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<blockquote data-quote="montignac" data-source="post: 341820" data-attributes="member: 24444">I collect old weapons, my earliest being a 1790's flintlock pistol going through to the early 1900s.&nbsp; Alongside this I read about the periods during which they were used and like you Sandpatch I cannot understand the &quot;soldier&quot; in the bottom picture. This is a memorial in France... the French were the first to issue metal helmets 3 months after war was declared to replace a leather version of the same shape. I do not think that any European army was issued with percussion cap rifles after the 1870's.&nbsp; Even the uniform does not appear right especially for the French.&nbsp; I know that the losses were high in WW1&nbsp; ( first day of the Somme battle the&nbsp; British suffered nearly 60,000 casualities in 24hrs) but when you see a memorial with 11 names on it in a hamlet of perhaps 20 - 30 houses you realise that there could not have been a single family that did not loose someone. I know of 3 losses in my family</blockquote>

[QUOTE="montignac, post: 341820, member: 24444"] I collect old weapons, my earliest being a 1790's flintlock pistol going through to the early 1900s. Alongside this I read about the periods during which they were used and like you Sandpatch I cannot understand the "soldier" in the bottom picture. This is a memorial in France... the French were the first to issue metal helmets 3 months after war was declared to replace a leather version of the same shape. I do not think that any European army was issued with percussion cap rifles after the 1870's. Even the uniform does not appear right especially for the French. I know that the losses were high in WW1 ( first day of the Somme battle the British suffered nearly 60,000 casualities in 24hrs) but when you see a memorial with 11 names on it in a hamlet of perhaps 20 - 30 houses you realise that there could not have been a single family that did not loose someone. I know of 3 losses in my family [/QUOTE]

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