The Devil's Paintbrush

Still from the BBC Documentary, Somme -From Defeat to Victory

"A steam-harsh noise filled the air. I knew what that was: machine gun bullets, each faster than sound, with its hiss and its air crack arriving almost simultaneously, many scores of thousands of bullets. When men were hit some seem to pause, with bowed heads, and sink carefully to their knees, and roll slowly over, and lie still. Others roll and roll, and scream and grip my legs in utmost fear, and I have to struggle to break away."

--Henry Williamson commenting on his experience at the Battle of the Somme, July 1, 1916, excerpted from Smithsonian, July/August 2016

An MG08 with wood stock

The machine gun the Germans used to devastating effect, the MG08, was nicknamed the Devil's Paintbrush. It fired up to 500 rounds per minute and could kill a man at 2000 yards and still be effective at 4000 yards.


"The English came walking as though they were going to the theatre or were on a parade ground."

--Paul Scheyet, 109th Reserve Infantry Regiment

While there are many great things that have been created by Western Civilization, it is not without its past sins either. One of the worst things generated by the West's love of technology and nationalism is it's efficient capability of slaughtering its own.