AlienFTM

A few years ago, one of the interminable auction programmes brought up a swagger cane. The experts ummed and awwed about it and Google brought up that the word MEREBIMUR was somehow related to The Light Dragoons but none of them could relate the badge on the tip of the cane to that of the LD. Found myself shouting "15/19H" at the screen. It isn't as if the badge didn't display XV.XIX to give the clue. Went to the auction, and stood in the crowd was my old mucker Florrie.

Good question. I have no answer. But I agree with your thoughts. Some of mine. For Operation Chariot, St Nazaire, March 1942, troops were issued rubber soled boots to avoid hob nails banging on the cobbles, moles, etc. I tried once to establish a link between these boots and the DMS I wore in armoured vehicles in the 70s and 80s. Without joy. I'd like to think that these boots went on to be issued to RAC crewmen. That said, as you say, in the field we wore what worked, not what regulations said (looks at 9/12L who, I heard, did enforce dress standards in the field. And the Household Cavalry). A friend left and gave me his sheepskin lined Bundeswehr Panzerstiefel crewman jackboots. I was in Command Troop and even the CO wasn't offended by my wearing them. On one occasion, driving the Regimental Signals Sergeant's Ferret Scout Car, he, envious of my Panzerstiefel, offered a swap for his helicopter crew boots. Since I was envious, we went for it. Unfortunately the half size difference proved too much and we quickly swapped back (mid-exercise). This was about the time somebody went round the troop suggesting we all buy US Army boots to wear in the field, from the PX at nearby Dempsey Barracks, Sennelager. I declined because I had experience of US shoe sizings, and knew that they made their footwear far too narrow for my wide feet (I wear size 8, but the smallest DMS I could wear were 9 Large). As I recall, it didn't catch on.

For clarity, do you want the Antenna Tuning Unit mounting box or the actual ATU box. If the latter, what Larkspur set is it intended for? I worked with C13 and C42. One of them istr took an ATU Number 6. 4½ decades later I can't remember what the other was.

With the *cough* benefit of nearly 50 years' hindsight, if you told me that in 76-7 01CA69 was my mate Jock's FSC in the UNFICYP Force Reserve Squadron, I'd smile and nod and tell you you're absolutely correct.

Wot no mention of a Benghazi burner? https://www.google.com/search?q=benghazi+burner&oq=benghazi+&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqBwgJEAAYgAQyBggAEEUYOTIHCAEQABiABDIHCAIQLhiABDIHCAMQABiABDIHCAQQLhiABDIHCAUQLhiABDIHCAYQLhiABDIHCAcQABiABDIQCAgQABiLAxiABBjuBBjGBTIHCAkQABiABDIHCAoQABiABDIHCAsQABiABDIHCAwQLhiABDIHCA0QABiABDIHCA4QABiABNIBCDQ3NzVqMWo3qAIAsAIA&client=tablet-android-lenovo-rvo3&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8&chrome_dse_attribution=1

Might I suggest an echelon vehicle. Holds hands up, I was never familiar with the echelons, A and B. To me, they were Eskimo Ness, the SQMS and they brought stuff up to us while we sat in treeline OPs watching for 3 Shock Army. My understanding is that the A Echelon brought ammunition forward, split into two. A1 and A2. A1 went forward to troops to deliver ammo. A2 went back down the MSR to fetch ammo. Whereas B echelon brought food and everything else forward. But I could be wrong. Our reconnaissance B Squadron B Echelon, callsign 29G under the pre-1982 callsign system, cabbied around alles über the Platz in a lightweight Land Rover and only ever listened in the the Combat Team (Squadron) command net. 29F was the SQMS's callsign. I seem to recall he ran the A1 echelon to fetch us our ammo. Since I never came across the A2 echelon, maybe it was an HQ Squadron asset. Apart from Command Troop (where I spent three years), in the field HQ Squadron just comprised a single command vehicle (a 1-tonne LR) and lots of trucks. Edit. 29D was the SQMS. 29F was the squadron ambulance.

In 1984-5 we started being issued what I recall as 84 pattern combats (I still have a jacket). Nosing around an Army Surplus shop a few years ago I found what was labelled IIRC as 94 pattern. To my eyes identical but ripstop. Didn't last long before being replaced by what I believe was a completely new CS95. But I could be wrong.

Patton did not like the massive weight increase from applying concrete, because it put extra strain on just about everything. Banned in his division.

As I've replied on another, similar thread. When you cannot sufficiently tension a 76-link track on Scorpion/ Scimitar (/Sabre), it's time to replace the tracks.

