[TML] Molding Ships

[Leon Wu]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: tml-bounces at travellercentral.com [mailto:tml-
> bounces at travellercentral.com] On Behalf Of Stephen Tempest
> Sent: Tuesday, October 02, 2007 2:16 PM
> To: The Traveller Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [TML] Molding Ships
> 
> I'm not sure that airdropped napalm would be all that effective
> against men sheltered below ground level in trenches. If the aircraft
> got a direct hit then you'd kill the men in one particular bay of the
> trench. No more. In other words, apart from the terror factor, not
> really any more effective than an artillery bombardment.
> 
> And even if you blew a huge hole in the trench line, you've still got
> to feed through men advancing on foot across torn-up muddy ground,
> when the defender can bring up their own reinforcements by rail and
> intact roads.
> 
> A single small-scale technological innovation was not going to affect
> the course of WW1 that dramatically, in my opinion.
> 
> Not to mention that I'd not fancy trying to fly a string and canvas
> WW1 biplane with a huge tank of napalm slung underneath...
> 
> Stephen

Good point. There were many breakthroughs in trench warfare but usually
never exploited because the following waves would get bogged down and
attrited trying to cross no-man's land.