Teatus Andronicus

Yes, A Little Obscure -
 - but it's still Shakespeare, nicht war?  After 'Titus Andronicus' and no, I have no idea what it's about.  Someone who suffers extensive hardships and then dies, I imagine, as that seems to be common to all Shakespeare's works.  Except "A Midsummer Night's Dream" where a bottom undergoes mutation into an ass?  Have I got that right?  I'm not entirely sure - "ass" being South Canadian slang, and I don't think it had quite developed in Windbag Willie's time.

I appear to have amused someone

     Well, who the heck cares.  It's all dust and nonsense anyway*.  
     I have noticed, FYI, that BOOJUM1s traffic figures of late have been increasing beyond the norm.  "Isn't that widely regarded amongst bloggers as a good thing?" I hear your instant response.
     Yes, if it's a genuine increase.  Last November the traffic stats suddenly went through the roof and multiplied to between five and nine times the normal.  Come May 2017 they dropped back to more realistic totals, which makes your modest artisan a tad apprehensive about these latest increases.
     With all that technical detail out of the way, let the motley out into the traffic, blindfolded**!

Mister Vicker's Slayer Of Thousands
I refer, of course, to the Vickers machine gun, because it crops up as an essential item in the 6th MG Company war diary that I am reading.  Contrary to myth, these chaps spent most of September 1917 out of the line in training or billets, before returning to take part in the Battle of Passchendaele.  Their rest over, they went into action with a vengeance and the war diary lists tens of thousands of rounds being fired in response to SOS sent from frontline troops (the MG company being situated somewhat behind the front lines), on indirect fire on "the usual targets" and harassing nightly fire on possible approach routes.
     Here's an illustration of one of these beasts with supporting paraphernalia.  Art?

Up for sale

     This is the gun and kit that Ian MCullom of Forgotten Weapons is putting up for auction.  Note the brown box at middle right: this is an ammunition box that held a belt of 250 rounds, and in order to supply the guns these would have to be carried forward by parties of MG soldiers, or attached infantry.  They might get up close to the front lines by virtue of telepherage or a Decauville railway, but the last stretch would require men humping these weighty objects by main force.  "10,000 rounds of SAA carried" forward is a frequent notation.  Do the maths - that means 40 boxes of ammo, each of which came in at 22 pounds - 2/5 of a ton.

A Decauville in operation

Enough of matters martial!  Let us instead move on to LITHIU - oh, wait, no, let's not.  Er - how about - banning the bomb?

So - You Want To Ban The Bomb? 
This is a case of alliteration being the enemy of accuracy.  The bomb here refers to the nuclear variant, and neglects the missile, the artillery shell, the depth charge, the mortar bomb, the torpedo and the land-mine.  Yes, Vulnavia, all of those weapons have had a nuclear version.  Only the Sinisters had a nuclear mortar bomb, for one of their enormous artillery-piece mortars - typical Sinister gigantomania, it was the biggest mortar in the modern military with a 9.4" calibre.
     Anyway, that's getting off-track***.  You want to ban the bomb.  Let us imagine that Dorothy and Gandalf indulge us with their wand and magic red shoes (in that order - they had swapped for the day, just for a change) and Hay Pesto!  All the foofoodillies in the world magically disappear.

Our unlikely saviour

     Okay.  Now - oh, the Sulky Fat Lad just keeled over dead from shock and horror.  Yeah, having your country eat grass for sixty years to no point can do that.  The issue now, is how do you keep the genie in the bottle?  The world knows you can build nuclear and thermonuclear weapons, so how do you stop these arsenals from being rebuilt?
     Tricky problem, eh?
     Since we're nearly at count, I shall revisit this concept later today.

Oh, by the way, I checked out Titus Andronicus and - I was right.  A whole lot of bloodletting and violence with hardly any of the cast left standing by the end.  "Elizabethan Snuff", you might call it.


*  Yes it IS.  Because I say so.
**  Let us be clear: it's the traffic that's blindfolded, not the motley, so it can dodge.
***  Occupational hazard here.  Get used to it.