physical training for Passchendaele

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archerynut

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so starting october/november filming for the movie "Passchendaele" is going to start here in southern alberta. i'm going to be a continuity extra on the set, and we're going for a physical examination this saturday, then on to a quasi boot camp. i'm curious how rigorous the physical training would have been for the front line soldiers. considering the battle continued for 3 months, with over half a million casualties, i can not fathom the stamina that was required to keep a unit "fighting fit" in the trench that long. would their charges across no mans land have been sluggish? maybe a double ration of rum would have given them the bravery and stamina required the make it across before the unit was cut down by rifle fire and shelling. i'm curous.

PS i know this isn't directly firearms related, i just didn't know where else to post it.
 
I'd imagine in the trenches there was alot of work out, but not as much as lets say a boot camp. If you have troops near the front I'd imagine the enemy would have had in any given battle about the same or more, so removing the troops in shifts for physical training alot wouldn't be my first choice incase of a enemy attack so the troops would be kept "at the ready" near the lines and well rested. :)

Plus the men are probably tired of the trenches and the like, unless you were training for a major attack I'd say give them some R&R time instead of physical to mentally prepare them for the task at hand if your going to send them out of the lines. But this is just my uneducated opinion. :p

By the way how did you get onboard this movie ?? :)

Dimitri
 
They were spending long hours everyday, doing manual labour to build, expand and maintain the trench lines. Just that was enough to keep their weight down and keep those muscles well toned.
 
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I saw some of the firepower they are going to be using from the Armourer the other day. Impressive to say the least.
 
Paul Gross from Due South fame has spent 3 years securing funding and set peices for this film, with a large amount of material coming from as far away as india. this is going to be one of the largest canadian productions in recent memory. they're doing this one right!
 
Well I hope they do not get their German Uniforms from the Movie Outfit in Vancouver, we had those for the Re-enactors on the CBC Great War Documentary that was shot in St-Bruno CFC Base last Summer. They were pretty poor as far as Authenticity was concerned (mostly Swedish and East German Post-WW2 stuff), luckily I had my personnal WW1 German Re-enacting Kit with me that I used during the filming. I had to plead with the props department to ditch the East-German Y-Straps on the German so-called webbing. German Infantry in WW1 did not have Y-Straps, but used their Bread Bag straps to support their cartridge pouches.
 
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joe n said:
I saw some of the firepower they are going to be using from the Armourer the other day. Impressive to say the least.
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Details and pictures or I will give you the back of my hand:D

Are they still looking for 'cannon fodder'?....I can die a gruesome death with the best of them:puke:
 
http://www.army.dnd.ca/AEL/PUBS/300-008/B-GL-382/003/PT-001/B-GL-382-003-PT-001.pdf

This is the URL for the current Canadian Forces fitness manual. There are 12-week, 8-week, 3-week and burst training programs. Not being a gym-rat it might be giving all the wrong advice, but it has full training regimes to pass the Army's rucksack march, fireman's carry and dig a hole tests.

There are lots of other manuals for the downloaders.
 
archerynut said:
that was a great mini-series and i bought it on DVD. very enjoyable.
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Surely you don't mean that piece of worthless drivel CBC put out starring Justin Trudeau as Talbot Papineau (of all people) that somehow managed to make all of WW1 seem to have been fought about about quebec federalism vs. separation with some perverse pen-pal love story going on with an American sculptor in the background???

WORST WW1 DOCUMENTARY EVER.

(and produced/directed by a rabid anti-war Lieberal)
 
Claven2 said:
Surely you don't mean that piece of worthless drivel CBC put out starring Justin Trudeau as Talbot Papineau (of all people) that somehow managed to make all of WW1 seem to have been fought about about quebec federalism vs. separation with some perverse pen-pal love story going on with an American sculptor in the background???

WORST WW1 DOCUMENTARY EVER.

(and produced/directed by a rabid anti-war Lieberal)
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Geee...tell us what you REALLY think Clave...

For the record...I thought it SUCKED COW POOP SHUTE as well....:puke:
 
I hope it comes out on theaters, I'm going to make sure the day its out I'm free so I can watch the first run of the movie in the theaters if it goes out to that and not stright to tape/TV. :)

Dimitri
 
Charging across No man's land?
Rifle, full pack, PLUS carrying extra sandbags (to be filled on arrival) iron stakes for the barbed wire (to consolidate the position) shovels, picks, rations, extra ammunition, rolls of telephone wire, the field phones,and god knows what-all the RSM thought necessary to dig in once you took the position. Add to that the lovely shell pocked ground you advanced over. More like a walk than a run.
 
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