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Old 12-29-2010, 11:25 AM
Sanjuro Sanjuro is offline
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In WW1, the reason the Australians had the highest casualties of any combatant nation was that the ANZACs relied almost entirely on British logistical support; their army was almost all teeth and no tail. Look at the casualties as a proportion of combat troops and the figures are a lot more level. This in no way detracts from the enormous courage shown by the ANZACs; the British Army in WW1 was full of things which probably seemed like a Good Idea At The Time.
Another GIATT was the "Pals" battalion. Many units were formed of volunteers from a particular location; in extreme cases from a particular workforce. One example was the 15th Battalion Highland Light Infantry, also known as the Glasgow Tramways Battalion as many of the troops were peacetime employees in the Glasgow public transport system.
The theory was that men who had lived together, worked together and even supported the same football teams would fight well as a unit. In practice, this meant that when a battalion took heavy casualties, that could mean an entire town where almost every family had lost a member.
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