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    Contributing Member Flying10uk's Avatar
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    "Contact"

    When was the word "Contact!" first used in battle to signify that contact has been made with the enemy, please? I had thought/assumed that the word used in this context is a post WW2 thing, although I don't really know, until watching a WW1 docu/drama when the term was used.

    Obviously the docu/drama could have been wrong.
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    A Collector's View - The SMLE Short Magazine Lee Enfield 1903-1989. It is 300 8.5x11 inch pages with 1,000+ photo’s, most in color, and each book is serial-numbered.  Covering the SMLE from 1903 to the end of production in India in 1989 it looks at how each model differs and manufacturer differences from a collecting point of view along with the major accessories that could be attached to the rifle. For the record this is not a moneymaker, I hope just to break even, eventually, at $80/book plus shipping.  In the USA shipping is $5.00 for media mail.  I will accept PayPal, Zelle, MO and good old checks (and cash if you want to stop by for a tour!).  CLICK BANNER to send me a PM for International pricing and shipping. Manufacturer of various vintage rifle scopes for the 1903 such as our M73G4 (reproduction of the Weaver 330C) and Malcolm 8X Gen II (Unertl reproduction). Several of our scopes are used in the CMP Vintage Sniper competition on top of 1903 rifles. Brian Dick ... BDL Ltd. - Specializing in British and Commonwealth weapons Specializing in premium ammunition and reloading components. Your source for the finest in High Power Competition Gear. Here at T-bones Shipwrighting we specialise in vintage service rifle: re-barrelling, bedding, repairs, modifications and accurizing. We also provide importation services for firearms, parts and weapons, for both private or commercial businesses.
     

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    Advisory Panel Surpmil's Avatar
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    Around the same time the phrase "advance to contact" came into use?

    And I don't know when that was!
    “There are invisible rulers who control the destinies of millions. It is not generally realized to what extent the words and actions of our most influential public men are dictated by shrewd persons operating behind the scenes.”

    Edward Bernays, 1928

    Much changes, much remains the same.

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    Legacy Member Daan Kemp's Avatar
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    I suspect it is a movie word. Otherwise how would moviegoers know?

    Not included in military usage where I'm from.

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    Contributing Member Gil Boyd's Avatar
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    "CONTACT WAIT OUT" has been used as (VP) Voice Procedure on the military radio net and verbal procedures in Britishicon and Commonwealth Forces for over 70 years and was certainly used in the war in Korea in 1950.
    A term to signify you have come in contact with the enemy, wait to be updated.
    'Tonight my men and I have been through hell and back again, but the look on your faces when we let you out of the hall - we'd do it all again tomorrow.' Major Chris Keeble's words to Goose Green villagers on 29th May 1982 - 2 PARA

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    Contributing Member muffett.2008's Avatar
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    Words in use back in the early sixties when I wore a green suit. part of basic Infantry drill.

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    Legacy Member old tanker's Avatar
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    "Kein plan überlept die erste Feindberübrung." or “No plan survives contact with the enemy” or some variation has been attributed to everyone from Helmuth von Moltke, the Duke of Wellington, Erwin Rommel, among a host of others. Physically encountering the enemy has been called making "contact" with the enemy for an awfully long time. From my experience, the practice of announcing "Contact!" over the radio was in anticipation of the inevitable radio call from higher headquarters wanting to know what all the shooting is/was about.

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    Advisory Panel browningautorifle's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Daan Kemp View Post
    I suspect it is a movie word.
    Nooooo...we've used that from the beginning of my time in, from the mid '70s and onward. The US was also using it. How else do you describe meeting the enemy in the field with minimum wording on the radio net? As these others have pointed out...also.
    Regards, Jim

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    Contributing Member rcathey's Avatar
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    In his 1871 essay "Über Strategie," Helmuth von Moltke said, "Kein Operationsplan reicht mit einiger Sicherheit über das erste Zusammentreffen mit der feindlichen Hauptmacht hinaus."

    Google translates this as "No operational plan goes beyond the first encounter with the main enemy power with certainty."
    Frequently paraphrased of course as, "No plan survives contact with the enemy."

    The Germanicon word in question is "zusammentreffen." Meaning meeting or encounter.

    Later English translations likely changed that to "contact." But was the term in use in that context beforehand? I don't know...but this likely takes it back to the late 1800s at least!
    -Ryan

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    Contributing Member Gil Boyd's Avatar
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    If you shout CONTACT WAIT OUT on a military radio net, it means only one thing!
    Other cohorts, whether they be Air/Sea or Land in a conflict on the same frequency await your earliest update before Hell unleashes from all the resources available.
    I can tell you it certainly isn't a Movie term at all, and you have to have served to understand the seriousness of the call.
    It affects so many agencies, none more so than, the Medics who need to know who needs their help and how serious casualty numbers are, and also higher formation who want to resupply and provide more manpower if the enemy strength is far higher than first thought.
    SIT REPS /CAS REPS etc follow the initial call of CONTACT WAIT OUT.
    'Tonight my men and I have been through hell and back again, but the look on your faces when we let you out of the hall - we'd do it all again tomorrow.' Major Chris Keeble's words to Goose Green villagers on 29th May 1982 - 2 PARA

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  16. #10
    Advisory Panel browningautorifle's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Gil Boyd View Post
    CONTACT WAIT OUT
    Yep, all other traffic ceases and T.O.C. primes up for traffic.
    Regards, Jim

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