AlienFTM

Four minutes in are a couple of Ferrets on what looks like a runway. The pennants they are flying on the front antenna rods belong to 15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars (now The Light Dragoons). The commander of the near Ferret looks very familiar but I cannot put a name to his face. My belief is that this is some sort of leaving parade, and my guess would be that it is C Squadron at RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus, 1977. At the end you have flagged Ferret as carrying Swingfire ATGM. The latter ATGM Ferret photos do indeed show Mark 5s firing Swingfire from a huge single piece turret, but the first couple show Mark 2.6 (IIRC) firing Vigilant ATGM (again IIRC) from launchers mounted aside the standard Mark 2 turret. My only other comment is wrt the circle on the turret bearing what appears to be a callsign 21B. Under the pre-1982 callsign system (which predominated during Ferret's life-span) this equates to B Squadron, First Troop Corporal (where 21 is the Troop Leader and 21A the Troop Sergeant. However, the symbol for B Squadron is a square, not a circle (which is C Squadron). Under the post-1982 callsign system IIRC there would be no squadron callsign indicator (because under that system every radio net was meant to use exactly the same callsigns so that enemy intelligence could not work out what type of unit was using the net). The squadron indicator would be the square or circle (triangle = A Squadron, diamond = HQ Squadron) and IIRC the First Troop Corporal would be 13. Don't quote me: I retired as an RAC Control Signaller AFV in July 1982, exactly as the new system came in and I was never exactly familiar with it. But hey, it's a Ferret, you have one and I don't, and it's very nice.

Here's my vote: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covenanter_tank So bad they didn't let them out of the country. Instead, troops trained on them in the UK, learning basic non-tank-specific skills then converted to decent tanks.

Might they not then be better called contractors if they were?

I remember Muffin The Mule, but I never got caught.

Jorney Inter Spayuss? That's what Geordie drinks, otherwise known as Lunatic's Broth. Or more usually as Newcastle Brown Ale. See? There IS something good comes out of Newcastle other than the train to Sunderland!

I wish. To quote Roger Waters: Too much beer, too many young German ladies, too many miles of German road to ride the motorbike on ... Sadly 30 years after the events, some things are beginning to drift. Must finish the book.

You might also want to join http://www.arrse.co.uk and ask on either the RAC or the Old'n'Bold forum.

06 and 57 both carry "wings" on the top sides which ISTR were ACV features (compare each with its neighbour). 06 also carries the XPM cage on the left rear mudguard which ditto. No sign of reverse-flow cooling anywhere in the pics, nor in the docs of your vehicle having been on strength Moenchengladbach vehicle depot or 15/19H, so it would not appear to have been the vehicle I thought it might be.

Did you know witchcraft was becoming a problem on the pro tennis circuit? That Croatian, Goran, even he's a witch. Sorry. The old ones are still the oldest.

Google for +"Captain Pugwash" +"urban myth" and you'll get plenty of description of the urban myths around Captain Pugwash. Who would have thought that based on the search criteria??? :rofl:

This just landed in my in box. Seen it before (well I AM old). 'OLD' IS WHEN... Your sweetie says, 'Let's go upstairs and make love,' and you answer, 'Pick one; I can't do both!' 'OLD' IS WHEN... Your friends compliment you on your new alligator shoes and you're barefoot. 'OLD' IS WHEN... Going bra-less pulls all the wrinkles out of your face. 'OLD' IS WHEN.... You don't care where your spouse goes, just as long as you don't have to go along. 'OLD' IS WHEN... You are cautioned to slow down by the doctor instead of by the police . 'OLD' IS WHEN.. 'Getting a little action' means you don't need to take any fibre today. 'OLD' IS WHEN... 'Getting lucky' means you find your car in the parking lot. 'OLD' IS WHEN... An 'all nighter' means not getting up to use the bathroom. AND 'OLD' IS WHEN... You are not sure if these are facts or jokes? (I sent this in large type so you can read it)

In the summer of 1978 I did the last Larkspur-oriented RAC Control Signaller AFV Class 1 course at Bovington before they changed the course to Clansman. One spare afternoon we all swanned off down to the museum and there we found a C42 - which we were then currently being trained on.

