Most pathetic military unit ever?

[notyoueither]

He's looking for units. The Light Brigade definitely counts in my books.

[KrazyHorse]

Why? They received their orders and obeyed them...

[monolith94]

Probably the Russian navy which sailed around the world to battle the Japanese only to be defeated most ignominiously…

[notyoueither]

Most pathetic leadership might be a better topic...

[KrazyHorse]

If you're going to do that then the entire upper commands of both the Allies and Central Powers during WWI need to be in top place.

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by Frogger
If you're going to do that then the entire upper commands of both the Allies and Central Powers during WWI need to be in top place.

They are definite contenders, although a lot of people would argue the French and British were a bit worse than the German. Everyone would be positively brilliant compared to the Russians.

[Dis]

the air national guard unit that George Bush jr. served in

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by notyoueither


They are definite contenders, although a lot of people would argue the French and British were a bit worse than the German. Everyone would be positively brilliant compared to the Russians.

Yeah, but the Russian command structure by and large got what was coming to it in 1917.

[orange]

Chinese junk fleets

[Bosh]

bah! I want incompetant units that come with funny anecdotes!

So far we've got the russian parachuters and possibly the light brigade (although picket's charge had higher casualties IIRC)...

Maybe the Russian prisoner "mine clearing" units should also be nominated...

[Dr. Nick]

NYE, the Light Brigade performed admirably in the Crimean War, including the famous charge.

[Pekka]

Boshko, I feel sorry for those 'mine clearing' units. But hey, the sang some party songs and went hand to hand, shoulder to shoulder! If they refused, they were shot, naturally.

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by El Awrence
NYE, the Light Brigade performed admirably in the Crimean War, including the famous charge.

I agree. The balls they had to keep going...

Hense the discussion of leadership.

[notyoueither]

Men of the 5th!

Here's one for you Boshko, maybe.

Some people will remember the scene from Waterloo where Napoleon stares down Ney and a regiment of French regulars at the start of the 100 days. It actually happened, or at least something reasonably represented by that scene.

How's that? Your nation was torn by war for over 20 years. The guy 'they' blame for much of the worst of the carnage is standing in front of you. You have your weapon on him and are under orders to pull the trigger. Neither you, nor any of your fellows do it. Instead, you welcome him back as the Emperor.

Pathetic, depending on who you ask.

[Ikarus]

What does everyone have against the French, besides that they were defeated in WW2. But still they had a pretty awesome military. Did you know that the French Armee de l'Air had a better kill-loss ratio than the German Luftwaffe. But besides that back to the topic.
I'd say the worst units would have to be the Japanese kamikazes. These manned suicide vehicles only proved to cause moral damage and major hits occurred when they were first utilized. After this kamikazes became easy kills and began to hurt Japan which lost so many men to no avail. The worst part is that Japan continued to use them throughout the war.