AlienFTM

Would you believe I had a Sterling SMG as my personal weapon for almost the whole of my 14 years, but never before this morning had I ever seen even a picture of an SMG bayonet?

To make it a fair fight. D'uh! ;o)

One day in 1985 I went home for lunch as usual. Just as I was about to go back to camp, a vehicle came round with a a tannoy. We were all instructed to evacuate our houses and head for the NAAFI complex just up the road in Imphal Barracks, Osnabruck. An RAF bomb had been found at the end of our street and an RAOC EOD Disposal team was on its way. Having deposited wife and two infants outside the NAAFI I went back to work. By the end of the day the bomb had been destroyed by controlled explosion. My wife told her mother about it next time we phoned. Her mother joked that these bombs were always found in sticks of three. A week later, sure enough, they found bomb number two outside the Estate Office. A fortnight previously the Estate Warden had taken huge amounts of stick from all these army wives whose day had been so disrupted, so he just picked the bomb up and moved it. (They were early-war bombs and not very big: there wasn't much left of them anyway, none of the remnants being HE). They never did find the third bomb - maybe one of the three had exploded 35 years earlier. We would have found the headline funny "RAF Bomb Destroys Married Quarters".

This is a marvellous piece of drill. You start with a large number of men who are to parade as a squad. The eyes of the audience are drawn to the men at each end. In order to avoid a hotch-potch of tall and short soldiers scattered randomly. They are sorted by size by the command "Tallest on the right, shortest on the left in single rank SIZE!" Having sorted them by size, if there is a gangly, incapable-of marching idiot at the right, the squadron sergeant major will swap him with the tallest marching-capable man - who is in all probability the next man in line. The man now on the right is designated Right hand man. The senior NCOs will get among the men and sort them. In one long line, the SSM will give the command "From the right NUMBER!" and the troops will call out "1" "2" "3" ... and so on. The last man will call, for example, "120 last man SIR!" This will take several goes because there is always somebody who thinks he should have the same number as the man to his right and somebody else asleep. The SSM then gives the word of command, "Odd number one pace forward, even numbers one pace step back MARCH!" Imagine this in your head: we have two pretty much evenly matched lines of men with the tallest on the right and shortest on the right. "Odd numbers turn to the right, even numbers turn to the left. Squad leftandright TURN!" The two lines now face away. "Form three ranks. Quick MARCH!" The Right hand man does not move. the front rank marches toward him and take up position to his right, two to his right, then behind him repeating until we now have three ranks again,. (The rear rank wheels and follows the last man in the front rank) but now the tallest men are at both ends. One of the senior NCOs will help the men arriving back in three ranks by indicating to them, "Front, Centre, Rear, Front, Centre, Rear" and so on. If the number of men does not divide by three, adjustments will be made to the left hand end of the squad, always retaining three men in the left-most file, since the squad does not want to appear to have holes in it - even if it does. The SSM will then get among the men and adjust them so that the Private MacAuslans of the squad are in the middle rank out of sight of the viewing public. This is a marvellous sequence of events (so long as you can count and jump when it's your turn) but only carried out before a serious piece of drill. We used it to derive our squadron parade prior to the presentation of a new guidon (cavalry standard) by HRH The Princess Margaret, Colonel-in-Chief of 15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars. In fact we decided who was going to parade in the February, arranged ourselves as described above and retained that shape until the parade in the July. It always takes place outside of the vieweing public, which isn't surprising because there is a lot of "I an bigger than you" "No you're not" Get on with it, no need to discuss it" banter. It's a shame really: a marvellous exercise in getting things just so.

If you hunt, you may find "Armoured Farmer - A Tankie's Tale" which just published. No it isn't mine: the author was in the same job in 3RTR in the same locations as I was in 15/19H at the same time. I gave it a technical proof read before it published. (He didn't give me long enough to do a proof read for typos and grammar.) But he has got me enthused. It took me over ten years to write Chapter 1 - Redcap and a couple of weeks to write Chapters 2 - 4. Right now I am back patrolling the country lanes of West Tyrone. It will be called "A Tracked Armoured Car." It might take another year or so to hit the presses.

My memory tells me that we never worried about a cosmetic job of repeainting the green inside of a Landrover. I do STR however that when repainting, we'd drop the tailgate and paint the top (inside). As I have said before (I think) ISTR seeing Ferrets in Cyprus in Green / Black, but I guess that doesn't tule out LRs being painted in other colours. I do remember in November 1977 going the the vehicle depot at Moenchenstrapback to collect Saracen ACVs and seeing an HMVer's dream of line upon line of surplus vehicles, including Mark 2 Ferrets in Sand / Green with "BAOR OVERLOAD" stencilled on the side and wondering what that was all about.

