Re: Interesting History Behind BF1 Weapon Skin Names?

Maschinenpistole M1912/P.16 skins:
Legendary: Schoenberg, The Tyrolean
Distinguished: Major Fuchs, Standschützen

Major Fuchs skin for Maschinenpistole M1912/P.16 (http://firearms.96.lt/pages/Steyr_M.12_P16.html): This weapon was reportedly commissioned at the end of 1915 and developed at the Österreichische Waffenfabriksgesellschaft under the direction of Major Franz Xaver Fuchs, commander of Standschützen-Bataillon Innsbruck II (reference to the Maschinenpistole M1912/P.16's Standschützen skin). Major Fuchs was, curiously, a painter by trade, not an engineer. Prior to the war, he tutored at the Franziskanergymnasium in Tyrol. Interestingly, another Standschützen officer - one Herr Hellriegel - also developed a submachine gun-type weapon that was tested in Tyrol (reference to the Hellriegel 1915's Tyrol skin) in late 1915, implying that there was some interest in machine-pistols and SMGs within Tyrolean Standschützen regiments in particular. The exact reason for this is not entirely known although it is likely that they realized from an early date that light automatic weapons would be required in an alpine conflict with Italy. By February 1916, a batch of 50 prototypes were delivered for field trials and were issued to Major Fuchs' battalion. This was somewhat remedied in the full production model, which extended the internal magazine to 16 rounds - an improvement, but still less than ideal. Topping off the magazine, either by feeding two 8- round clips or manually loading each cartridge by hand, was also slow and cumbersome compared to a detachable magazine feed. It is because of this extended magazine that the weapon earned its "P16" suffix, standing for Patrone 16 ("16 cartridges") - contrary to some reports, "P16" is not in reference to the year 1916. After a successful trial phase, the M.12/P16 was accepted into service, reportedly with an order of some 5,000 units being placed. They were issued exclusively on the Italian Front, to bolster the firepower of Tyrolean (reference to the Maschinenpistole M1912/P.16's The Tyrolean skin) regiments fighting in the Alps.

Standschützen skin for Maschinenpistole M1912/P.16 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standsch%C3%BCtzen): The Standschützen (singular: Standschütze) were originally rifle guilds and rifle companies that had been formed in the 15th and 16th centuries, and were involved time and again in military operations within the borders of the Austrian County of Tyrol (reference to the Maschinenpistole M1912/P.16's The Tyrolean skin). A Standschütze was a member of a Schützenstand ("shooting club"), into which he was enrolled, which automatically committed him to the voluntary, military protection of the state of Tyrol (and Vorarlberg). In effect they were a type of Tyrolean local militia or home guard. Following the mobilization order issued by Emperor Franz Joseph I (reference to the Frommer Stop Pistol's The Emperor skin) on Tue 18 May 1915, 39 German Tyrolese rifle battalions and 2 independent rifle companies, 6 Vorarlberg battalions, 4 Welsch Tyrolese battalions and 41 Welsch Tyrolese rifle companies were formed. Although the Standschützen were used almost exclusively to defend the Tyrol against the frequent Italian attacks, they also participated in attacks against Italy. In addition to trench warfare they also conducted patrols and reconnaissance operations. Their other main task was in the construction and repair of defensive works: they built defensive positions, accommodation, caverns and barbed wire barriers, and assisted in repairing damaged fortifications. They were also used to transport supplies, as stretcher bearers and on guard duties. In the early weeks the Standschützen were asked to defend the Tyrolean front on their own. Despite that, these weak forces were sufficient to withstand the Italian attacks, as the Italian leadership could not believe that the border stood virtually unprotected. Only later did regular troops and soldiers of the German Alpine Corps, the Kaiserschützen (reference to the M1914 Taschenpistol's Kaiserschützen skin) and Kaiserjäger (reference to Repetierpistole M1912's The Kaiserjäger skin) arrive.

The Tyrolean skin for Maschinenpistole M1912/P.16 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Tyrol): The history of Tyrol, a historical region in the middle alpine area of Central Europe, dates back to early human settlements at the end of the last glacier period, around 12,000 BC. Crownland of Tyrol: Tyrol remained divided under Bavarian and Italian authority for another four years, before its reunification and return to Austria following the decisions at the Congress of Vienna in 1814. Integrated into the Austrian Empire, from 1867 onwards, it was a Kronland (Crown Land) of Cisleithania, the western half of Austria-Hungary. On the eve of World War I, the southern part of the Austrian crown land of Tyrol was populated mainly by Italian speakers (the so-called Welschtirol, or Trentino). Its border coincided with the present-day border between South Tyrol and Trentino, crossing the Adige valley at Salorno (Chiusa di Salorno/Salurner Klause). The existence of areas largely populated by Italian-speaking populations under the rule of the Austrian Empire was a constant cause of friction between Austria and Italy, a national state set on the unification of all Italians. War against the Austro-Hungarian Empire was declared May 24, 1915. This put Tyrol on the front line, which passed through some of the highest mountains in the Alps. The ensuing front became known as the "War in ice and snow", as troops occupied the highest mountains and glaciers all year long. One hundred and twenty metres (390 feet) of snow were common during the winter of 1915–16, and tens of thousands of soldiers disappeared in avalanches. The remains of these soldiers are still being uncovered today. The Italian Alpini, their Austrian counterparts (Kaiserjäger, Standschützen and Landesschützen), and the German Alpenkorps occupied every hill and mountain top. They began carving extensive fortifications and military quarters, even drilling tunnels inside the mountains and deep into glaciers, like at Marmolada (reference to the Bodeo 1889 Revolver's Marmolada skin). After World War I: The Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye of 1919 ruled that, according to the Treaty of London, the southern part of Tyrol had to be ceded to the Kingdom of Italy. Italy's border was pushed northward to the strategically important Alpine water divide, including present-day South Tyrol with its large German-speaking majority. The northern part of Tyrol was retained by the First Austrian Republic.

Schoenberg skin for Maschinenpistole M1912/P.16 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_Schoenberg): Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (13 September 1874 – 13 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art, and leader of the Second Viennese School. As a Jewish composer, Schoenberg was targeted by the Nazi Party, which labeled his works as degenerate music and forbade them from being published. He emigrated to the United States in 1933, becoming an American citizen in 1941. Schoenberg's approach, both in terms of harmony and development, has shaped much of 20th-century musical thought. Many composers from at least three generations have consciously extended his thinking, whereas others have passionately reacted against it. Schoenberg's archival legacy is collected at the Arnold Schönberg Center in Vienna. https://interlude.hk/wwi-composers-elgar-schoenberg-holst/ Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) was called up to serve in the First World War at the age of 42! A rather humorous anecdote reports that an officer demanded to know if “he was this notorious Schoenberg.” Supposedly the composer replied, “Beg to report, sir, yes. Nobody wanted to be, someone had to be, so I let it be me.” Schoenberg was drafted in 1915, and after being trained as a reserve officer, he carried out his military duties as a musician in a military ensemble.

Perino Model 1908 skins:
Legendary: The Kopparhed, Monte Ortigara, Pozzuolo
Distinguished: Capo, Terni

Terni skin for Perino Model 1908 (https://guns.fandom.com/wiki/Perino_Model_1908): The Perino Model 1908 was an early Italian machine gun designed by Giuseppe Perino and produced by Fabbrica d'Armi di Terni. Designed in 1901 by an Italian officer, Giuseppe Perino, the Perino was designed to fulfill the Royal Italian Army's request for a domestically-produced machine gun. The Perino was then trialed against two other machine guns in 1903; the Maxim and a prototype by Bergmann; the outcome was decided in 1906 when the Maxim was adopted by said Army. Perino later resubmitted his weapon again to another trial, with much better results; Perino's design outperformed its contemporaries during that trial. Despite the adoption of the Maxim during that time, to promote domestic production, the Royal Italian Army approved production of the Perino at Fabbrica d'Armi di Terni. https://www.erih.net/i-want-to-go-there/site/terni-armaments-museum Terni Armaments Museum: Terni became an important industrial city in the late nineteenth century with waterpower from the River Nera. The Terni arms factory was begun by the government in 1875 and opened in 1880 in an impressive group of classical buildings around avenues and an internal waterpower canal for turbines. It specialised in making rifles. In 1918 it employed over 7,000 workers. The complex of historic buildings is very large and located on the edge of the city centre. The museum is in one of the historic buildings of the factory. It displays hundreds of hand guns, rifles, swords and other weapons in glass cases. It also shows some field guns and missiles. There are examples of equipment for making and testing arms.

Monte Ortigara skin for Perino Model 1908 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Ortigara): Mount Ortigara (2,105 m, 6,906 ft) is one of the peaks, about 2,000 m (6,000 feet) tall, which delimit to the north the Seven Municipalities Plateau (in Italian: Altipiano dei Sette Comuni), falling sheer on the underlying Sugana Valley with a jump of over 1,500 meters (4,500 feet). In World War I, it became the theatre of fierce fighting (which became known as the Battle of Mount Ortigara) between Italians and Austro-Hungarians, both of whom fell by the thousand trying to conquer its summit. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mount_Ortigara The Battle of Mount Ortigara was fought from 10 to 25 June 1917 between the Italian and Austro-Hungarian armies for possession of Mount Ortigara, in the Asiago Plateau. The battle was prepared with considerable means (300,000 men with 1,600 artillery guns) concentrated on a short segment of the front just a few kilometers long. However, although the Italians enjoyed a 3-to-1 numeric superiority in both men and guns, as they faced 100,000 Austro-Hungarians with 500 guns, the attack still presented several problems. The attack began on 10 June and after fierce and bloody fighting, the Italian 52nd Alpine Division managed to capture the top of Mount Ortigara. The Austro-Hungarian command promptly sent many trained reinforcements. On 25 June, the 11 Italian battalions guarding the summit were attacked by Austro-Hungarian shock troops which retook it, the strenuous Italian resistance notwithstanding. The 52nd Division alone suffered about half the Italian casualties. General Ettore Mambretti, commander of the Sixth Army, was considered responsible for the heavy casualties and removed from command.

Capo skin for Perino Model 1908 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luigi_Cadorna): Marshal of Italy Luigi Cadorna (4 September 1850 – 21 December 1928) was an Italian general, Marshal of Italy and Count, most famous for being the Chief of Staff of the Italian Army from 1914–1917 of World War I. During this period he acquired a reputation for harsh treatment of his troops combined with rigidly unimaginative tactics. Following the Caperetto (reference to the Frommer Stop Pistol's Caporetto skin) defeat in late 1917 Cadorna was relieved as Chief of Staff. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Caporetto The Battle of Caporetto (also known as the Twelfth Battle of the Isonzo, reference to the Automatico M1918's Isonzo skin, the Battle of Kobarid or the Battle of Karfreit) was a battle on the Italian front of World War I. The battle was fought between the Kingdom of Italy and the Central Powers and took place from 24 October to 19 November 1917, near the town of Kobarid (now in north-western Slovenia, then part of the Austrian Littoral). Austro-Hungarian forces, reinforced by German units, were able to break into the Italian front line and rout the Italian forces opposing them. The battle was a demonstration of the effectiveness of the use of stormtroopers and the infiltration tactics developed in part by Oskar von Hutier (reference to the MP 18's The Hutier skin). The rest of the Italian Army retreated 150 kilometres (93 mi) to the Piave River (reference to the Cei-Rigotti's The Piave skin), its effective strength declined from 1,800,000 troops down to 1,000,000 and the government of Paolo Boselli collapsed. https://networks.h-net.org/node/8954274 Il Capo. La Grande Guerra del generale Luigi Cadorna by Marco Mondini. While early works on Luigi Cadorna tended to be either highly hagiographical or influenced by the Fascism-inspired nationalist narrative that wished to attenuate the polemics on Caporetto and portrayed both Cadorna and his successor, Armando Diaz (reference to the Modello 1915 Pistol's Diaz skin), as demiurges of Italy’s final victory in the First World War, the first author to produce a critical biography of the Generalissimo was Gianni Rocca. Rocca’s work opened the path to an entirely different interpretation of Cadorna’s personality, professional skills, and style of command. In the last thirty years, most studies on the First World War judged Cadorna (“Il Capo,” as his subordinates called him) as an unimaginative commander who stubbornly depleted his infantry units by mounting repeated frontal attacks against well-entrenched Austro-Hungarian forces on mountain terrain—resulting in catastrophic losses for minimal gains.

Pozzuolo skin for Perino Model 1908 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pozzuolo_del_Friuli): Pozzuolo del Friuli (Friulian: Puçui) is a comune (municipality) in the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about 60 kilometres (37 mi) northwest of Trieste and about 10 kilometres (6 mi) southwest of Udine. Battle of Pozzuolo del Friuli: One of the most significant historical events in Pozzuolo has been that of the Battle of Pozzuolo del Friuli which took place between 29 and 30 October 1917, following the Battle of Caporetto (reference to the Frommer Stop Pistol's Caporetto skin), where Austro-Hungarian troops reinforced by German divisions managed to break through the Italian front line, and rout the Italian Second Army. In the two days during which the battle took palace, a cavalry brigate composed by the Quarto Genova and Quinto Novara, and the infantry brigate of Bergamo, faced the Austro-Hungarian army, allowing for the Italian Third Army to cross the river Tagliamento and save itself. The battle left hundreds of dead, and took place between the alleys of the town, afflicting also the civil population. To commemorate this battle, starting from 1959 the only cavalry division of the Italian army is named "Pozzuolo del Friuli" brigate, and commemorates the event every 30 October. The town of Pozzuolo has two monuments dedicated to the cavalry and infantry respectively. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cavalry_Brigade_%22Pozzuolo_del_Friuli%22 The Cavalry Brigade "Pozzuolo del Friuli" is a brigade of the Italian Army, based in the Friuli Venezia Giulia and Veneto regions. The Brigade consists of a command unit, a cavalry regiment, an amphibious infantry regiment, an artillery regiment, an engineer regiment and a logistic regiment.

The Kopparhed skin for Perino Model 1908 (https://www.reddit.com/r/battlefield_one/comments/6vjh7o/the_perino_1908_w_the_kopparhed_legendary_skin/): "Wait a second. Did they name the skin after Martin Kopparhed, one of their designers...?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCF-hRbrELY Battlefield 1 - Under the Skin - Episode 12: "Just informed that I was correct about the Kopparhed skin." by The Video Game Historian.

1903 Hammerless skins:
Legendary: The Capone, Casablanca
Distinguished: Eisenhower, Patton

The Capone skin for 1903 Hammerless https://battlefield.fandom.com/wiki/1903_Hammerless_(Codex_Entry) During WW1 over 24,000 of the 1903 Pocket Hammerless were ordered by the Belgian Army, 200 by the US Navy and an unknown number by the British Empire. Many were also privately purchased by US soldiers during WW1 to keep in their trench coat pocket as extra firepower. Between the wars, many gangsters favored the 1903 Pocket Hammerless due to its handy size, and General Patton famously carried one with ivory grips in WW2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colt_Model_1903_Pocket_Hammerless In addition to lawful owners, many gangsters of the pre-World War II era favored the Model 1903 and Model 1908 because they were relatively small and easily concealed. It is said that Al Capone kept one in his coat pocket and Bonnie Parker used one to break Clyde Barrow out of jail after smuggling it into the jail by taping it to her thigh. Bank robber John Dillinger was carrying this model of pistol when he was shot by FBI agents outside the Biograph theater on July 22, 1934, and another famous bank robber, Willie Sutton, had one when he was captured by police in Brooklyn on February 18, 1952. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Capone Alphonse Gabriel Capone (January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-founder and boss of the Chicago Outfit. His seven-year reign as a crime boss ended when he went to prison at the age of 33. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0135330/bio/ In 1918 he was involved in a bar fight over a prostitute with hoodlum Frank Galluccio. Gallucio went after Capone with a knife, resulting in Capone's picking up the moniker by which he would be known for the rest of his life--"Scarface" (although that word was NEVER used in his presence). Capone, however, would attribute the scar to wounds he received in battle while fighting with the famous "lost battalion" in France during World War I (the fact that Capone never spent one minute in the army was a minor point, apparently).

Patton skin for 1903 Hammerless (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colt_Model_1903_Pocket_Hammerless): General officer models were often engraved with the officer's name. Recipients include generals Eisenhower, Bradley, Marshall, and Patton. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_S._Patton George Smith Patton Jr. (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) was a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh United States Army in the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, and the Third United States Army in France and Germany after the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944. Pancho Villa Expedition: In March 1916, Mexican forces loyal to Pancho Villa (reference to the Russian 1895's Pancho Villa skin) crossed into New Mexico and raided the border town of Columbus (reference to the M1909 Benét-Mercié's Columbus skin). The violence in Columbus killed several Americans. In response, the U.S. launched the Pancho Villa Expedition into Mexico. Chagrined to discover that his unit would not participate, Patton appealed to expedition commander John J. Pershing (reference to the M1917 MG's Black Jack skin), and was named his personal aide for the expedition. World War 1: On November 10, 1917, Patton was assigned to establish the AEF Light Tank School. He left Paris and reported to the French Army's tank training school at Champlieu near Orrouy, where he drove a Renault FT light tank. At the conclusion of his tour on December 1, Patton went to Albert, 30 miles (48 km) from Cambrai, to be briefed on the results of this attack by the chief of staff of the British Tank Corps, Colonel J. F. C. Fuller (reference to the SMLE MKIII's The Fuller skin). Patton commanded American-crewed Renault FT tanks at the Battle of Saint-Mihiel (reference to the P08 Pistol's Saint-Mihiel skin), leading the tanks from the front for much of their attack, which began on September 12. Patton's brigade was then moved to support U.S. I Corps in the Meuse–Argonne offensive on September 26. He personally led a troop of tanks through thick fog as they advanced 5 miles (8 km) into German lines. Around 09:00, Patton was wounded while leading six men and a tank in an attack on German machine guns near the town of Cheppy.

Eisenhower skin for 1903 Hammerless (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwight_D._Eisenhower): I think the name Eisenhower has already appeared as the M1903 Springfield's The Eisenhower skin.

Casablanca skin for 1903 Hammerless (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casablanca): Casablanca, known by its Arabic name A-Dar al-Bayda (Arabic: الدار البيضاء, romanized: ad-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, lit.: "White House"; * languages: ⵜⴰⴷⴷⴰⵔⵜ ⵜⵓⵎⵍⵉⵍⵜ, romanized: Taddart Tumlilt) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business center. Located on the Atlantic coast of the Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a population of about 3.71 million in the urban area, and over 4.27 million in the Greater Casablanca, making it the most populous city in the Maghreb region, and the eighth-largest in the Arab world. Film: The 1942 American film Casablanca is set in Casablanca and has had a lasting impact on the city's image although it was filmed in the United States. https://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Casablanca The following weapons were used in the film Casablanca: -Colt Model 1903/1908. Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) carries a Colt 1903 .32 ACP in the movie. This is not the same gun as found on the promotional poster. As Humphrey Bogart was a man of smaller stature, he lobbied to have a smaller gun in close ups. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humphrey_Bogart Humphrey DeForest Bogart (December 25, 1899 – January 14, 1957), colloquially nicknamed Bogie, was an American film and stage actor. His performances in classic Hollywood cinema films made him an American cultural icon. In 1999, the American Film Institute selected Bogart as the greatest male star of classic American cinema. His most significant romantic lead role was with Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca (1942), which earned him his first nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. Navy: With no viable career options, Bogart enlisted in the United States Navy in the spring of 1918 (during World War I), and served as a coxswain. He recalled later, "At eighteen, war was great stuff. Paris! Sexy French girls! Hot damn!". Bogart was recorded as a model sailor, who spent most of his sea time after the armistice ferrying troops back from Europe. Bogart left the service on June 18, 1919, at the rank of boatswain's mate third class.

Ross MkIII skins:
Legendary: The Dead-Beat, Poperinghe
Distinguished: Absolution, Peggy
Special: Patriot, St Eloi, V-Beach, Zonnebeke

Peggy skin for Ross MkIII https://battlefield.fandom.com/wiki/Ross_MkIII Canadian Minister of Militia and Defence, Sam Hughes repeatedly ignored reports of serious issues with the Ross rifle, but eventually the evidence became overwhelming. In 1916, British military high command ordered the Ross to be withdrawn from the frontline, to be used as training rifles and replaced with the SMLE, and the same year Hughes was forced to resign. But the Ross Mk III continued to be used by many snipers, such as Henry Louis Norwest and Francis Pegahmagabow, who appreciated its superior accuracy and could take better care of their rifles. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Pegahmagabow Francis Pegahmagabow (March 9, 1891 – August 5, 1952) was an Ojibwe soldier, politician and activist in Canada. He was the most highly decorated Indigenous soldier in Canadian military history and the most effective sniper of the First World War. In early October 1914 he was deployed overseas with the 1st Canadian Infantry Battalion of the 1st Canadian Division—the first contingent of Canadian troops sent to fight in Europe. His companions there nicknamed him "Peggy". The war ended in November 1918 and in 1919 Pegahmagabow was invalided back to Canada. He had served for almost the whole war, and had built a reputation as a skilled marksman. Using the much-maligned Ross rifle, he was credited with killing 378 Germans and capturing 300 more.

The Dead-Beat skin for Ross MkIII (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilfred_Owen): Wilfred Edward Salter Owen (18 March 1893 – 4 November 1918) was an English poet and soldier. He was one of the leading poets of the First World War. His war poetry on the horrors of trenches and gas warfare was much influenced by his mentor Siegfried Sassoon and stood in contrast to the public perception of war at the time and to the confidently patriotic verse written by earlier war poets such as Rupert Brooke. Among his best-known works – most of which were published posthumously – are "Dulce et Decorum est", "Insensibility", "Anthem for Doomed Youth", "Futility", "Spring Offensive" and "Strange Meeting". Owen was killed in action on 4 November 1918, a week before the war's end, at the age of 25. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dead-Beat "The Dead-Beat" is a poem by Wilfred Owen. It deals with the atrocities of World War I. Owen developed the poem while he was a patient at Craiglockhart, a hospital for officers suffering with mental illness. It was here that he met fellow poet Siegfried Sassoon and where his personal psychological healing from the traumas of war. "The Dead-Beat" marked the beginning of his writings as representations of soldiers who could no longer tell their own stories.

Absolution skin for Ross MkIII (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siegfried_Sassoon): Siegfried Loraine Sassoon (8 September 1886 – 1 September 1967) was an English war poet, writer, and soldier. Decorated for bravery on the Western Front, he became one of the leading poets of the First World War. His poetry both described the horrors of the trenches and satirized the patriotic pretensions of those who, in Sassoon's view, were responsible for a jingoism-fuelled war. Sassoon became a focal point for dissent within the armed forces when he made a lone protest against the continuation of the war with his "Soldier's Declaration" of July 1917, which resulted in his being sent to the Craiglockhart War Hospital. During this period he met and formed a friendship with Wilfred Owen, who was greatly influenced by him. There was no German ancestry in Sassoon's family; his mother named him Siegfried (reference to the Heavy Tank's Siegfried skin) because of her love of Wagner's operas. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/57212/absolution Absolution Poem by Siegfried Sassoon.

