What's This?

[Billhook]

What is this?

[Stubby]

Do the handles unfold through 180 degrees for use ?

[Stubby]

Plastic pipe cutter possibly ? Naa . scrub that . Nut cracker ?

Edited October 29, 2016 by Stubby

[woody paul]

Army barbed wire cutter also know as frog leg wire cutters.

[Haironyourchest]

This is it in an open position.

 

VERY OLD MILITARY BARBED WIRE CUTTER, TREE HAND SAW IN LEATHER BAG & OTHER TOOL | eBay

[Billhook]

Well done you learned folk

 

I dug it out today from the depths of a cupboard and tried it on some barbed wire which it cut more easily than the bolt croppers would have done.

They belonged to my grandfather and have his name and the date "1916" written inside the leather case.

He was wounded at Arras in April 1916 and had to have his leg amputated because gangrene set in

It really did make me wonder about his time in the trenches, crawling on his belly at night in the mud and cutting his way through the barbed wire

A remarkable tool that still works perfectly a hundred years later

The case has a belt loop so it sits very comfortably on one side and is not too big or heavy

[Gray git]

Imagine the story's old tools could tell if they could

Impressive find.

 

Sent from my D5803 using Arbtalk mobile app

[wills-mill]

Days tucked in quietly in the trenches, then nights out on work details repairing and rebuilding the wire obstacles. I've seen the cutters before, but that pouch is something else, very elegant and looks like you could open and close it with cold fingers or gloves.

 

This is a humbling book that shows some of the logistics of feeding, fueling, transporting and sheltering the troops. Amazing pictures and some details of the hundreds of thousands of tonnes of woven hurdles, timber slabs, brush faggots and charcoal created to keep lines of communication open-

 

Farming and Forestry on the Western Front - Murray Maclean

[Billhook]

Just visited Gunby Hall, National Trust property and there was a room there with three huge maps which they had just discovered rolled up in a basement. They were the battle plans for the Battle of Loos near Arras which was such a disaster.

The owner of Gunby was the wonderfully named Field Marshall Sir Archibald Montgomery Massingberd who was so upset by the loss of life due to his plans that he spent the rest of the War trying to improve things. I think that the Somme was next on the list

 

I never knew my Grandfather as he died in the last war but a long time ago,when I lived at home and my father came down for breakfast, I would say "Good morning" and father would strike up with the poem by Siegfried Sassoon

 

called "The General"

"Good morning, good morning" the general said as he passed his men on his way to the line

But the ones that he spoke to are most of them dead

Or cursing his staff for incompetent swine

He's a cheery old card muttered Harry to Jack

As they slogged through to Arras with rifle and pack

But he did for them both with his plan of attack

 

All the more poignant since Grandfather was at school with Sassoon and I would think he taught father the poem

Grandfather was actually wounded at Souchez which can be seen on the map

Probably the last time the wire cutters were used in action

Edited October 30, 2016 by Billhook

[Billhook]

I nearly remembered the poem by heart but it was not quite right having googled it.

 

“Good-morning, good-morning!” the General said

When we met him last week on our way to the line.

Now the soldiers he smiled at are most of 'em dead,

And we're cursing his staff for incompetent swine.

“He's a cheery old card,” grunted Harry to Jack

As they slogged up to Arras with rifle and pack.

 

But he did for them both by his plan of attack.