I think you'll find that any offence would be "Impersonating a member of the Armed Forces". A friend once told me (mid-90s) about finding an officer's raincoat in a second-hand shop and wearing it on the street, still wearing the previous owner's Captain's pips. He was seen by by a pair of policemen (remember when there were policemen on the streets?) and the senior one clearly told his junior to go and nick my mate. The conversation went something like, "Sir, are you an army officer and therefore entitled to wear the Queen's commission on your shoulders?" "Do I look like an army officer?" "No, that's why I believe you are guilty of impersonating an army officer, which is an offence under blah, blah, blah ..." "But you say I don't look like an army officer? Not a very good impersonation, IS IT???" The policeman walked away. I believe these days, with surplus uniform available on any high street, the law comes down to wearing badges of rank on items of uniform to which you are not entitled (which is what my mate was doing). Personally, I wear a 1985 pattern combat jacket with all the badges of name, rank and German Linguist exactly as I wore them the day I left (in fact this summer I had to replace the original combat jacket which was disintegrating. It is therefore authentic but not genuine.) No policeman has ever queried my state of dress (just yesterday I was asked by a Sainsbury checkout operator if I was in the army: it happens regularly). If a policeman did ever ask, I'd argue that I was a Sergeant in the Regular Army and entitled to wear it. If they argued I was therefore improperly wearing mixed dress, I'd argue that I have a receipt for the return of all the uniform issued to me and so I could not be wearing uniform improperly. Each end of this scale negates the other IMO. I believe therefore that the OP is in no danger of being arrested for impersonating a member of the armed forces because he is not wearing the uniform of a member of the armed forces. My 85 pattern combat jacket looks like its current, but it isn't. How far back does one have to go before wearing old uniform ceases to be impersonation? 20 years (in my case)? 60-something years (the OP)? 200 years? Disrespecting a member of the armed forces? It doesn't bother me a jot. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I wore 1922 pattern Peace Time Uniform of 15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars (which was still current if not normally issued) to my wedding. Adam Ant wore a poor imitation of a similar uniform on stage. I never lost any sleep. My gut instinct is to wear the uniform with pride as homage to those who fought for your freedom to wear it. So long as you make no pretence of being entitled. it wouldn't worry me. The sad thing is that a lot of my peers hold opposing views.

I have a feeling this collection was featured on a satellite channel a month or two back. They were looking at what ISTR was the only Panther in the world in private hands. This particular tank had been fairly new and was withdrawing through the Baltic states in the face of the Russian advance in January 1945. They made the elementary but entirely understandable mistake (I once did the same on foot carrying Bren - it hurt) of assuming that flat snow was safe to cross. In my case it was covering an iced puddle and I lost my footing without going through the ice. In the Panther's case, they thought it was a road but found out it was a river when it went through the ice. The crew abandoned the Panther and operated the scuttling charge. Because all but the turret was underwater, the hull damage was minimal, though all the internals were burnt out. There was next to nothing left of the turret apart from the mantlet and the barrel and the restorers manufactured a new turret from scratch. The Panther stayed in the river for decades, simply because recovering it was never deemed worthwhile. From the description given of the work, I doubt £1M is unrealistic. ISTR the collection has 200 years'worth of tanks awaiting restoration and they don't plan to buy any more wrecks.

A zoomed view of cap badge, label badge and blazer badge offers no clue. To me, the beret looks black, which would suggest RTR, but that is not an RTR tie and none of the badges screams RTR at me. If the beret is black, my next guess would be that he served in a regiment converted to tanks and restyled as nn Regiment RAC. The blazer badge looks like an 8-pointed star. I cannot think of a post-war cavalry regiment with such as a badge. A couple of new cavalry regiments were created during the war (26 Hussars spring to mind) despite Churchill asking the War Office why, if they weren't simply bumping the number of RTRs, they didn't unamalgamate some of the cavalry regiments merged in 1922 to create for instance 15th Hussars and 19th Hussars by splitting and augmenting 15th/19th Hussars. They were also a large number of Yeomanry regiments on tanks in the field. When this thought crossed my mind I was instantly reminded of a newspaper article a year ago about "The Man Who Killed Michael Wittmann" who was, IIRC County of London Yeomanry. So to sum up ... no idea. (edited because my typing skills with an apple in the other hand are less than adequate)

When the tarmac is soft, a Honda CB200B motorcycle can do nasty things to the tarmac. In the long, hot summer of 76 I rode mine back from Sunderland to Tidworth one Sunday afternoon. Somewhere in Oxfordshire, my chosen route crossed a derelict railway line at a disused level crossing. The road ran parallel on one side, crossed, then parallen on the other. The line through these esses ought to have been a walk in the park, except that my front wheel didn't stick (despite Avon high-hysteresis tyres) and oops, tarmac rash. The tarmac laid over the railway tracks was not very deep and did not stick terribly well to its base in the heat. Of course in those non-litigious days, it was all my own stupid fault.

