St. Maximos' Hut

Don Kates, one of the preeminent experts on Second Amendment law, periodically sends out emails with interesting historical information with some connection to self-defense, weapons, etc. He recently send along a discussion of the difference between Allied and Axis ammunition in World War II, noting that historian Stephen Ambrose had found in post-war interviews that many of his interview subjects among the Allied forces had experienced being hit by dud German ammunition, while no German forces recalled being hit by dud Allied ammunition.

Don also recounted another episode he found in a memoir:

A Spitfire limped back to base having suffered and survived numerous hits from a German fighter plane. Upon examining it the repair crew found an unexploded German shell stuck inside. Upon opening it they found the shell full of sand rather than explosives and a note which read (in Czech) "This is all I can do for you now. May God bless and preserve you."

The reason for the difference? Don wrote:

British and American arms factories were staffed by the daughters and mothers, wives and sisters of British and American soldiers. These women took care to preserve the lives of their loved ones – and Germans died because of it. German arms factories were full of slave laborers who had no reason to take such care and every reason not to – and so American soldiers lived to tell the tale.

Don's conclusion: "The lesson is that love is a better motivator than terror."

This seemed like the perfect thought with which to begin the new year!

Happy New Year.