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Was it really that much fun being in the british army in germany in the 70s/80s ?


afvnut75

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owner of following vehicles

 

X1 FV432 MK2 APC 01 FA 50

X1 FV432 (rarden berlin brigade ( 17 EA 24 )

X1 FV434 ARV (02 FA 54 )

X1 ferret mk1/2 (ex gulf war rrf op granby (00 EC 19)

X1 Alvis Saracen MK6 Kremlin (05 FF 87 )

X1 SAS 110 DPV (PINKIE) rep

X1 110 12 /24v ffr hardtop 1991 (EX RM waterproofed and winterised) daily drive

 

I only saw that you are a Saracen owner by coincidence! The number of your Saracen is already listed in the Saracen Register and has now been updated with your name. Please post a pic of your Saracen as well.:wave:

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Yes, Those major FTX's were something to behold! Nothing like travelling along German roads in a Main Battlegroup with Armour & setting up Defensive positions. To see a whole regiment open up with blank against the 'Enemy' was fantatstic! It wasnt always beer & skittles though. A lot of a soldiers time in the field is mundane. Digging trenches, Guard Stags, Veh Maintainance, Cooking washing & eating (When you could!) Sleeping (Whenever you could!) usually three weeks at a time living in the field. Hard at times, but very enjoyable at other sessions also!

The power that NATO forces had was huge! NOTHING stopped the Allies from doing whatever they wanted to. Even the 'Herman' Police were limited to what they could get involved in! Tanks driving along a road & suddenly they all turn right & drive straight through fences accross planted fields & crash through forests. Causing hundereds of thousands of pounds of damage. All this WAS allowed for & a calculated budget was put aside each year to pay for all this damage & consequent repairs. They wre usually Ferrets running around with boards on the front marked, 'Manouver Sharden' (Damage Control) & they handed out compensation request forms to German Farmers Etc. a 'Certain person' was slipped a 100 Mark note by a Farmer to drive right through his rotten barn in a 434. Thus demolishing it & the farmer gets new one free gratis! This was not at all unusual. There was a small amount of hostility from certain sections of the civil populace who resented our presence in BAOR & saw it as 'Occupation'. But generally, most people were very happy to see us. They had LONG memories of the russian invasion & occupation during the last war. & FULLY understood that we were there to prevent that sort of thing happening again. AND were very gratefull for that. The younger element loved us! We were something different happening in thier sleepy villages over weekends. I speak German, so I never struggled much on Excercise. I usually managed to befriend a local german Girl over the weekend & was able to use her shower! VERY Civilised! & the amount of contacts I made for getting gear from WWII was fantastic! But thats another story! :cool2: Mike.

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I usually managed to befriend a local german Girl over the weekend & was able to use her shower! VERY Civilised! & the amount of contacts I made for getting gear from WWII was fantastic! But thats another story! :cool2: Mike.

 

 

 

 

Oh yes, the German Girls... VERY nice indeed...

 

The last exercise I did in Germany was Rhino Replen in 1998. No driving through farmers barns then. I spent three months living in a tent at Guttersloh. Once we got our DROPS train stuck at Sennelager and had to be pulled out by a German Army MBT. Pulling 55 tonnes through the sand with the wheels acting as ploughs while the tank was on tickover was something to behold. Happy times.

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Yes, Those major FTX's were something to behold! Nothing like travelling along German roads in a Main Battlegroup with Armour & setting up Defensive positions. To see a whole regiment open up with blank against the 'Enemy' was fantatstic! It wasnt always beer & skittles though. A lot of a soldiers time in the field is mundane. Digging trenches, Guard Stags, Veh Maintainance, Cooking washing & eating (When you could!) Sleeping (Whenever you could!) usually three weeks at a time living in the field. Hard at times, but very enjoyable at other sessions also!

