at the 6:00 mark, Henry mentions a records fire. The 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis destroyed something like 18 million records from WWI and WWII, mostly army personnel from years when the largest number of American served in the military in US history. It was really a tragic loss of information and still serves as a case study in what not to do in archiving.
Mark if you're still looking for information on this piece, I'd recommend contacting the US Air Force Museum's archive department. They may be able to help figure out who the other gentleman is.
I guess it could be used in an anti-aircraft role too with the wood and cloth planes. Something like the naval battle scene in Ben Hur(1959), flares going everywhere.
There are a few of those lying around in South Africa. They are also made of Aluminum. We used to make a chamber and barrel shroud and shot shotgun shells through them.
Theyre not kidding about the expense of Aluminum prior to the 1930s when cheaper refining became common - it used to be considered a semi precious metal, and aluminum rings and other jewelry still pops up with semi regularity on the antiques market.
I didn't think actual history was allowed in universities anymore, what a fantastic provenance, and Professor Henry provides evidence that not everyone in academia is a muckle header dunder bliff
Really cool video, history and gun smithing all at the same time. Had a WW II brass flare gun at one time that could shoot 12 gauge shells but even as kids we were smart enough NOT to do that.
Hail the Astartes' Derringer! A backup one-shot bolter to send the offending Xenos, Heretic, or Mutant back into the Immaterium. The Emperor says "Bring enough gun!"
Wow! What an amazing piece of history. Thank you for this posting. Mark, you always have the coolest videos. Between you, Othias and Mae I always learn something. Every day I learn is a good day.
Love learning the history of these weapons. Wish I had the history of my M1. It is a July 1943 Winchester, one of the 30k that had duplicate SN's with Springfield's. Who knows what stories it may have. Would love to find it Springfield brothers SN. Thanks very much for sharing, truly enjoy your skilled craftsmanship and the detailed descriptions of the work.
Being underprepared was an understatement. Before the US starting ramping up it's forces for WW1, there were only somewhat over 300,000 personnel in total among ALL of the military forces of the US, which included the Navy, Marines, Coast Guard and Army.
Before you elaborated on the details i was thinking CSM stands for Company Sergeant Major which is the senior Non Commissioned Officer rank in a rifle company of most commonwealth armies. Not sure if you had that rank in the US military.
Command Sergeant Major is the US term. And is explicitly the seniormost NCO in the unit at that level. There's one at each level from battalion and up.
Gods! The gapping maw on that thing, and it's over-all shape are pure Yosemite Sam... With a brace of these you could go varmint hunting... look out Bugs... >_
The funny thing is the 'German' side in the Great War was known as the Triple Alliance, because in 1882 , Germany , Austro Hungary and Italy formed an Alliance that if one was attacked , the other two would go thier defence. Come 1914 and Italy decided, well you started it, so we don't want to play on your side. Though German forces did use flare pistols with too launch grenades as well.
According to "Wings of Honor - American Airmen in World War I" by James J. Sloan, Jr., which is a very comprehensive listing of American WWI pilots, Carl S. Milroy didn't get to Caproni unit 5a(IV) until October 30, 1918, less than two weeks before the Armistice. Unless he flew elsewhere first, he was not "one of the first U.S. combat bomber pilots." Several Americans were flying bombers as early as February 1918. But that was a fun bit of history sleuthing!
An alternate theory: The flare pistol was given to a shavetail, butterbar, knucklehead staff Lieutenant by his battalion's Command Sergeant Major (CSM), a grizzled and plainspoken man who had "acquired" the pistol in a card game. It was presented with the invocation, "Here sir,....Goldurnit! The next time you're lost, just pop a dang flare!"
Well... I see a future series in the making ... Mark decodes a gun's history in "This old Gat" :D
Must see tv wkwkwk
One of the best of Mark's pieces in ages. Henry was a great source of info, and very comfortable on camera. More with he and Mark, please.
This was a joy to watch. Fleshing out the facts with actual storytelling is what real history is all about. Thank you Mark and Henri!
that was down the rabbit hole SQUARED!!!!!!!!!