Poperinghe skin for Ross MkIII (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poperinge): Poperinge (French: Poperinghe, Poperingue; West Flemish: Poperienge) is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders, Flemish Region, and has a history going back to medieval times. The municipality comprises the town of Poperinge proper and surrounding villages. Poperinge is situated about 13 km (8 miles) to the west of Ypres (reference to the M1907 Selfloading's Ypres skin). During World War I, the town was one of only two in Belgium not under German occupation. It was used to billet British troops and also provided a safe area for field hospitals. Known familiarly as "Pop", it was just behind the front line and formed an important link for the soldiers and their families, especially through the rest house known as Talbot House (or "Toc H"). A grim reminder of that time remains within the town hall, where two death cells are preserved, and outside in the courtyard, where there is a public execution post used by firing squads. Another reminder is the location of a number of military cemeteries on the outskirts of the town with the graves of Canadian, British, Australian, French, German, US servicemen and men of the Chinese Labour Corps. One of these is Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery for soldiers who had been wounded near Ypres and later died in the large Allied casualty clearing stations located in the area. In the following century, the town is the subject of the imagist night piece "Poperinghe 1917" by the Canadian poet W. W. E. Ross. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._W._E._Ross William Wrighton Eustace Ross [often misspelt William Wrightson Eustace Ross] (June 14, 1894 – August 26, 1966) was a Canadian geophysicist and poet. He was the first published poet in Canada to write Imagist poetry, and later the first to write surrealist verse, both of which have led some to call him "the first modern Canadian poet." Ross served with the Canadian Expeditionary Force in World War I as a private in the signal corps.

St Eloi skin for Ross MkIII (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sint-Elooi): Sint-Elooi is a small village, about 5 km (3.1 mi) south of Ypres (reference to the M1907 Selfloading's Ypres skin) in the Flemish province of West Flanders in Belgium. The former municipality is now part of Ypres. Though Sint-Elooi is the Dutch and only official name, the village's French name, St. Eloi, is most commonly used in English due to its role in World War I. In World War I, like other parts of the Ypres Salient, the village was the site of the Battles of Ypres between German and Allied forces. From the spring of 1915, there was constant underground fighting in the Ypres Salient at Hooge, Hill 60, Railway Wood, Sanctuary Wood, The Bluff and St Eloi. The Germans built an extensive system of defensive tunnels and were actively mining against the British trenches at the intermediate levels. After German successes at The Bluff, the British decided to use the deep mines created by 172nd Tunnelling Company at St Eloi in a local operation (the Actions of St Eloi Craters, 27 March – 16 April 1916) and six charges were fired. However, the accompanying British infantry operation was a failure; the problem lay in the Allied inability to hold crater positions after they had been captured. The Canadian HMCS St. Eloi was later named after the battle. After the Actions of St Eloi Craters, mining and counter-mining at St Eloi continued at a pace. In preparation of the Battle of Messines (reference to the Lewis Gun's Messines skin) in 1917, the British began a mining offensive against the German lines to the south of Ypres. Twenty-six deep mines were eventually dug by Tunnelling companies of the Royal Engineers, most of which were detonated simultaneously on 7 June 1917, creating 19 large craters. The largest of these mines was at St Eloi, dug by the 1st Canadian Tunnelling Company. Popular culture: The war poet T.E. Hulme (1883–1917) wrote the poem Trenches: St Eloi. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Eloi_Mountain St. Eloi Mountain is located on the border of Alberta and British Columbia on the Continental Divide. It was named in 1917 after St. Eloi (Ypres).

Zonnebeke skin for Ross MkIII (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zonnebeke): Zonnebeke (West Flemish: Zunnebeke) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. Situated in the centre of the Ypres Salient (reference to the M1907 Selfloading's Ypres skin), World War I destroyed the whole area. Left abandoned until the early 1920s, people slowly returned and rebuilt the villages. The village and district of Zonnebeke and its five villages have the largest concentration of underground constructions from World War I, being located at the centre of the Third Battle of Ypres/Battle of Passchendaele. About 180 dugout sites have been located in the Ypres Salient and in the 1990s some of them were entered, at least in part. During archaeological excavations of the Augustinian abbey, another dugout was discovered under Zonnebeke church. Today the outline of this dugout is marked in an archaeological garden within the church grounds, and a model of the church dugout can be seen at the "Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917" in Zonnebeke. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_Museum_Passchendaele_1917 The Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917 in Zonnebeke is a Belgian museum devoted to the 1917 Battle of Passchendaele (also known as the Third Battle of Ypres). In this battle, in only 100 days, almost 500,000 men were killed to gain only eight kilometres of ground. The museum is housed in the historic château grounds of Zonnebeke and focuses on the material aspects of the First World War. https://battlefield.fandom.com/wiki/Passchendaele The map is set during the infamous Battle of Passchendaele, also known as the Third Battle of Ypres. The Third Battle of Ypres is launched by Britain to take control of positions south and east of the Belgium city Ypres. Zonnebeke Church: What remains of Zonnebeke Church can be found overlooking the town from the hill in the south-west. Although the walls are still generally standing, the roof has caved in, scattering the interior with debris. The exterior is intercut with the British trench network.

V-Beach skin for Ross MkIII (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landing_at_Cape_Helles): The landing at Cape Helles (Turkish: Seddülbahir Çıkarması) was part of the Gallipoli Campaign, the amphibious landings on the Gallipoli peninsula by British and French forces on 25 April 1915 during the First World War. Helles, at the foot of the peninsula, was the main landing area. With gunfire support from the Royal Navy, the 29th Division was to advance six mi (9.7 km) along the peninsula on the first day and seize the heights of Achi Baba. The British then planned to capture the forts that guarded the straits of the Dardanelles. The Helles landing was mismanaged by the British commander, Major General Aylmer Hunter-Weston. V and W beaches became bloodbaths, despite the meager defences, while the easy landings at other sites were not exploited. Although the British managed to gain a foothold, their plans were in disarray. For two months, the British fought costly battles to reach their first day objectives but they were eventually defeated by the Ottoman defenders. https://battlefield.fandom.com/wiki/Cape_Helles The map depicts the British amphibious landings during the infamous Gallipoli Campaign. On April 25th 1915, two months after the Allies' failed attempt to force the Dardanelles, British, ANZAC, and French forces landed on the Gallipoli peninsula in preparation for a planned march on the Ottoman capital of Constantinople. Troops were landed at V-Beach on Cape Helles using a converted collier turned Trojan horse, the SS River Clyde, with the objective of advancing six miles inland and capturing the heights of Achi Baba (reference to the NO. 3 Revolver's Achi Baba skin) on the first day. V-Beach: A rocky beach with about 50 meters of open shore before meeting a bluff wall, with a spiny spit of land jutting far out into the water on the eastern edge of the beach.

Patriot skin for Ross MkIII (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Canada): "O Canada" (French: Ô Canada) is the national anthem of Canada. The song was originally commissioned by Lieutenant Governor of Quebec Théodore Robitaille for the 1880 Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day ceremony; Calixa Lavallée composed the music, after which words were written by the poet and judge Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier. The original French lyrics were translated to English in 1906. Multiple English versions ensued, with Robert Stanley Weir's version in 1908 gaining the most popularity, eventually serving as the basis for the official lyrics enacted by Parliament. The National Anthem Act established set lyrics for "O Canada" in Canada's two official languages, English and French. However, the two sets of lyrics are not translations of each other. English lyrics: O Canada! Our home and native land! True patriot love in all of us command. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edith_Cavell Edith Louisa Cavell (4 December 1865 – 12 October 1915) was a British nurse and member of La Dame Blanche. She is celebrated for treating wounded soldiers from both sides without discrimination and for covertly helping some 200 Allied soldiers escape from German-occupied Belgium and return to active service during the First World War, which in wartime was a death penalty offence under the German military law of the Second Reich. Cavell was arrested and court-martialed for that offense as an act of Kriegsverrat (lit: "war-treason", fig. perfidy), found guilty, and sentenced to death by firing squad. The night before her execution, she said, "Patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Edith_Cavell Mount Edith Cavell is a mountain in the Athabasca River and Astoria River valleys of Jasper National Park, and the most prominent peak entirely within Alberta. The mountain was named in 1916 for Edith Cavell, a British nurse executed by the Germans during World War I for having helped Allied soldiers escape from occupied Belgium to the Netherlands, in violation of German military law.

P08 skins:
Legendary: Der Königgrätzer, Gott mit uns, The Peace Seeker, Saint-Mihiel
Distinguished: Count Gneisenau, Werner Voss

The Peace Seeker skin for P08 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parabellum): Parabellum commonly refers to the 9×19mm Parabellum firearms cartridge designed by Georg Luger and introduced in 1902 for the Luger pistol. Parabellum or Para Bellum may also refer to: -Latin adage. Para bellum is Latin for "prepare for war" and is often used within the context of the phrase Si vis pacem, para bellum, meaning "If you want peace, [you should] prepare for war".

Saint-Mihiel skin for P08 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Mihiel): Saint-Mihiel is a commune in the Meuse (reference to the M1897 Shotguns's Meuse skin) department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. Saint-Mihiel lies on the banks of the river Meuse. During World War I, Saint-Mihiel was captured by the Germans in 1914, and was recaptured during the Battle of Saint-Mihiel by the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) from 12 September to 19 September 1918. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Saint-Mihiel The Battle of Saint-Mihiel was a major World War I battle fought from 12–15 September 1918, involving the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) and 110,000 French troops under the command of General John J. Pershing (reference to the M1917 MG's Black Jack skin) of the United States against German positions. The U.S. Army Air Service played a significant role in this action. This battle marked the first use of the terms "D-Day" and "H-Hour" by the Americans. The attack at the Saint-Mihiel salient was part of a plan by Pershing in which he hoped that the Americans would break through the German lines and capture the fortified city of Metz. It was the first large offensive launched mainly by the United States Army in World War I, and the attack caught the Germans in the process of retreating. The U.S. attack faltered as artillery and food supplies were left behind on the muddy roads. The attack on Metz was not realized, as the Supreme Allied Commander Ferdinand Foch (reference to M1909 Benét-Mercié's The Foch skin) ordered the American troops to march towards Sedan and Mézières, which would lead to the Meuse–Argonne offensive (reference to the 12G Automatic's Argonne skin).

Werner Voss skin for P08 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werner_Voss): Werner Voss (April 1897 – 23 September 1917) was a World War I German flying ace credited with 48 aerial victories. A dyer's son from Krefeld, he was a patriotic young man while still in school. He began his military career in November 1914 as a 17‑year‑old Hussar. After turning to aviation, he proved to be a natural pilot. After flight school and six months in a bomber unit, he joined a newly formed fighter squadron, Jagdstaffel 2 on 21 November 1916. There he befriended Manfred von Richthofen. By 6 April 1917, Voss had scored 24 victories and awarded Germany's highest award, the Pour le Mérite. A month's leave removed Voss from the battlefield during Bloody April (reference to the Selbstlader M1916's Blutigen April skin); in his absence, Richthofen scored 13 victories. Nevertheless, Richthofen regarded Voss as his only possible rival as top scoring ace of the war. His last stand came on 23 September 1917, just hours after his 48th victory. Flying a silver-blue Fokker Dr.1, he singly fought James McCudden, Keith Muspratt, Harold A. Hamersley, Arthur Rhys-Davids, Robert L. Chidlaw-Roberts, Geoffrey Hilton Bowman, Reginald Hoidge, and Richard Maybery. After he fell in solo opposition to those eight British aces after a dazzling display of aerobatics and gunnery that put bullets in his every opponent, he was described by his preeminent foe, Victoria Cross winner James McCudden, as "the bravest German airman". The pilot who actually killed Voss, Arthur Rhys-Davids, wished he had brought him down alive. The dogfight remains a subject of debate and controversy among aviation historians and interested parties.

Count Gneisenau skin for P08 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_Neidhardt_von_Gneisenau): August Wilhelm Antonius Graf Neidhardt von Gneisenau (27 October 1760 – 23 August 1831) was a Prussian field marshal. He was a prominent figure in the reform of the Prussian military and the War of Liberation. Legacy: -One of the four operations of the German Spring Offensive of 1918 were named after him. -Several German navy ships, including the World War I armored cruiser SMS Gneisenau, the World War II battleship Gneisenau, and a post-war training frigate were named after him. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_spring_offensive The German spring offensive, or Kaiserschlacht ("Kaiser's Battle", reference to MP18's The Kaiserschlacht skin), also known as the Ludendorff offensive (reference to the C96 Pistol's Ludendorff skin), was a series of German attacks along the Western Front during the First World War, beginning on 21 March 1918. There were four German offensives, codenamed Michael, Georgette, Gneisenau, and Blücher-Yorck. Gneisenau: Nonetheless, the German advance (consisting of 21 divisions attacking over a 23 mi (37 km) front) along the Matz River was impressive, resulting in an advance of 9 miles (14 km) despite fierce French and American resistance. At Compiègne, a sudden French counter-attack on 11 June, by four divisions and 150 tanks (under General Charles Mangin) with no preliminary bombardment, caught the Germans by surprise and halted their advance. Gneisenau was called off the following day. Losses were approximately 35,000 Allied and 30,000 German. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_Gneisenau SMS Gneisenau was an armored cruiser of the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy), part of the two-ship Scharnhorst class. Following the outbreak of World War I in July 1914, the East Asia Squadron, under the command of Vice Admiral Maximilian von Spee, crossed the Pacific to the western coast of South America, stopping for Gneisenau and Scharnhorst to attack French Polynesia in the Bombardment of Papeete in September. After arriving off the coast of Chile, the East Asia Squadron encountered and defeated a British squadron at the Battle of Coronel; during the action, Gneisenau disabled the British armored cruiser HMS Monmouth, which was then sunk by the German light cruiser Nürnberg. The defeat prompted the British Admiralty to detach two battlecruisers to hunt down and destroy Spee's squadron, which they accomplished at the Battle of the Falkland Islands (Battle of the Falklands Islands skins) on 8 December 1914. Gneisenau was sunk with heavy loss of life, though 187 of her crew were rescued by the British.

Gott mit uns skin for P08 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gott_mit_uns): Gott mit uns ('God with us') is a phrase commonly used in heraldry in Prussia (from 1701) and later by the German military during the periods spanning the German Empire (1871–1918), Nazi Germany (1933–1945), and the early years of West Germany (1949–1962). At the time of the completion of German unification in 1871, the imperial standard bore the motto Gott mit uns on the arms of an Iron Cross. Imperial German 3 and 5 mark silver and 20 mark gold coins had Gott mit uns inscribed on their edge. German soldiers had Gott mit uns inscribed on their belt buckles in the First World War. The slogan entered the mindset on both sides; in 1916 a cartoon was printed in the New-York Tribune captioned "Gott Mit Uns!", showing "a German officer in spiked helmet holding a smoking revolver as he stood over the bleeding form of a nurse. It symbolized the rising popular demand that the United States shed its neutrality". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Empire The German Empire (German: Deutsches Kaiserreich), also referred to as Imperial Germany, the Second Reich, or simply Germany, was the period of the German Reich from the unification of Germany in 1871 until the November Revolution in 1918, when the German Reich changed its form of government from a monarchy to a republic. Motto: Gott mit uns (German), Nobiscum Deus (Latin), ("God with us").

Der Königgrätzer skin for P08 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_K%C3%B6niggr%C3%A4tz): The Battle of Königgrätz (or Sadowa) was the decisive battle of the Austro-Prussian War in which the Kingdom of Prussia defeated the Austrian Empire. It took place on 3 July 1866, near the Bohemian city of Hradec Králové (German: Königgrätz) and village of Sadová, now in the Czech Republic. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%B6niggr%C3%A4tzer_Marsch The Königgrätz March (AM II, 134 (AM II, 195)), also known as Der Königgrätzer or Der Königgrätzer Marsch, is one of the most famous German military marches, composed in 1866 by Johann Gottfried Piefke in commemoration of the Battle of Königgrätz, the decisive battle of the Austro-Prussian War, in which the Kingdom of Prussia defeated the Austrian Empire. The commonly played version (AM II, 195) is set as an infantry march, while an alternate adaptation is arranged as a cavalry galop (AM III, 228). The victory in the Battle of Königgrätz paved the way for the supremacy of Prussia in the German Confederation and ultimately led to the establishment of the German Empire in 1871. The Königgrätzer Marsch continues to be extremely popular and is a staple of any modern German military parade, whereas in Austria it is heard only very rarely, because the piece is associated with Austrian military failure. It was the march of the 91st Oldenburg Infantry Regiment and the parade-march of the 1st Bavarian Infantry Regiment "König" of the Imperial German Army. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_von_Hindenburg Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg (2 October 1847 – 2 August 1934) was a German field marshal and statesman who led the Imperial German Army during World War I. He later became President of Germany from 1925 until his death. In the Prussian Army: During the decisive Battle of Königgrätz, he was briefly knocked unconscious by a bullet that pierced his helmet and creased the top of his skull. Quickly regaining his senses, he wrapped his head in a towel and resumed leading his detachment, winning a decoration.

Auto Revolver skins:
Legendary: Goodnight Kiss, The Gordon Highlander, Pro Patria Mori
Distinguished: Red Tab, Somme
Other: Straight Flush

Red Tab skin for Auto Revolver https://battlefield.fandom.com/wiki/Auto_Revolver_(Codex_Entry) The Auto Revolver was invented by British Colonel George Vincent Fosbery and patented in 1896, during a time when most pistols were chambered for much smaller cartridges, but Fosbery believed that these calibres were too weak for combat. The Auto Revolver was submitted to military trials but never officially adopted. It was a relatively big and heavy handgun, which was probably part of the reason. Nevertheless, the Auto Revolver did become popular with some target shooters, and in a time when Army officers picked their own sidearms, quite a few British officers would pick the Auto Revolver. https://www.army.gov.au/our-heritage/traditions/gorget-patches Generals, Brigadiers and Colonels wear gorget patches, known colloquially as red tabs, on the collar. By the beginning of the 18th Century, any pieces that remained had no practical value and were nothing more than a distinguishing accoutrement on an officers’ uniform for ornamental or ceremonial purposes. During the Boer War, a khaki uniform was introduced and red gorget patches were added to distinguish senior officers. http://www.greatwar.co.uk/glossary/ww1-glossary.htm red tabs: British staff officers (slang); from the lapel tabs on General Staff officers’ uniforms.

Somme skin for Auto Revolver https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somme_(department) Somme is a department of France, located in the north of the country and named after the Somme river. The north central area of the Somme was the site of a series of battles during World War I, including the particularly significant Battle of the Somme in 1916. As a result of this and other battles fought in the area, the department is home to many military cemeteries and several major monuments commemorating the many soldiers from various countries who died on its battlefields. The Battle of the Somme was one of the most costly battles of World War I, by the number of troop casualties, as Allied forces attempted to break through the German lines along a 40 kilometres (25 mi) front north and south of the River Somme. The Allies had originally intended the Somme to be the site of one of several simultaneous major offensives by Allied powers against the Central Powers in 1916. However, before these offensives could begin, the Germans attacked first, engaging the Allies at the Battle of Verdun (reference to the M1909 Benét-Mercié's Verdun skin). As this battle dragged on, the purpose of the Somme campaign (which was still in the planning stage) shifted from striking a decisive blow against Germany to drawing German forces away from Verdun and relieving the Allied forces there. By its end, the losses on the Somme had exceeded those at Verdun. While Verdun would bite deep in the national consciousness of France for generations, the Somme would have the same effect on generations of Britons. The battle is best remembered for its first day, 1 July 1916, on which the British suffered 57,420 casualties, including 19,240 dead—the bloodiest day in the history of the British Army to this day. As terrible as the battle was for the British Empire troops who suffered there, it naturally affected the other nationalities as well. By the end of the battle, the British had learned many lessons in modern warfare, while the Germans had suffered irreplaceable losses. The Somme experienced war twice more in the First and Second Battles of the Somme of 1918.

The Gordon Highlander skin for Auto Revolver (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Highlanders): The Gordon Highlanders was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that existed for 113 years, from 1881 until 1994, when it was amalgamated with The Queen's Own Highlanders (Seaforth and Camerons, reference to Huot Automatic Rifle's The Seaforth Higlander skin) to form The Highlanders (Seaforth, Gordons and Camerons). In 1908 the Volunteers and Militia were reorganised nationally, with the former becoming the Territorial Force and the latter the Special Reserve; the regiment now had one Reserve and four Territorial battalions. First World War. -Regular Army: The 1st Battalion was based in Plymouth on outbreak of war and landed at Boulogne-sur-Mer as part of the 8th Brigade in the 3rd Division in August 1914. It was immediately engaged with the Germans at the Battle of Mons (reference to the Selbstlader 1906's The Hound of Mons skin), suffering only slight casualties. The battalion was next in action at the Battle of Le Cateau (reference to the M1909 Benét-Mercié's Le Cateau skin) after which it ceased to exist as a fighting force when most personnel were captured in the confusion of disengaging after battle. The battalion was subsequently rebuilt with drafts of reinforcements and served on the Western Front for the duration of the war. The 2nd Battalion was in Egypt in 1914, but returned to England and landed at Zeebrugge as part of the 20th Brigade in the 7th Division in October 1914. It immediately saw action in the First Battle of Ypres (reference to the M1907 Selfloading's Ypres skin). The battalion subsequently served on the Western Front until November 1917 when it moved with XIV Corps to Italy. It was subsequently involved in the final, successful, battle of the war in Italy at the Battle of Vettorio Veneto, October to November 1918. -Territorial Force: The 1/4th (City of Aberdeen) Battalion landed at Le Havre as part of the 8th Brigade in the 3rd Division in February 1915 for service on the Western Front. The 1/6th (Banff and Donside) Battalion landed at Le Havre as part of the 20th Brigade in the 7th Division for service on the Western Front. One of the longest 1914 Christmas truces was upheld by this battalion: it lasted until the afternoon of 3 January 1915.

Pro Patria Mori skin for Auto Revolver (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dulce_et_decorum_est_pro_patria_mori): Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori is a line from the Odes (III.2.13) by the Roman lyric poet Horace. The line translates: "It is sweet and proper to die for one's country." The Latin word patria (homeland), literally meaning the country of one's fathers (in Latin, patres) or ancestors, is the source of the French word for a country, patrie, and of the English word "patriot" (one who loves their country). Horace's line was quoted in the title of a poem by Wilfred Owen, "Dulce et Decorum est", published in 1921, describing soldiers' horrific experiences in World War I. Owen's poem, which calls Horace's line "the old Lie", essentially ended the line's straightforward uncritical use. Uses in art and literature: -The film Johnny Got His Gun ends with this saying, along with casualty statistics since World War I. -In the film All Quiet on the Western Front, a teacher quotes this early on while talking to his class. https://wiki.gamedetectives.net/index.php?title=Battlefield_1 Morse Messages.
When using the Infiltrator kit and standing in a few specific spots on different maps, Morse code can be heard. The Morse code in the final message is unique for each player, but takes the form of the following Latin quote with 8 letters missing: DULCE ET DECORUM EST PRO PATRIA MORI.

