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What is the meaning behind each fold of the flag that has been draped over a military coffin?
Wiki User
∙ 13y ago
I Dont Know that is why i am asking you
Wiki User
∙ 13y ago
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What Makes A Satchel Charge?
A satchel charge is a demolition device, primarily intended for combat, whose primary components are a charge of dynamite or a more potent explosive such as C-4 plastic explosive, a carrying device functionally similar to a satchel or messenger bag, and a triggering mechanism; the term covers both improvised and formally designed devices. In World War II, combat engineers used satchel charges to demolish heavy stationary targets such as rail, obstacles, blockhouses, bunkers, caves, and bridges. The WWII-era U.S. Army M37 Demolition Kit contained 8 blocks of high explosive, with 2 priming assemblies, in a canvas bag with a shoulder strap. Part or all of this charge could be placed against a structure or slung into an opening. It was usually detonated with a pull igniter. When used as an anti-tank weapon, one- to two-kg charges were sufficient to severely damage the tracks. Four-kg charges were enough to destroy medium tanks. Military engineers have been using explosives since the invention of gunpowder, working alongside front-line troops in extremely hazardous conditions. During World War I, to overcome the bloody stalemate of trench warfare, engineers dug tunnels under enemy positions, packed them with explosives, and detonated these "mines" in attempts to breach enemy lines. Although the Battle of the Somme opened with the explosion of two such mines, the most dramatic use occurred at Messines, Belgium, where 19 mines containing 470 long tons of explosives were simultaneously detonated, causing 16,000 dead or missing German casualties and demolishing huge sections of German trenches and fortifications. The more fluid nature of warfare in World War II meant that demolition explosives would play a much smaller role, although German paratroopers used regular explosives and shaped charges to spectacular effect in their assault on the fortress of Eben Emael in Belgium. Here, a small, highly trained units landed in gliders on the fortress and neutralized the fortress guns that guarded a key approach to be used by the German army at the start of the Blitzkrieg in 1940. Demolitions were also used to clear anti-tank obstacles or barbed wire ahead of an assault. In a defensive role, demolitions could be used to destroy bridges or military installations, especially ports, to slow an advancing army. Much of the skill in using explosives comes from knowing where and how to place them. To destroy hardened structures, a charge has to have its blast directed inwards, towards the structure. If simply placed onto or next to the target, the majority of the explosive force is lost, as it is directed harmlessly away from the target and into the air. Tamping the explosives, typically with sandbags, is the answer to this problem. Heavy sandbags packed around the explosive charge concentrate the force of the explosion toward the target, vastly increasing its destructive potential. In World War II, satchels were sometimes used to carry or secure explosives. These were normally simply bags with handles, similar to briefcases used to carry documents. These "satchel charges" were made up in relative safety with a pre-determined amount of explosives, then carried to their target, placed carefully, and tamped - often under fire. The engineer could detonate the explosives with a safety fuse, with a flash fuse on a timer, or with an electric charge sent through wires from a plunger or twist generator operated from a safe distance. The explosive force and weight of a infantry-borne explosive charges can range from 100 g (3.5 oz) to several kilograms of explosive. German troops often used six stick-grenade heads secured around a seventh, which they colloquially called the Geballte Ladung (clenched charge), confusingly the same name officially applied to standard demolitions TNT containers. The seven grenades combined to supply 1.155 kg (2.55 lb) of TNT. Using a satchel charge against enemy armour was a hit-or-miss affair. The soldier would try to toss the satchel charge onto or under the tank from very close range. In order to be vulnerable to such an attack, the tank would usually have to be slowed or halted or have its maneuverability reduced by obstacles or terrain such as an urban setting. Targeting the engine deck was effective as blast and/or hot gases could pass through the cooling grills and enter the engine compartment, where fuel fumes might ignite. Such a result would most likely destroy the engine and the fire could detonate on-board ammunition and brew up the tank. Lucky hits aside, satchel charges proved most effective against tank tracks. Placed in or under the track, they would break the track and probably damage running gear. In most cases, these immobilized tanks retained their armament, becoming, in effect, pillboxes. If a satchel landed anywhere else on the tank, it would have little chance of doing serious damage - perhaps minor fittings, aerials, and the like might be destroyed. With luck, a sub-optimally placed satchel charge might produce spall inside a tank, concuss the crew, or injure someone directly opposite the detonation point. If a charge exploded on top of a hatch, it might blow the hatch open, allowing a soldier to drop a grenade into the tank. During the Winter War, Finnish General Headquarters studied the effectiveness of its anti-tank kasapanos (piled charge). It noted in February 1940 that 1.0-2.0 kg (2.2-4.4 lb) of TNT was sufficient to sever the track of a tank if blown under or next to the track. A charge of 2.0 kg (4.4 lb) could destroy vehicles of around 6 tonnes, 3.0 kg (6.6 lb) was sufficient to destroy 12-tonne vehicles, and 4.0 kg (8.8 lb) was sufficient for 30-tonne vehicles such as the