7.92x57mm
More commonly known as 8mm Mauser. The ones in the picture are Turkish. You can see the “sickle & star” emblem on the headstamp in the third picture. Most of the surplus 8mm Mauser supply has dried up since very few if any nations still use the caliber for their military.
(Source: gunrunnerhell)
Historical Facts That Sound Like a Load of Whacked-Out Horse Shit, But Are Actually True!
The United States actually trained live bats to drop bombs during World War II.
The bats, cooled down in ice cube trays prior to shipping to put them into hibernation mode, would be housed inside a bomb-shaped canister that would deploy a small parachute. As the bomb slowly fell, the bats would have plenty of time to warm up. As soon as the altitude reached 1,000 ft., the canister would open, releasing over 1,000 Mexican Free-Tailed bats carrying small, time-delayed incendiary bombs.
The thought behind this was the fact that Japanese structures were especially susceptible to fire, due to the widespread, traditional use of paper, bamboo, and other highly-flammable materials. It was thought that the bats would spread out and roost in buildings throughout the target city. At a specified time, built-in timers would ignite the bombs, thus creating panic and destruction in the intended Japanese locale.
Tests on the project proved to be successful enough, though not entirely: In one incident, armed bats were accidentally released over an air base in New Mexico, incinerating the test range, and setting fire to a general’s car.
After 30 demonstrations, and over $2 million dollars spent), the project (titled Project X-Ray), was eventually cancelled, as it was realized that it would not be combat-ready until 1945.
That’s fucking amazing.
Members of the Japanese American 442nd Regimental Combat Team visiting relatives and friends, who formerly lived on the West Coast, in New York, 1943.
By Tom Parker
(Source: calisphere.universityofcalifornia.edu, via lovesurvives)
Sniper march… (Female Soviet soldiers on the march with their Mosin Nagan 91/30 rifles. Note that some of them are equipped with the PU scope, whereas others are not.)
The Fighting Filipinos paper poster depicting Philippine nationalism; image depicts a wounded soldier wearing a bandage around his head preparing to throw a grenade in his right hand as he holds a tattered upside down flag in his left hand; inscriptions at bottom center section.
(via biyuti)
Hammer and Sickle by quinet on Flickr.
Hammer and sickle at a memorial to Czechoslovakian soldiers killed in WWII
(Source: fabulous-trotskyist, via fuckyeahmarxismleninism)
(Source: iron-curtain, via ppsh-41)
Top: Partisans of the Albanian National Liberation Army
Bottom: Enver Hoxha, leader of the Communist Party of Albania (CPA), later the Party of Labor
(Source: ppsh-41)