Goodnight Kiss skin for Auto Revolver (https://www.henrysheldonmuseum.org/wwi-slang): Tommy, Doughboy, Fritz: Soldier Slang of World War I, a book written by Emily Brewer talks about all these terms and more. Goodnight kiss – this was the term used for the last shot made by a sniper at the end of an assault. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Edwin_Ellison Private George Edwin Ellison (10 August 1878 – 11 November 1918) was the last British soldier to be killed in action during the First World War. He died at 09:30 am (90 minutes before the armistice came into effect), shot by a sniper while on a patrol in woodland on the outskirts of Mons, Belgium. He fought in the Battle of Mons (reference to the Selbstlader 1906's The Hound of Mons skin) in 1914, and several other battles including the Battle of Ypres (reference to the M1907 Selfloading's Ypres skin), Battle of Armentières, Battle of La Bassée, Battle of Lens, Battle of Loos, and Battle of Cambrai on the Western Front. Ellison, aged 40 at the time of his death, is buried in the St Symphorien Military Cemetery, just southeast of Mons. Coincidentally, and in large part due to Mons being lost in the very opening stages of the war and regained at the very end (from the British perspective), his grave faces that of John Parr, the first British soldier killed during the Great War, and just a few metres away from George Lawrence Price, the Canadian soldier who was also felled near Mons at 10:58am, and was the last British Empire soldier killed in the Great War. In 2018, he and John Parr became the inspiration behind a poem, "Goodnight Kiss", by writer Philip Parker – written as part of a project in conjunction with the Imperial War Museum.

Straight Flush skin for Auto Revolver (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_poker_hands): In poker, players form sets of five playing cards, called hands, according to the rules of the game. Each hand has a rank, which is compared against the ranks of other hands participating in the showdown to decide who wins the pot. A straight flush is a hand that contains five cards of sequential rank, all of the same suit, such as Q♥ J♥ 10♥ 9♥ 8♥ (a "queen-high straight flush"). https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/features/anzac-day-2020/language-from-the-first-world-war Language from the First World War. -Gutzer: a disappointment or misfortune usually, expressed as ‘to come a gutzer’. A ‘gutzer straight or flush’ in a digger speak was a poker straight or flush with one crucial card missing.

Kolibri skins:
Legendary: The Hummingbird, Thingumyjig
Distinguished: Mata Hari, Savior

The Hummingbird skin for Kolibri (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2mm_Kolibri): The 2mm Kolibri (also known as the 2.7mm Kolibri Car Pistol or 2.7×9mm Kolibri) was the smallest commercially available centerfire cartridge, patented in 1910 and introduced in 1914 by Franz Pfannl, an Austrian watchmaker, with financial support from Georg Grabner. It was designed to accompany the Kolibri semi-auto pistol or single-shot pistol, both marketed as self-defense weapons. The name is derived from Kolibri, the German word for hummingbird, which is among the smallest of birds. https://battlefield.fandom.com/wiki/Kolibri_Pistol_(Codex_Entry) The .25 ACP round was invented in 1905 with the express purpose of being used in small pocket pistols. During a time when most criminals were armed with melee weapons, even a tiny handgun would be an advantage. The smallest semi-automatic pistol ever was designed by an Austrian watchmaker who wanted to make an ultra-concealable handgun. For this purpose, he developed the smallest centerfire cartridge ever - the 2.7 mm Kolibri round (Kolibri is German for "hummingbird"), and patented it in 1910. He then proceeded to design a new semi-automatic pistol for the round, resulting in the 2.7 Grabner Selbstlade Pistole that was less the 3 inches long, using the same simple blowback mechanism as many modern small-caliber guns and with a detachable 6-round magazine.

Mata Hari skin for Kolibri (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mata_Hari): Margaretha Geertruida MacLeod (née Zelle; 7 August 1876 – 15 October 1917), better known by the stage name Mata Hari, was a Dutch exotic dancer and courtesan who was convicted of being a spy for Germany during World War I. She was executed by firing squad in France. The idea of a beautiful exotic dancer using her powers of seduction as a spy made her name synonymous with the femme fatale. Her story has served as an inspiration for many books, films, and other works. It has been said that she was convicted and condemned because the French Army needed a scapegoat, and that the files used to secure her conviction contained several falsifications. Some have even stated that Mata Hari could not have been a spy and was innocent. Before the war, Zelle had performed as Mata Hari several times before the Crown Prince Wilhelm (reference to the Selbstlader M1916's Kronprinz skin), eldest son of Kaiser Wilhelm II (reference to Gewehr 98's The Kaiser skin) and nominally a senior German general on the Western Front. The Deuxième Bureau believed she could obtain information by seducing the Crown Prince for military secrets. In fact, his involvement was minimal, and it was German government propaganda that promoted the image of the Crown Prince as a great warrior, the worthy successor to the Hohenzollern monarchs (reference to the LMG 08/18's Hohenzollern skin) who had made Prussia strong and powerful. Unaware that the Crown Prince did not have much to do with the running of Army Group Crown Prince or the 5th Army, the Deuxième Bureau offered Zelle 1 million francs if she could seduce him and provide France with good intelligence about German plans. In January 1917, Major Kalle transmitted radio messages to Berlin describing the helpful activities of a German spy code-named H-21, whose biography so closely matched Zelle's that it was obvious that Agent H-21 could only be Mata Hari. The Deuxième Bureau intercepted the messages and, from the information they contained, identified H-21 as Mata Hari. The messages were in a code that German intelligence knew had already been broken by the French, suggesting that the messages were contrived to have Zelle arrested by the French. Zelle was executed by a firing squad of 12 French soldiers just before dawn on 15 October 1917. She was 41. According to an eyewitness account by British reporter Henry Wales, she was not bound and refused a blindfold. She defiantly blew a kiss to the firing squad.

Thingumyjig skin for Kolibri (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/thingamajig): thingamajig and alternative forms: thingamejig, thingumajig, thingummyjig. Something that one does not know the name of. https://www.henrysheldonmuseum.org/wwi-slang Tommy, Doughboy, Fritz: Soldier Slang of World War I, a book written by Emily Brewer talks about all these terms and more. Thingumyjig – this was a made up trench slang word used to refer to the new devices that came to being during the war.

Savior skin for Kolibri (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2mm_Kolibri): Due to the weakness and inaccuracy of the firearm, the 2mm Kolibri was advertised as a ladies' self-defence weapon that was small enough to fit inside a handbag. While probably not effective against a mugger if shot at the chest or limbs, it could potentially inflict some damage if shot at the attacker's face. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savior Savior or Saviour may refer to: A person who helps people achieve salvation, or saves them from something. https://battlefield.fandom.com/wiki/Score Savior Kill - Kill a player who was inflicting damage on a teammate.

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@HUN_gattaca_lg do you know what is the reference of the skin auby les hesdin for general Liu ?

I couldn't find any references

@Yuricocato15 
I think it is possible that there is some connection between Auby-les-Hesdin and Auchy-lès-Hesdin (maybe the two are the same?)
I found an article in Chinese about General Liu Rifle skins: https://yuzu.news/game/41865.html

General Liu Rifle skins:
Legendary: Auby-les-Hesdin, Noyelles-sur-Mer, The Yang
Distinguished: Hanyang Arsenal, Kulja

Hanyang Arsenal skin for General Liu Rifle https://battlefield.fandom.com/wiki/General_Liu_(Codex_Entry) The General Liu Rifle is another of the obscure, experimental weapons of the WW1 era, whose history is not entirely clear. General Liu was a Chinese officer and weapons designer who was appointed head of the Hangyang Arsenal, where he began developing a self-loading rifle in 1913, based on the Danish Bang muzzle gas-trap system. Prototypes of the Liu rifle were built at the Hangyang Arsenal and were tested successfully, but China lacked the means to mass-produce the weapon. Instead General Liu came to USA a few years later and contracted an American company to produce the machinery necessary for mass-production, and Liu also brought some of the prototypes for testing in USA. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanyang_Arsenal Hanyang Arsenal (traditional Chinese: 漢陽兵工廠; simplified Chinese: 汉阳兵工厂; pinyin: Hànyáng Bīnggōngchǎng) was one of the largest and oldest modern arsenals in Chinese history. Originally known as the Hubei Arsenal, it was founded in 1891 by Qing official Zhang Zhidong, who diverted funds from the Nanyang Fleet in Guangdong to build the arsenal. It cost about 250,000 pounds sterling and was built in 4 years. On 23 April 1894, construction was completed and the arsenal, occupying some 40 acres (160,000 m2), could start production of small-caliber cannons. It built magazine-fed rifles, Gruson quick fire guns, and cartridges. The Republic of China expanded the arsenal numerous times, and production soared. Quality, however, remained low. In 1917, a training school was established alongside the arsenal. In 1921, production began on copies of the Browning M1917 and the Mauser M1932 "Broomhandle" pistol. In 1930, the design of the Type 88 was once again modified, extending the bayonet. In 1935, a version of the Maxim gun—the Type 24 HMG—was being produced, based on blueprints from the German M08.

Noyelles-sur-Mer skin for General Liu Rifle (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noyelles-sur-Mer): Noyelles-sur-Mer (literally Noyelles on Sea) is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Noyelles-sur-Mer is situated on the coast, facing the English Channel, on the D11 and D40 junction, some 13 kilometres (8 mi) northwest of Abbeville. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Labour_Corps The Chinese Labour Corps (CLC; French: Corps de Travailleurs Chinois; simplified Chinese: 中国劳工旅; traditional Chinese: 中國勞工旅; pinyin: Zhōngguó láogōng lǚ) was a force of workers recruited by the British government in the First World War to free troops for front line duty by performing support work and manual labour. The French government also recruited a significant number of Chinese labourers, and although those labourers working for the French were recruited separately and not part of the CLC, the term is often used to encompass both groups. In all, some 140,000 men served for both British and French forces before the war ended and most of the men were repatriated to China between 1918 and 1920. The CLC did not directly perform in combat. According to the records kept by the British and French recruiters, around 2,000 men of the CLC died during the war, many from the 1918 flu pandemic, with some Chinese scholars estimating the total could be as high as 20,000, victims of shelling, landmines, poor treatment, or the disease. The members of the CLC who died were classified as war casualties and were buried in about 40 graveyards in the north of France and one in Belgium, with a total of about 2,000 recorded graves. The largest number of graves are at Noyelles-sur-Mer on the Somme, next to the workers' camp of the British army, where a cholera outbreak and some of the fiercest battles occurred, as well. The cemetery contains 842 gravestones, each engraved with Chinese characters, guarded by two stone lions, gifts from China.

Auby-les-Hesdin skin for General Liu Rifle https://www.straight.com/news/538641/new-bc-book-unearths-chinese-labourers-secret-role-first-world-war According to Shirley Frey of the University of Texas at Arlington, the British and French military began deploying CLC members to different tasks upon realizing the range of skills and talents at their disposal. Although the less educated were given tough manual work—deployed to man the docks, dig trenches, lay railroad tracks, and unload supplies and munitions—the skilled were deployed to maintain and repair machines, ammunition, vehicles, and even tanks and aircraft parts. Those who had learned to speak and write English or French from European missionaries played important intermediary roles between the officers and the CLC members under their command. “The Big Tank Corps depot at Auby-les-Hesdin was serviced almost exclusively by Chinese,” Frey noted in her 2009 history master’s thesis. She also found that the CLC force almost exclusively maintained important railroad lines between Calais, Zeneghem, Dieppe, Boulogne, Audruicq, Dannes, Abbeville, Saigneville, Abancourt, and Soquence. Britain and China, 1840-1970: Empire, Finance and War by Robert Bickers and Jonathan J. Howlett (2015): A striking example of how Chinese workers (many of whom were of peasant origin) acquired technical skills while in France was their servicing and maintenance of tanks (for example, at the Tank Corps depot in Auby-les-Hesdin in northern France). In a 1919 report to the War Office, a British CLC officier remembered that, while on a visit to a tank workshop, he had seen several Chinese workers test drive a tank. https://tankmuseum.org/article/war-diaries-1-6-november-1917 During November 1917 preparations for the Battle of Cambrai were well underway. Each battalion of the Tank Corps recorded day to day events in their War Diary. This series of posts reproduce a selection of entries from this month, giving us an idea of how tank crewmen prepared for their greatest challenge yet. 1st November 1917 and F Battalion: Auchy-lès-Hesdin. Work was continued on the tanks, sprockets etc being changed where necessary & they were thoroughly overhauled ready for training exercises with infantry in the near future. Any men available were bathed at BLANGY.

Kulja skin for General Liu Rifle (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yining): Yining (Chinese: 伊宁), also known as Ghulja (Uyghur: غۇلجا), Kulja or Qulja (Kazakh: قۇلجا), is a county-level city in northwestern Xinjiang, China, and the seat of Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture. In the 19th and early 20th century, the word Kuldja or Ghulja was often used in Russia and in the West as the name for the entire Chinese part of the Ili River basin as well as for its two main cities. The usage of 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica is fairly characteristic; it defines Kulja as a "territory in north-west China" bounded by the Russian border and the mountains that surround the Ili basin. It also talks about two major cities of the region. The Sino-Russian Treaty of Kulja 1851 opened the area for trade. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Kulja The Treaty of Kulja (also spelled Kuldja) (Chinese: 中俄伊犁塔爾巴哈臺通商章程) was an unequal treaty between Qing China and the Russian Empire, signed in 1851, opening Kulja (Huiyuan and later Ningyuan) and Chuguchak to Sino-Russian trade. Prepared by the first Russian consul to China, Ivan Zakharov, the treaty was preceded by a gradual Russian advance throughout the nineteenth century into Kazakhstan in direct competition with British efforts to impose self-advantageous trade terms on China. While the treaty primarily legalized ongoing practice, it also recognized the growing Russian presence in Central Asia. China's defenses on this border had been greatly neglected since the start of the 19th century. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ili_Kazakh_Autonomous_Prefecture Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture is an autonomous prefecture in northern Xinjiang, China. Its capital is Yining, also known as Ghulja or Kulja. Modern history: The Xinhai Revolution broke out on 10 October 1911. On 12 February 1912, the Provisional Government of the Republic of China was established in Beijing, and on 15 March, it ordered the Xinjiang Grand Coordinator, Yuan Dahua (袁大化), to end Qing rule in Xinjiang. On 25 April, Yuan Dahua was forced to resign as Grand Coordinator of Xinjiang. On 18 May, Yang Zengxin (楊增新, reference to the General Liu Rifle's The Yang skin?) was recommended for the position of Military Governor of Xinjiang.

The Yang skin for General Liu Rifle (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang): Yang (simplified Chinese: 杨; traditional Chinese: 楊; pinyin: Yáng) is the transcription of a Chinese family name. It is the sixth most common surname in Mainland China. It is the 16th surname on the Hundred Family Surnames text. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beiyang_Army The Beiyang Army (Chinese: 北洋军; pinyin: Běi Yáng Jūn; lit. 'Northern Ocean Army'), named after the Beiyang region, was a large, Western-style Imperial Chinese Army established by the Qing dynasty government in the late 19th century. It was the centerpiece of a general reconstruction of Qing China's military system. The Beiyang Army played a major role in Chinese politics for at least three decades and arguably right up to 1949. It made the Xinhai Revolution of 1911 possible, and, by dividing into warlord factions known as the Beiyang Clique (Chinese: 北洋军阀; pinyin: Běiyáng Jūnfá), ushered in a period of regional division. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beiyang_government The Beiyang government (Chinese: 北洋政府; pinyin: Běiyáng Zhèngfǔ; Wade–Giles: Pei-yang Chêng-fu), officially the Republic of China (Chinese: 中華民國; pinyin: Zhōnghuá mínguó; Wade–Giles: Chung¹-hua² Min²-kuo²), sometimes spelled Peiyang Government, or just China, was the government of the Republic of China which sat in its capital Beijing between 1912 and 1928. It was internationally recognized as the legitimate Chinese government during that time. The Beiyang government declared war on the Central Powers in August 1917 and began sending labor battalions to France and a token force to Siberia. https://focus.cbbc.org/britains-hidden-debt-to-the-chinese-in-wwi/ In his book Yang's War, author Clive Harvey takes a closer look at the resilience of the Chinese people – and why so many of them sacrificed their lives for the Allied forces in the early 20th century. As the greatest human conflict in the history of war dragged on, the intended separation of labour from combatant troops became ever blurred. The onset of Spanish Flu took its own toll on all participants, as did German firepower. With the front line ever-depleting, skilled Allied troops were redeployed to close-quarter combat. With the new tank depots left wanting, it swiftly became apparent there were many skilled men amongst the CLC recruits, not least the protagonist of my book. Yang, as an interpreter who was near-fluent in English, poignantly represents the archetypal “saviour” for the suddenly under-manned British tank and munitions units. Urgently needing both mechanical skills and a fluent foreign tongue, such resourceful Chinese recruits as Yang soon came to run these depots.

Thanks gattaca, god work🙌

Hellriegel 1915 skins
Legendary: The Archduke, Die Tiroler Bracke, The Schreckenstein
Distinguished: Eidenberger, Monte Piano, Snail, Tyrol

Snail skin for Hellriegel 1915 https://battlefield.fandom.com/wiki/Hellriegel_1915 Originating from Austria-Hungary and even though the term submachine gun had not yet been coined in 1915 this beast was belt-fed from a German snail magazine, firing 9mm rounds and had a water cooling jacket. Archives indicate that this weapon was named after someone called Hellriegel. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standsch%C3%BCtze_Hellriegel_M1915 Hellriegel's submachine gun could be fed from a drum magazine with a capacity of approximately 100-160 rounds. The magazine was not actually connected to the gun itself as the cartridges travelled through a flexible chute. The unusual appearance of the magazine has led many people to assume that the gun was belt-fed, however, this is not the case with the rounds being unconnected from one another and are propelled along the drum and feed chute by a spring. The design is very similar to the German TM 08 snail magazine, which was used in the Luger P08 pistol and MP-18 submachine gun. Apparently the gun could also use a box magazine with a capacity of around 20-30 rounds, which looks very similar to the box magazine of a Thompson submachine gun.

Tyrol skin for Hellriegel 1915 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standsch%C3%BCtze_Hellriegel_M1915): Little is known about the Standschütze Hellriegel Model 1915. The only source of information about the Hellriegel is several photographs stored in the photo archive of the Austrian National Library under the name “Maschinengewehr des Standschützen Hellriegel” (literally "Machine gun from reservist Hellriegel"). The photographs are dated October 1915 and they show the weapon being tested at a firing range. Its name and magazine size indicate that it was an automatic firearm, and its designer was someone named Hellriegel from the Austrian militia unit Standschützen (reference to the Maschinenpistole M1912/P.16's Standschützen skin), tasked with the defence of Tyrol and Vorarlberg regions of western Austria, the former bordered "neutral" Italy. It was most likely a prototype and therefore explains its "unfinished" look and design. The development of this weapon coincided with the Italian entry into World War I on the side of the Entente, and its subsequent declaration of war on Austria-Hungary - its former ally in the Triple Alliance - which forced the Austro-Hungarian Empire to wage war on three fronts. http://firearms.96.lt/pages/hellriegel It may be the case that only one prototype was ever built. Additionally, there have of yet been no records or documentation relating to this weapon. Because of this, the details of the trials that are depicted in the photographs are unknown; in any case, it seems clear that the design was not successful, and there was no interest in taking it into service. The photos that were taken during the tests were later sent to the K.u.K. Press Office in 1918; it is recorded that they were taken in Tyrol.

Monte Piano skin for Hellriegel 1915 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monte_Piana): Monte Piana is a 2,324-metre (7,625 ft) tall mountain in the Sexten Dolomites and located on the border between the provinces of South Tyrol (reference to the Hellriegel 1915's Tyrol skin) and Belluno. The smaller Northern summit of the mountain is named Monte Piano (2,305m). During the so-called "White War" in World War I the mountain was hotly contested between the Austrian and Italian Armies. The Austrians had occupied the Northern summit Monte Piano, while the Southern summit Monte Piana was in Italian hands. Today many remnants of the fierce fighting can still be found on both summits. When Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary on 24 May 1915, seven / eight battalions of the thirty-five stationed between San Candido and the Stelvio were sent to Monte Piana and its valleys. On 24 May the Piana was occupied by two platoons of Alpine troops of the 96th company, Pieve di Cadore battalion, of the 7th regiment. Other Alpini of the 67th company around 08:30 were hit by an artillery shell fired from Monte Rudo while they were working on the road from Misurina to Monte Piana; they were the first Italians to fall on a mountain that in less than two years made about 14,000 victims from both sides. Here, on 7 June 1915, second lieutenant Antonio De Toni (7th regiment, 268th company, batt. Val Piave) was fatally wounded, the first to be killed in the Padua university community. At the end of the day, the two years of war on Mount Piana essentially led to nothing; the two contenders fought for two long years on a patch of land, without ever being able to subvert the enemy forces, and on 3 November 1917 the positions on the plain were abandoned by the Italian units to retreat and take sides on the Grappa line in an attempt to resist the Austro-Hungarian offensive in Caporetto (reference to the Frommer Stop Pistol's Caporetto skin).

The Schreckenstein skin for Hellriegel 1915 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_War): Falzarego Pass. The Italians decided to focus on dislodging the Austrians from various high points around the eastern entrance to the Pass, particularly the rocky outcrop called the Casteletto on the Tofana di Rozes. The fighting to secure thus became so intense that the Austrians called it the “Schreckenstein” – “The rock of horror. Unable to push the Austro-Hungarians off the Casteletto, in 1916 the Italians decided to dig a 500m gallery from their positions to the foot of the outcrop and use 35 tons of gelignite to destroy it. The Austro-Hungarians responded by countermining but the Italians were so confident of success that General Cadorna and King Victor Emmanuel were invited to observe the detonation of the mine followed by the rapid assault by Italian troops held ready in another tunnel to swarm out after the explosion. The attack on 11 July was only partially successful. Many Italian soldiers were killed by carbon monoxide from the explosion as they rushed downhill, while others were killed by falling rocks. They managed to take the south side of the Casteletto but did not manage to drive the Austrians off completely for another three months. https://www.summitpost.org/the-world-war-i-in-the-dolomites-may-1915-may-2015/937585 The most sensational event of the whole war occurred on a stunning rocky tower considered particularly strategic, leaning against the majestic SW wall of the Tofana di Rozes, at the cross between Val Travenanzes and Val Costeana. This peak was called Castelletto (Little Castle) by the Italians, “Schreckenstein” (literally "Rock of Terror") by the Austrians. The Austrian sentinels placed on the mountain prevented the Italian army entering Val Travenenzes; Italians tried in various ways to storm Castelletto through several attempts, whether by daring climbing from below or descending from the summit of Tofana di Rozes. Failing in order the Italians thought to blow it up, building a 507 meters long tunnel. On July 11, 1916 a terrific explosion tore off the top of Castelletto. The rocks were thrown away at thousands of meters, continuing to fall for several hours. The summit was occupied by the Italians two days later.

The Archduke skin for Hellriegel 1915 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archduke_Franz_Ferdinand_of_Austria): Archduke Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria of Austria (18 December 1863 – 28 June 1914) was the heir presumptive to the throne of Austria-Hungary. His assassination in Sarajevo was the most immediate cause of World War I. Franz Ferdinand was the eldest son of Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria, the younger brother of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria (reference to Frommer Stop Pistol's The Emperor skin). Following the death of Crown Prince Rudolf in 1889 and the death of Karl Ludwig in 1896, Franz Ferdinand became the heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne. Franz Ferdinand held significant influence over the military, and in 1913 he was appointed inspector general of the Austro-Hungarian armed forces. On 28 June 1914, Franz Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated in Sarajevo by the 19-year-old Gavrilo Princip, a member of Young Bosnia. Franz Ferdinand's assassination led to the July Crisis and precipitated Austria-Hungary's declaration of war against Serbia, which in turn triggered a series of events that eventually led – four weeks after his death – to Austria-Hungary's allies and Serbia's allies declaring war on each other, starting World War I. His authority was reinforced in 1907 when he secured the retirement of the Emperor's confidant Friedrich von Beck-Rzikowsky as Chief of the General Staff. Beck's successor, Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf (reference to the Repetierpistole M1912's Hötzendorf skin), was personally selected by Franz Ferdinand. He advocated granting greater autonomy to ethnic groups within the Empire and addressing their grievances, especially the Czechs in Bohemia and the south Slavic peoples in Croatia and Bosnia, who had been left out of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867. Yet his feelings towards the Hungarians were less generous, often described as antipathy. He regarded Hungarian nationalism as a revolutionary threat to the Habsburg dynasty (reference to Repetierpistole M1912's The Habsburg skin) and reportedly became angry when officers of the 9th Hussars Regiment (which he commanded) spoke Hungarian in his presence – despite the fact that it was the official regimental language. He further regarded the Hungarian branch of the Dual Monarchy's army, the Honvédség, as an unreliable and potentially threatening force within the empire, complaining at the Hungarians' failure to provide funds for the joint army and opposing the formation of artillery units within the Hungarian forces.

