On September 22, Wittgenstein received the last of his three medals. But the collapse of the various allied forces led to chaos on the battlefield. While most Austro-Hungarian troops beat a hasty retreat for home, the artillery held out. Encircled by the Italians and short of equipment, Ludwig constructed his own mortar using an ancient technique: he wound bronze wire around a tree trunk of the same diameter as the shells and by means of an intense fire, fused the metal to form a gun barrel.
Wittgenstein's Artillery: Philosophy as Poetry by James Carl Klagge
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Brilliant. That's an anecdote to remember. I remember my philosophy tutor once mocking W for his arrogance, but well...