09-23-2016, 10:19 AM
(09-22-2016, 10:35 PM)Paullus Scipio Wrote: Again, this average does not take into account rest stops, probably taken hourly, so that the actual pace would be rather higher.
I don't dissent from that. Taking the actual marching speed at the military pace to be 3 mph, 18.5 miles could be covered in 6 hours 10 minutes, allowing a total rest period of 30 mins. over the period of the march - not too bad for training purposes. Allowing the same rest period for a march at the full pace gives a marching speed of 3.6 mph. Alternatively, the training marches could have been undertaken without breaks or with very short ones, making campaigning with more generous breaks seem easier by comparison.
I wish that my father were still alive, so that I could ask him about the route march he undertook during the War, carrying a Bren gun all the way, after which he consumed 24 cups of tea without a break in between. This perhaps indicates that there were no refreshment stops during march.
Michael King Macdona
And do as adversaries do in law, -
Strive mightily, but eat and drink as friends.
(The Taming of the Shrew: Act 1, Scene 2)
And do as adversaries do in law, -
Strive mightily, but eat and drink as friends.
(The Taming of the Shrew: Act 1, Scene 2)