1. The Red Army lost 9,000 tanks in just two months, July and August 1943. Think about that.

2. The minority white regime of Rhodesia conducted low-grade chemical and biological warfare against anti-government guerrillas. They poisoned water sources with rat poison and an insecticide. They also disseminated cholera pathogens but apparently with less effect.  

    

3. In February 1937, Italian soldiers and police killed about 19,000 Ethiopian civilians. They did so in retaliation for an assassination attempt on Viceroy General Rodolfo Graziani.

4. On the first day of the Somme, a battalion from Newfoundland suffered 90% casualties.

5. British troops in Boston in 1770 were allowed to moonlight when off duty. They often charged far less for casual labor than civilians did—which of course antagonized the local laborers.

6. The new flagship of the Libyan military is a former Irish naval service boat that was sold at auction in 2017 for only 110,000 Euros.

This article by Tom Ricks originally appeared at Task & Purpose. Follow Task & Purpose on Twitter.

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