Eidenberger skin for Hellriegel 1915 https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Eidenberger_(Maler) Josef Eidenberger (* 30. Mai 1899 in Goisern, Oberösterreich; † 21. Juli 1991 in Niederwaldkirchen) war ein österreichischer Maler. Nach dem Ersten Weltkrieg wandte er sich zunächst der Landschaftsmalerei zu. Im Jahre 1923 trat er in die Graphische Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt in Wien ein und erlernte bei Alfred Cossmann die Techniken des Kupferstiches und der Radierung. Danach beschäftigte er sich mit der Farbradierung, deren Technik er ständig verfeinerte und verbesserte. Seine Motive erwecken den Eindruck handgemalter Arbeiten und entstanden in seinem Atelier bzw. in seiner Druckerei. Neben vielen Motiven aus seiner engeren Heimat entstanden zahlreiche Städteansichten aus aller Welt. Die internationale Anerkennung seiner Arbeiten kam mit den vielen Aufträgen aus den Vereinigten Staaten. https://en.everybodywiki.com/Josef_Eidenberger_(artist) Josef Eidenberger (1899-1991) was an Austrian born engraver, etcher, painter and printmaker. Josef Eidenberger (1899-1991) was born in the small town of Bad Goisern, Austria. In 1902 the family moved to Vienna. He obtained his secondary education at the Neue Weiner Handelsakademie (New Vienna Commercial Academy, now incorporated into the Vienna Business School). Eidenberger was 20 when World War I ended. It was then, as a promising painter of landscapes that he began his career as an artist. In 1923, he enrolled in the famed Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien (Vienna Graphic Academy of Art) and studied under Alfred Cossmann. Starting with copper engraving, Eidenberger soon turned to etching on copper as his medium. His specialized studies and love for subtle color led him to the complicated process of multi-plate color etching. Eidenberger loved the natural colors and shapes of landscapes, especially the alpine scenery of his native Austria. These two subjects, city and village architecture, and landscapes, comprised the majority of his professional works. In the 1950’s and 1960’s, in oil paintings and etchings, he captured the essence of classic alpine landscapes and city architecture in numerous European countries. Medieval buildings and districts were a frequent subject of his work.

Die Tiroler Bracke skin for Hellriegel 1915 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrolean_Hound): The Tyrolean Hound is a breed of dog that originated in Tyrol (reference to the Hellriegel 1915's Tyrol skin) also called the Tiroler Bracke or Tyroler Bracke. They are scent hounds that descended from the Celtic hounds in the late 1800s, mainly for their hunting skills. They are hardworking, passionate, and independent dogs not known for their size, but rather their intelligence. For that reason, hunters can regularly use these dogs to catch their prey, wounded or otherwise. The Tyrolean Hound, also known as the Tyroler Bracke, is a breed of scent hound originally developed in the 1800s from the Bracke hounds and the Celtic hounds. It was first bred in Tyrol as a dog adapted to hunting in the snow. Emperor Maximilian I used this hound for hunting hare and fox and for tracking wounded game. Breeding began in 1860, and then in 1896 the first standard of breeding was published. Followed shortly thereafter, the Tyrolean Hound was recognized as their own breed in 1908. It was not until 2006, that the Tyrolean Hound was recognized by the United Kennel Club. As with dogs that come from hardworking scent hound breeds, the Tyrolean hound was bred for their hunting ability. The breed is known for their excellent ability in being able to maneuver through mountainous or heavily wooded areas, and for their amazing scenting skills.

Martini-Henry skins
Legendary: The Bloodhound, The Flaming Bullet, The Massoko
Distinguished: Glasgow, Kilimanjaro, Sari Bair Ridge, Zulu

Zulu skin for Martini-Henry (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martini%E2%80%93Henry): During the Martini–Henry's service life the British Army was involved in a large number of colonial wars, most notably the Anglo-Zulu War in 1879. The rifle was used in the Battle of Isandlwana, and by the company of the 2nd Battalion, 24th Regiment of Foot at the battle of Rorke's Drift, where 139 British soldiers successfully defended themselves against several thousand Zulus. The weapon was not completely phased out until 1904. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Zulu_War The Anglo-Zulu War was fought in 1879 between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom. Following the passing of the British North America Act of 1867 forming a federation in Canada, Lord Carnarvon thought that a similar political effort, coupled with military campaigns, might succeed with the African Kingdoms, tribal areas and Boer republics in South Africa. In 1874, Sir Bartle Frere was sent to South Africa as High Commissioner for the British Empire to effect such plans. Among the obstacles were the armed independent states of the South African Republic and the Kingdom of Zululand. Frere, on his own initiative, sent a provocative ultimatum on 11 December 1878 to the Zulu king Cetshwayo and upon its rejection sent Lord Chelmsford to invade Zululand. The war is notable for several particularly bloody battles, including an opening victory of the Zulu at the Battle of Isandlwana, followed by the defence of Rorke's Drift by a small British force from attack by a large Zulu force. The British eventually won the war, ending Zulu dominance of the region. Film adaptations:
-Zulu (1964), the Battle at Rorke's Drift. -Zulu Dawn (1979), the Battle of Isandlwana.

Glasgow skin for Martini-Henry (https://www.vintageguns.co.uk/magazine/the-rifle-makers-of-scotland): After Alex Henry died, in 1894, the company started, like many others, to use generic Birmingham actions for many of its guns and rifles. While some fine rifles continued to be made in the twentieth century, Alex Henry’s heyday ended with the death of the founder. In 1902 the company was taken over by Alexander Martin of Glasgow. The Glasgow firm, which eventually too over Alex Henry, was founded in 1778 making various metal components, including gun parts and cutlery, it was not until 1835 the firm became ‘gun-makers’. By the 1850s Martin was making rifles and casting rifle barrels. With shops in Glasgow, Aberdeen and Bisley, The third generation of Alex Martin gained a reputation as a rifle maker in the late 19th and early 20th century, especially target rifles based on the common Lee-Metford and Lee-Enfield military actions, as well as making breech loading rifles in .256 calibre. They also made and sold target rifle sights.

The Flaming Bullet skin for Martini-Henry (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martini%E2%80%93Henry): The Martini–Henry saw service in World War I in a variety of roles, primarily as a Reserve Arm, but it was also issued (in the early stages of the war) to aircrew for attacking observation balloons with newly developed incendiary ammunition, and aircraft. Martini–Henrys were also used in the African and Middle Eastern theatres during World War I, in the hands of Native Auxiliary troops. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.577/450_Martini%E2%80%93Henry Anti-airship cartridges. Prior to World War I, to combat the threat of Zeppelins it was determined that machine guns firing explosive or incendiary rounds were required to ignite the airship's gas. The bullet of the .303 British was too small to carry enough incendiary composition for the intended purpose, so the .577/450 round was adapted to the purpose and in 1914 the Cartridge S.A. Tracer Martini Henry Rifle and Machine Gun Mark I was introduced. This round used reclaimed drawn brass cases from rifle cartridges, firing a 270 gr (17 g) bullet made of a brass outer envelope containing 50 gr (3.2 g) of incendiary mix (20 parts potassium perchlorate and 7 parts aluminium) and 20 gr (1.3 g) of igniting mixture towards the tip. The cartridge was propelled by 47 gr (3.0 g) of cordite size 3 at a muzzle velocity of 2,150 ft/s (660 m/s). http://www.martinihenry.com/450577.htm Royal Laboratory Incendiary Mark I, 1914. Also referred to as "RL Flaming bullet". Used in Martini carbines for early air war against Zeppelins.

Sari Bair Ridge skin for Martini-Henry (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Sari_Bair): The Battle of Sari Bair (Turkish: Sarı Bayır Harekâtı), also known as the August Offensive (Ağustos Taarruzları), represented the final attempt made by the British in August 1915 to seize control of the Gallipoli peninsula from the Ottoman Empire during the First World War. At the time of the battle, the Gallipoli Campaign had raged on two fronts – Anzac and Helles – for three months since the Allied land invasion of 25 April 1915. With the Anzac front locked in a tense stalemate, the Allies had attempted to carry the offensive on the Helles battlefield – at enormous cost and for little gain. In August, the British command proposed a new operation to reinvigorate the campaign by capturing the Sari Bair ridge, the high ground that dominated the middle of the Gallipoli peninsula above the Anzac landing. The main operation started on 6 August with a fresh landing 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Anzac at Suvla Bay in conjunction with the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. The Allies mounted an attack north into the rugged country alongside the Sari Bair range with the aim of capturing the high ground and linking with the Suvla landing. At Helles, the British and French were now to remain largely on the defensive. Once the battles of 21 August had finished, the front lines at Suvla and Anzac remained static for the remainder of the campaign. Localised fighting continued but no more major advances were attempted. Many soldiers suffered or perished due to the hostile conditions they endured as a result of their poor preparation and training. Disease transmitted by mosquitoes and the lack of fresh water and shelter hampered the efforts of the division as the men were too weak to fight to their best ability.

The Massoko skin for Martini-Henry (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schutztruppe): Schutztruppe (lit. Protection Force) was the official name of the colonial troops in the African territories of the German colonial empire from the late 19th century to 1918. Similar to other colonial armies, the Schutztruppen consisted of volunteer European commissioned and non-commissioned officers, medical and veterinary officers. Most enlisted ranks were recruited from indigenous communities within the German colonies or from elsewhere in Africa. Military contingents were formed in German East Africa, where they became famous as Askari, in the Kamerun colony of German West Africa, and in German South West Africa. German East Africa: At the outbreak of the First World War, the Schutztruppe in German East Africa was organised into 14 field companies (Feldkompanien) with 2,500 men under arms, with headquarters at the capital Dar es Salaam. Including carriers and labourers, the force had about 14,000 personnel. On 13 April 1914, Lieutenant Colonel Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck assumed command in German East Africa. He led his units throughout the First World War, eventually being promoted to Generalmajor. The Schutztruppe in East Africa became the last German formation to surrender – days after the armistice in November 1918. A pre-war company consisted of 160 (expandable to 200) men in three platoons (Züge) of 50 to 60 men each, including two machine-gun teams. Each of the 14 companies also had a minimum 250 man carrier contingent as well as native irregulars known as Ruga-Ruga, called Fita-Fita in German Samoa, of approximately the same size units. 5th Company: Massoko. https://digitalcollections.lib.uct.ac.za/collection/islandora-19512 Garnison-umgebungs-Karte von Massoko. Environmental map of the area surrounding the German garrison in the Masoko and Kilwa regions of German East Africa. The map shows the permanent military base, towns, mission stations, passable roads, footpaths, banana groves cultivated by the African people, banana groves in the grounds of the leprosy hospital, protected forest areas, the north western shoreline of Lake Nyasa, other lakes and dams, flowing and dry-bed rivers, hills and mountains.

Kilimanjaro skin for Martini-Henry (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Kilimanjaro): Mount Kilimanjaro is a dormant volcano located in Kilimanjaro Region of Tanzania. It has three volcanic cones: Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest single free-standing mountain above sea level in the world: 5,895 m (19,341 ft) above sea level and about 4,900 m (16,100 ft) above its plateau base. It is the highest volcano in Africa and the Eastern Hemisphere. In the 1880s, the mountain became a part of German East Africa and was called Kilima-Ndscharo in German following the Kiswahili name components. On 6 October 1889, Hans Meyer reached the highest summit on the crater ridge of Kibo. He named it Kaiser-Wilhelm-Spitze (Kaiser Wilhelm peak, reference to Gewehr 98's The Kaiser skin). That name was used until Tanzania was formed in 1964, when the summit was renamed Uhuru Peak, meaning freedom peak in Kiswahili. In June 1887, the Hungarian Count Sámuel Teleki and the Austrian Lieutenant Ludwig von Höhnel made an attempt to climb the mountain. Approaching from the saddle between Mawenzi and Kibo, Höhnel stopped at 4,950 m (16,240 ft), but Teleki continued until he reached the snow at 5,300 m (17,400 ft). Later in 1887, the German geology professor Hans Meyer reached the lower edge of the ice cap on Kibo, where he was forced to turn back because he lacked the equipment needed to progress across the ice. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kilimanjaro The Battle of Kilimanjaro at Longido took place in German East Africa in November 1914 and was an early skirmish during the East African Campaign of the First World War. The British conquest of German East Africa was planned as a two-pronged invasion of the German colony, at the port town of Tanga and the settlement Longido on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro. The plan was designed at a Mombasa staff conference with Major General Arthur Aitken in overall command.

The Bloodhound skin for Martini-Henry (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloodhound): The bloodhound is a large scent hound, originally bred for hunting deer, wild boar and, since the Middle Ages, for tracking people. Believed to be descended from hounds once kept at the Abbey of Saint-Hubert, Belgium, in French it is called, le chien de Saint-Hubert. This breed is famed for its ability to discern human scent over great distances, even days later. Its extraordinarily keen sense of smell is combined with a strong and tenacious tracking instinct, producing the ideal scent hound, and it is used by police and law enforcement all over the world to track escaped prisoners, missing people, and lost pets. References to Bloodhounds first appear in English writing in the early to mid-14th century, in contexts that suggest the breed was well established by then. It also seems that from the earliest times the Bloodhound was used to track people. There are stories written in medieval Scotland of Robert the Bruce (in 1307), and William Wallace (1270–1305) being followed by 'sleuth hounds'. When the first Bloodhounds were exported to the US is not known. Bloodhounds were used to track runaway slaves before the American Civil War, but it has been questioned whether the dogs used were genuine Bloodhounds. In Britain, there have been instances from time to time of the successful use of the Bloodhound to track criminals or missing people. However, man-trailing is enjoyed as a sport by British Bloodhound owners, through national working trials, and this enthusiasm has spread to Europe. In addition, while the pure Bloodhound is used to hunt singly, Bloodhound packs use Bloodhounds crossed with foxhounds to hunt the human scent.

Selbstlader 1906 skins
Legendary: Das Jagdschloss Rominten, The Hound of Mons, The Kaiserin
Distinguished: Charleroi, Die Walkure, Falkenhayn, Waitzrik

Das Jagdschloss Rominten skin for Selbstlader 1906 (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jagdschloss_Rominten): Das Jagdschloss Rominten war das Jagdhaus von Kaiser Wilhelm II. in der Rominter Heide. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rominten_Hunting_Lodge The Rominten Hunting Lodge (German: Jagdschloss Rominten) was the residence of Kaiser Wilhelm II (reference to Gewehr 98's The Kaiser skin) in the Rominter Heath in East Prussia. A small Norwegian Stave Church-style chapel dedicated to Saint Hubertus (the patron saint of hunting) was built in 1893, and Theerbude was renamed "Kaiserlich Rominten" (Imperial Rominten) on 13 September 1897. Over the following years, a youth hostel and an orphanage were built, and the village became a popular tourist resort. An "Empress-wing" (reference to Selbstlader 1906's The Kaiserin skin) was added to the lodge in 1904. Wilheim II spent several weeks each fall at Rominten and at his other retreats in Prökelwitz and Hubertusstock. Rominten had the distinction of being the place where he and his ministers made the most important decisions regarding improvements to the navy and ship-building. Government ministers would travel out to the lodge from Berlin. Most of Wilhelm's time at Rominten, however, was spent hunting. He and his entourage would rise at 5:00 each morning and be driven out to the forest. Standing on special platforms, they would wait for herders to drive deer and elk toward their positions. From 22 September to 2 October 1913, Wilhelm II visited the lodge for the last time. In his 23 years of hunting on the Rominter Heath, he had brought down 327 deer. After World War I, the Lodge remained the private property of Wilhelm II, although the exiled Kaiser would never return to Rominten.

The Kaiserin skin for Selbstlader 1906 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augusta_Victoria_of_Schleswig-Holstein): Augusta Viktoria of Schleswig-Holstein (Auguste Viktoria Friederike Luise Feodora Jenny; 22 October 1858 – 11 April 1921) was the last German Empress and Queen of Prussia by marriage to Wilhelm II (reference to Gewehr 98's The Kaiser skin), German Emperor. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_Kaiserin SMS Kaiserin was the third vessel of the Kaiser class of dreadnought battleships of the Imperial German Navy. Kaiserin's keel was laid in November 1910 at the Howaldtswerke dockyard in Kiel. She was launched on 11 November 1911 and was commissioned into the fleet on 14 May 1913. Along with her four sister ships, Kaiser, Friedrich der Grosse, König Albert, and Prinzregent Luitpold, Kaiserin participated in all of the major fleet operations of World War I, including the Battle of Jutland (reference to the Battle of Jutland skins) on 31 May and 1 June 1916. The ship was also involved in Operation Albion, an amphibious assault on the Russian-held islands in the Gulf of Riga, in October 1917. She later saw action during the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight in November 1917. After Germany's defeat in the war and the signing of the Armistice in November 1918, the Royal Navy interned Kaiserin and most of the capital ships of the High Seas Fleet in Scapa Flow. The ships were disarmed and reduced to skeleton crews while the Allied powers negotiated the final version of the Treaty of Versailles. On 21 June 1919, the commander of the interned fleet, Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter, ordered the fleet to be scuttled to ensure that the British would not be able to seize the ships.

Falkenhayn skin for Selbstlader 1906 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_von_Falkenhayn): General Erich Georg Sebastian Anton von Falkenhayn (11 September 1861 – 8 April 1922) was the second Chief of the German General Staff of the First World War from September 1914 until 29 August 1916. He was removed on 29 August 1916 after the failure at the Battle of Verdun (reference to the M1909 Benét-Mercié Verdun skin), the opening of the Battle of the Somme (reference to the Auto revolver's Somme skin), the Brusilov Offensive (reference to the Model 8 Autoloading's Brusilov skin) and the entry of Romania into the war on the Allied side undid his strategy to end the war before 1917. He was later given important field commands in Romania and Syria. His reputation as a war leader was attacked in Germany during and after the war, especially by the faction supporting Paul von Hindenburg. Falkenhayn held that Germany could not win the war by a decisive battle but would have to reach a compromise peace; his enemies said he lacked the resolve necessary to win a decisive victory. Falkenhayn's relations with the Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg (reference to Selbstlader M1916's The Chancellor skin) were troubled and undercut Falkenhayn's plans. Winston Churchill (reference to the C96 Pistol's Churchill skin) considered him to be the ablest of the German generals in World War I. Trevor Dupuy also ranked him near the top of the German commanders, just below Hindenburg and Ludendorff (reference to the C96 Pistol's Ludendorff skin).

Charleroi skin for Selbstlader 1906 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Charleroi): The Battle of Charleroi (French: Bataille de Charleroi) or the Battle of the Sambre, was fought on 21 August 1914, by the French Fifth Army and the German 2nd and 3rd armies, during the Battle of the Frontiers. The French were planning an attack across the Sambre River, when the Germans attacked first, forced back the French from the river and nearly cut off the French retreat by crossing the Meuse River (reference to the M1897 Shotgun's Meuse skin) around Dinant and getting behind the French right flank. The French were saved by a counter-attack at Dinant and the re-direction of the 3rd Army to the north-west in support of the 2nd Army, rather than south-west. By 20 August, the Fifth Army (General Charles Lanrezac) had begun to concentrate on a 40 km (25 mi) front along the Sambre, centred on Charleroi and extending east to the Belgian fortress of Namur. The Cavalry Corps (General André Sordet) covered the Fifth Army's left flank and the concentration of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) at Mons (reference to Selbstlader 1906's The Hound of Mons skin). The French had 15 divisions, after transfers of troops to Lorraine, facing 18 German divisions from the 2nd Army (General Karl von Bülow) and 3rd Army (Colonel-General Max von Hausen, reference to the Gewehr 98's von Hausen skin) moving south-west from Luxembourg towards the Meuse. On the morning of the 21st, the French Commander-in-Chief, the head of Grand Quartier Général (GQG), Joseph Joffre (reference to the RSC 1917's Papa Joffre skin), communicated to Lanrezac and to the BEF that German troops were moving west. Fighting continued on 23 August when the French centre around Charleroi began to fall back. The German army was victorious.

The Hound of Mons skin for Selbstlader 1906 (https://www.historicmysteries.com/hound-mons/): Angel of Mons: During the first monumental turn of the WW1, heavily outnumbered British troops set out to corner German soldiers at the Battle of Mons during 22-23 August 1914. A tedious fight followed. Although the Germans were thrown back, British soldiers sustained fatal wounds. In this difficult turn of events, everyone was looking for a ray of hope – a miracle. On 24th April 1915, the British Spiritualist magazine produced a column detailing the strange events that took place during the Battle of Mons, when several angels descended from the heavens, bows in their hands, to defend the British army. However, there was another tale, much more fearsome and sinister, that had developed in this little town. Hound of Mons Battlefield Mauling British Soldiers: A fascinating chronicle was published in 1919 by Canadian veteran F. J. Newhouse, describing the story of the gigantic otherworldly hound that mauled over British soldiers in No Man’s Land. The publishing claimed that this hound wasn’t your typical Hellhound or phantom, but the intentional creation of a horrific German experiment. The days of nightmare began on November 14, 1914, when Captain Yeskes and four associates from the London Fusiliers went to patrol the No Man’s Land. They never returned. After many days their cadavers were recovered, with teeth marks on their throats. Nights later a petrifying howl was heard from the darkness. For now, the Hound of Mons has to just take its position amongst the many myths and fictions of old battlefields.

Waitzrik skin for Selbstlader 1906 (https://www.jasoncolavito.com/blog/review-of-military-encounters-with-extraterrestrials-by-frank-joseph): Review of "Military Encounters with Extraterrestrials" by Frank Joseph. The book under consideration today is Military Encounters with Extraterrestrials: The Real War of the Worlds, due out later this year. As for the book itself, it is a compendium of hearsay torn from the pages of tabloids. To give but one example: Joseph quotes Peter Waitzrik, who supposedly fought alongside the Red Baron in World War I, as claiming that the Baron shot down a UFO and that space aliens ran out. Even Joseph admits that the story doesn’t match the historical record, but he tries to rehabilitate it anyway, despite the fact that it was first published in the Weekly World News on August 11, 1998 (and later reprinted in 1999). “His appearance in a notorious American tabloid was enough for most historians to dismiss him as the perpetrator of an obvious hoax,” Joseph writes. But he said that Waitzrik only turned to the Weekly World News when no other paper would touch his story. Even though Waitzrik might have been a real person, the story from the Weekly World News is probably, at best, a “creative” interpretation of a very old man’s fantastical tall tales. https://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/the-red-baron-the-great-war-and-ufos.html A recently published book – UFOs of the First World War – delves on the mysteries and paranormal sightings WWI soldiers and even the Red Baron himself encountered during the Great War a hundred years in the past. Nevertheless, Waitzrick waited eighty years after its occurrence before sharing the story, He was already 105 years old when he did open up about the encounter. The account made it into the pages of the Weekly World News August of 1999. But historians are doubtful with Waitzrick’s narration. According to them, it was not until months later after the encounter that the Fokker triplanes that the squadron were allegedly fighting when the incident occurred were put into operation service. That fact cast a shade on the WWI German pilot’s story.

