunnel. Rather than a fist firmly in the guts of the Support Line, all that had been achieved was a vulnerable fingerhold. But succour came from a surprise direction. Four kilometres to the south the 46th Midlands Division of IX Corps, under the heaviest concentration of artillery of the war, crossed the canal using extraordinary ingenuity: rafts, lifeboats, ropes, and even lifebelts from Channel ferries were employed. The weight and density of the barrage moving ahead of them pulverised the approaches to the canal, then its banks, and finally the German defences on the far bank. By 3 p.m. the 46th was securely across and the 32nd Division passed through to penetrate the Support Line and secure the exposed right flank of the 5th Division.
With the main objective secured, the attacks by the 4th Army over the next few days degenerated into the customary rolling maul, formations making isolated and poorly supported thrusts with heavy losses and little gain. The guns needed time to relocate and re-register, replacement tanks had to be ferried forward, headquarters had to refocus and restart the planning process. Yet by October 3 the 4th Army was able to launch a well planned and supported attack by the 2nd Division, together with the British 32nd and 46th Divisions on a front of eleven kilometres, supported by thirty-eight tanks and a heavy concentration of planned artillery fire. Once more the systematic combined-arms battle triumphed. The assault overran the last of the Hindenburg defences, the Beaurevoir Line, to a depth of two kilometres.
The fighting days of the AIF were drawing to a close. On the explicit orders of Prime Minister W.M. Hughes, laid down months earlier, the Corps had to be withdrawn for rest by October 5. Was he prescient in seeing that as the date when the Hindenburg Line would be finally overrun, two months after Amiens, and when the Diggers were reaching the point of exhaustion? His motive, of course, believing the war could not end until late 1919, was to keep the AIF operational until its conclusion. Having the Corps fighting until the end would give him his bargaining chip for an Australian seat at the peace negotiations. It was a motive that could be seen as either ego-driven or one to ensure Australia, and particularly the Diggers, received a proper reward for their effort. If they had failed militarily from exhaustion, or worse, the collapse of discipline, their efforts and sacrifice would have been in vain. But whether the war would be won in years or weeks, the Corps had reached the point where rest had to be given. Indisputably they were desperately tired, but was their discipline in peril? There had been three cases of mutiny involving fewer than 200 men out of 50,000: hardly a significant number.
Concurrently there was another mutiny running its course that refuted any perception of the breakdown of unit cohesion or esprit. The strength of the Corps was declining significantly in consequence of the heavy casualties and the fall-off in recruiting. It was not a circumstance unique to the AIF. All armies, even the conscript armies, were facing the reality that, after the slaughter of four years of war, men were becoming scarce. German, British and French battalions were all fighting with numbers reduced to critical levels. In the British Army brigades of four battalions had been reduced to three. For the AIF to keep its brigades at somewhere near fighting strength they would have to follow suit. Already in March three battalions had been disbanded and their men re-allocated. By September it became imperative to break up more battalions. When the decision was announced between September 20 and 23 it led to the most widespread rebellion suffered by the AIF. The men of the eight nominated battalions refused to obey the order to disband. Approximately 15 per cent of the infantry were involved, technically in a mutiny, but with the encouragement of their fellow Diggers and the sympathy of their leaders.
When the 19th, 21st, 25th, 29th, 37th, 42nd, 54th and 60th Battalions were separately called to parade and were told of their disbandment the men refused, with the exception of the 60th, which bowed to the authority of its brigade commander, “Pompey” Elliott. After their officers and senior NCOs had departed they “soldiered on” under elected leaders, usually the most competent of the corporals. Rigid discipline and exact military routine were maintained. Rations destined for other battalions “fell off the back of wagons” as they passed the gates of the recalcitrants. All they asked was to be allowed to go into the battle of the Hindenburg Line as they were. Eventually Monash conceded and granted a two-week reprieve. Once out of the line after October 5 the disbandments proceeded without rancour. No charges were ever laid.
The men’s action reflected fierce loyalty to their battalion. It should be borne in mind that none of these battalions was more than four years old. Here were no centuries of tradition, no regimental colours emblazoned with battle honours of Blenheim, Waterloo or Inkerman, no regimental silver and ancient traditions and ritual. Few of the soldiers would have been with their battalion for even four years—that was assured by the casualty toll. But it was “their battalion and no one would muck with it lightly”. The discipline of soldiers, with this degree of loyalty and devotion to the team and their comrades, was not likely to come unstuck quickly. Ironically it is the disbandment mutiny that shows the morale and the discipline of the AIF at its very highest. Yes, they were tired but, given rest, there was “fight in the old dog yet”.
By late on October 3 the battle for the Hindenburg Line was over. All five main belts of its defences had been overrun. The 4th Army paused, restructured and prepared for the next foray. The US II Corps was to replace the Australian Corps when it came out of the line to rest, but it could not come forward until the very day of Hughes’s deadline, October 5. Rather than waste a good asset, or have troops sit idle, Rawlinson demanded one last effort from the Diggers.