Larkspur antenna rods were essentially identical to Clansman, but were 4' long as opposed to 1m. VHF, Larkspur vehicle sets always used 8' of rod. The rods were tapered. A top section coming to quite a point. It connected to a centre section. For Larkspur HF, 12' of rod might be used depending on the frequency being used. The bottom section was quite robust. Looking back just shy of 45 years when we converted to Clansman, I don't believe you could make 8' from a top and a bottom because each expected to fit into a centre section. I could be wrong.

I've been away from HMVF for some time. Some may have noticed that I've been replying to old threads. This one, it's not about the content, but the poster. In case you weren't aware, John died a good few years ago. As a captain, he won a gallantry medal in Northern Ireland during the 74-6 Omagh tour of 15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars. He went on to be OC Training Wing in Paderborn where I had the pleasure of seeing him at his best. A regimental Skill at Arms competition was planned. One of my positions was was Command Troop LMG team number 2 (I got to lug that nasty ammo box downrange while the number 1 carried the LMG and did most of the firing. A gallery range was booked for SLR shots to train, but the RSM, in charge, decided to give his LMG team a runout, even though on this gallery range, automatic fire was prohibited, and the LMG competition was all about automatic fire. However, because on the LMG two rounds constituted a burst, we were able to lose the sound of automatic fire among all the other lanes firing single-shot SLR. The German range wardens either didn't know or didn't care. So there we were converting live rounds into empty cases when Captain Gillman interrupted. He described the SLR shooting as poor (to be fair, most cavalrymen spent their entire career with SMG as their personal weapon) and determined to show them how it was done. He pushed Jackie Broon (RIP) and me off the LMG cos he'd expressed his satisfaction with our shooting, took the LMG and proceeded to use the LMG, on automatic, to fire the SLR competition, mostly standing, and all single shot (good trigger discipline) and score stupidly higher than anyone else on the range. I always had a lot of respect for him, and was moved by the report of the death of Colonel Gillman in the regimental journal of The Light Dragoons some years ago now.

Sounds to me like your old track was younger. 76 links is the minimum link count for a Scorpion and once it stretches, it's u/s. With 78 links, you have scope, when it's stretched beyond adjustment, to remove one link and adjust. Then repeat later when it's stretched again. At 76 it's stretched to its maximum. I THINK, but it's best part of 50 years since I did B3 Scorpion D&M, new track was 79 links wrong.

Measuring Scorpion track tension circa 1980. Put fist vertically between top of centre road wheel and track, approximately 4". If the gap is bigger: increased wear on suspension. If gap is less, track slap and damage to the hull. If the track cannot be tensioned any tighter and create a 4" gap, remove a link. If there are fewer than 76 links, the track is overstretched, and a spot of track bashing with new track is in order.

I think it was nearer 81 for us. Much ado getting a good, clean finish and sanding smooth the flaked old paint. I got the feeling the IRR green was darker than the old stuff.

You'll be lucky. As a member of Command Troop I ran the 15/19H regimental Signals store between about 78-80, during which time we converted from Larkspur to Clansman. We got all this Gucci kit. And, for a whole Recce regiment, a handful of respirator mikes and plastic adaptors. Two of them managed to find themselves onto my rebroadcast Ferret and follow me when I left Command Troop. We spent a lot of time exercising in full NBC kit. My messages were never muffled. Unless somebody found a warehouse somewhere jam packed with some blanket stacker's empire, you'll be hard pushed.

Summer of 1981. Surveillance Troop Spartans didn't go on this particular exercise. Chalky (troop corporal) had his Scorpion final drives die. His wagon was scheduled to go away on Op Scorpole major refit immediately the exercise finished. There were dire shortages of major assemblies in BAOR, the final drives would be replaced on Scorpole anyway, so his wagon was towed away, never to be seen (by us) again. His replacement was already in camp but hadn't been prepared, so the Squadron Leader phoned home and had a Surveillance Troop Spartan sent out to pretend to be a Scorpion. Then Chalky took ill and was medevaced. As Troop Leader's operator, I took over Chalky's Spartan and his operator took over as Troop Leader's operator. Which meant we were only a 2-man crew. Okay for day to day cabbying around the uloo, but evenings, putting in 2-car section OPs was hard work when drivers had to sleep and there were only two commanders and an operator to do back to back stags through the night, all night, every night. It was midsummer, somewhere west of Bielefeld. One afternoon, through the matchsticks holding my eyes open, I became aware of a line of thick, black cloud on the horizon. In seconds, it was upon us, and it hoyed down. Suddenly there was a bang and a strange wailing I'd never heard before and we rolled to a halt. I ducked inside the cupola and found the engine fire alarm blaring. I operated the remote extinguisher. Swanny (RIP) turned off the engine electrics and I called home for Bluebell (REME) assistance and sent grid in code. Then we got out and waited in the rain. Bluebell arrived and we were towed into the squadron leaguer, where the Light Aid Detachment had a look and found nothing wrong. Wtf? As this point, the section commander's operator walked over. As per SOP, on a road move he'd been looking backwards ensuring we were still there. Until we weren't. He told me that for the second time in my life I'd been struck by lightning. Sufficient whammo to trigger the engine alarm but no damage to anyone or anything. If my driving had been more than "holds a Group H licence" I might have opened the engine decks and seen no sign of a fire, but I'd spent the last three years in Command Troop for my radio skills.