Die Walkure skin for Selbstlader 1906 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Walk%C3%BCre): Die Walküre (The Valkyrie), WWV 86B, is the second of the four music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen (English: The Ring of the Nibelung). It was performed, as a single opera, at the National Theatre Munich on 26 June 1870, and received its first performance as part of the Ring cycle at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus on 14 August 1876. The story of Die Walküre is based on the Norse mythology told in the Völsunga saga and the Poetic Edda. In this version, the Volsung twins Sieglinde and Siegmund, separated in childhood, meet and fall in love. This union angers the gods, who demand that Siegmund must die. Sieglinde and the couple's unborn child are saved by the defiant actions of Wotan's (reference to the Selbstlader M1916's Odin skin) daughter, the title character, Valkyrie Brünnhilde, who as a result faces the gods' retribution. In accordance with this scheme, Wagner preceded Siegfried's Death (later Götterdämmerung (reference to the LMG 08/18's Götterdämmerung skin, The Twilight of the Gods)) with the story of Siegfried's youth, Young Siegfried, later renamed Siegfried (reference to the Heavy Tank'Siegfried skin). The well-known "Valkyrie" motif, used to introduce Brünnhilde in Act II, forms the basis of the famous Ride of the Valkyries that opens Act III. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ride_of_the_Valkyries The "Ride of the Valkyries" (German: Walkürenritt or Ritt der Walküren) refers to the beginning of act 3 of Die Walküre, the second of the four epic music dramas constituting Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen. As a separate piece, the "Ride" is often heard in a purely instrumental version, which may be as short as three minutes. Together with the "Bridal Chorus" from Lohengrin (reference to the LMG 08/18's Lohengrin skin), the "Ride of the Valkyries" is one of Wagner's best-known pieces. The "Ride" features as diegetic music in Apocalypse Now (1979), where the 1/9 Air Cavalry squadron plays it on helicopter-mounted loudspeakers during their assault on a Viet Cong-controlled village as psychological warfare and to motivate their own troops.

Model 1900 skins
Legendary: Fismes, Fismette, The Smorgon
Distinguished: Devana, Sabaneyev

Devana skin for Model 1900 https://battlefield.fandom.com/wiki/Model_1900_(Codex_Entry) in WW1 used hunting shotguns in a more or less official capacity, often for sentry duty. In Russia, weapons of virtually all types and manufacture were sold freely in hunting shops before the 1917 Revolution, and most people in rural areas had a rifle or shotgun in their homes. Due to the acute “rifle hunger” in the Russian Army for a large part of the war, one of the recommendations was; “to adapt to the needs of the army all shotguns in Russia must be available for firing buckshot at the Enemy”. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devana Devana (Polish: Dziewanna, Latin: Dzewana), Zevana (Polish: Ziewanna), less often Zievonya (Polish: Ziewonja, Zewonia) is the goddess of wild nature, forests, hunting and the moon worshiped by the Western Slavs. In the sources, she was first mentioned in the 15th century by Jan Długosz, who compared her to the Roman goddess Diana. Dziewanna is also a Polish name for Verbascum, and the etymology of the word is unclear. After strong criticism from Aleksander Brückner, researchers rejected her authenticity, but nowadays it is accepted by an increasing number of researchers. Sometimes, in folk rituals, she performs together with Morana. There are several interpretations of Devana's name. The most obvious etymology are words such as dziewa, dziewka, "girl, young woman, maiden", and dziewica, "virgin", a word derived from the dziewa. This etymology can be supported by fact, that Diana (and Artemis – her greek equivalent) is usually depicted in myths as a virgin and has never had any offspring or a consort.

Sabaneyev skin for Model 1900 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonid_Sabaneyev): Leonid Leonidovich Sabaneyev or Sabaneyeff or Sabaneev (Russian: Леони́д Леони́дович Сабане́ев) (1 October 1881 – 3 May 1968) was a Russian musicologist, music critic, composer and scientist. He was the son of Leonid Pavlovich Sabaneyev, a famous hunting expert, and his brother Boris was also a musician. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonid_Pavlovich_Sabaneyev Leonid Pavlovich Sabaneyev (Леонид Павлович Сабанеев; 1844–1898) was a Russian zoologist who made extensive contributions to the study of hunting in Russia. He was on friendly terms with Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich and held the post of Stallmeister (stable master) at his court. Leonid P. Sabaneyev set up Hunter's Gazette (Охотничья газета) in 1888 and was the author of the enormously popular Hunter's Calendar featuring valuable practical information. His work Freshwater Fishes and Fishing in Russia (1875) is considered a minor classic. His correspondence with Charles Darwin, Ivan Turgenev, and Albert I of Monaco has been published. It was Sabaneyev who set up an exclusive hunting club in Moscow and conducted the first national survey of hunting.

The Smorgon skin for Model 1900 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smarhon%CA%B9): Smarhonʹ or Smorgonʹ (Belarusian: Смарго́нь; Russian: Сморгонь; Lithuanian: Smurgainys; Polish: Smorgonie; Yiddish: סמאָרגאָן) is a city in the Grodno Region (reference to the Russian 1895's Grodno skin) of Belarus. It was the site of Smarhonʹ air base, now mostly abandoned. Smarhoń is located 107 km from the capital, Minsk. https://www.belarus.by/en/travel/military-history-tourism/first-world-war The town of Smorgon has Belarus’ largest memorial to the heroes and victims of the First World War. It was built on the site of real events, becoming the first complex of such scale. The choice of place is symbolic: the town stood on the front line for more than two years - from September 1915 to February 1918. The town, which held ground for 810 days, was practically wiped off the face of the earth. Thousands died in the bloody battles for Smorgon. For example, just on one day of 25 September 1915, 3,500 Russian soldiers and about 5,500 Germans were killed here. After the war, the destroyed and scorched Smorgon began to be called a "dead town" as only about 150 inhabitants out of the pre-war 16,000 returned here. The movie "The Battalion” released in 2015 narrates about the tragic events on the front near Belarus’ Smorgon. It tells about the famous women's Death Battalion under the command of the legendary female officer Maria Bochkareva (reference to the Mosin-Nagant M91's The Bochkareva skin). It consisted of representatives of all walks of life: cadets, teachers, workers and peasants, Cossacks and soldiers, and women from the most noble families of the empire.

Fismes and Fismette skin for Model 1900 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fismes): Fismes is a commune in the Marne department in the Grand Est region of north-eastern France. Apart from Fismes there are three hamlets: Fismette and Baslieux are continuations of the urban area of Fismes while Villette is in the east of the commune. The Vesle river flows through the commune from east to west with the Ruisseau du Moulin and the Ruisseau Saint-Marie flow from the north into the Vesle. Fismes was greatly affected by the First World War. The Germans invaded the city, then remained on the Chemin des Dames (reference to the Lebel Model 1886's Chemin des Dames skin) before they completely demolished the city in 1918. The Fismes Memorial site is located along the Vesle river, near the memorial bridge that was constructed with the help of the State of Pennsylvania. The Battle of Fismes and Fismette that occurred during World War I sparked a lasting friendship between the City of Fismes and the United States, particularly Pennsylvania. This bloody battle took place from August 3 to September 1, 1918 and was the last major German attack on the Allies during World War I. The 32nd American Division lost 2,000 men during its first attempt to cross the Vesle and attack the Germans. The 28th American Infantry Division, consisting of soldiers mostly from Pennsylvania, replaced the former division, forced the Germans to retreat, and proceeded to liberate Fismes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fismes_and_Fismette The Battle of Fismes and Fismette was a battle in Fismes, France that took place during the First World War from 3 August to 1 September 1918 during the end of the Second Battle of the Ourcq and the Aisne-Marne Offensive. The Second Battle of the Marne was the last major German attack on the Western Front during World War I. The purpose of the attack had been to end the conflict, and Erich Ludendorff (reference to the C96 Pistol's Ludendorff skin), Chief Quartermaster General, believed that an attack conducted through Flanders (reference to the Artillery Truck's Flanders skin) would give Germany the final victory that it needed. In order to hide his true intentions, Ludendorff set up a large diversionary attack along the Marne. The Battle of Fismes and Fismette is unique in the history of World War I because of the extreme violence and street fighting that occurred, as well as the presence of storm trooper attacks and flame throwers. All of this culminated in the total destruction of Fismes (around 90%), more than in the neighboring Reims. Over the course of just a month, Fismes would be lost and won again five times by the Allied forces.

Bull Dog Revolver skins
Legendary: Beachy Bill, The Kid
Distinguished: Bighorn, Gambler

play on words (with "Bill"): Beachy Bill skin, Wild Bill (Gambler skin), Billy the Kid (The Kid skin), Buffalo Bill (Bighorn skin)?

Beachy Bill skin for Bull Dog Revolver (http://mideasti.blogspot.com/2015/05/may-5-1915-anzacs-first-meet-beachy-bill.html): The ANZACs who found themselves ashore at Gallipoli on April 25 soon realized that they were unable to get beyond the landing beaches due to strong Turkish positions on the ridgeline above, and they were subjected to constant shelling from artillery beyond the protective ridge. Stuck as sitting targets below, they named the hills and natural features around them. There were Gun Ridge, Battleship Hill, Baby 700, the Sphinx (remember they'd trained by the Sphinx) the Nek (an Afrikaans word, probably named by a Boer War veteran), and so on. One of the landing beaches was named Brighton Beach, presumably ironically. One such named location was "the Olive Grove," in a plain near Gaba Tepe, where a well-concealed Turkish artillery position was set up in a place from which it had a clear view of the ANZAC beaches. It could shell the beachhead at will and regularly did so, also dropping shells and shrapnel offshore where the ANZAC troops regularly swam to escape the heat of the Aegean summer. The Olive Grove position first came into action 100 years ago today. It would be a persistent threat to the beachhead right up to withdrawal months later, which took place under its gunnery. The Australian and New Zealand troops not only named the Olive Grove, they named the gun. They called it "Beachy Bill." They never got to meet him up close, but certainly felt his presence. (They speak generally of a single gun, though other guns in the vicinity contributed.) "Beachy" presumably refers to its threat to, and nearness to, the beaches.

Bighorn skin for Bull Dog Revolver (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Bull_Dog_revolver): The British Bull Dog was a popular type of solid-frame pocket revolver introduced by Philip Webley & Son of Birmingham, England, in 1872, and subsequently copied by gunmakers in continental Europe and the United States. The Bulldog was popular in Britain and America. US Army general, George Armstrong Custer, was said to have carried a pair at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. British Bull Dog revolvers were issued to employees of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company until 1895. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn The Battle of the Little Bighorn, known to the Lakota and other Plains Indians as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, and commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was an armed engagement between combined forces of the Lakota Sioux, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes and the 7th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army. The battle, which resulted in the defeat of U.S. forces, was the most significant action of the Great Sioux War of 1876. It took place on June 25–26, 1876, along the Little Bighorn River in the Crow Indian Reservation in southeastern Montana Territory. The fight was an overwhelming victory for the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho, who were led by several major war leaders, including Crazy Horse and Chief Gall, and had been inspired by the visions of Sitting Bull (Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake). The U.S. 7th Cavalry, a force of 700 men, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer (a brevetted major general during the American Civil War), suffered a major defeat. Five of the 7th Cavalry's twelve companies were wiped out and Custer was killed, as were two of his brothers, a nephew, and a brother-in-law. The total U.S. casualty count included 268 dead and 55 severely wounded (six died later from their wounds), 244  including four Crow Indian scouts and at least two Arikara Indian scouts.

The Kid skin for Bull Dog Revolver (https://www.guns.com/news/2013/04/22/british-bulldog-pocket-revolvers): In addition to the Garfield-Guiteau history, British Bulldogs found their way into the pockets and holsters of other famous characters. Gen. George Custer is rumored to have wielded a matched pair of ivory handled British Bulldog revolvers. A British Bulldog may also have fallen into the hands of William Bonney, aka Billy the Kid, by way of his first employer and mentor, John H. Tunstall. Whether this gun ever saw any dubious service remains for great speculation, but regardless, the little British Bulldogs were as well traveled as they were well loved. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_the_Kid Henry McCarty (September 17 or November 23, 1859 – July 14, 1881), alias William H. Bonney, better known as Billy the Kid, was an American outlaw and gunfighter of the Old West who is alleged to have killed 21 men before he was shot and killed at the age of 21. He is also known for his involvement in New Mexico's Lincoln County War, during which he allegedly committed three murders. Bonney's notoriety grew in December 1880 when the Las Vegas Gazette, in Las Vegas, New Mexico, and The Sun, in New York City, carried stories about his crimes. Sheriff Pat Garrett captured Bonney later that month. In April 1881, Bonney was tried for and convicted of Brady's murder, and was sentenced to hang in May of that year. He escaped from jail on April 28, killing two sheriff's deputies in the process, and evaded capture for more than two months. Garrett shot and killed Bonney, by then aged 21, in Fort Sumner on July 14, 1881. During the decades following his death, legends grew that Bonney had survived, and a number of men claimed to be him. Billy the Kid remains one of the most notorious figures from the era, whose life and likeness have been frequently dramatized in Western popular culture. He has been a feature of more than 50 movies and several television series.

Gambler skin for Bull Dog Revolver https://battlefield.fandom.com/wiki/British_Bulldog_(Codex_Entry) It has been argued that the British Bull Dog Revolver was the actual Gun That Won The West - a type of solid-frame pocket revolver that was immensely popular in the late 19th century. The Bull Dog is a short-barreled double-action revolver with a short grip and swing-out ejector, intended to be carried in a coat pocket. https://www.breachbangclear.com/bulldog-revolvers-baby-british/ There is a dark side to these little pistols though. While we can all watch a Western and be thrilled by seeing little revolvers like this come from corsets, garters, crotch holsters, and pockets of lawmen, gamblers, prostitutes and pimps, one of these pistols was involved in a presidential assassination. A .44 caliber Belgian-made British Bulldog revolver was used to murder U.S. President James A. Garfield. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Bill_Hickok James Butler Hickok (May 27, 1837 – August 2, 1876), better known as "Wild Bill" Hickok, was a folk hero of the American Old West known for his life on the frontier as a soldier, scout, lawman, cattle rustler, gunslinger, gambler, showman, and actor, and for his involvement in many famous gunfights. He earned a great deal of notoriety in his own time, much of it bolstered by the many outlandish and often fabricated tales he told about himself. Some contemporaneous reports of his exploits are known to be fictitious, but they remain the basis of much of his fame and reputation. He fought and spied for the Union Army during the American Civil War and gained publicity after the war as a scout, marksman, actor, and professional gambler. He was involved in several notable shootouts during the course of his life. In 1876, Hickok was shot and killed while playing poker in a saloon in Deadwood, Dakota Territory (present-day South Dakota) by Jack McCall, an unsuccessful gambler. The hand of cards which he supposedly held at the time of his death has become known as the dead man's hand: two pairs; black aces and eights. https://battlefield.fandom.com/wiki/Clyde_Blackburn Clyde Blackburn is an American character featured in the campaign of Battlefield 1. "My name is Clyde Blackburn. I'm a pilot and a gambler. If you ask me to name my biggest fault, I'd have to tell you I'm just not a very honest person." — Blackburn describing himself at the beginning of Friends In High Places.

lMG 08/18 skins
Legendary: Der Sturm, Die Zauberflöte, Franz Marc
Distinguished: Götterdämmerung, Lohengrin
Special: Danzig Trench, Hohenzollern, Kaisers Ridge, Würdigung

Franz Marc skin for lMG 08/18 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Marc): Franz Moritz Wilhelm Marc (8 February 1880 – 4 March 1916) was a German painter and printmaker, one of the key figures of German Expressionism. He was a founding member of Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider), a journal whose name later became synonymous with the circle of artists collaborating in it.
His mature works mostly are animals, and are known for bright colors. He was drafted to serve in the German Army at the beginning of World War I, and died two years later at the Battle of Verdun (reference to the M1909 Benét-Mercié's Verdun skin). When up for auction, his major paintings attract large sums, with a record of £42,654,500 for Die Füchse (The Foxes). With the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Marc was drafted into the Imperial German Army as a cavalryman. By February 1916, as shown in a letter to his wife, he had gravitated to military camouflage. His technique for hiding artillery from aerial observation was to paint canvas covers in broadly pointillist style. He took pleasure in creating a series of nine such tarpaulin covers in styles varying "from Manet to Kandinsky", suspecting that the latter could be the most effective against aircraft flying at 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) or higher. By 1916, he had been promoted to lieutenant and awarded the Iron Cross. After mobilization of the German Army, the government identified notable artists to be withdrawn from combat for their own safety. Marc was on the list but was struck in the head and killed instantly by a shell splinter during the Battle of Verdun in 1916 before orders for reassignment could reach him.

Der Sturm skin for lMG 08/18 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Der_Sturm): Der Sturm (transl. The Storm) was a German avant-garde art and literary magazine founded by Herwarth Walden, covering Expressionism, Cubism, Dada and Surrealism, among other artistic movements. It was published between 1910 and 1932. Der Sturm was established in Berlin in 1910 by Herwarth Walden. It ran weekly from 1910 to 1914, monthly from 1914 to 1924, and quarterly until it ceased publication in 1932. From 1916 to 1928, it was edited by the artist and Bauhaus teacher Lothar Schreyer. The best known publications resulting from the magazine were the Sturmbücher (storm-books), (e.g. Sturmbücher 1 and 2 were works of August Stramm (reference to the M1917 Trench Carbine's Stramm skin) – Sancta Susanna und Rudimentär). Postcards were also created featuring the expressionistic, cubist, and abstract art of Franz Marc (reference to the lMG 08/18's Franz Marc skin), Wassily Kandinsky, Oskar Kokoschka, August Macke, Gabriele Münter, Georg Schrimpf, Maria Uhden, Rudolf Bauer and others. The term Sturm was branded by Walden to represent the way in which modern art was penetrating Germany at the time. Particularly in the time before outbreak of the World War I, Der Sturm played a crucial role in the French-German exchange of expressionist artists, which led to a special relationship between Berlin and Paris. Regularly, poems and other texts of French and/or French-speaking expressionists were published (Guillaume Apollinaire (reference to the RSC SMG's Apollinaire skin), Blaise Cendrars, etc.). This relationship was renewed after the war despite the hostilities between the two countries caused by the fighting. The magazine also fostered the Galerie Der Sturm, started by Walden to celebrate its 100th edition, in 1912. The gallery became the focus for Berlin's modern art scene for a decade. Starting with an exhibition of Fauves and Der Blaue Reiter, followed by the introduction in Germany of the Italian Futurists, Cubists and Orphists, the gallery was to exhibit Edvard Munch, Georges Braque, Pablo Picasso, Jean Metzinger, Albert Gleizes, Robert Delaunay, Gino Severini, Jean Arp, Paul Klee (reference to the Parabellum MG14/17's Paul Klee skin), Wassily Kandinsky, Serge Charchoune and Kurt Schwitters.

Danzig Trench skin for lMG 08/18 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capture_of_Mametz): The Capture of Mametz (reference to the M1917 Enfield's Mametz skin) took place on 1 July 1916, when the British Fourth Army attacked the German 2nd Army on the Western Front, during the first day of the Battle of the Somme (reference to the Auto Revolver's Somme skin). Mametz is a village on the D 64 road, about 20 mi (32 km) north-east of Amiens and 4 mi (6.4 km) east of Albert. Mametz Wood is 1,000 yd (910 m) to the north-west and before 1914, the village was the fifth largest in the area, with about 120 houses and had a station on the line from Albert to Péronne. Battle, 1 July: The left-hand battalion of the 91st Brigade had already worked forward into the east end of Mametz and the reinforcements were formed into four lines, to advance after a thirty-minute bombardment at 3:30 p.m. but before they reached Shrine Alley, about 200 German soldiers appearing from The Shrine and the village surrendered, a larger number having earlier retreated towards Mametz Wood. Danzig Trench (South) was cleared and Hidden Wood occupied, with far fewer losses than in the first attack by the 20th Brigade during the morning. https://battlefield.fandom.com/wiki/Nivelle_Nights Nivelle Nights is a map added to Battlefield 1: They Shall Not Pass during the June Update. Conquest flags: -Saint Berthe (reference to the RSC SMG's Saint Berthe skin), -Danzig Trench, ... . Danzig Trench: A German position marked by a trio of searchlights scanning for aircraft, the objective is a bunker housing generators and banks of electrical equipment, protected by the elements by a log roof. The capture zone is concentrated around the central pit where the generators are, but also extends northwards to include the central parapet housing the spotlights, and the reverse slope at the bottom of which is the frontline trench. The German Illumination Flare launcher is along the trenches to the east, outside the middle of the three pillboxes constructed about the area.

Kaisers Ridge skin for lMG 08/18 (https://battlefield.fandom.com/wiki/Argonne_Forest): The Argonne Forest is a multiplayer map featured in Battlefield 1. This infantry-focused map takes place during the opening phase of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive of late 1918. Conquest flags: -Hellfire Junction Bridge (reference to the M1917 Enfield's Hellfire Junction skin), -Kaisers Ridge, ... . Kaiser's Ridge: Kaiser's Ridge is a fortified position situated on a low hill, recently shelled due to the presence of flaming debris and uprooted trees. A line of trenches covers the south slope, with another, wider line on the lip of the ridge on which the capture zone is concentrated. Two pillboxes at either end of this line are constructed defend the southwest and northeast approaches. The other side of the ridge lacks any fortifications, falling into a crevice that loops around the crag between the ridge and the Abbey Ruin. A tunnel through the rock face grants a more direct route. An FK 96 is set up to the southwest of the flag, right next to the railway line.

Hohenzollern skin for lMG 08/18 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Hohenzollern): The House of Hohenzollern (German: Haus Hohenzollern; Romanian: Casa de Hohenzollern) is a formerly royal German (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) dynasty whose members were variously princes, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern, Brandenburg, Prussia, the German Empire, and Romania. The family came from the area around the town of Hechingen in Swabia during the late 11th century and took their name from Hohenzollern Castle. The Margraviate of Brandenburg and the Duchy of Prussia were ruled in personal union after 1618 and were called Brandenburg-Prussia. From there, the Kingdom of Prussia was created in 1701, eventually leading to the unification of Germany and the creation of the German Empire in 1871, with the Hohenzollerns as hereditary German Emperors and Kings of Prussia. Germany's defeat in World War I in 1918 led to the German Revolution. The Hohenzollerns were overthrown and the Weimar Republic was established, thus bringing an end to the German and Prussian monarchy. As a result of the World War I, the German, Russian, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman empires ceased to exist. In 1918, the German empire was abolished and replaced by the Weimar Republic. After the outbreak of the German revolution in 1918, both Emperor William II (reference to Gewehr 98's The Kaiser skin) and Crown Prince William (reference to the Selbstlader M1916's Kronprinz skin) signed the document of abdication. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hohenzollern_Redoubt The Hohenzollern Redoubt (Hohenzollernwerk) was a strongpoint of the German 6th Army on the Western Front during the First World War, at Auchy-les-Mines near Loos-en-Gohelle in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France. Named after the House of Hohenzollern, the redoubt was fought for by German and British forces. Engagements took place from the Battle of Loos (25 September – 14 October 1915) to the beginning of the Battle of the Somme on 1 July 1916, including the action of the Hohenzollern Redoubt in 1915 and the British Attack at the Hohenzollern Redoubt from 2 to 18 March 1916.

