On Mar 15, 9:38*pm, allantracy wrote:

Yes, you can always rely on the French to be a bunch of poseurs.

Pity they aren’t so good at armies.


"According to historian Niall Ferguson, of the 125 major European wars
fought since 1495, the French have participated in fifty - more than
both Austria (forty-seven) and England (forty-three). And they've
achieved an impressive batting average: out of 168 battles fought
since 387BC, they have won 109, lost 49 and drawn 10."

(From 'The Second QI Book of General Ignorance', funnily enough).


----
Colin Williams.

On Fri, 16 Mar 2012 02:58:13 -0700 (PDT)
Colin Williams wrote:
"According to historian Niall Ferguson, of the 125 major European wars
fought since 1495, the French have participated in fifty - more than
both Austria (forty-seven) and England (forty-three). And they've
achieved an impressive batting average: out of 168 battles fought
since 387BC, they have won 109, lost 49 and drawn 10."

387BC? Thats pretty impressive given france as a nation didn't even exist until
the middle ages.

B2003

On Mar 16, 10:59*am, wrote:

387BC? Thats pretty impressive given france as a nation didn't even exist until
the middle ages.

B2003


Perhaps it should have said France and its predecessors.

"387 B.C. Battle of Allia. The outnumbered Gauls, led by Brennus,
defeat the army of the Roman Republic led by Quintus Sulpicius and
ultimately go on to sack Rome itself. "

http://www.militaryfactory.com/battl..._victories.asp

(Massively off-topic, apologies).


----
Colin Williams.

On Fri, 16 Mar 2012 04:56:28 -0700 (PDT)
Colin Williams wrote:
On Mar 16, 10:59=A0am, wrote:

387BC? Thats pretty impressive given france as a nation didn't even exist=
until
the middle ages.

B2003


Perhaps it should have said France and its predecessors.

"387 B.C. Battle of Allia. The outnumbered Gauls, led by Brennus,
defeat the army of the Roman Republic led by Quintus Sulpicius and
ultimately go on to sack Rome itself. "

Brennus? Asterix must have been having a day off.

B2003

On Mar 16, 12:23*pm, wrote:
On Fri, 16 Mar 2012 04:56:28 -0700 (PDT)

Colin Williams wrote:
On Mar 16, 10:59=A0am, wrote:

387BC? Thats pretty impressive given france as a nation didn't even exist=
until
the middle ages.

B2003

Perhaps it should have said France and its predecessors.

"387 B.C. Battle of Allia. *The outnumbered Gauls, led by Brennus,
defeat the army of the Roman Republic led by Quintus Sulpicius and
ultimately go on to sack Rome itself. "

Brennus? Asterix must have been having a day off.

B2003#


Must admit, Asterix was the first thing that came to mind when I
looked that up.

----
Colin Williams.

On 16/03/2012 13:13, Colin Williams wrote:
On Mar 16, 12:23 pm, wrote:
On Fri, 16 Mar 2012 04:56:28 -0700 (PDT)

Colin wrote:
On Mar 16, 10:59=A0am, wrote:

387BC? Thats pretty impressive given france as a nation didn't even exist=
until
the middle ages.

B2003

Perhaps it should have said France and its predecessors.

"387 B.C. Battle of Allia. The outnumbered Gauls, led by Brennus,
defeat the army of the Roman Republic led by Quintus Sulpicius and
ultimately go on to sack Rome itself. "

Brennus? Asterix must have been having a day off.

B2003#


Must admit, Asterix was the first thing that came to mind when I
looked that up.


Asterix is set about 300 years later IIRC

--
Graeme Wall
This account not read, substitute trains for rail.
Railway Miscellany at http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail

On Mar 16, 9:58*am, Colin Williams
wrote:
On Mar 15, 9:38*pm, allantracy wrote:



Yes, you can always rely on the French to be a bunch of poseurs.

Pity they aren’t so good at armies.

"According to historian Niall Ferguson, of the 125 major European wars
fought since 1495, the French have participated in fifty - more than
both Austria (forty-seven) and England (forty-three). *And they've
achieved an impressive batting average: out of 168 battles fought
since 387BC, they have won 109, lost 49 and drawn 10."

(From 'The Second QI Book of General Ignorance', funnily enough).

France is one of the Western European countries today that has an
effective military. The UK is under defended.

On Fri, 16 Mar 2012 05:05:17 -0700 (PDT)
77002 wrote:
France is one of the Western European countries today that has an
effective military. The UK is under defended.

The french military have always had all the gear but no idea. I'm sure
the Maginot line looked great in the sales brochure.

B2003

On 16/03/2012 12:42, d wrote:
On Fri, 16 Mar 2012 05:05:17 -0700 (PDT)
wrote:
France is one of the Western European countries today that has an
effective military. The UK is under defended.

The french military have always had all the gear but no idea. I'm sure
the Maginot line looked great in the sales brochure.


Generals all tend to fight the last war...

I'm intrigued by the concept of the UK being /under/ defended. Against
what military threat?

Currently we have nuclear missile submarines with no one to aim them at,
high performance fighters with no one to fight, an aircraft carrier with
no aircraft and carrier escort destroyers with no carriers to escort.

--
Graeme Wall
This account not read, substitute trains for rail.
Railway Miscellany at http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail

On Fri, 16 Mar 2012 14:03:40 +0000, Graeme Wall
wrote:

On 16/03/2012 12:42, d wrote:
On Fri, 16 Mar 2012 05:05:17 -0700 (PDT)
wrote:
France is one of the Western European countries today that has an
effective military. The UK is under defended.

The french military have always had all the gear but no idea. I'm sure
the Maginot line looked great in the sales brochure.


Generals all tend to fight the last war...

I'm intrigued by the concept of the UK being /under/ defended. Against
what military threat?

Currently we have nuclear missile submarines with no one to aim them at,
high performance fighters with no one to fight, an aircraft carrier with
no aircraft and carrier escort destroyers with no carriers to escort.

I thought we didn't have any in-service fixed-wing aircraft carriers,
with or without aircraft? Of course, we do have two under
construction for delivery in a few years. The only conceivable
current threat would seem to be to the Falklands, and this analysis
suggests that we're adequately defended the
http://www.rusi.org/analysis/comment...C4F6324444BE2E