The power that NATO forces had was huge! NOTHING stopped the Allies from doing whatever they wanted to. Even the 'Herman' Police were limited to what they could get involved in! Tanks driving along a road & suddenly they all turn right & drive straight through fences accross planted fields & crash through forests. Causing hundereds of thousands of pounds of damage. All this WAS allowed for & a calculated budget was put aside each year to pay for all this damage & consequent repairs. They wre usually Ferrets running around with boards on the front marked, 'Manouver Sharden' (Damage Control) & they handed out compensation request forms to German Farmers Etc. a 'Certain person' was slipped a 100 Mark note by a Farmer to drive right through his rotten barn in a 434. Thus demolishing it & the farmer gets new one free gratis! This was not at all unusual. There was a small amount of hostility from certain sections of the civil populace who resented our presence in BAOR & saw it as 'Occupation'. But generally, most people were very happy to see us. They had LONG memories of the russian invasion & occupation during the last war. & FULLY understood that we were there to prevent that sort of thing happening again. AND were very gratefull for that. The younger element loved us! We were something different happening in thier sleepy villages over weekends. I speak German, so I never struggled much on Excercise. I usually managed to befriend a local german Girl over the weekend & was able to use her shower! VERY Civilised! & the amount of contacts I made for getting gear from WWII was fantastic! But thats another story! :cool2: Mike.

I can remember that we set up a defencive position in a garden in a small villiage the owners were more than happy we were supplyed with freash home cooked food for a week!! Of course they clamed for a new garden!:cool2:

Al

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Put it this way. I spent 1977 - 1982 in BAOR in a recce regt. On the Army Rumour Service some time ago, the consensus was reached that the best time to be in the Royal Armoured Corps was 1975 - 1982, and you had to be in BAOR, because that's where the RAC was.

 

So I got out on a high.

 

I transferred to RAPC, attached REME and expected the quiet life (because that's what the RAPC got attached to a cavalry regiment) but my history meant that I spent 82 - 85 continuing to play the game.

 

Would I change a minute of it? No chance.

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I have now watched the two Crusader 80 / Spearpoint films.

 

It's pity that:

 

Herr Reinecke was more interested in the Orange Forces (2 US Armored Division "Hell on Wheels") than the point of the exercise, 1 (Br) Corps, who only got any airtime toward the end of part 1.

 

He only found tanks and a handful of APCs to watch. Recce is even more fun than you saw, swanning about in CVR(T)s in traditional cavalry stylee all year, not bound by the limits of the 443 training areas.

 

Some points. This film is the first time I ever saw M60A2s (with 155mm dual purpose gun/missile launchers firing Shillelagh ATGMs) on the move.

 

Notice how every unit had a single British vehicle at the back? That was an umpire, provided by 3 Armd Div, which deployed in our entirety to umpire the exercise. Even the attack helicopters had a Lynx tagged on at the back.

 

I'll be following the links to other exercises and see if I can see me in any of them.

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I have now watched the two Crusader 80 / Spearpoint films.

 

It's pity that:

 

Herr Reinecke was more interested in the Orange Forces (2 US Armored Division "Hell on Wheels") than the point of the exercise, 1 (Br) Corps, who only got any airtime toward the end of part 1.

 

He only found tanks and a handful of APCs to watch. Recce is even more fun than you saw, swanning about in CVR(T)s in traditional cavalry stylee all year, not bound by the limits of the 443 training areas.

 

Some points. This film is the first time I ever saw M60A2s (with 155mm dual purpose gun/missile launchers firing Shillelagh ATGMs) on the move.

 

Notice how every unit had a single British vehicle at the back? That was an umpire, provided by 3 Armd Div, which deployed in our entirety to umpire the exercise. Even the attack helicopters had a Lynx tagged on at the back.

 

I'll be following the links to other exercises and see if I can see me in any of them.

 

Alien old chap I am getting my sandbag ready to be pulled up even as we speak....

 

You simply cannot have too many recce tales esp where CVRT concerned.

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Yes. Especially exercising against Yanks! We kept getting telegraph traffic telling us to let them win at least ONE engagement!