Die Zauberflöte skin for lMG 08/18 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Magic_Flute): The Magic Flute (German: Die Zauberflöte), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form during the time it was written that included both singing and spoken dialogue. The work premiered on 30 September 1791 at Schikaneder's theatre, the Freihaus-Theater auf der Wieden in Vienna, just two months before the composer's premature death. The allegorical plot was influenced by Schikaneder and Mozart's interest in Freemasonry and concerns the initiation of Prince Tamino. Enlisted by the Queen of the Night to rescue her daughter Pamina from the high priest Sarastro, Tamino comes to admire the high ideals of the latter and he and Pamina both join Sarastro's community, while the Queen and her allies are vanquished. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Magic_Flute_(2006_film) The Magic Flute is a 2006 romantic fantasy film directed by Kenneth Branagh, adapted from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's singspiel Die Zauberflöte. An international co-production between France and the United Kingdom, it was produced by Idéale Audience and in association with UK's Peter Moores Foundation. As part of the 250th anniversary celebration of Mozart's birthday, a new film version of The Magic Flute, set during World War I, was made, directed by Kenneth Branagh, with a translation by Stephen Fry. The story, which has been updated to a World War I setting, follows the structure of the original opera libretto. Tamino is sent by the Queen of the Night to rescue her daughter Pamina after Sarastro has apparently kidnapped her. His sidekick is Papageno, a man who uses underground pigeons to check for poison gas. Sarastro, in charge of a field hospital, is Pamina's father.

Götterdämmerung skin for lMG 08/18 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6tterd%C3%A4mmerung): Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods), WWV 86D, is the last in Richard Wagner's cycle of four music dramas titled Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung, or The Ring Cycle or The Ring for short). It received its premiere at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus on 17 August 1876, as part of the first complete performance of the whole work. The title is a translation into German of the Old Norse phrase Ragnarök, which in Norse mythology refers to a prophesied war among various beings and gods that ultimately results in the burning, immersion in water, and renewal of the world. As with the rest of the Ring, however, Wagner's account diverges significantly from these Old Norse sources. The historian John Roberts suggested that the killing of Siegfried (reference to the Heavy Tank's Siegfried skin) by Hagen with a stab in the back gave inspiration for the myth that the German Army did not lose World War I, but was instead defeated by a treasonous "stab in the back" from civilians, in particular Jews and Socialists. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stab-in-the-back_myth The stab-in-the-back myth (German: Dolchstoßlegende, lit. 'dagger-stab legend') was an antisemitic conspiracy theory that was widely believed and promulgated in Germany after 1918. It maintained that the Imperial German Army did not lose World War I on the battlefield, but was instead betrayed by certain citizens on the home front—especially Jews, revolutionary socialists who fomented strikes and labor unrest, and other republican politicians who had overthrown the House of Hohenzollern (reference to the lMG 08/18's Hohenzollern skin) in the German Revolution of 1918–1919. Advocates of the myth denounced the German government leaders who had signed the Armistice of 11 November 1918 as the "November criminals" (November­verbrecher). Historians inside and outside of Germany unanimously reject the myth, pointing out that the Imperial German Army was out of reserves, was being overwhelmed by the entrance of the United States into the war, and had already lost the war militarily by late 1918. Wagnerian allusions: To some Germans, the idea of a "stab in the back" was evocative of Richard Wagner's 1876 opera Götterdämmerung, in which Hagen murders his enemy Siegfried – the hero of the story – with a spear in his back. In Hindenburg's memoirs, he compared the collapse of the German army to Siegfried's death.

Lohengrin skin for lMG 08/18 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lohengrin_(opera) Lohengrin, WWV 75, is a Romantic opera in three acts composed and written by Richard Wagner, first performed in 1850. The story of the eponymous character is taken from medieval German romance, notably the Parzival of Wolfram von Eschenbach, and its sequel Lohengrin, itself inspired by the epic of Garin le Loherain. It is part of the Knight of the Swan legend. The opera has inspired other works of art. King Ludwig II of Bavaria named his castle Neuschwanstein Castle after the Swan Knight. It was King Ludwig's patronage that later gave Wagner the means and opportunity to complete, build a theatre for, and stage his epic cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen. He had discontinued composing it at the end of Act II of Siegfried (reference to the Heavy Tank's Siegfried skin), the third of the Ring tetralogy, to create his radical chromatic masterpiece of the late 1850s, Tristan und Isolde, and his lyrical comic opera of the mid-1860s, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. The most popular and recognizable part of the opera is the Bridal Chorus, colloquially known in English-speaking countries as "Here Comes the Bride," usually played as a processional at weddings. https://operatoday.com/2010/12/december_at_los_angeles_opera_lohengrin_and_rigoletto/ Placido Domingo’s initial year as General Director of Los Angeles Opera began shortly after the terrible events of September 11, 2001, with a new production of Lohengrin. That production was scrapped this season for a new one directed by Lydia Steier, with scenery and costumes by Dirk Hofacker. In Steier’s vision, the action took place in an era reminiscent of World War I, in the ruined shell of a building vaguely governmental or cathedral-like. On a turntable, the set revolved sometimes to place action just outside the over-sized doors to the ruin. Steir has a background in choreography, which was evident in the stylized movement of the Brabant populace — the men either shell-shocked (reference to the M1917 Enfield's Shellshock skin) or brutes in uniform, and the women nurses or easy prey for the sexual aggression of the soldiers. In the opening scene, shadow-lit behind a tent, a doctor amputates a leg and seemingly loses the patient — while a nurse brings out the severed appendage for disposal, another nurse inside the tent places a blanket over the body. After Friedrich of Telramund makes his accusation of fratricide against Elsa, it is from this tent that Lohengrin emerges — in soldier’s uniform, with silver-plating from the knee down on one leg.

Würdigung skin for lMG 08/18: Was is das oder triple question mark ??? https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auszeichnung_(Ehrung) Auszeichnung (Ehrung): Unter einer Auszeichnung, oft auch Preis, wird eine Ehrung oder Würdigung verstanden, die eine Person, Gruppe, Organisation oder ein Unternehmen für herausragende Leistungen in einem bestimmten Bereich erhält. Viele Auszeichnungen honorieren die Bereiche Sport, Kunst, Kultur, Wissenschaft, Wirtschaft oder bürgerschaftliches Engagement. Die Auszeichnungen umfassen Preise (engl. Awards) aller Art, Ehrenzeichen und Orden, Titel oder andere Würdigungen.

C96 Skins
Legendary: The Box Cannon, Teutonic Fury
Distinguished: Churchill, Ludendorff
Other: His Lordship

The Box Cannon skin for C96 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauser_C96): The Mauser C96 (Construktion 96) is a semi-automatic pistol that was originally produced by German arms manufacturer Mauser from 1896 to 1937. Unlicensed copies of the gun were also manufactured in Spain and China in the first half of the 20th century. The grip earned the gun the nickname "broomhandle" in the English-speaking world, and in China the C96 was nicknamed the "box cannon" (Chinese: 盒子炮; pinyin: hézipào) because of its rectangular internal magazine and because it could be holstered in its wooden box-like detachable stock. During the Warlord Era in China, European embargoes on exporting rifles to Chinese warlords meant that the C96 became a mainstay of the period's armies, and the basic form of the pistol was extensively copied. Chinese communist general, Zhu De, carried a Mauser C96 during his Nanchang Uprising and later conflicts; his gun (with his name printed on it) is in the Beijing war museum. The most common and popular pistol in China since the beginning of the Republic in 1909, was the Mauser C96, called the "Box Cannon" (盒子炮) in Chinese. It was imported from Germany and Spain (Astra 900 and MM31), but mostly produced locally in various arsenals, the larger being in Hanyang (reference to the General Liu's Hanyang Arsenal skin), Shanghai, Gongxian, Shanxi. They were often used with a detachable shoulder stock. Hanyang alone produced around 13,000 copies.

Churchill skin for C96 https://battlefield.fandom.com/wiki/C96_Pistol_(Codex_Entry) With its impressive performance and the option of an attachable shoulder stock, the C96 quickly became popular on the civilian market. It was initially offered to the German Army which was not interested, but by the late 19th century the C96 had already been adopted by the Italian Navy, and the Russian and Turkish Armies. It first saw military action in the Second Boer War of 1899 to 1902, where a young Winston Churchhill carried a C96, and claimed it saved his life. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauser_C96 Winston Churchill was fond of the Mauser C96 and used one at the 1898 Battle of Omdurman and during the Second Boer War; Lawrence of Arabia carried a Mauser C96 for a period, during his time in the Middle East. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston_Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1951 to 1955. Of mixed English and American parentage, Churchill was born in Oxfordshire to the wealthy Spencer aristocratic family. He joined the British Army in 1895 and saw action in British India, the Anglo-Sudan War, and the Second Boer War, later gaining fame as a war correspondent and writing books about his campaigns. As First Lord of the Admiralty during the First World War, he oversaw the Gallipoli Campaign but, after it proved a disaster, he was demoted to Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. He resigned in November 1915 and joined the Royal Scots Fusiliers on the Western Front for six months. In 1917, he returned to government under David Lloyd George and served successively as Minister of Munitions, Secretary of State for War, Secretary of State for Air, and Secretary of State for the Colonies, overseeing the Anglo-Irish Treaty and British foreign policy in the Middle East. Although he has been criticised for some wartime events and for his imperialist views, Churchill is generally seen as a victorious wartime leader who played an important role in defending liberal democracy against the spread of fascism. Historians often rank Churchill as the greatest prime minister in British history.

Ludendorff skin for C96 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_Ludendorff): Erich Friedrich Wilhelm Ludendorff (9 April 1865 – 20 December 1937) was a German general, politician and military theorist. He achieved fame during World War I for his central role in the German victories at Liège (reference to the Gewehr 98's Liege skin) and Tannenberg (reference to the Madsen MG's Tannenberg skin) in 1914. Following his appointment as First Quartermaster-general (German: Erster Generalquartiermeister) of the Imperial Army's Great General Staff in 1916, he became the chief policymaker in a de facto military dictatorship that dominated Germany for the rest of the war. By 1904, he had rapidly risen in rank to become a member of the Army's Great General Staff, where he oversaw the development of the Schlieffen Plan (reference to the Gewehr 98's von Schlieffen skin). Despite being temporarily removed from the Great General Staff for meddling in German politics, Ludendorff restored his standing in the army through his success as a commander in World War I. On 16 August 1914, he led the successful German assault on Liège, a feat for which he earned the Pour le Mérite. Upon being transferred to the Eastern Front under the command of General Paul von Hindenburg, Ludendorff was instrumental in inflicting a series of crushing defeats against the Russians, including at Tannenberg and the Masurian Lakes. By 29 August 1916, he had successfully lobbied for Hindenburg's appointment as Supreme Commander of the German Army as well as his own promotion to Quartermaster General of the army high command. Once he and Hindenburg had established what some authors describe as a de facto military dictatorship, Ludendorff directed Germany's entire military strategy and war effort until the end of the conflict. In this capacity, he secured Russia's defeat in the east and launched a new wave of offensives on the Western Front resulting in advances not seen since the war's outbreak. However, by the end of 1918, all improvements in Germany's fortunes were reversed after its forces' decisive defeat in the Second Battle of the Marne (reference to he Model 10's The Rock of the Marne skin) and the Allies' Hundred Days Offensive. Faced with the war effort's collapse and a growing popular revolution, the German Emperor, Wilhelm II (reference to the Gewehr 98's The Kaiser skin), forced Ludendorff to resign.

Teutonic Fury skin for C96 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furor_Teutonicus): Furor Teutonicus ("Teutonic Fury") is a Latin phrase referring to the proverbial ferocity of the Teutons, or more generally, of the Germanic tribes of the Roman Empire period. Generally, the original expression is attributed to the Roman poet Lucan (d. AD 65). It occurs for the first time in his work, Bellum civile/Pharsalia. Lucan used the term to describe what he believed to be the outstanding characteristic of the Celtic/Germanic called the Teutones: a mad, merciless, berserk rage in battle. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34981198-united-states-marine-corps-in-the-first-world-war United States Marine Corps in the First World War: Anthology, Selected Bibliography, and Annotated Order of Battle by Annette D Amerman (1917). THE BATTLES OF BELLEAU WOODS (reference to the M1903's Belleau Wood skin): PART II by Lieutenant Colonel Ernst Otto, German Army (Ret). The question here might suggest itself: how can it be explained that the Germans, after fighting off with unheard of bravery continuous American attacks for seven days, should have been overwhelmed in hand-to-hand fighting in the comparatively short time of two days, as soon as the Americans had forced their way into the forest? The question is the more pertinent and the success of the Americans the more creditable because it had been common knowledge that it was precisely in hand-to-hand fighting that the German was an exceptionally redoubtable foe. It had been repeatedly demonstrated during the long course of the World War that, due to the Furor Teutonicus* once dreaded by the Romans, the Germans were so superior to the French and the Russians in this form of combat—and what is more important, felt themselves so superior— that it was only when the French and Russians outnumbered them that they dared meet the Germans at close quarters. * Latin for Teutonic Fury and refers to the ferocity of the Germanic tribes during the Roman Empire.

His Lordship skin for C96: tripple question mark (???) To unlock C96 – His Lordship skin, you need to complete Through Mud and Blood campaign mission and its Field Manuals and its Codex Entries. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_heavy_tanks_of_the_First_World_War The Mark I was a development of Little Willie, the experimental tank built for the Landship Committee by Lieutenant Walter Wilson of the Royal Naval Air Service (reference to the Farquhar-Hill's RNAS skin) and William Tritton of William Foster Co., between July and September 1915. The prototype Mark I, ready in December 1915, was called "Mother" (also known at various times as "The Wilson Machine", "Big Willie", and officially "His Majesty's Land Ship Centipede"). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landship_Committee The Landship Committee was a small British committee formed during the First World War to develop armoured fighting vehicles for use on the Western Front. The eventual outcome was the creation of what is now called the tank. Established in February 1915 by First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill (reference to the C96's Churchill skin), the Committee was composed mainly of naval officers, politicians and engineers.

RSC SMG Skins
Legendary: Le Chat Noir, Loup Garou, The Ossuary
Distinguished: Apollinaire, Duriez
Special: Ancre, Cravançon, en Mémoire, Saint Berthe

Apollinaire skin for RSC SMG (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillaume_Apollinaire): Guillaume Apollinaire (26 August 1880 – 9 November 1918) was a French poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist, and art critic of Polish descent. Apollinaire is considered one of the foremost poets of the early 20th century, as well as one of the most impassioned defenders of Cubism and a forefather of Surrealism. He is credited with coining the term "Cubism" in 1911 to describe the emerging art movement, the term Orphism in 1912, and the term "Surrealism" in 1917 to describe the works of Erik Satie. He wrote poems without punctuation attempting to be resolutely modern in both form and subject. Two years after being wounded in World War I, Apollinaire died during the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 and was recognized as "Fallen for France" (Mort pour la France) because of his commitment during the war. Apollinaire served as an infantry officer in World War I and, in 1916, received a serious shrapnel wound to the temple, from which he would never fully recover. He wrote Les Mamelles de Tirésias while recovering from this wound. During this period he coined the word "Surrealism" in the programme notes for Jean Cocteau's and Erik Satie's ballet Parade, first performed on 18 May 1917. The war-weakened Apollinaire died at the age of 38 on 9 November 1918 of influenza during the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 ravaging Europe at the time, two years after being wounded in World War I. Shortly after his death, Mercure de France published Calligrammes (reference to the Chauchat's Calligrammes skin), a collection of his concrete poetry (poetry in which typography and layout adds to the overall effect), and more orthodox, though still modernist poems informed by Apollinaire's experiences in the First World War and in which he often used the technique of automatic writing.

Duriez skin for RSC SMG (https://www.cheminsdememoire.gouv.fr/en/french-foreign-legion) The Foreign Legion was serving in Morocco when the First World War erupted. Five march regiments were formed and then reorganised into a single regiment on 11 November 1915 due to severe losses to create the RMLE or the Foreign Legion Marching Regiment. Colonel Rollet, who took command of the RMLE after the death of Colonel Duriez, killed leading his men, returned from four years at war with the most decorated flag of the French army with that of the Colonial Infantry Regiment of Morocco. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4330766/Life-French-soldier-WWI-revealed-stark-images.html The horrors of the First World War trenches has been brought to life in a stunning set of colour photographs. The images colourised by graphic artist Frédéric Duriez reveal the daily lives of beleaguered French soldiers. They can be seen sharing meals, marching through blitzed towns and carrying bodies across the battlefields.

The Ossuary skin for RSC SMG (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ossuary): An ossuary is a chest, box, building, well, or site made to serve as the final resting place of human skeletal remains. They are frequently used where burial space is scarce. A body is first buried in a temporary grave, then after some years the skeletal remains are removed and placed in an ossuary ("os" is "bone" in Latin). The greatly reduced space taken up by an ossuary means that it is possible to store the remains of many more people in a single tomb than in coffins. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douaumont_Ossuary The Douaumont Ossuary (French: Ossuaire de Douaumont, reference to the Sjögren inertial Shotgun's Douaumont skin) is a memorial containing the skeletal remains of soldiers who died on the battlefield during the Battle of Verdun (reference to the M1909 Benét-Mercié's Verdun skin) in World War I. It is located in Douaumont-Vaux, France, within the Verdun battlefield, and immediately next to the Fleury-devant-Douaumont National Necropolis. During the 300 days of the Battle of Verdun (21 February 1916 – 19 December 1916) approximately 230,000 men died out of a total of 700,000 casualties (dead, wounded and missing). The battle became known in German as Die Hölle von Verdun (English: The Hell of Verdun), or in French as L'Enfer de Verdun, and was conducted on a battlefield covering less than 20 square kilometers (7.7 sq mi). The ossuary is a memorial containing the remains of both French and German soldiers who died on the Verdun battlefield. Through small outside windows, the skeletal remains of at least 130,000 unidentified combatants of both nations can be seen filling up alcoves at the lower edge of the building. On the inside of the ossuary building, the ceiling and walls are partly covered by plaques bearing names of French soldiers who died during the Battle of Verdun. The families of the soldiers that are recognized here by name contributed for those individual plaques. In front of the monument, and sloping downhill, lies the largest single French military cemetery of the First World War with 16,142 graves.

Saint Berthe skin for RSC SMG (https://battlefield.fandom.com/wiki/Nivelle_Nights): Nivelle Nights is a map added to Battlefield 1: They Shall Not Pass during the June Update. Conquest Flags: -Saint Berthe, -Danzig Trench (reference to the LMG 08/18's Danzig Trench skin), ... . Saint Berthe is a destroyed church located to the south of the map. Suffering severe damage from bombing, almost nothing of the church remains except its columns. The center of the church features a makeshift road running through it, separating the church to the north and south with the flag sitting toward the center. The south end of the church is largely exposed compared to the north, with only stone columns remaining. Compared to the north, however, it features higher ground due to built up debris, allowing for a better vantage point against the north end. The north end of the church is largely undamaged in comparison, with the roof having been destroyed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_La_Malmaison The Battle of La Malmaison (Bataille de la Malmaison) from 23 to 27 October, was the final French action of the 1917 campaign in the First World War, which had begun with the Nivelle Offensive. The French captured the village and fort of La Malmaison and took control of the Chemin des Dames (reference to the Lebel Model 1886's Chemin des Dames skin) ridge. Battle, 25–27 October: On 25 October, Pinon was captured with 600 prisoners, Pinon and Rosay forests were entered and Rosay Farm was occupied, as XI Corps attacked from the Chemin-des-Dames ridge, to east of the Malmaison plateau and captured the farms of St. Martin and Chapelle Ste. Berthe to the south of Filain. The French then overran the Tonnerre and Charbon quarries, crossed the Bovettes ravine and ascended the slope from Many Farm to capture Pargny-Filain. The German defenders were eventually forced back, beyond the Bassin d'alimentation on the Monampteuil Heights.

Ancre skin for RSC SMG (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancre): The Ancre is a river of Picardy, France. Rising at Miraumont, a hamlet near the town of Albert, it flows into the Somme (reference to the Auto Revolver's Somme skin) at Corbie. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Ancre_Heights The Battle of the Ancre Heights (1 October – 11 November 1916), is the name given to the continuation of British attacks after the Battle of Thiepval Ridge from 26 to 28 September during the Battle of the Somme. The battle was conducted by the Reserve Army (renamed Fifth Army on 29 October) from Courcelette near the Albert–Bapaume (reference to the MG15 N.A's Bapaumes skin) road, west to Thiepval on Bazentin Ridge (reference to Madsen MG's The Bazentin Ridge skin). British possession of the heights would deprive the German 1st Army of observation towards Albert to the south-west and give the British observation north over the Ancre valley to the German positions around Beaumont-Hamel, Serre and Beaucourt. The Reserve Army conducted large attacks on 1, 8, 21, 25 October and from 10 to 11 November. Many smaller attacks were made in the intervening periods, amid interruptions caused by frequent heavy rain, which turned the ground and roads into rivers of mud and grounded aircraft. German forces in footholds on the ridge, at the east end of Staufen Riegel (Regina Trench, reference to the Huot Automatic Rifle's Regina skin) and in the remaining parts of Schwaben-Feste (Schwaben Redoubt, reference to the Gewehr 98's Schwaben-Feste skin) to the north and Stuff Redoubt (Staufen-Feste) north-east of Thiepval, fought a costly defensive battle with numerous counter-attacks and attacks, which delayed the British capture of the heights for more than a month. From 29 October – 9 November, British attacks were postponed due to more poor weather, before the capture of 1,000 yd (910 m) of the eastern end of Regina Trench by the 4th Canadian Division on 11 November. Fifth Army operations resumed in the Battle of the Ancre (13–18 November). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Ancre The Battle of the Ancre (13–18 November 1916), was fought by the British Fifth Army (Lieutenant-General Hubert Gough), against the German 1st Army (General Fritz von Below). The Reserve Army had been renamed the Fifth Army on 30 October. The battle was the last of the big British attacks of the Battle of the Somme.

Cravançon skin for RSC SMG (https://battlefield.fandom.com/wiki/Soissons): Soissons is a map featured in the Battlefield 1: They Shall Not Pass expansion. It takes place in the Allied counter-offensive of the Second Battle of the Marne during the Battle of Soissons in 1918. Conquest flags: -Cravançon Watermill, ... . Cravançon Watermill: Connected to the stream that flows through the map, the watermill features a large house with a water wheel, giving the flag its name. Across a small courtyard, which contains a wagon and a wheelbarrow for cover, is a small, single-room building and a large barn. The area is enclosed to the south and west by a reinforced embankment. The roads leading north cross through a gully and underneath a patch of trees, one of which houses a multi-tiered observation post in its high branches. A stone bridge crosses the steam from the east. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Soissons_(1918) The Battle of Soissons (1918) (also known as the Battle of the Soissonnais and of the Ourcq (French: Bataille du Soissoinais et de L'Ourcq)) was a battle fought on the Western Front during World War I. Waged from 18 to 22 July 1918 between the French (with American and British assistance) and the German armies, the battle was part of the much larger Allied Aisne-Marne counter-offensive. It followed the final German Spring Offensive (reference to MP18's The Kaiserschlacht skin), Operation Marneschutz-Reims (also known as the Friedensturm or peace offensive). The primary objective of the attack was to cut both the Soissons – Château-Thierry (reference to the M1897 Shotgun's Château-Thierry skin) road and the railroad running south from Soissons to Château-Thierry. This battle marked the turning point of the war as the Germans would be on the defensive for the remainder of the conflict. Day 1: Thursday, 18 July 1918. As 18th Infantry pushed forward their right flank became exposed and they started taking enfilading machine gun fire from Cravançon Farm. Colonel Frank Parker sent an element of 18th Infantry into the Moroccan 1st Division's zone to deal with the problem. Shortly thereafter, Cravançon Farm was in American hands.

