Khaki Posted 13 April , 2016 Share Posted 13 April , 2016 For your interest is a small display of flechettes that were deployed against ground troops by dropping from aircraft. khaki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancashire Fusilier Posted 13 April , 2016 Share Posted 13 April , 2016 khaki, A very nice collection of those nasty aerial weapons. Regards, LF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Davies Posted 13 April , 2016 Share Posted 13 April , 2016 How big are they Khaki? Edit: Please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khaki Posted 13 April , 2016 Author Share Posted 13 April , 2016 How big are they Khaki? Edit: Please. The smallest is about 3.25" and the longest is about 5.25" khaki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Davies Posted 13 April , 2016 Share Posted 13 April , 2016 Ta. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khaki Posted 13 April , 2016 Author Share Posted 13 April , 2016 khaki, A very nice collection of those nasty aerial weapons. Regards, LF Thanks LF, I don't know for how long they were used, but I believe that they were deadly and could penetrate a helmet. khaki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GWF1967 Posted 13 April , 2016 Share Posted 13 April , 2016 For your interest is a small display of flechettes that were deployed against ground troops by dropping from aircraft. khaki 0413161132.jpg Simple but nasty! Great to see several varieties together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khaki Posted 13 April , 2016 Author Share Posted 13 April , 2016 Thanks GWF, I have had those for such a long time I now have forgotten where I bought them, but I know they came as a loose set about 40 years ago and I mounted them on the display board, for 'effect' they hang just below a 'flight' of GW aircraft. I will try to get a photo of them. Silly old me. khki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brummell Posted 13 April , 2016 Share Posted 13 April , 2016 Interesting design to the third one - I would have thought there would be enough weight at the point to keep it 'nasty end down' without the fins...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khaki Posted 13 April , 2016 Author Share Posted 13 April , 2016 'Archies' open fire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khaki Posted 13 April , 2016 Author Share Posted 13 April , 2016 Interesting design to the third one - I would have thought there would be enough weight at the point to keep it 'nasty end down' without the fins...? That one is a bit odd as it is quite blunt compared to the others, I have see the design in a French military magazine, I recall accidently dropping one of the more pointed ones and it stuck in the floor from waist height. khaki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GWF1967 Posted 13 April , 2016 Share Posted 13 April , 2016 Thanks LF, I don't know for how long they were used, but I believe that they were deadly and could penetrate a helmet. khaki Quite believable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beechhill Posted 13 April , 2016 Share Posted 13 April , 2016 That one is a bit odd as it is quite blunt compared to the others, I have see the design in a French military magazine, I recall accidently dropping one of the more pointed ones and it stuck in the floor from waist height. khaki In that respect any shaping of the missile seems pointless (pardon the pun). Given they were launched from a moving platform against moving objects (albeit trenchwise restricted), quantity would be infinitely more effective than precision - a bucketful of heavy scrap metal would do the job better. My take on these medieval nasties is that they above all else served to further demoralise enemy troops on the ground. Heaven knows that a well aimed shrapnel round would wreak considerably more havoc. Still, a very nice display, and they do scare the... out of me. Thank you for sharing! /Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khaki Posted 13 April , 2016 Author Share Posted 13 April , 2016 Thanks Dan, Your very welcome, khaki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beechhill Posted 14 April , 2016 Share Posted 14 April , 2016 I may have underestimated the effect of the flechette. I stand humbly corrected (and a little affirmed) with this quote: "... the thrumming of the engine was heard. When it was right over our heads it let fly a rack full of steel darts and they came clattering down into the village streets. One stuck into the pavement in front of our quarters. It was so deeply imbedded that not a man in the company could pull it out. These steel darts were from eight inches to a foot long, cut so that they would fall point downward. Dozens of them were contained in a single rack [...] They would go through anything they hit, but they were found to be too inaccurate and not so economical as explosives". "The Black Watch" , Joe Cassells http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/33278 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc2 Posted 14 April , 2016 Share Posted 14 April , 2016 Thanks LF, I don't know for how long they were used, but I believe that they were deadly and could penetrate a helmet. khaki Not too long ago, I saw a display of these in the Military Museum in Brussels. The label stated that if dropped from high enough, not only could they penetrate a steel helmet, but could penetrate all the way through a horse (and presumably its rider). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trajan Posted 14 April , 2016 Share Posted 14 April , 2016 Are these in the 'Guest' bedroom??? Hope they are securely fixed! But, yes, I echo the comments on this being a nice display of some rather odd but interesting GW weaponry! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeyH Posted 14 April , 2016 Share Posted 14 April , 2016 I had a flechette many years ago, given to me by an elderly gentleman who had served in the Great War. From memory it was around 8" or 9" long, very slim without fins and with a pronounced 'waist' at the pointed end. Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GWF1967 Posted 14 April , 2016 Share Posted 14 April , 2016 I may have underestimated the effect of the flechette. I stand humbly corrected (and a little affirmed) with this quote: "... the thrumming of the engine was heard. When it was right over our heads it let fly a rack full of steel darts and they came clattering down into the village streets. One stuck into the pavement in front of our quarters. It was so deeply imbedded that not a man in the company could pull it out. These steel darts were from eight inches to a foot long, cut so that they would fall point downward. Dozens of them were contained in a single rack [...] They would go through anything they hit, but they were found to be too inaccurate and not so economical as explosives". "The Black Watch" , Joe Cassells http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/33278 I would have thought if one struck square on a man's helmet then they would be likely to find it in his boot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squirrel Posted 14 April , 2016 Share Posted 14 April , 2016 Were flechettes still in use by the time that steel helmets became general issue in 1916? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoppage Drill Posted 14 April , 2016 Share Posted 14 April , 2016 Thanks LF, I don't know for how long they were used, but I believe that they were deadly and could penetrate a helmet. khaki I think that they had fallen (sorry!) out of use before steel helmets were introduced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khaki Posted 14 April , 2016 Author Share Posted 14 April , 2016 I get the idea that designs were many and varied, did the British RFC ever use them ? khaki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
14276265 Posted 14 April , 2016 Share Posted 14 April , 2016 Herewith a British flechette, the design being registered in July 1915. Whether the type was used in anger is a good question. 265 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
free1954 Posted 16 May , 2016 Share Posted 16 May , 2016 nasty looking things. thanks for posting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 16 May , 2016 Share Posted 16 May , 2016 Are these in the 'Guest' bedroom??? Mother-in-law's Granny Annexe. Given they were launched from a moving platform against moving objects (albeit trenchwise restricted), /Dan I thought (and the extract you provide later tends to suggest) that they were intended for use against troops in the open. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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