The defended village of Montbrehain blocked the advance of 4th Army. The 6th Brigade of the 2nd Division remained the sole Australian formation that had not been committed in the Hindenburg operation. The 2nd Pioneer Battalion, reassigned to its secondary role as infantry, came forward on the night of October 4 and 5 and took over the line facing Montbrehain, and behind it the 21st and 24th Battalions of 6th Brigade went into their assembly areas.
The battle bore the hallmarks of an Australian Corps operation. It was a dawn attack behind a creeping barrage from six Australian field artillery brigades (field regiments) and sadly, as customary with unregistered guns, there were casualties from “drop-shorts”. A further two artillery brigades provided counter-battery fire, and the infantry advanced supported by twelve tanks. Fighting in the village was confused by the presence of a number of French civilians. A party of twenty women and children were so relieved at their release that they sought to remain with the attacking troops. There was too the distraction of “liberating” a pile of barrels of beer.
The Pioneers, following the assaulting battalions, fought magnificently. When pinned down by German machine-gun fire a group moved to seize the position protecting the German flank. Then, bringing forward two Vickers guns, they enfiladed the Germans, and were able to bring their fire onto the enemy, killing thirty, wounding fifty, and capturing fourteen machine-guns; all achieved in a matter of minutes.
In the savage hand-to-hand fighting to clear the village the actions of newly commissioned Lieutenant G.M. Ingram of the 24th Battalion stood out. Seizing an opportunity, he led his platoon, which had been held down by German fire, in a charge that killed forty and captured six machine-guns. Then, when again held down, he rushed several small posts. Once more forced to ground by German fire, he attracted the attention of a tank and, using it for cover, followed it with his platoon to the source of the fire. This was a quarry into which Ingram jumped, shooting several Germans, and forcing the surrender of sixty-three from a dugout and capturing forty machine-guns. Then, while his soldiers were mopping up, he investigated a house from which a machine-gun had been firing and took a further thirty prisoners. His efforts earned him a Victoria Cross.
It is difficult to estimate the strength of the German defence, particularly considering the parlous state of their units. Most regiments were reduced to less than battalion strength yet, with remnants of at least two divisions holding the village, their numbers were probably far greater than that of the attackers. By 9 a.m. however, most of the village was in Australian hands, although they had to withstand several counter-attacks. They then had to complete its clearance, in the course of which they found many more civilians.
It had been a successful but costly attack. C.E.W. Bean describes Montbrehain as “the last and one of the most brilliant actions of Australian infantry in the First World War”. They had taken 400 prisoners and a big haul of machine-guns. But it had cost them thirty officers and 400 men as casualties. Accepting Bean’s estimation of the strength of each of the two infantry battalions at 240 then the battle had been catastrophic. The 21st Battalion, one of those slated for disbandment but granted a reprieve for this final action, lost 131 and the 24th Battalion 137—more than half their strengths—while the Pioneer Battalion lost 108. It was a heavy toll for the taking of one small French village on their last day of battle. The Hindenburg Line had cost the Australian Corps a total of 3370 casualties.
Montbrehain once more displayed the discipline inherent in the AIF. Again they had gone into the cauldron and taken terrible casualties. Bean even suggests they had gone into the battle “light-hearted”, cheered by rumours of German surrender and the thoughts of their forthcoming rest. These were highly motivated men, and it was a motivation that reflected their discipline. On the one hand there was the collective military discipline, but probably of far greater importance was the self-discipline of the individual soldiers. Self-discipline is a rather nebulous term that we tend to associate with “maturity” and “experience” and link with motivation and self-control. It is a virtue not usually associated with young people, particularly males of the average age of the Diggers. Yet, in essence, it was their self-discipline that led these young men to “jump the bags” again and again.
The self-discipline of the Digger was essential. It was needed on the long, exhausting marches: “going up the line”, marching hour after hour, the rhythmic thud of the boots on the dirt road, the slap of the bayonet scabbard on the thigh, the drag of the pack on the shoulders, and the dead weight of the rifle, and all the while thinking of what lay ahead. It took self-discipline to keep going to the next brief stop. It then took self-discipline to stand at the parapet in the cold and the rain and stare into the blackness, listening for the rattle in the wire and to fight the desperate urge to sleep. It took self-discipline to stomp behind the creeping barrage, or to leap up and charge the German machine-gun when the corporal yelled “Go!” The rules and regulations, the charge-sheets and jails, added motivation, but primarily it was his self-discipline that brought the Digger through.
Pat Beale DSO MC served as an officer in the Australian Regular Army for thirty years. He saw active service in the Malayan Emergency, during Confrontation in Borneo, where he was awarded the Military Cross, and then in Vietnam where, as a member of the Australian Army Training Team, he was attached to the US Special Force. This article is an extract from his book Legends of War: The AIF in France 1918 (Australian Scholarly, 2017). A previous extract on the Battle of Amiens appeared in the July-August issue.