If 16/5L were sent back to Tidworth around 1984, I feel sorry for them. They must have upset someone. Let me explain The Arms Plot. During the Cold War, regiments moved every few years to keep them fresh. They also switched between Armour and Recce periodically (but the RTRs tried hard to swerve Recce, cos they were TANK regiments, innit, whereas Recce has always been a cavalry role). A good colonel and commanding officer (lieutenant colonel) would strive to get the best postings for their men. The plan of who moved where and when was governed by the Arms Plot. Then there were The Troubles. Until the mid-80s, there was a RAC armoured car regiment in Omagh (by handing Omagh to the infantry, an RAC regiment was freed to add another tank regiment to the BAOR order of battle, OrBat). A sensible route was as follows. An armoured regiment would be selected to go Recce. It would leave BAOR and head to Omagh for 18 months (later 2 years). From Omagh they'd head to Aliwal Barracks, Tidworth and convert to CVR(T) for 18 months, sending squadrons to Hong Kong (the Hong Kong Recce Regt was pulled in early 76, right before the Arms Plot said we'd go there) and Cyprus, one squadron to UNFICYP for 6 months centred on Nicosia, another to be the Sovereign Base armoured car squadron based in Episkopi and Dhekelia. From there, the regiment would deploy to BAOR as a divisional Recce Regt. I'm pretty sure 17/21L were in Omagh when the Troubles kicked off. When we were in Tidworth 76-7, a storeroom still contained the 17/21L canoe club equipment, easily visible through the reinforced storeroom window. 17/21L were back on Chieftain when Spearhead series 2 was made, and their Chieftains were to be seen in that series' opening credits. 17/21L were followed in Omagh and Tidworth by 16/5L. While 16/5L were in Tidworth and Cyprus, the Turks counter-invaded Cyprus in response to a pro-Greek coup that led to ethnic cleansing. 16/5L saw serious action, both the UNFICYP squadron keeping Greeks and Turks apart, and the Sovereign Base squadron keeping Turks off British sovereign territory. 16/5L went from Tidworth to Wolfenbüttel to be (I think) 1 Armd Div Recce Regt, with a life span, on the Inner german Border of 20 minutes if 3 Shock Army kicked off. 16/5L were followed by 1RTR through Omagh (73-4) and Tidworth (74-6). I think 1RTR went to Detmold (4 Armd Div) but they were gone back to tanks by 1980, replaced by 9/12L. 1RTR were followed round the Arms Plot by 15/19H (Omagh 74-6, where I came in, Tidworth 76-7). 15/19H were followed by 9/12L then I believe 13/18H. So what does all this mean? Having had a Tidworth tour about 73-4, they were invited back to said dump in 1984. Must have upset someone. By the mid-80s, I'd changed role and didn't follow the Arms Plot. But as we see, 16/5L did Tidworth twice and 1RTR at least once. Whether the Scorpion in question was in Tidworth throughout that time? Unlikely. It will have been removed under Op Scorpole for major upgrade. It might have gone back. It might have been in Aliwal when 15/19H were there, but I honestly couldn't remember after all these years. Not much help. Sorry