A professor in WWI History...now I want to go back to school. That’s awesome.
And thats what makes old guns fun, its not the guns, its the hands that held them and what they went through
I really enjoyed that little interlude. You guys work well together.
at the 6:00 mark, Henry mentions a records fire. The 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis destroyed something like 18 million records from WWI and WWII, mostly army personnel from years when the largest number of American served in the military in US history. It was really a tragic loss of information and still serves as a case study in what not to do in archiving.
Whoah! This video delivered much more than what I expected! Came for a cool gun, left with a great history lesson.
Every machine can tell us a story if we know how to read it. But that was an exceptionally cool story and a very nice artefact to tell it.
"the Bugatti guy next door", What a magical place, this shop of yours, Mister Novak.
Well worth the research, for sure. Fantastic
You do get some interesting relics in your shop.
Lovely story and a great bit of research.
This looks like it belongs in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Love the history!
unbelievable love this mark, your vids have taken a step up, please give us more
Mark said spooge. Made my day.
I just scrolled to the comments to post the same! Lmfao the dirt the mong, the spooge! Coming to a theater near you soon!
Navy term for generic nastiness.
the can to the left of the jar labled 'mung'
Holy shit dude, that was the most awesome thing I've seen in a while!!
Wonderful slice of history, Thanks for sharing.
Excellent information.Well done folks.
I really liked this one and loved the history and research that went into it. Thanks for taking the time sir.
Great bit of history , thank you for sharing that.
Mark is doing Adventures In Surplus now? Outstanding!
Thank y’all for this bit of history 👍👍👍 this is why I enjoy Mark’s channel 😎
Great research guys , wonderful history.
Mark if you're still looking for information on this piece, I'd recommend contacting the US Air Force Museum's archive department. They may be able to help figure out who the other gentleman is.
Love the videos that involve that kind of history lesson.
I guess it could be used in an anti-aircraft role too with the wood and cloth planes. Something like the naval battle scene in Ben Hur(1959), flares going everywhere.
That turned out to be much more interesting than I thought it would be
This was a great episode, hope you'll do more like this.
There are a few of those lying around in South Africa. They are also made of Aluminum. We used to make a chamber and barrel shroud and shot shotgun shells through them.
Genuinely very interesting.
Super cool story thanks Mark and Henri
Hopefully we will see the good professor again. He's interesting to listen to.
Theyre not kidding about the expense of Aluminum prior to the 1930s when cheaper refining became common - it used to be considered a semi precious metal, and aluminum rings and other jewelry still pops up with semi regularity on the antiques market.
I blinked and 8 minutes went by.
With an aluminum piece like that, would you use a wax finish to preserve and reduce the oxidation of the aluminum ?
Yes, and that is what we did.
No pilot dared to make a slip
For the Red Baron among them there had a big iron upon his cockpit
Big aluminum in his 'pit?
I didn't think actual history was allowed in universities anymore, what a fantastic provenance, and Professor Henry provides evidence that not everyone in academia is a muckle header dunder bliff
What an amazing piece of history!
This gun has class. Despite the dull appearance it has flair!
Oh Very good! See I can do it too !
Really cool video, history and gun smithing all at the same time. Had a WW II brass flare gun at one time that could shoot 12 gauge shells but even as kids we were smart enough NOT to do that.
What an interesting story to go with a neat piece of kit. Nicely done. :-)
That was a fantastic story thanks Mark
Hail the Astartes' Derringer! A backup one-shot bolter to send the offending Xenos, Heretic, or Mutant back into the Immaterium. The Emperor says "Bring enough gun!"
Wow! What an amazing piece of history. Thank you for this posting. Mark, you always have the coolest videos. Between you, Othias and Mae I always learn something. Every day I learn is a good day.
Love It! The history is what keeps me interested in old guns and gear.
Now that's a cool rabbit hole
You forgot the biggest question of All... DOES IT RUN?
Great video I always enjoy the information you give about these weapons systems
I feel a sudden urge to strap an engine to a large kite.
That was cool as snot. Outstanding research, and a bit of luck too.