Then I shall watch the news and listen out particularly for Sea King crews and hope I don't hear, along with the Light Dragoons BG (who are sadly being killed every week due to their leading the surge started by Op Panther's Claw). Not that I don't feel bad about deaths outside the BG - it's just that the LD casualties might be the sons of my friends. The LD must be due to return soon, without further casualties.

The 5-star that went into the civilian Jaguar engine that the Army turned into the J60 that ran on CombatGas (somewhat less than 2-star) and they wondered why CVR(T) plugs and points didn't last five minutes. In 1977 15/19H POL point got a delivery of 5-star instead of CombatGas by mistake, when the garrison found out every vehicle in the garrison refuelled from it and there wasn't a breakdown until the 5-star had been diluted back to CombatGas. How telling is that? Pity the civvies of Burbage whose petrol station got CombatGas for 5-star on the flip side of the error. (The tanker driver knew what was happening but it was more than his job was worth to argue with his work ticket.)

I call your Listen With Mother and raise you Two-Way (Three-Way ... Four-Way Family Favourites on the Light Programme).

I wasn't picking on you in particular, but rather demonstrating how the vernacular use of an expression can completely change it. Sorry if it offended.

... have a FF-Ffyfes.

I was watching Emergency Ward 10 with me mum. Being only 8, I struggled to understand this earlier precursor to Casualty, as by that age I knew there had been two world wars, so why was this programme about War 10? And why was it about a hospital and not Japs and English bayoneting one another?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_leap Probably the smallest jump in the physical universe. Oh how we abuse our language.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Assaye The only British cavalry regiment present (and therefore awarded the battle honour) were 19th Light Dragoons. According to the link to the battle honour, 19LD were disbanded in 1821. In fact as a junior regiment, they were disbanded after many wars and reformed before the next, before finally being disbanded (having been restyled Hussars early in the 19th Century) after the Great War, then immediately instead amalgamated with 15th Hussars to be 15th/19th Hussars. The Assaye battle honour was commemorated by 15/19H in the form of an elephant on the regimental belt buckle. 15/19H were in turn amalgamated with 13/18H in 1992 to form The Light Dragoons, who also bear the Assaye elephant on their regimental belt. Assaye Barracks, Tidworth are also named in honour of the battle.

Yes really, 9AD The battle of the Teutoburgerwald in which the Germanic tribes under Arminius recorded a decisive victory over three Roman legions under Varus. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermannsdenkmal among others.

