Why do Canadians go ballistic in war? Canadians, we all know the stereotype: nice, friendly, and extremely apologetic. If you're fighting them though, avoid them at all costs.
为什么加拿大人在战争中会发狂?我们都知道加拿大人的刻板印象:友善、友好、很容易抱歉。但是如果你要与他们交战,一定要不惜一切代价避开他们。
Because for some strange reason, these usually calm maple leaf lovers go absolutely ballistic when there's a war on.
因为出于某种奇怪的原因,这些平时很冷静的枫叶爱好者在战争中会变得非常愤怒。
Trench raids. In World War I, the only thing scarier than going on a trench raid was to be on the receiving end of a Canadian one.
在第一次世界大战中,唯一比战壕突袭更可怕的是成为加拿大战壕突袭的受害者。
Soon after their deployment the Canucks earned a fearsome reputation as enthusiastic and innovative practitioners of this brutal art.
部署后不久,加拿大人就赢得了可怕的声誉,成为这种残酷艺术的实践者,酷爱并创新了战壕突袭。
To maximize stealth, they were known to blacken their faces and to wear thick rubber gloves.
为了最大限度地隐身,他们会把脸涂黑,戴上厚厚的橡胶手套。
They also brought along with them a variety of handmade weapons to optimize their killing effectiveness, such as spike clubs, knives, and brass knuckles, to allow them to take out enemies silently.
他们还随身携带各种手工制作的武器来提高杀伤力,比如尖刺棍、刀和指节铜环,这样他们就可以悄无声息地干掉敌人。
Alternatively, pipe bombs and grenade catapults were used if they preferred to go in guns blazing.
如果他们喜欢开枪射击,他们也会使用管状炸弹和手榴弹弹射器。
On operation, the Canadians tore through trenches so quickly and with such coldblooded efficiency that by the end of the war they were able to reach up to 1 kilometer behind enemy lines.
在作战中,加拿大人以如此迅速和冷血的效率撕开战壕,以至于到战争结束时,他们能够深入敌后1公里。
Their speed and ferocity earned them the nicknames from the terrified Germans ranging from Stormtroopers to Wild Colonials.
由于加拿大人作战的速度和凶猛,恐惧的德国人称他们为冲锋队和野蛮殖民者。
The savage determination of the Canadians was most on show in the four months leading up to the Battle of Vimy Ridge, where they conducted 55 raids.
加拿大人的野蛮在维米岭战役前的四个月中得到了最充分的展示,他们进行了55次突袭。
The most disastrous of these happened in March of 1917, involving over 1300 soldiers.
其中最惨重的一次发生在1917年3月,涉及1300多名士兵。
Despite suffering an appalling 43% casualty rate and being constantly gassed, one group of raiders was able to clear a 450-meter section of the German trench.
尽管伤亡率高达43%,并且不断受到毒气袭击,但一组突袭者还是能够清理出450米长的德国战壕。
Killing prisoners of war. When they weren't going on deadly nighttime raids, the Canadians could usually be found slaughtering prisoners of war.
当加拿大人不进行致命的夜间突袭时,他们通常在屠杀战俘。
Shockingly, in World War I, the murder of German POWs was actively encouraged by some commanders.
令人震惊的是,在第一次世界大战中,一些指挥官鼓励杀害德国战俘。
Before the attack on Vimy Ridge for instance, one soldier recalled how an officer told him: remember, no prisoners, they'll just eat your rations.
例如,在袭击维米岭之前,一名士兵回忆起一名军官的话:记住,不要俘虏,他们只会吃掉你的口粮。
Having to share already limited food supplies was just one of the reasons why most preferred to shoot rather than capture.
不得不分享已经有限的食物供应只是大多数人宁愿开枪而不是抓捕的原因之一。
But the most powerful justification were revenge and battle rage. In a typical account, one lieutenant would recall how after losing half of his company to machine gun fire,
但最有力的理由是复仇和战斗愤怒。在一个典型的故事中,一名中尉回忆起其连队一半士兵被机枪射杀后,
his surviving men rushed to the battery that had caused the damage to find the Germans inside crying and with their hands up.
幸存的士兵冲到造成破坏的炮台,发现里面的德国人正在哭泣,举手投降。
Unmoved, they proceeded to mercilessly bludgeon and shoot them to death.
他们无动于衷,继续无情地殴打并射杀他们。
Another would relate on one occasion: a German rushed to one of his comrades with a bayonet but then chickened out and surrendered.
另一个人说:一个德国人拿着刺刀冲向他的一个战友,但后来胆怯了,投降了。
In his own words, our boy would have none of it. He lunged at the German again and again, who each time lowered his arms and stopped the point of the bayonet with his bare hands.
用他自己的话说,我们的士兵不会接受任何惩罚。他一次又一次地向德国人猛扑过去,而德国人每次都放下手臂,用赤手挡住刺刀的尖端。
The German was screaming for mercy. Even if a surrendering German somehow survived his initial encounter with a wild colonial, his life was still in great danger.
德国人尖叫着求饶。即使投降的德国人在与野蛮殖民者的初次遭遇中幸存下来,他的生命仍然处于极大的危险之中。
In this regard, one veteran would remember how he once witnessed one of his fellow Canadians turn a German POW into red mist by dropping a live grenade into his great coat pocket.
一位老兵曾目睹一位加拿大同胞将一颗实弹手榴弹扔进一名德国战俘的大衣口袋,战俘十分愤怒。
Live and Let Die. During World War I, soldiers carried out an unofficial live and let live policy.
第一次世界大战期间,士兵们执行了一项非官方的包容政策。
This was an unspoken agreement in which both sides agreed to only attack each other if ordered.
这是一项不言而喻的协议,双方同意只有在接到命令时才会互相攻击。
The most famous example of this inaction was the unofficial 1914 Christmas Day truce, in which thousands of combatants from both sides exchanged gifts, sang carols, and mingled with each other for a few hours.
这种不作为最著名的例子是1914年圣诞节的非正式休战,双方数千名战斗人员交换礼物、唱颂歌,并相互交流了几个小时。
The next year though the Canucks were on the front lines, and unlike their allies, live and let live was not in their vocabulary.
第二年,加拿大人身处前线,与他们的盟友不同,他们的字典里没有“自己活也让别人活”。
Among their number were the troops of the Third Battalion who were stationed in the Ypres Salient on the Western Front.
他们中有驻扎在伊普尔的第三营部队。
In the spirit of the previous year, voices from the opposing trench wished them a happy Christmas and some of the friendlier Canucks returned the greetings.
秉承着去年的精神,对方战壕的士兵祝他们圣诞快乐,一些更友好的加拿大人也回应了问候。
After a couple of minutes, men from both sides had raised their heads above the dugouts and an older whisker man was invitingly waving a box of cigars.
几分钟后,双方士兵都抬起头,一位留着络腮胡子的老人招摇地挥舞着一盒雪茄。
Moments later, a Canadian sergeant ruined Christmas by dispatching two Germans with his machine gun.
片刻之后,一名加拿大中士用机关枪打死了两名德国人,毁了圣诞节。
Of course, this wouldn't be the last time the Germans of the Great War were tricked into a false sense of security by their heartless North American foe.
当然,这不会是一战中德国人最后一次被冷酷无情的北美敌人欺骗,产生虚假的安全感。
In one particularly cruel episode, Canuck troops tossed tins of corned beef into a German trench.
在一个特别残酷的事件中,加拿大士兵将腌牛肉罐头扔进了德国战壕。
Then when they heard their requests for more, they robbed grenades at them instead.
然后,当德国人听到加拿大人的请求时,德国人反而向加拿大人投掷手榴弹。