As implied in previous answers, Larkspur used 4' sections. As a RAC reconnaissance regiment, we had HF command nets to get distance. The C13 HF radio might get three rods (12') when using a low frequency (frequency is inversely proportional to wavelength). The ATU (Antenna Tuning Unit) for C13 would electronically optimise the antenna to a quarter of the wavelength. At long wavelength (low frequency) 12' of rod tuned better to the transmitted signal than 8'. Mounted on the turret back of a Scorpion, 12' of rod was very high. We had adaptors that allowed us to slope the rods and reduce the overall height. Static, a good RAC Control Signaller could use the slope to increase range. Mobile, the rod would swing back into the wind. More often than not, 12' was too much rod. If the physical rod was longer than ¼ wavelength, the ATU would try to tune to ½ wavelength and a poor signal would result. C13 could tune between 1.5 and 30MHz. We usually worked in the range about 2½-5MHz VHF C42 and B47 sets worked in the range 36-60MHz and always used 8' of rod, because that's what their ATU expected. We (15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars, 3 Armd Div Recce Regt from 1 Jan 78) converted from Larkspur to Clansman in 1979 (I did the last Larkspur Control Signaller course in 1978). HF C13 was replaced by VRC321, and VHF C42 by VRC353, but the Recce HF command nets had moved to VHF about the end of 77, so our Scorpions got two times VRC353 after the Clansman conversion. Sometime after I changed career, they realised that a Recce vehicle didn't need two monster sets, and one 353 was replaced by a manpack PRC351/2, which had the advantage, obviously, of being used dismounted. All the work took place on the Squadron (Combat Team) command net. Troop chatter nets were frowned upon. If a team went out on foot, with Clansman it was easy to rebroadcast the Recce team on 351 onto the Combat Team command net. Clansman used 1m rods, a 2m length for VHF, 3m for HF Caveats. The Control Signaller course lasted 6 weeks (basic radio including Voice Procedure lasted 4). I cannot quote it all here. Most isn't relative to your query anyway. Set designations change. UK/VRC aligned with American designations. After the introduction of Clansman, the old Larkspur designations changed from eg SR (Station Radio) C42 to SRC42, to align with the new Clansman designations. I've tried to keep it brief, but sorry. I've described a seven year period between 1975 and 1982. Things outside of this period may vary. But Wave Theory doesn't. It's nearly 50 years ago and I've been out of running the Battlegroup command net and division command net for over 40. Hope this helps. If not, I hope it's been interesting.

These halftracks were in use by REME Light Aid Detachments until the late 60s. I know people who were 15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars with whom I served (joined regiment in 1976) who remember them.

Worth bearing in mind that while this callsign table indeed accurately reflects the state of affairs on Corporate, within a month of the end of hostilities it became obsolete. A Defence Council Instruction dated 1 July 1982 gave a complete rewrite to this table (there were differences between infantry, armour, everyone else callsigns that told a keen enemy operator the clue that this was, in this case, an armoured or recce squadron net). Every formation and unit net was redesigned to look the same. At the same time, IKTUGWEFA was dropped, since it explicitly told you what the net was, replaced by a daily changing prefix. There was a complete overhaul of Voice Procedure. And the concept of midnight became a thing. Heretofore, the day started at 0001 and ended at 2359. Urban myth declared the missing two minutes (2535901-000059) to be your own time. Midnight was now defined as 0000 at the start of the new day. Six weeks later I transferred out of armoured recce into a desk job, only for my new unit to discover my old role and put me in charge of their radio net on exercise. Edit. Worth noting that Armour Volume 2, whence this came, was subtitled The Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment. Armour Volume 1 discussed the Armoured Regiment. Another edit. In 1975, I was taught IKTUGEFA. At some point in the following seven years, Whiskey, the Artillery alternative prefix was added. Possibly 1977, when ownership of ATGM (Swingfire) assets passed from the RAC to the RA.

I now recognise from the description the mast adaptor.

It's over 40 years. As Regimental Radio Storeman (as well as my day job), in 1980 we got a Clansman UK/PRC (such was the then current nomenclature) 344 to replace what I was recently reminded was probably a Larkspur SR A43 (frequency change by removing/replacing a transistor) UHF FOO radio. Neither ever left the store for the back of an ACV, FFR or FSC. We never had a 320 (HF manpack, right?) However, HF 320 would need a long antenna to achieve a ¼ wavelength, whereas, as I type this I suddenly have a flashback to a six inch metal ribbon antenna like something out of your tape measure to achieve ¼ of an ultra high frequency (= ultra short wavelength). But it's over 40 years ago

In the 1970-80s, blank 7.62 cartridges had an extension maybe ½" long that folded over to form something akin to a poppy pod to retain enough propellant to go BANG. Maybe ¼-½" shorter than ball or trace.

I suspect the round-cornered box, marked BLANK, is so that one cannot (easily. Nothing is truly squaddy proof) load it with longer live link ammo.

During my Scorpion Gunnery training, start of 1976, our ancient 13th/18th Hussars used to use Bondook for Machine Gun, while everybody used Gat for Rifle