Loup Garou skin for RSC SMG (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/loup-garou): Inherited from Old French leu garoul, a pleonastic compound of leu (“wolf”) + garoul (“werewolf”); the latter from garulf, from Frankish *werawulf. Equivalent to loup +‎ -garou. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werewolf In folklore, a werewolf (from Old English werwulf 'man-wolf'), or occasionally lycanthrope (from Ancient Greek λυκάνθρωπος, lukánthrōpos, 'wolf-human'), is an individual that can shapeshift into a wolf (or, especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature), either purposely or after being placed under a curse or affliction (often a bite or the occasional scratch from another werewolf) with the transformations occurring on the night of a full moon. The Norse branch underwent taboo modifications, with Old Norse vargúlfr (only attested as a translation of Old French garwaf ~ garwal(f) from Marie's lay of Bisclavret) replacing *wiraz ('man') with vargr ('wolf, outlaw'), perhaps under the influence of the Old French expression leus warous ~ lous garous (modern loup-garou), which literally means 'wolf-werewolf'. When the European colonization of the Americas occurred, the pioneers brought their own werewolf folklore with them and were later influenced by the lore of their neighbouring colonies and those of the Natives. Belief in the loup-garou present in Canada (thence Acadiana), the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan and upstate New York, originates from French folklore influenced by Native American stories on the Wendigo. Most modern fiction describes werewolves as vulnerable to silver weapons and highly resistant to other injuries. This feature appears in German folklore of the 19th century. The claim that the Beast of Gévaudan, an 18th-century wolf or wolflike creature, was shot by a silver bullet appears to have been introduced by novelists retelling the story from 1935 onwards and not in earlier versions. https://www.chars-francais.net/2015/index.php/157-classement-individuel/saint-chamond/1860-62523 62523 LOUP GAROU M1 AS34 ♦ 3e Batterie. Affecté au Groupe AS34 le 12 avril 1917. Char du Groupement AS n° XI - Char engagé en juin 1918 dans les combats de Méry (secteur de Saint Maur). Engagé le 18 juillet 1918 dans le secteur de Missy-au-Bois. Chef de char: Maréchal des Logis Marboeuf.

Le Chat Noir skin for RSC SMG (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Th%C3%A9ophile_Steinlen): Théophile Alexandre Steinlen (November 10, 1859 – December 13, 1923), was a Swiss-born French Art Nouveau painter and printmaker. He was politically engaged and collaborated with anarchist and socialist press. In his early twenties he was still developing his skills as a painter when he and his wife Emilie were encouraged by the painter François Bocion to move to the artistic community in the Montmartre Quarter of Paris. Once there, Steinlen was befriended by the painter Adolphe Willette who introduced him to the artistic crowd at Le Chat Noir that led to his commissions to do poster art for the cabaret owner/entertainer, Aristide Bruant and other commercial enterprises. His permanent home, Montmartre and its environs, was a favorite subject throughout Steinlen's life and he often painted scenes of some of the harsher aspects of life in the area. His daughter Colette was featured in much of his work. In addition to paintings and drawings, he also did sculpture on a limited basis, most notably figures of cats that he had great affection for as seen in many of his paintings. Steinlen included cats in many of his illustrations, and even published a book of his designs, Dessins Sans Paroles Des Chats.
Between 1883 and 1920, he produced hundreds of illustrations, a number of which were done under a pseudonym so as to avoid political problems because of their harsh criticisms of social ills. His art influenced the work of other artists, including Pablo Picasso. https://www.metmuseum.org/blogs/now-at-the-met/2017/theophile-alexandre-steinlen-cats-socialism-world-war-i Steinlen's concern with the working class and marginalized populations was a theme he carried through his entire career. However, the outbreak of World War I necessarily altered the artist's subject matter, as it did for many of his contemporaries such as Jean-Louis Forain (reference to the Ribeyrolles 1918 Carbine's Forain skin) and Auguste Rodin, two artists also represented in World War I and the Visual Arts. Steinlen became artistically concerned with communicating the everyday experiences and human effects of war. The subjects in his work remained the same in many ways—women, children, the impoverished—but expanded into resting soldiers, displaced people, orphans, and those killed in battle. He generally steered clear of battle scenes and the narratives of political leaders, drawing attention to the multifarious devastations of what many considered a senseless war.

en Mémoire skin for RSC SMG: triple question mark ??? htps://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/en_mémoire_de en mémoire de: Pour transmettre et perpétuer le souvenir de. On a élevé un monument, on a institué une fête publique en mémoire de cet événement. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/en_m%C3%A9moire_de en mémoire de: in memory of. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27Anneau_de_la_m%C3%A9moire L’Anneau de la Mémoire ("The Ring of Memory" or "Ring of Remembrance") is a World War I memorial in Ablain-Saint-Nazaire, France. Designed by Philippe Prost and inaugurated on 11 November 2014, the 96th anniversary of Armistice Day, the memorial honors the 576,606 soldiers of forty different nationalities who died at Nord-Pas-de-Calais. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memoir A memoir (from French mémoire, from Latin memoria 'memory, remembrance') is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobiography since the late 20th century, the genre is differentiated in form, presenting a narrowed focus, usually a particular time phase in someone's life or career. Twentieth-century war memoirs became a genre of their own, including, from the First World War, Ernst Jünger (Storm of Steel, reference to the Battlefield 1's singleplayer campaign) and Frederic Manning's Her Privates We.

12G Automatic skins
Legendary: The Bats, The Humpback, The Truman
Distinguished: Argonne, Hill 142, Thunderball, Undark

The Humpback skin for 12G Automatic https://battlefield.fandom.com/wiki/12g_Automatic_(Codex_Entry) Popularly called the "Humpback" due to the distinctive design of the receiver, this semi-automatic shotgun used a long recoil mechanism which was more commonly featured on automatic cannons. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browning_Auto-5 The Browning Auto-5 was the first mass-produced semi-automatic shotgun. Designed by John Browning in 1898 and patented in 1900, it was produced continually for almost 100 years by several makers with production ending in 1998. It features a distinctive high rear end, earning it the nickname "Humpback". The top of the action goes straight back on a level with the barrel before cutting down sharply towards the buttstock. This distinctive feature makes it easy to identify A-5s from a distance. A-5s were produced in a variety of gauges, with 12 and 20 predominating; 16 gauge (not produced between 1976 and 1987) models were also available. The shotgun saw military service worldwide from World War I through the Vietnam War.

Hill 142 skin for 12G Automatic (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Belleau_Wood): The Battle of Belleau Wood (1–26 June 1918, reference to the M1903's Belleau Wood skin) was a major battle that occurred during the German spring offensive (reference to the MP18' Die Kaiserschlacht skin) in World War I, near the Marne River in France. The battle was fought between the U.S. 2nd (under the command of Major General Omar Bundy) and 3rd Divisions along with French and British forces against an assortment of German units including elements from the 237th, 10th, 197th, 87th, and 28th Divisions. The battle has become a key component in the lore of the United States Marine Corps (reference to the M1903's Marine skin). Attack on Hill 142: At 03:45 on 6 June, the Allies launched an attack on the German forces, who were preparing their own strike. The French 167th Division attacked to the left of the American line, while the Marines attacked Hill 142 to prevent flanking fire against the French. As part of the second phase, the 2nd Division were to capture the ridge overlooking Torcy and Belleau Wood, as well as occupying Belleau Wood. However, the Marines failed to scout the woods. As a consequence, they missed a regiment of German infantry dug in, with a network of machine gun nests and artillery. At dawn, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines—commanded by Major Julius S. Turrill—was to attack Hill 142, but only two companies were in position. The Marines advanced in waves with bayonets fixed across an open wheat field that was swept with German machine gun and artillery fire, and many Marines were cut down. By the afternoon, however, the Marines had captured Hill 142, at a cost of nine officers and most of the 325 men of the battalion.

The Truman skin for 12G Automatic (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_S._Truman): Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884 – December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin D. Roosevelt and as a United States senator from Missouri from 1935 to January 1945. Assuming the presidency after Roosevelt's death, Truman implemented the Marshall Plan to rebuild the economy of Western Europe and established both the Truman Doctrine and NATO to contain the expansion of Soviet communism. He proposed numerous liberal domestic reforms, but few were enacted by the conservative coalition that dominated the Congress. Truman was raised in Independence, Missouri, and during World War I fought in France as a captain in the Field Artillery. In mid-1918, about one million soldiers of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) were in France. Truman was promoted to captain effective April 23, and in July became commander of the newly arrived Battery D, 129th Field Artillery, 35th Division. Battery D was known for its discipline problems, and Truman was initially unpopular because of his efforts to restore order. Truman's unit joined in a massive prearranged assault barrage on September 26, 1918, at the opening of the Meuse–Argonne offensive. They advanced with difficulty over pitted terrain to follow the infantry, and set up an observation post west of Cheppy. In other action during the Meuse–Argonne offensive, Truman's battery provided support for George S. Patton's (reference to the 1903 Hammerless's Patton skin) tank brigade, and fired some of the last shots of the war on November 11, 1918. Battery D did not lose any men while under Truman's command in France. To show their appreciation of his leadership, his men presented him with a large loving cup upon their return to the United States after the war. He remained an active reservist until the early 1940s. Truman volunteered for active military service during World War II, but was not accepted, partly because of age, and partly because President Franklin D. Roosevelt desired senators and congressmen who belonged to the military reserves to support the war effort by remaining in Congress, or by ending their active duty service and resuming their congressional seats.

Argonne skin for 12G Automatic (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest_of_Argonne): The Forest of Argonne is a long strip of mountainous and wild woodland in northeastern France, approximately 200 km (120 mi) east of Paris. The forest measures roughly 65 km (40 mi) long and 15 km (9 mi) wide filled with many small hills and deep valleys formed by water run-off from the Aire and Aisne rivers rarely exceeding more than 200 m (650 ft) in elevation. Following the First World War, the landscape of the forest was forever changed as trench warfare led to parts of the forest being riddled with deep man-made trenches along with craters from explosives. The forest is bordered by the Meuse River (reference to the M1897 Shotgun's Meuse skin) on the west and rolling farmland and creeks to the east. During World War I, the forest again became the site of intense military action. Bitter fighting between German and Allied units took place here in fall and winter 1914, summer 1915, and fall 1918. During the Meuse–Argonne offensive (1918), several United States Army soldiers earned the Medal of Honor there, including Colonel Nelson Miles Holderman, Major Charles White Whittlesey, Sergeant Alvin C. York (reference to the M1911 Pistol's York skin), Corporal Harold W. Roberts and William Henry Johnson (a.k.a. "Black Death"), most of them part of the "Lost Battalion". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meuse%E2%80%93Argonne_offensive The Meuse–Argonne offensive (also known as the Meuse River–Argonne Forest offensive, the Battles of the Meuse–Argonne, and the Meuse–Argonne campaign) was a major part of the final Allied offensive of World War I that stretched along the entire Western Front. It was fought from September 26, 1918, until the Armistice of November 11, 1918, a total of 47 days. The Meuse–Argonne offensive was the largest in United States military history, involving 1.2 million American soldiers. It is also the deadliest battle in the history of the United States Army, resulting in over 350,000 casualties, including 28,000 German lives, 26,277 American lives and an unknown number of French lives. American losses were worsened by the inexperience of many of the troops, the tactics used during the early phases of the operation and the widespread onset of the global influenza outbreak called the "Spanish flu".

Undark skin for 12G Automatic (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Undark): Undark was a trade name for luminous paint made with a mixture of radioactive radium and zinc sulfide, as produced by the U.S. Radium Corporation between 1917 and 1938. It was used primarily in watch and clock dials. The people working in the industry who applied the radioactive paint became known as the Radium Girls, because many of them became ill and some died from exposure to the radiation emitted by the radium contained within the product. The product was the direct cause of radium jaw in the dial painters. Undark was also available as a kit for general consumer use and marketed as glow-in-the-dark paint. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Radium_Corporation The United States Radium Corporation was a company, most notorious for its operations between the years 1917 to 1926 in Orange, New Jersey, in the United States that led to stronger worker protection laws. After initial success in developing a glow-in-the-dark radioactive paint, the company was subject to several lawsuits in the late 1920s in the wake of severe illnesses and deaths of workers (the Radium Girls) who had ingested radioactive material. The workers had been told that the paint was harmless. During World War I and World War II, the company produced luminous watches and gauges for the United States Army for use by soldiers. During World War I, demand for dials, watches, and aircraft instruments painted with Undark surged, and the company expanded operations considerably. The delicate task of painting watch and gauge faces was done mostly by young women, who were instructed to maintain a fine tip on their paintbrushes by licking them. Several workers died, and the health risks associated with radium were allegedly known, but this company continued dial painting operations until 1940. U.S. Radium's management and scientists took precautions such as masks, gloves, and screens, but did not similarly equip the workers. Unbeknownst to the women, the paint was highly radioactive and therefore, carcinogenic. The ingestion of the paint by the women, brought about while licking the brushes, resulted in a condition called radium jaw (radium necrosis), a painful swelling and porosity of the upper and lower jaws that ultimately led to many of their deaths.

The Bats skin for 12G Automatic (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/185th_Aero_Squadron): The 185th Aero Squadron was a United States Army Air Service unit that fought on the Western Front during World War I. Known as the "Bats", the 185th Aero Squadron is notable as it was the first and only night pursuit (fighter) squadron organized by the United States during World War I. Its mission was night interception of enemy aircraft, primarily bombers and observation aircraft. It was engaged in combat for less than a month before the 1918 Armistice with Germany. After the armistice, the squadron returned to the United States in June 1919 and was demobilized. At Rembercourt, the 185th was designated as a "Night Chase" Squadron, the first of its type organized by the American Army. Night Pursuit work was in its infancy. The Sopwith Camels were planes that were considered almost to be obsolete, except for training. The pilots were not trained in night flying, with many of them never having taken off after dusk. Also, the squadron had to experiment with wing flares, parachute flares and instrument lights. Also the airdrome had no landing lights, and the searchlights and Anti-Aircraft batteries were not versed with American planes flying after dusk. In addition, there were not enough searchlights for the guidance of our pilots, who frequently could not find the airfield at night and had to make forced landings after running out of gasoline. Many accidents were caused and there was a chronic lack of spare parts for the airplanes.

Thunderball skin for 12G Automatic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderball_(novel) Thunderball is the ninth book in Ian Fleming's James Bond series, and the eighth full-length Bond novel. It was first published in the UK by Jonathan Cape on 27 March 1961, where the initial print run of 50,938 copies quickly sold out. On screen, Thunderball was released in 1965 as the fourth film in the Eon Productions series, with Sean Connery as James Bond. https://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Thunderball The following weapons were used in the film Thunderball: -Browning Auto-5. Bond fires a Browning Auto-5 when shooting with Largo. After successfully hitting a clay pigeon from the hip, Bond remarks to Largo that firing accurately isn't difficult. One note to point out, When Sean shoots the clay pigeon out of the sky, he motions the force of the Auto-5's recoil (Not acted out), hinting that a live round was fired instead of blanks, as Bond is shooting at a clay pigeon.

Bodeo 1889 skins
Legendary: Point Blank, The Valiant
Distinguished: Marmolada, Swashbuckler

Marmolada skin for Bodeo 1889 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marmolada): Marmolada (Ladin: Marmolèda; German: Marmolata) is a mountain in northeastern Italy and the highest mountain of the Dolomites (a section of the Alps). It lies between the borders of Trentino and Veneto. The Marmolada is an ultra-prominent peak (Ultra), known as the "Queen of the Dolomites". Towards the south it breaks suddenly into sheer cliffs, forming a rock face several kilometres long. On the north side there is a comparatively flat glacier, the only large glacier in the Dolomites (the Marmolada Glacier, Ghiacciaio della Marmolada). Until the end of World War I the border between Austria-Hungary and Italy ran over Marmolada, so it formed part of the front line during that conflict. Austro-Hungarian soldiers were quartered in deep tunnels bored into the northern face's glacier, and Italian soldiers were quartered on the south face's rocky precipices. It was also the site of fierce mine warfare on the Italian Front. As glaciers retreat, soldiers' remains and belongings are occasionally discovered. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marmolada_Glacier The Marmolada Glacier (Italian: Ghiacciaio della Marmolada) is located on the mountain Marmolada in the province of Trentino, Italy. Marmolada Glacier is the only one in the Dolomites section of the Alps. During World War I, the front line between Austrian and Italian forces ran over Marmolada, and Austrian soldiers built quarters in glacier tunnels, forming an "ice city" of considerable size. A World War I museum, Museo della Grande Guerra in Marmolada, is located in the valley below the glacier.

Point Blank skin for Bodeo 1889 (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/point-blank): point-blank: From French point blanc (“white point”), originally referring to the white spot to be aimed at on a target (see blank's "bull's eye"). 1 (forensics) Very close; not touching but not more than a few metres (yards). 2. (ballistics) The distance between a firearm and a target where a projectile in flight is expected to strike the centre of the target without adjusting the elevation of the firearm. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point-blank_range Point-blank range is any distance over which a certain firearm can hit a target without the need to compensate for bullet drop, and can be adjusted over a wide range of distances by sighting in the firearm. If the bullet leaves the barrel parallel to the sight, the bullet, like any object in flight, is pulled downwards by gravity, so for distant targets, the shooter must point the firearm above the target to compensate. But if the target is close enough, bullet drop will be negligible so the shooter can aim the gun straight at the target. If the sights are set so that the barrel has a small upward tilt, the bullet starts by rising and later drops. This results in a weapon that hits too low for very close targets, too high for intermediate targets, too low for very far targets, and point blank at two distances in between. In popular usage, point-blank range has come to mean extremely close range with a firearm, yet not close enough to be a contact shot. https://slll.cass.anu.edu.au/centres/andc/annotated-glossary/p Glossary of Slang and Peculiar Terms in Use in the A.I.F. by Amanda Laugesen. Point Blank: The white wine commonly used in France. The term is used on the Rifle Range as the name of a poisonous white paste that is applied to the foresight of the rifle to aid sighting. Its adaption as a name for ‘Vin Blanc’ was brought about partly by the similarity in the spelling of the second word and also partly because of the harsh effect it frequently had on Australians who drank of it too freely.

The Valiant skin for Bodeo 1889 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Valiant_Hearts): "O Valiant Hearts" is a hymn remembering the fallen of the First World War. It often features prominently in annual Remembrance Day services in the United Kingdom and the British Commonwealth. Words were taken from a poem by Sir John Stanhope Arkwright (1872–1954), published in The Supreme Sacrifice, and other Poems in Time of War (1919). It was set to music by the Rev. Dr. Charles Harris (1865-1936) who was Vicar of Colwall, Herefordshire between 1909-1929. It is to his tune, referred to as Harris or sometimes The Supreme Sacrifice that the hymn is now almost always sung. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Valiant_(1914)  HMS Valiant was one of five Queen Elizabeth-class battleships built for the Royal Navy during the early 1910s. She participated in the Battle of Jutland (reference to the Battle of Jutland skins) during the First World War as part of the Grand Fleet. Other than that battle, and the inconclusive Action of 19 August, her service during the war generally consisted of routine patrols and training in the North Sea. She saw further action during the Second World War in the Mediterranean and Far East.

Swashbuckler skin for Bodeo 1889: triple question mark ??? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swashbuckler A swashbuckler is a genre of European adventure literature that focuses on a heroic protagonist stock character who is skilled in swordsmanship, acrobatics, guile and possesses chivalrous ideals (reference to the Revolver MK VI's Chivalry skin). A "swashbuckler" protagonist is heroic, daring, and idealistic: he rescues damsels in distress, protects the downtrodden, and uses duels to defend his honor or that of a lady or to avenge a comrade. There is a long list of swashbucklers who combine courage, skill, resourcefulness, and a distinctive sense of honor and justice, as for example Cyrano de Bergerac, The Three Musketeers, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Robin Hood, and Zorro. "Swashbuckler" is a compound of "swash" (archaic: to swagger with a drawn sword) and "buckler" (a small shield gripped in the fist) dating from the 16th century. https://militaryhistorynow.com/2020/09/18/frank-arthur-brock-meet-the-swashbuckling-british-inventor-who-ended-the-german-zeppelin-menace/ Frank Arthur Brock (reference to the Huot Automatic Rifle's Brock skin) – Meet the Swashbuckling British Inventor Who Ended the German Zeppelin Menace. “Had Ian Fleming conjured up James Bond 35 years earlier, he might have used Frank Arthur Brock as the template for secret agent 007.” Since his pre-war spying mission, he’d been working on ideas and by 1916, his prototype incendiary round was ready. On the night of Saturday, 2 Sept., Lieutenant William Leefe Robinson took off in a Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2 biplane on an anti-Zeppelin patrol. His aircraft’s machine guns were loaded with a mixture of Frank’s bullets and other experimental rounds: Pomeroys (reference to the M1909 Benét-Mercié's Pomeroy skin) and Buckinghams (reference to the SMLE MKIII's Buckingham Mark I skin). Frank Brock’s exploits ended on 23 April, 1918 — St. George’s Day — as he took part in a daring raid on Zeebrugge (reference to the Battlefield 1's Zeebrugge map) in Belgium. The operation was mounted to knock out a German U-boat base. The raid itself was made possible by yet another of Frank’s inventions: a new and surprisingly dense smoke screen to be used by Royal Navy warships, crucially, the first naval smoke screen that did not give away its position by flame. Thanks to Brock’s artificial fog, which was also used by the Royal Navy in WW II, the German garrison guarding Zeebrugge was taken by surprise as a flotilla of blockships and armed vessels appeared at the harbour entrance. Frank himself could have stayed on board one of the ships in comparative safety as a shore party of sailors and Royal Marines stormed the German defences, but that wasn’t his style. Armed with two pistols, a cutlass and several hand grenades, Frank shouted ‘Come on, you boys,’ and leapt ashore into a blizzard of German bullets and shells. He was seen hurling a bomb into an observation post before single-handedly attacking and scattering a gun crew. A German Marine later described a British officer “who seemed to be entirely devoid of fear.” “He rushed straight at the first gun,” the eyewitness recalled, “and with his fists he struck out at the gunners, knocking down four of them and putting the rest to flight.” Brock was last seen in a furious swordfight with a German sailor. In the morning, both men were found a few feet apart, killed by each other’s last thrusts. It was probably the last time a British officer fought and died in a swordfight.