Okay, that's cool as heck
soo cool. love yall for the work you all do. THANK YOU for sharing, and everything you do to preserve the sport and the history
Thats very cool! I once tracked down info on an antique outboard owned by a Dr., and a ukulele's original owner.
Billy Mitchell used that flare gun to get his record Pacman and Donkey Kong scores. Too bad it was illegal.
A WWI historian? Othias must be bending his ear on a regular basis. LOL
Oh no, Ian shaved his beard
Mark. We need bumper stickers "do the maintenance!"
OUTSTANDING!
Thank you for sharing Mark!
Now there's a negligent discharge you don't really want going off in your nice wood & fabric a/c - "Well, just put it out!" : )
*VERY COOL*
Thanks, guys!
"Pardon me, do you have a light for my cigar?"
"Why, yes, yes I do"
Hellboy wants his pocket pistol back.
Henry is cool!
My gosh who would have thought.....Thanks very much....My friend...Ky way...!
Love learning the history of these weapons. Wish I had the history of my M1. It is a July 1943 Winchester, one of the 30k that had duplicate SN's with Springfield's. Who knows what stories it may have. Would love to find it Springfield brothers SN. Thanks very much for sharing, truly enjoy your skilled craftsmanship and the detailed descriptions of the work.
Did you make a video of the conservation of that pretty unique flare gun Mark? If so can you put a link to it please?
Yes, I'm interested in how you conserve aluminum.
Awesome video - you gained a subscriber. Now I know about WW1 flare pistols. ;)
Great job!
I have no doubt that Mr Novak was disappointed that the items provenance was not submarine service.
That was really awesome
Ngl i expected csm to be Company Sargent Major
Command Sargent's Major is what I was thinking but the real answer is way cooler
quality content.
Great video!
Outstanding!
The History Guy would be one to get ahold of a video here. That would be pretty cool.
I see a meme in this some where, be sure to bring enough gun
Awesome backstory
Man, I bet this was a SPENDY piece of kit back in the day.
What a great video.
Cool piece great story.
Another great show indeed
It was awesome.
Very cool guys great video.
Being underprepared was an understatement. Before the US starting ramping up it's forces for WW1, there were only somewhat over 300,000 personnel in total among ALL of the military forces of the US, which included the Navy, Marines, Coast Guard and Army.
Before you elaborated on the details i was thinking CSM stands for Company Sergeant Major which is the senior Non Commissioned Officer rank in a rifle company of most commonwealth armies. Not sure if you had that rank in the US military.
Command Sergeant Major is the US term. And is explicitly the seniormost NCO in the unit at that level. There's one at each level from battalion and up.
Flippin' splendid.
Gods! The gapping maw on that thing, and it's over-all shape are pure Yosemite Sam... With a brace of these you could go varmint hunting... look out Bugs... >_
Always interesting to see what that shot in the dark nets you
The funny thing is the 'German' side in the Great War was known as the Triple Alliance, because in 1882 , Germany , Austro Hungary and Italy formed an Alliance that if one was attacked , the other two would go thier defence. Come 1914 and Italy decided, well you started it, so we don't want to play on your side. Though German forces did use flare pistols with too launch grenades as well.
That was great.
Really enjoyed that ! Do more ....please ,.....if you can haha
According to "Wings of Honor - American Airmen in World War I" by James J. Sloan, Jr., which is a very comprehensive listing of American WWI pilots, Carl S. Milroy didn't get to Caproni unit 5a(IV) until October 30, 1918, less than two weeks before the Armistice. Unless he flew elsewhere first, he was not "one of the first U.S. combat bomber pilots." Several Americans were flying bombers as early as February 1918. But that was a fun bit of history sleuthing!
Great find..
The next question is do we have any 35mm ammo????
An alternate theory: The flare pistol was given to a shavetail, butterbar, knucklehead staff Lieutenant by his battalion's Command Sergeant Major (CSM), a grizzled and plainspoken man who had "acquired" the pistol in a card game. It was presented with the invocation, "Here sir,....Goldurnit! The next time you're lost, just pop a dang flare!"
You have a flare for guns
Get out!
well that’s just cool