Soviet T-28 medium tank. According to the Finns, 6.0 kg (13.2 lb) of explosives was powerful enough to knock out any Soviet tank of 1940 vintage, provided a soldier could get close enough to place it where it could do damage, on the tank's rear deck. Destroying a tank with a satchel charge any other way was extremely difficult, as the charge could not be tamped and so much of the explosive force was lost. Some success was scored by soldiers who lay in trenches and allowed a tank to pass overhead, then secured explosives to the weaker underside armour of the tank with adhesive. When this worked, it would incapacitate the crew with over-pressurisation rather than disable the tank itself. Despite whatever theoretical effectiveness explosive charges had in stopping armoured vehicles, they had many disadvantages. In general, high explosives were confined to engineering stores. Soldiers had to be trained in their use and bricks of TNT (or the equivalent) were not standard infantry issue. Furthermore, the attacker needed to just about crawl on top or beneath an enemy tank to make an attack. Because of these drawbacks, and limited opportunities, successes against tanks rarely occurred. Until the introduction of infantry anti-tank weapons such as the Panzerfaust (tank fist), PIAT (Projector Infantry Anti Tank), and bazooka, anti-armour defence depended on crewed anti-tank guns. Using a satchel charge to take out a tank was a desperate move forced by the absence of more effective anti-tank weapons. Satchel charges were not the only improvised anti-tank weapons. Molotov cocktails, which contained petrol, a thickener, and a fuse, and other fire-based weapons could succeed if they set the vehicle's engine afire or somehow found their way into the fighting compartment. "Military Training Pamphlet No. 42: Tank Hunting and Destruction", a British Army publication produced in August 1940, included even more desperate measures. It suggests that a team of four can take out tanks with a length of railway track, a blanket, a bucket of petrol, and matches. The team was to hide in an alleyway or alongside a house where the tank is expected to pass. Two men hold the railway track with the blanket draped over it. As the tank passes the hiding place, these two run out and jam the railway track into the tank's suspension. The third man throws the bucket of petrol over the blanket, now entangled in the track, and the fourth sets it on fire. Another plan from that booklet is for a single man with a hammer and hand grenade to station himself near the expected route of a tank. When the tank passes, the man is to jump onto the passing tank and pound on the turret hatch with the hammer. When the tank commander opens the hatch to find out what is going on, the attacker is to drop the hand grenade inside. There is no record of these tactics ever being attempted. At the start of World War II, all countries had standard demolitions explosives. Great Britain used guncotton, which was issued in tin cases containing 14 1.0-lb (0.45-kg) slabs in the explosive's wet form for demolitions purposes and in boxes of six tin tubes that each contained ten primers in the dry form for detonators, and ammonal, a less violent explosive that was issued in tins of 2.5, 25, and 50 lb (1.1, 11, and 22.7 kg). Germany's Geballte Ladung, TNT contained in a watertight zinc container, was issued in standard sizes of 1.0, 3.0, and 10.0 kg (2.2 lb. 6.6 lb, and 22.0 lb) although other, smaller 100-g (3.5-oz) and 200-g (7.1 oz) charges existed for specialized work. As the war progressed, more powerful explosives developed. The Allies developed RDX (Research Department Explosive) which was later used as the base of plastic explosive and which was also used to fill the blockbuster aerial bombs. Germany developed aluminised explosives that greatly increased the temperature of detonation (and thus blast effect) and eliminated the need for an incendiary component in their cannon Minengeschoss (mine projectile), and Nipolit, an explosive of high mechanical strength that could be cut, shaped, or milled like hard plastic. The Allied Bangalore Torpedo and the German Rohrladung (tubing charge) were small-diameter tubes filled with explosive that were used to clear barbed wire. Several tubes could be clipped together end to end, then pushed under the wire and detonated to clear a path through the wire obstacle. The Munroe effect of a shaped charge - producing a supersonic blast of gas and molten metal - was well known and employed by all combatants early in the war. Great Britain and France had effective anti-tank rifle grenades in 1940 and German refinements led to the Hafthohlladung (detention hollow charge), a magnetically attached anti-tank weapon that ranged in size from 2-10 kg (4.4-22 lb), in 1942. The Hafthohlladung could also be attached to a concrete blockhouse by a length of chain to blast a hole through the wall. Another version of this was the Abstandsladung (spacer charge) H15, which was fitted with folding legs and was used for attacking armour plate and reinforced concrete in static defences. Great Britain developed three types of shaped charges: the Beehive Charge that was used for burning holes through concrete or armour plate, etc; the Hayrick Charge, a linear charge that was used for cutting the reinforcing bars in concrete, etc; and the arched or General Wade Charge, which was an arched linear charge that would give a combined cutting and pressure effect. As the war progressed, ranged shaped-charge weapons such as the US bazooka, the British PIAT, and the German Panzerfaust evolved. Germany developed a series of remotely controlled vehicles that could deliver an explosive charge under fire, and the British produced the Gammon grenade, basically a grenade whose explosive filling could be added as and when required, and developed HESH (High Explosive Squash Head) for use against fortifications, although it today serves as the UK's preferred anti-armour round.