@ Aussie Infidel:
I’ve never understood how soldiers go w/o sleep. Reading thru that, I don’t understand how communication was carried out during battle. Also – Aussies had TANKS??
@ Aussie Infidel:
With the English test falling on the centenary remembrance of Armistice Day, the All Blacks will wear poppies on their jerseys as a mark of respect for those who fought and lost their lives in war.
All Blacks team:
1. Karl Tu’inukuafe, 2. Codie Taylor, 3. Owen Franks, 4. Sam Whitelock, 5. Brodie Retallick, 6. Liam Squire, 7. Ardie Savea, 8. Kieran Read, 9. Aaron Smith, 10. Beauden Barrett, 11. Rieko Ioane, 12. Sonny Bill Williams, 13. Jack Goodhue, 14. Ben Smith, 15. Damian McKenzie
Reserves: 16. Dane Coles, 17. Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 18. Nepo Laulala, 19. Scott Barrett, 20. Matt Todd, 21. TJ Perenara, 22. Richie Mo’unga, 23. Ryan Crotty
GOOD LUCK AT TWICKENHAM!
yinz won’t need it, that is one hell of a lineup.
coldwarrior wrote:
oh yeah
bed time nite
eaglesoars wrote:
the #10 Barrett, one of the best players out there. a joy to watch
coldwarrior wrote:
… and he brought his BIG little brother along wearing the #19 jersey as a reserve as well.eaglesoars wrote:
Catnaps wherever they are. … ‘ if you can stand then sit .. if you can sit then lie … if you can lie then sleep ‘ The Aussies in the RFC (Royal Flying Corps had radios in their airplanes, especially the artillery spotters.
Tanks communicated with troops by a phone at the rear of the tank. Injured on the ground casualties stuck their rifles and bayonets into the ground with their helmets on top to show where a living casualty was located so as to not get run over by manoeuvring tanks. Australian gunners invented sound location and linked the receivers via crew and radios all over the place and could radio through a ‘fix’ on the sound of German artillery after as little as 2 rounds.
Counter fire was thus accurately directed onto German gun lines. So much so that during the last 100 days of the War 95% of German artillery was wiped out before they could destroy infantry and tanks advancing. Radio equipped spotter aircraft were also used to spot in real time and adjust fire onto German guns.
The Aussies Kiwis Canuks and newly minted doughboys broke the German right flank and stormed through to the Hindenburg line and beyond and it was all over bar the shouting.
The Germans invented Stormtroopers (armed with automatic weapons and hunter killer groups ) reinforcing success immediately where ever they broke through. The response from the Canadians and Aussies was All Arms mobile manoeuvre warfare, integrating aircraft, REALLY accurate artillery, firing to a serious plan and tanks supporting infantry. Otherwise called Blitzkrieg by the Germans who used it in WWI to take France.
eaglesoars wrote:
From what I’ve heard 5 species and not all of them are ‘nice’.
HILLARY IS NOT PRESIDENT.
Pass it on.
so now cnn is claiming the white house doctored the vid of jim accosta hitting that intern
ann coulter “the last time I heard white house intern and snatch in the same sentance was when bill clinton was in office.”
bwahahahahahahaha
https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/08/us/thousands-oaks-california-bar-shooting/index.html
If you are just waking up, brutal news overnight. A shorter shoots up a college bar in Thousand Oaks.
Mass casualties, including a sheriff deputy.
#Borderline Massacre: 12 Killed, Gunman Dead at Country Music Bar in California
http://theothermccain.com/
Some witnesses have claimed the gunman was a Middle Eastern man
@ RIX:
morning rix
looks like it will be a busy morning
I saw somewhere that some of the people at that nightclub were also at the vegas mass shooting 🙁
“The GOP gains 3 in the Senate”
I only see +1 for a total of 52. Is this still the case?
The rain of lead wrote:
Good morning. I heard the same thing on the news. Some profiler pointed out that the nexus between this in Las Vegas is country music. Just may be a coincidence, but………
https://www.weaselzippers.us/402080-antifa-mob-surrounds-tucker-carlsons-home-chants-threats-you-are-not-safe-we-know-where-you-seep-at-night/
@ WZ
Antifa mob swarms outside TuckerCarlsons house, with threatening chants.
Don’t you dare call them a mob on CNN though.
Jeb Bush
@JebBush
The media is not the enemy of the people. The freedom of the press is protected by the Constitution. Presidents never enjoy pointed questions from the press, but President Trump should respect their right to ask them and respect Americans enough to answer them.
A tweet from Jeb. He got wiped out in the primaries for good reason, he is an arrogant snob.
I will always remember him. saying “I am losing patience with people who do not support Common Core”
Why would anybody care what he thinks? Time for the Bush family to go away.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg taken to hospital
new thread, jeeze…busy day.
gotta go to work, play nice!
Ian Long 29 yrs old, white guy is id’d as the shooter