What's the strangest weapons/items soldiers have carried into battle?
Major Allison Digby Tatham-Warter DSO was an officer of the Parachute Regiment who dropped into Arnhem during World War Two. He had difficulty remembering passwords so always carried an umbrella to wave at sentries to identify himself.
He also once disabled a German armoured car by poking the umbrella through the vision slit and into the driver’s eye! He also led a bayonet charge during the battle whilst wearing a bowler hat and waving his umbrella and once calmly walked across a street under fire to rescue the pinned down Chaplain, Father Egan. When Father Egan pointed out the street was under gun and mortar fire he said “Don’t worry, I’ve got an umbrella”, put it up and walked both of them back to safety under it.
Laid down: 1 March 1939 - USS Tautog (SS-199), a Tambor-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the tautog, a small edible sport fish, which is also called a blackfish.
One of the most successful submarines of World War II, Tautog was credited with sinking 26 Japanese ships, for a total of 72,606 tons, scoring second by number of ships and eleventh by tonnage earning her the nickname "The Terrible T."
The Hidden Apaches: Grenville Goodwin’s Description of the Sierra Espuelas Apache Camp found in Chihuahua in 1931
(Frank Randall 1884 Photo, Apache, Wikiup, Courtesy National Archives)