I don't profess to ever having heard all the lyrics to any of these: sung at a jirga (Indian word for an assembly as used by the cavalry: others use the more mundane "smoker"). 15/19H had its own traditional sit-around-the-fire-at-a-jirga song. Sadly I think the fashion was dying by the time I served. The tune is best described as being like the original 1950s theme to Grandstand (which comes from the same stable as Sports Report on Radio 5 at 5pm on a Saturday afternoon) except that where Grandstand rises toward the end of each line, 15/19H does not. We are the galloping 5 and 9s We are the galloping 5 and 9s Every man in the squadron is willing to do or die-ie-ie-ie We are the galloping 5 and 9s And we're next to the Navy on the sea If it wasn't for the galloping 5 and 9s boy, where on earth (or similar) would the army be? Mi-i-iles behind the lines (shovelling shhhh) Mi-i-iles behind the lines (shovelling shhhh) If we catch the barstewards bending, we'll make the barstewards run Some miles behind the lines. I think every unit had its take on Lily Marlene (or The D-Day Dodgers if you will) Gannin' along the Autobahn at 50 miles an hour We are the 15th/19th, we are a flipping shower We can't change up and we can't change down The gearbox is in but it's the wrong way round We are the 15th/19th, we are a flipping shower. Early Monday morning, squadron on parade Sergeant Major sings out the squaddies' serenade Then some silly barsteward shouts "Right Dress!" You should have seen, the flipping mess We are the 15th/19th, we are a flipping shower Then there is Old King Cole. Again, modify to fit your regiment or corps. Old King Col was a merry old soul and he called for his Troopers three. Now every Trooper was a very fine Trooper and a very fine Trooper was he. "Come and have a beer with me," said the Troopers. "Merry, merry men are we. "There's none so fair as can compare with the boys of the RAC." ... he called for his Corporals three. Now every Corporal was a very fine Corporal and a very fine Corporal was he. "deff-dight-deff-dight-deff," said the Corporals. "Merry, merry men are we. "There's none so fair as can compare with the boys of the RAC." ... he called for his Sergeants three. Now every Sergeant was a very fine Sergeant and a very fine Sergeant was he. "Move to the right in threes," said the Sergeants. "Merry, merry men are we. "There's none so fair as can compare with the boys of the RAC." ... he called for his Rodneys three. Now every Rodney was a very fine Rodney and a very fine Rodney was he. "We know all the guard," said the Rodneys*. "Merry, merry men are we. "There's none so fair as can compare with the boys of the RAC." ... he called for his Majors three. Now every Major was a very fine Major and a very fine Major was he. "Shine my boots and spurs," said the Majors. "Merry, merry men are we. "There's none so fair as can compare with the boys of the RAC." ... he called for his Colonels three. Now every Colonel was a very fine Colonel and a very fine Colonel was he. "Who's for a round of golf?" said the Colonels. "Merry, merry men are we. "There's none so fair as can compare with the boys of the RAC." ... he called for his Generals three. Now every General was a very fine General and a very fine General was he. "The army's gone to pot," said the Generals. "Merry, merry men are we. "There's none so fair as can compare with the boys of the RAC." ---ooo0ooo--- * Apparently indicating that Rodney gets so many extra Orderly Officer duties from the Adjutant for being a lad that he gets to mount the guard every other night.

1. Cuckoo belonged to Guards Armoured Division between Normandy and the Baltic. Plenty of photos exist. It was ditched for the mundane reason that something trivial broke (fuel pump?) and they couldn't repair it quickly enough to continue the advance. 2. ISTR reading that Jordan used Panthers and engaged Israeli tanks across the Dead Sea IIRC during one or another Middle East War. 3. ISTR that the last use of PzKpfw 4 in combat was the Israelis using them (captured from the Syrians) dug-in as pillboxes on the Golan Heights against their former owners. 4. I vaguely recall that Spain played with Tigers briefly after the war. I stand to be corrected on any or all (except 1. which crops up regularly. Pictures on ARRSE I think if you go looking). Cuckoo is the one time when I can understand great big white star aiming marks on a tank. If I were crewing a captured tank and spent my day leading the attack, exposing my weakly-armoured tail to the rest of the brigade, I'd not want the crews behind to mistake me for the enemy. http://www.arrse.co.uk/Forums/viewtopic/t=132597.html

School milk scarred me for a decade or more. The little 1/3 pint bottles got left outside the school entrance by the milkman (anyone remember milkmen?) and left there until break, by which time it was either off (even in the dim sunlight of what was then Co Durham summers) or separated (who remembers full cream milk?) and the lid lifted off by the cold (of Co Durham winters) or pecked at by the birds. Could not stand milk. Joined the army, rediscovered milk as a foodstuff and through Basic and Trade Training at Catterick found myself drinking seven pints of full cream per day. That and all the exercise turned me from a beanpole into a lean mean fighting machine.

I assumed without looking too hard that it was a Trislander. Ever since I moved in, Air Aurigny Trislanders (as was - dunno if they are still going) used to pass overhead while I was enjoying the back garden.