 

The joys of having a complete comcen being winched one vehicle at a time up the Deister in midwinter! We used to cause in excess of a Million Deutschmarks in damages on a major FTX.

 

happy days!

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I have now watched the two Crusader 80 / Spearpoint films.

Some points. This film is the first time I ever saw M60A2s (with 155mm dual purpose gun/missile launchers firing Shillelagh ATGMs) on the move.

 

 

I believe that the M60A2s were only used by the Armoured Cavalry Squadrons attached to the various US divisions. These and M551 Sheridans, coupled with M114s, provided the recce screen for the Yanks. The Chav Cav used bog-standard M60s with 105mm main guns, which were first replaced at the end of the 80s with M1s (also then with 105mm).

 

Additionally, Leopard 1s WERE RHD!!

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Use to get good favours when driving ubre's specially making the derv go missing over night , did some big exercise whilst serving with 50 msl regt ra spent 8 yrs in that regt ,as for exercise damage it simply was as easy as that to give the locals compensation forms ,

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Yes. Especially exercising against Yanks! We kept getting telegraph traffic telling us to let them win at least ONE engagement!

 

The joys of having a complete comcen being winched one vehicle at a time up the Deister in midwinter! We used to cause in excess of a Million Deutschmarks in damages on a major FTX.

 

happy days!

 

Aaaaaah The Diester ! great memories, nearly as good as the Koterberg and Red Rudie who could tell you what Freq's to use bless his little Communist socks and all the diesel and benz we used to flog him for a shower and cakes !

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Aaaaaah The Diester ! great memories, nearly as good as the Koterberg and Red Rudie who could tell you what Freq's to use bless his little Communist socks and all the diesel and benz we used to flog him for a shower and cakes ![/QUOTE]

 

We used to deploy on Farms at weekend where possible. As an L.A.D (WORKSHOPS) this enabled us to work on vehicles in the barns with lighting because the exercises were tactical.

I always approched the Farm owner & establishd a rappor. This enabled me to get to know him & get us the little luxuries we would require. IE: Exchanging our unwanted unopened compo leftovers. For a shower, coffee & cakes with the family on Sunday for the whole section Etc & anything else we wanted. Of course, the Farmers Mercedes was a Deisel & we had PLENTY of that!.... (Usefull!) When taking Jerry cans to him, he took me upto a loft in one of the barns. The WHOLE floor was covered in neatly stacked Jerrys cans from every available N.A.T.O Army that had 'Visited' his Farm! So he obvioulsy had been playing this game for quite few years! All part of Public relations, you understand!...:cool2: I steered the coversation round to: 'Have you ever found anything from the War round here'?......... & was given a Nice Swastika armband! He also showed me a K98k Rifle that he had found in the eves of a Barn! Sadly, had had cut the wooden forend down to 'Sportarise' it! BUT, he did ring his Brother who was a Militaria collector himself. That contact was one of the best I have ever had! Over the years I had Hundereds of items from him. It was so good, I went to the trouble of privately having a telephone installed in my Married Quarter! It yielded loads of stuff & paid for itself time & time again! One of MANY happy years spent on Service in B.A.O.R! Mike.

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In the second clip at 1:14 there is a bogged / stuck Chieftain. Did anyone else notice that the Call sign on the turret basket is 23B but the bazooka plates have 21B on them!

 

R

 

Every Chieftain where we saw both side plate callsign and turret rear callsign, they were different. One even appeared to change squadron (21D to 33A maybe? It's been a weekend since I watched it).

 

Why our CVR(T)s only ever had one removable callsign plate on the back of the turret: where the commander goes, his callsign goes with him.

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You didn't think before typing, did you? CVR(T)s are left hand drive so that the driver is on the correct side IN BAOR!

 

 

Actually my brain was in gear before typing! My thinking was that in heavy metal, the driver needs to be on the nearside for road-safety reasons. I may be wrong, but that is my excuse and I am sticking to it! I notice that Chieftain and Challenger had central driving positions.

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