Annihilator skins
Legendary: Billy Mitchell, Over There, Toward the Flame

Billy Mitchell skin for Annihilator (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Mitchell): William Lendrum Mitchell (December 29, 1879 – February 19, 1936) was a United States Army officer who is regarded as the father of the United States Air Force. Mitchell served in France during World War I and, by the conflict's end, commanded all American air combat units in that country. After the war, he was appointed deputy director of the Air Service and began advocating for increased investment in air power, believing that this would prove vital in future wars. He argued particularly for the ability of bombers to sink battleships and organized a series of bombing runs against stationary ships designed to test the idea. In September 1918, he planned and led nearly 1,500 British, French, and Italian aircraft in the air phase of the Battle of Saint-Mihiel (reference to the P08 Pistol's Saint-Mihiel skin), one of the first coordinated air-ground offensives in history. He was elevated to the rank of (temporary) brigadier general on October 14, 1918, and commanded all American air combat units in France. He ended the war as Chief of Air Service and Chief Group of Armies. Recognized as one of the top American combat airmen of the war alongside aces such as his good friend, Eddie Rickenbacker, he was probably the best-known American in Europe. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the Distinguished Service Medal, the World War I Victory Medal with eight campaign clasps, and several foreign decorations. Despite his superb leadership and his fine combat record, he alienated many of his superiors during and after his 18 months of service in France.

Over There skin for Annihilator (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Over_There): "Over There" is a 1917 song written by George M. Cohan that was popular with the United States military and public during both world wars. It is a patriotic song designed to galvanize American young men to enlist and fight the "Hun". The song is best remembered for a line in its chorus: "The Yanks are coming." Cohan wrote it after he had learned that the US had abandoned their policy of isolationism and planned to enter World War 1 on the side of the Allied Powers. It has been revived on various occasions during and after World War II. It was not heavily used during the Vietnam War, but has been used since the September 11 terrorist attacks. As sung by early 20th-century recording artist Billy Murray. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Over_There_(film) Over There is a 1917 American silent war drama film directed by James Kirkwood and starring Charles Richman, Anna Q. Nilsson and Walter McGrail. It was made as a pro-war portrayal of the American Expeditionary Force in World War I and took its name from the popular song Over There.

Toward the Flame skin for Annihilator (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hervey_Allen): William Hervey Allen Jr. (December 8, 1889 – December 28, 1949) was an American educator, poet, and writer. He is best known for his work Anthony Adverse (made into a 1936 movie of the same name), regarded by many critics "as the model and precursor of the contemporary American historical novel." Allen served as a 2nd lieutenant in the 18th Pennsylvania Infantry on the Mexican border in 1916 during the Pancho Villa Expedition (reference to the Russian 1895's Pancho Villa skin). That year he published a collection of poems, Ballads of the Border. He also served as a lieutenant, and later a company commander of Company "B" of the 1st Battalion, 111th Infantry Regiment o the 28th (keystone) Division, United States Army during World War I and fought in the Aisne-Marne offensive July–August 1918. He was wounded in action at Fismes (reference to the Model 1900's Fismes skin) in August 1918. He also taught English to French soldiers at Favernay. Allen became a Professor of English at the University of Pittsburgh. For a period of time, he taught at the Porter Military Academy in Charleston, South Carolina. In 1925, he lectured on American Literature at Columbia University. He wrote Toward the Flame (1926), a nonfictional account of his experiences in the war.

Mle 1903 skins
Legendary: The Swede, Vapenfabriks
Distinguished: Bruiser, Charlatan

The Swede skin for Mle 1903: "A Belgian-made semi-automatic pistol adopted by a number of nations, including Sweden." — In-game description. https://battlefield.fandom.com/wiki/Mle_1903_Pistol_(Codex_Entry) The Mle 1903 was essentially a scaled-up version of the 1903 Pocket Hammerless Pistol to cope with a larger and more powerful 9mm round, making the Mle 1903 more attractive for the military and police. It did also become very popular with the armies and law enforcement of many nations, including the Ottoman Empire, Russian Empire, the UK, Belgium, Spain, Sweden, and Finland. The Mle 1903 was also produced under contract in Sweden, and between Belgium and Sweden about 150,000 of them were produced.

Vapenfabriks skin for Mle 1903 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FN_Model_1903): The FN Model 1903 (M1903, FN Mle 1903), or Browning No.2 is a semi-automatic pistol designed by John Browning (reference to the Model 8 Autoloading's Moses skin) and manufactured by Belgian arms manufacturer Fabrique Nationale (FN). The pistol was initially introduced by FN as the Browning Modèle de Guerre (Browning War Model) or Browning Grand Modèle (Browning Large Model). Sweden obtained a license to manufacture a variant of the design for domestic use as the Husqvarna m/1907 and began production in 1917 to meet both military needs and civilian demand. Husqvarna produced military pistols for Colombia when FN was unwilling to resume production in the 1930s. Sweden had manufactured 89,230 pistols when production ended in 1942. Early Husqvarna-produced pistols included the slide marking of either "Browning's Patent" or "System Browning". This practice was discontinued after World War I at the insistence of FN, which had been granted the exclusive right to use John Browning's name for the purpose of firearms marketing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Husqvarna_Vapenfabrik Husqvarna Vapenfabriks Aktiebolag or simply HVA; was a Swedish firearms manufacturing company in the town of Huskvarna by lake Vättern. In 1867 the company became a limited company under the name Husqvarna Vapenfabriks Aktiebolag. When military orders dropped after the Danish-Prussian War of 1864 and the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, Husqvarna begun making shotguns and hunting rifles. They also started manufacturing stoves, sewing machines and bicycles. In 1903 Husqvarna made their first motorcycle. Husqvarna continued firearms production, though mostly civilian firearms except during the two world wars and some shorter periods of military production.

Charlatan skin for Mle 1903 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlatan): A charlatan (also called a swindler or mountebank) is a person practicing quackery or a similar confidence trick in order to obtain money, power, fame, or other advantages through pretense or deception. Infamous individuals: -Grigori Rasputin (reference to Nagant Revolver's The Rasputin skin), a self-proclaimed holy man and healer who gained considerable influence on the family of Tsar Nicholas II and was involved in the political turmoil on the brink of the Russian Revolution. -Ivar Kreuger, the Swedish "Match King", who ran a worldwide Ponzi scheme in the 1920s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivar_Kreuger Ivar Kreuger (2 March 1880 – 12 March 1932) was a Swedish civil engineer, financier, entrepreneur and industrialist. By aggressive investments and innovative financial instruments, he built a global match and financial empire. Between the two world wars, he negotiated match monopolies with European, Central American and South American governments, and finally controlled between two thirds and three quarters of worldwide match production, becoming known as the "Match King". Another biographer called Kreuger a "genius and swindler", and John Kenneth Galbraith wrote that he was the "Leonardo of larcenists". Kreuger's financial empire collapsed during the Great Depression. The Price Waterhouse autopsy of his financial empire stated: "The manipulations were so childish that anyone with but a rudimentary knowledge of bookkeeping could see the books were falsified. Kreuger formed Swedish Match by merging his father's business with other match factories he had quietly bought during World War I. Its initial capital was around $10 million ($160 million in 2022 dollars) and Ivar owned about half of it, held all senior positions and controlled the board of directors. This company group now covered the entire match industry in Sweden, including all the major companies that manufactured the production machines used in the factories. The total number of employees working in match production in Sweden in 1917 was around 9000. A German chemist had invented phosphorus (reference to the BAR M1918's Phosphorus skin) matches in 1832 but they were dangerous because the yellow phosphorus used was poisonous and because it was in the match head and thus could easily light by accident. The Swedes improved on the design by using a safer red phosphorus, which they put on the striking surface of the matchbox. They called them "safety matches". They made Sweden the leading exporter of matches and made matches the most important Swedish export.

Bruiser skin for Mle 1903: triple question mark ??? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baylor_Bears#Costumed_mascots Bruiser and Marigold are the costumed bear mascots of Baylor University.
Even though Baylor began its intercollegiate athletics in the 1890s, they did not have an official mascot until 1914. President Samuel Palmer Brooks held a vote to choose a mascot from dozens of options including the buffalo, bookworm, antelope, and ferret. It was then when the student body decided to pick an American black bear as their new mascot. In 1917, troops of the 107th Engineers donated a live bear named Ted to the university. Ted made his debut at the 1917 Baylor–Texas A&M football game. https://www.baylor.edu/alumni/magazine/1203/news.php?action=story&story=142733 The creation of Camp MacArthur in 1917 brought thousands of U.S. Army troops into Waco to prepare for combat in World War I. Members of the 107th Engineers of the Army's 32nd Division were stationed at the camp, and they acquired a live bear as a mascot. When the Baylor Bears played Texas A&M in football on Nov. 10, 1917, at Waco's Cotton Palace grounds, members of the 107th Engineers decided to put their bear in a truck, take him to the football stadium and parade him around—the first time a live bear attended a Baylor event. The bear was taken back to the camp. The 107th Engineers received orders on Jan. 13, 1918, to depart from Waco, and they decided to donate their furry pal to Baylor. The bear, referred to as both Ted and Bruin, was kept in the small zoo on the Cotton Palace grounds and brought out occasionally for Baylor events.

M1907 SL skins
Legendary: The Blue Devil, De Pierrot, The Old Drum
Distinguished: Deadlock, Frantz, Voisin, Ypres

Ypres skin for M1907 SL (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ypres): Ypres (Dutch: Ieper; West Flemish: Yper; German: Ypern) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name Ieper is the official one, the city's French name Ypres is most commonly used in English. During the First World War, Ypres (or "Wipers" as it was commonly known by the British troops) was the centre of the Battles of Ypres between German and Allied forces. Ypres occupied a strategic position during the First World War because it stood in the path of Germany's planned sweep across the rest of Belgium and into France from the north (the Schlieffen Plan, reference to the Gewehr 98's von Schlieffen skin). The German army surrounded the city on three sides, bombarding it throughout much of the war. To counterattack, British, French, and allied forces made costly advances from the Ypres Salient into the German lines on the surrounding hills. In the First Battle of Ypres (19 October to 22 November 1914), the Allies captured the town from the Germans. The Germans had used tear gas at the Battle of Bolimov on 3 January 1915. Their use of poison gas for the first time on 22 April 1915 marked the beginning of the Second Battle of Ypres, which continued until 25 May 1915. They captured high ground east of the town. The first gas attack occurred against Canadian, British, and French soldiers, including both metropolitan French soldiers as well as Senegalese and Algerian tirailleurs (light infantry) from French Africa. The gas used was chlorine. Mustard gas, also called Yperite from the name of this town, was also used for the first time near Ypres, in the autumn of 1917. Of the battles, the largest, best-known, and most costly in human suffering was the Third Battle of Ypres (31 July to 10 November 1917, also known as the Battle of Passchendaele), in which the British, Canadian, ANZAC, and French forces recaptured the Passchendaele Ridge east of the city at a terrible cost of lives. After months of fighting, this battle resulted in nearly half a million casualties to all sides, and only a few miles of ground won by Allied forces. During the course of the war the town was all but obliterated by the artillery fire. The Cloth Hall today is home to In Flanders Fields Museum (reference to the M1911 Pistol's In Flanders Fields skin), dedicated to Ypres's role in the First World War and named for the poem by John McCrae.

Deadlock skin for M1907 SL (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technology_during_World_War_I): Chemical weapons were first used systematically in this war. Chemical weapons in World War I included phosgene, tear gas, chlorarsines and mustard gas. At the beginning of the war, Germany had the most advanced chemical industry in the world, accounting for more than 80% of the world's dye and chemical production. Although the use of poison gas had been banned by the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907, Germany turned to this industry for what it hoped would be a decisive weapon to break the deadlock of trench warfare. Chlorine gas was first used on the battlefield in April 1915 at the Second Battle of Ypres (reference to the M1907 SL's Ypres skin) in Belgium. The unknown gas appeared to be a simple smoke screen, used to hide attacking soldiers, and Allied troops were ordered to the front trenches to repel the expected attack. The gas had a devastating effect, killing many defenders or, when the wind direction changed and blew the gas back, many attackers. The wind being unreliable, another way had to be found to transmit the gas. It began being delivered in artillery shells. Most chemical weapons attacked an individual's respiratory system. The concept of choking easily caused fear in soldiers and the resulting terror affected them psychologically. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Front_(World_War_I) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Front_(World_War_I) To break the deadlock of the trench warfare on the Western Front, both sides tried new military technology, including poison gas, aircraft, and tanks. The adoption of better tactics and the cumulative weakening of the armies in the west led to the return of mobility in 1918. The German spring offensive of 1918 (reference to MP18's The Kaiserschlacht skin) was made possible by the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk that ended the war of the Central Powers against Russia and Romania on the Eastern Front. Using short, intense "hurricane" bombardments and infiltration tactics, the German armies moved nearly 100 kilometres (60 miles) to the west, the deepest advance by either side since 1914, but the result was indecisive.

The Blue Devil skin for M1907 SL https://battlefield.fandom.com/wiki/The_Empires_Best_(Codex_Entry) With the French Blue Devils, The Italian Arditis (reference to Modello 1915 Pistol's The Arditi skin), and the German Stormtrooper using radical Hutier (reference to MP18's The Hutier skin) infiltration tactics, a new aggressive combat style saw the light of day during the Great War. This revolutionary approach to warfare was a clear departure from the costly practice of using mass infantry for frontal assaults. Stormtrooper attacks usually began with a smaller but violent artillery barrage concentrated on a smaller point rather than a wide front, after which the Stormtroopers did a rapid assault across no man's land, taking key positions and continuing beyond the trench lines to create confusion and paralyze the enemy in the rear. In many cases, this was then followed up by regular infantry sent forward to secure the captured territory. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chasseurs_Alpins The chasseurs alpins (English: Alpine Hunters) are the elite mountain infantry force of the French Army. They are trained to operate in mountainous terrain and in urban warfare. France created its own mountain corps in the late 19th century in order to oppose any Italian invasion through the Alps. In 1859–70 Italy became unified (reference to the Modello 1915 Pistol's Il Risorgimento skin), forming a powerful state. The French army saw this geopolitical change as a potential threat to their Alpine border, especially as the Italian army was already creating troops specialized in mountain warfare (the Alpini). On December 24, 1888, the first troupes de montagne ("mountain troops") corps were created from 12 of the 31 existing Chasseurs à pied ("Hunters on Foot'"/"Foot Rifles'") battalions. Initially these units were named bataillons alpins de chasseurs à pied ("Alpine Battalions of Hunters on Foot"/"Alpine Foot Rifle Battalions"). Later this was shortened to bataillons de chasseurs alpins ("Alpine Hunter Battalions"/"Alpine Rifle Battalions"). From their establishment the chasseurs Alpins wore a plain and practical uniform designed to be suitable for mountain service. This comprised a loose-fitting dark blue jacket and blue-grey breeches, together with a large beret carrying the yellow (daffodil) hunting horn insignia of the Chasseur branch. Various traditions: When marching with the band and horns, the marching pace is 140 steps a minute - faster than most other armed forces units, with the exception of the Italian Bersaglieri (reference to the Cei-Rigotti's Bersaglieri skin), whose pace is 180 steps per minute. The chasseurs alpins are informally known as Les diables bleus (Eng: The Blue Devils). Monuments and memorials to the unit, such as Memorial to the Chasseur Alpins are marked Aux Diables Bleus (Eng: To the Blue Devils).

Voisin skin for M1907 SL https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voisin_(aircraft) Aéroplanes Voisin was a French aircraft manufacturing company established in 1905 by Gabriel Voisin and his brother Charles, and was continued by Gabriel after Charles died in an automobile accident in 1912; the full official company name then became Société Anonyme des Aéroplanes G. Voisin (English: Aeroplanes Voisin public limited company). During World War I, it was a major producer of military aircraft, notably the Voisin III. After the war Gabriel Voisin abandoned the aviation industry, and set up a company to design and produce luxury automobiles, called Avions Voisin. The company, based in the Parisian suburb of Billancourt, was the first commercial aircraft factory in the world. It created Europe's first manned, heavier-than-air powered aircraft capable of a sustained (1 km), circular, controlled flight, including take-off and landing, the Voisin-Farman I (reference to the Model 8 Autoloading's Farman skin). Having learned to fly with a Voisin, on 8 March 1910, Raymonde de Laroche became the first woman to receive a pilot licence when the Aéro-Club de France issued her licence #36. Production of the Voisin III Type LA and LAS increased with the outbreak of the First World War, with examples being built under licence in Italy by S.I.T., in Russia by Anatra, Breshnev-Moller, Dux Lebedev and Schetinin, and in the UK by Savages of King's Lynn, with production exceeding 1,350 airframes. Soon after the outbreak of the First World War, it became apparent that the French aviation industry could not produce aircraft in sufficient numbers to meet military requirements. Manufacturers from various other fields became aviation subcontractors, and later license-builders as did many smaller aircraft manufacturers who had been unable to secure orders for their own designs.

Frantz skin for M1907 SL (https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Frantz): Joseph Frantz, né le 7 août 1890 à Beaujeu (Rhône) et mort le 12 septembre 1979 à Paris1, est un aviateur français de la Première Guerre mondiale, célèbre pour avoir participé au premier combat aérien victorieux de l’histoire. L’année suivante, toujours sur avion Voisin, Frantz descendit un second appareil. Il met ensuite ses qualités d'ingénieur et de pilote d'essai au service de la firme Voisin et met au point douze prototypes d'avions dont le biplan quadrimoteur Voisin de 37 mètres d'envergure. https://earlyaviators.com/efrantz.htm October 5, 1914, Sergeant Joseph Frantz (born in 1890, died in Paris in 1979) and his mechanic Louis Quénault (dates unknown), were attached to flotilla V 24. Flying a Voisin Type 3 biplane (reference to the M1907 SL's Voisin skin), they fired on a German Aviatik with a Hotchkiss machine gun. It was being piloted by Sergeant Wilhelm Schlichting with Lieutenant Fritz von Zangen as his observer. They were engaged in a reconnaisance mission close to Jonchéry on Vesle. After they exhausted the ammunition for the machine gun, they found themselves being fired upon by the German observer with his rifle. Sergeant Quénault responded with his own rifle and one of the shots hit the pilot. The plane, out of control, crashed to the earth and was destroyed. This event marked the first confirmed air victory of the First World War, and indeed in History at the same time.
There had been occasional exchanges of shots between the pilots of planes during the first weeks of the conflict, but Frantz and Quénault are credited with being the first aviators to shoot down an enemy plane.

De Pierrot skin for M1907 SL (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierrot): Pierrot is a stock character of pantomime and commedia dell'arte, whose origins are in the late seventeenth-century Italian troupe of players performing in Paris and known as the Comédie-Italienne. Performing unmasked, with a whitened face, he wears a loose white blouse with large buttons and wide white pantaloons. Pierrot played a seminal role in the emergence of Modernism in the arts. He was a key figure in every art-form except architecture. In music, historians of Modernism generally place Arnold Schoenberg's (reference to the Maschinenpistole M1912/P.16's Schoenberg skin) 1912 song-cycle Pierrot lunaire at the very pinnacle of High-Modernist achievement. Students of Modernist painting and sculpture are familiar with Pierrot (in many different attitudes, from the ineffably sad to the ebulliently impudent) through the masterworks of his acolytes, including Pablo Picasso, Juan Gris, Georges Rouault, Salvador Dalí, Max Beckmann, August Macke, Paul Klee (reference to the Parabellum MG14/17's Paul Klee skin), Jacques Lipchitz—the list is very long. In film, a beloved early comic hero was the Little Tramp of Charlie Chaplin, who conceived the character, in Chaplin's words, as "a sort of Pierrot". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Diamond_Troupe The Diamond Troupe was the concert party of the 29th Division, a First World War infantry division within the British Army. Also known as the "Incomparable Division", the 29th was formed in 1915 by combining units that had previously been acting as garrisons about the British Empire. The division fought throughout the Gallipoli Campaign and, from 1916 to the end of the war, on the Western Front in France. Concert parties were an integral element of the war effort, and by 1917, virtually every division had at least one. They mirrored the Pierrot troupes of music halls and seaside resorts, offering soldiers a respite from war, reminding them of home, and providing a neutral outlet to air grievances about "food, conditions, and sergeants". The Diamond Troupe was one of a small number of concert parties to achieve considerable notoriety, both on the battlefield and at home. The name “Diamond Troupe” was inspired by the 29th Division’s logo, a red half-diamond, and by the tactical superiority of the diamond formation in a military advance.

The Old Drum skin for M1907 SL triple question mark (???) or why are there dog breeds (The Golden Retriever skin, The Boykin Spaniel skin, ...) as skin names in Battlefield 1? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Graham_Vest George Graham Vest (December 6, 1830 – August 9, 1904) was a U.S. politician. Born in Frankfort, Kentucky, he was known for his skills in oration and debate. Vest, a lawyer as well as a politician, served as a Missouri Congressman, a Confederate Congressman during the Civil War, and finally a U.S. Senator. Vest was best known during his lifetime for his "a man's best friend" closing arguments from the trial in which damages were sought for the killing of a dog named Old Drum on October 18, 1869. It was at this time in 1869 that Vest was asked to represent Charles Burden and Old Drum in the case that would make him famous, Burden v. Hornsby. Vest took the case tried on September 23, 1870, in which he represented a client whose hunting dog, a foxhound named Drum (or Old Drum), had been killed by a sheep farmer, Leonidas Hornsby. The farmer (Burden's brother-in-law) had previously announced his intentions to kill any dog found on his property; the dog's owner was suing for damages in the amount of $150 (equivalent to $3,471 in 2022), the maximum allowed by law. During the trial, Vest stated that he would "win the case or apologize to every dog in Missouri." Vest's closing argument to the jury made no reference to any of the testimony offered during the trial, and instead offered a eulogy of sorts. Vest's "Eulogy of the Dog" is one of the most enduring passages of purple prose in American courtroom history (only a partial transcript has survived): Gentlemen of the jury - The one absolutely unselfish friend that a man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him and the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous is his dog. Vest won the case (the jury awarded $50 to the dog's owner) and also won its appeal to the Missouri Supreme Court. A bust of the dog resides in the Missouri Supreme Court building in Jefferson City, Missouri. In 1958, a statue of the dog was erected on the Johnson County Courthouse lawn containing a summation of Vest’s closing speech, “A man’s best friend is his dog.”

I found another reference to "The Valiant" skin for Bodeo 1889.

The Valiant skin for Bodeo 1889 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Vaux): The defence of Fort Vaux (reference to the Model 10-A's Vaux skin) was marked by the heroism and endurance of the garrison, including Major Sylvain-Eugene Raynal. Under his command, the French garrison repulsed German assaults, including fighting underground from barricades inside the corridors, during the first big engagement inside a fort during the First World War. The last men of the French garrison gave up after running out of water (some of which was poisoned), ammunition, medical supplies and food. Raynal sent several messages by homing pigeon (including Le Vaillant), requesting relief for his soldiers. In his last message, Raynal wrote "This is my last pigeon". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Vaillant Le Vaillant (French: The Valiant) (died 4 June 1916) was a pigeon used by the French Army in the First World War. The bird was the last held at Fort Vaux before it was overrun in the Battle of Verdun (reference to the M1909 Benét-Mercié's Verdun skin). Le Vaillant carried a message from the fort's commander Sylvain Reynal to his senior officers requesting reinforcements but was mortally wounded in flight. The bird was posthumously appointed to the Legion of Honour and is commemorated by a plaque at the fort.

This short historical fact may also refer to the Bodeo 1889's "The Valiant" skin name displayed on the loading screen: