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2011-02-20 -Obits-

RIP Mario Traverso, 94, The Last Cavalry Officer

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Posted by Anonymoose 2011-02-20 00:00|| || Front Page|| [2 views ] Top

#1

This is a re-enactment of an Australian Light Horse attack during WWI. But machine gunners on horseback such as the WWII Savoy Cavalry attack is definitely an interesting concept.

Posted by Snereger Lover of the Swedes3903 2011-02-20 00:54|| 2011-02-20 00:54|| Front Page Top

#2 I thought some of our SpecOps were fighting from horse back in the early days of Afghanistan?

Posted by Water Modem 2011-02-20 01:34|| 2011-02-20 01:34|| Front Page Top

#3 Indeed they were. Met by General Rashid Dostum upon arrival. Doug Stanton's book "Horse Soldiers" while taking some liberties, provides a fairly accurate account.

Posted by Besoeker 2011-02-20 01:38|| 2011-02-20 01:38|| Front Page Top

#4 They're not cavalry, they're mounted infantry.

Posted by g(r)omgoru 2011-02-20 03:09|| 2011-02-20 03:09|| Front Page Top

#5 g(r)omgoru or grom goru = Gore Mountain

Cavalry (from French cavalerie, cf. cheval 'horse') were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest (after infantry and chariotry) and the most mobile of the combat arms. A soldier in the cavalry is known by a number of designations such as cavalryman or trooper.

The designation of cavalry was not usually given to any military force that used other animals, such as camels or mules. Infantry who moved on horseback, but dismounted to fight on foot, were known in the 17th and early 18th centuries as dragoons, a class of mounted troops which later evolved into cavalry proper while retaining their historic title.

A Victory but nearly 60,000 Italian POWs died in Nazi labour camps, while nearly 20,000 perished in Allied Prisoner of War camps (mainly Russian: 1/4 of the 84,830 Italians officially lost in the Soviet Union were taken prisoners, and most of them never returned home).

Posted by Goodluck 2011-02-20 04:12|| 2011-02-20 04:12|| Front Page Top

#6 Goodluck.
(a) I was talking about USSF, not italiants.
(b) Those who fight on foot are infantry---whether they use horses, APC, or planes (paratropers) for a ride. Those who fight of the back of a horse, or camel, or elephant, or from inside a tank are cavalry.
(c) Look up hobelar before you invoke dragoons.
(d) The term "gromgoru" comes from a SF book.

Posted by g(r)omgoru 2011-02-20 08:15|| 2011-02-20 08:15|| Front Page Top

#7 I laugh and am joyous with you G(r)omgoro, we learn much on Rantburg. Fill your cup, and toast the passing of Mario Traverso, may he find peace, for the likes of him shall never pass this way again.

The Laughing Cavalier 1624

Posted by Goodluck 2011-02-20 10:37|| 2011-02-20 10:37|| Front Page Top

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