What did the soldiers in the Civil War sleep on?
During most of the war, during the warm months they slept on the ground. The warm months, from about April to December, were "campaigning season", and the armies would maneuver and fight battles. This meant the soldiers frequently walked or fought all day. If a battle lasted several days they "slept on the field", as best they could, amidst the dead and the wounded, who frequently screamed until they too died. Many men would spend the night, searching, shining the light of a borrowed lantern into the faces of the fallen, looking for missing friends or relatives. Sleeping on the battlefield was also called "sleeping on our arms", arms being weapons. The point was to be ready to resume the fight as soon as it was light enough to see. Men were often so exhausted by the exertions of marching and fighting that they did manage to sleep on the battlefield, despite the horrors. Many men went off to war in the first months with a ridiculous amount of equipment. Often this included tents and camp cots. As the action heated up and moving became more common, and needed to be done quickly, men soon learned they had to discard most of this paraphernalia, whether reluctantly or gladly. One day the tents would be loaded in a quartermaster wagon and driven off, and they might not ever see them again, or if they did, it would be when the armies went into "winter quarters" to ride out the cold months before campaigning season came again. By 1862 most soldiers were down to their rifle, bayonet, cap box (for percussion caps to make the rifle go off when the trigger was pulled), and their forty rounds of ammunition (40 "bullets"), which was what most men usually were issued. If heavy fighting was expected, they might be issued sixty. Some men had a cartridge box, worn on the belt like the cap box, to hold this ammunition. If they had no cartridge box they distributed it in their pockets. They carried a rucksack, slung on a strap over one shoulder, to carry food in and any few personal items they were still trying to keep with them. And they had a blanket roll. This was one blanket, sometimes two if the soldier was lucky, and if he was very fortunate an oilcloth the same size as the blankets. You put the oilcloth on the ground to keep out moisture. You might get with a buddy, if everybody just had one blanket, and use one blanket over the oilcloth (or on the ground it they had no oilcloth) and one to cover up with. There was nothing sexual about this. People at home and even in hotels slept as many to a bed as could fit, and in hotels these would be strangers. In the morning the soldiers rolled up their blanket(s) (and oilcloth, if any) from the foot until they had just a long roll, then folded that in the middle and tied the two ends together with a piece of string. They put this over the other shoulder from their rucksack, and they were packed and ready to go.
A cloth draped over a coffin?
A cloth draped over a coffin is called a pall. This is why the six men who walk beside a coffin (and who carry the coffin if necessary) are called pallbearers.
Who qualifies to have an American flag draped over their casket?
Military, presidents, and former presidents for sure. The law does not forbid anyone from draping the flag over a coffin.
What does it represent when a flag is draped on a coffin when a president dies?
That they were apart of America
Where did the name paulbearers come from?
A pall is the cloth draped over a coffin From that we get pallbearer, the person who holds up the coffin that the pall covers.
What role does the US flag play when you honor people who have died?
The US flag is usually draped over the coffin of a deceased who has served the country (Those who served in military, president, ect). before lowering the coffin for burial, the flag is folded and given to the closest kin of the deceased.
Why does the US Military refuse to present a same-sex spouse with the folded flag that was draped on the servicemember's coffin at a military funeral?
This policy has changed effective February 11, 2013. A same-sex widow or widower is now eligible to receive presentation of the flag of the United States.
Were German soldiers buried with a swastika?
Yes, if a Nazi soldier or Waffen-SS was killed in action and received his full military honors, he would be buried with a Nazi Flag (featuring the Swastika) draped over his coffin, much like fallen American soldiers.
What was Dimitri Mendeleev buried with?
When Dmitri Mendeleev died, they draped a copy of the periodic table over the coffin and buried it with him. Mendeleev was born in 1834 and died in 1907.
What is Draped bodice?
A draped bodicve is when the bustline has extra material draped over it.
How do you use the word draped in a sentence?
The curtain was draped over the body.He draped the cover over the chair.
What is draping?
A draped bodicve is when the bustline has extra material draped over it.
What is bodices?
A draped bodicve is when the bustline has extra material draped over it.
