It is the height of American snobbery to say that the Chauchat was a piece of shit, but that the trench shotgun won the war
When the former was used almost universally and (with 8mm ammo) to excellent effect, while the latter was barely fielded and seldom makes an appearance
When the former was used almost universally and (with 8mm ammo) to excellent effect, while the latter was barely fielded and seldom makes an appearance
Also gtfo with that NRA nonsense that there are no photos of shotguns in action because of "censorship"
I spent 3 years researching one of the most active units of the AEF in the war, and lemme tell ya, censorship was, uh, nonexistent. They wrote about and photographed ERRYTHING
I spent 3 years researching one of the most active units of the AEF in the war, and lemme tell ya, censorship was, uh, nonexistent. They wrote about and photographed ERRYTHING
Brah, if these dudes had been wasting Germans with a shotgun all day, they'd have written about it. A LOT. With consummate pride. But nah. Because at the end of the day, a .45 and a grenade do the trick for trench raiding, with a chauchat as support by fire if things get sticky
Which is what we DO have photos of, and letters of, and diaries of, and archeological evidence for. Because at the end of the day, history is about ACTUAL EVIDENCE, not what you feel like it should be. Were a small number of shotguns fielded? Yes. Game changer? No.
Please file "trench shotguns won the war" next to "Belleau Wood was an amazing tactical victory" in the "US myths about WWI" section.
It's absurd that we have to make up stories when the real ones are even better. It's worse when the myths obscure the real stories entirely.
It's absurd that we have to make up stories when the real ones are even better. It's worse when the myths obscure the real stories entirely.
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