ISTR that WW2 US half tracks were a vastly superior drive to the Germans' because they had drive to the tracks as well as the wheels. Anyone know if Centaur drove the tracks?

And I've told you: this Alien (FTM) is fire warden for Area 57 of our complex. But you'll have to get past security to find me.

I was posted into 12 Armd Wksp in November 1982. I spent the next three years running the MRG command vehicle (a converted RL Machy wagon). This was driven by a SSGT who had been att AAC for years and was very proud of his sky blue beret. He also suffered chronic haemorrhoids. He wasn't very tall and the driver's seat cushion in this clapped out old RL was as soft as a plank. He kept an inflated Mini inner tube handy at all times so he could sit elevated with the farmer giles out of contact with the seat. Now there's a cushion for you to use authentically.

My two penn'orth. 1RTR and Cyprus have both been mentioned. Coincidentally ISTR in May 1976, 15/19H took over from 1RTR as Tidworth Recce Regt. In Sep 1976 our B Sqn took over from A Sqn LG. I am guessing the LG got that tour because of the Arms Plot rotation that year. It is entirely possible that a squadron of LG took over in UNFICYP from a squadron of 1RTR in Mar 76 and that C Sqn 15/19H took over from a sqn of 1RTR in the Cyprus Sovereign Bases (but I have absolutely nothing to back it up, just logic and the ways the Arms Plot worked). 1RTR also deployed a squadron to Hong Kong. Our Arms Plot deployment to HK was cancelled and the HK Recce Sqn was removed from the Arms Plot. We therefore dipped out on a cushy tour of HK. So 1RTR and Cyprus Sovereign Base is a good colour scheme. Except, thinking about it, the one time we in 15/19H B Sqn UN Ferrets stumbled across C Sqn Ferrets patrolling on opposite sides of the Sovereign Base perimeter, their Ferrets were dirty standard green and black (ours were shiny UN gloss white). So maybe not. Radios: My in-camp role was Regimental Signals Storeman for some time. As an Armd Recce Regt, we only had literally a handful of 351/352s on our books and they spent a lot of time on my shelves as our role was as mounted as it could be. When I left, there were rumours that each CVR(T)'s second 353 would be removed and replaced by a 352, 1. because they rarely needed two 353s transmitting at 16W; 2. it meant that commanders could dismount and recce on foot using the 352; 2. to save money. Either the Zulu callsign would relay his messages on or the section's second vehicle could easily be configured so that its 352 worked the same frequency as the 352 on the ground and rebroadcast it to the entire combat team through it's 353. It was far easier than running out a few Km of Don 10. We only had half a dozen FFR Landrover's, for the CO and 2IC and 2* OC Medium Recce Squadrons and their 2ICs. I cannot remember their configuration now. I remember three antennae. ISTR One 353 for the respective Command Net and one 321 for the Divisional Guard net in case of nuclear strike and EMP rendering VHF comms unworkable. The CO had a BID. I don't remember OCs Squadrons having BID. They must have had 2* 353: one for the Battlegroup Command net, the other for his own combat team command net. That said, we were an Armd Recce Regt. It is entirely possible that in other regiments, the radios were configured the way you have planned. But I also STR that at that time 1RTR was also an Armd Recce Regt. As for how to fit the radios, ISTR each radio came with a mounting kit (which may well have had its own CES but I am open to correction). In possession of a vehicle, a mounting kit and a radio, it ought to be quite straightforward. HTH (but I doubt it will)

... think Bren, designed in Brno. Not to mention Skoda tanks. They were considered better than the PzKpfw 2 in use with the Panzer Divisions. When the Germans invaded Czechoslovakia in 1938, they took ownership of enough T35s and T38s to re-equip four Light Divisions as Panzer Divisions. Without them, Rommels 7th wouldn't have been a Panzer Division. When the T38 (which had become a PzKpfw 38(T) (for Tschechisch = Czech)), became obsolete as a gun tank, they rebuilt them as Hetzers, a mean little tank destroyer, becoming one of the few armoured vehicles to serve throughout the war.

Six-month UN tour of Cyprus, Sep 76 - Mar 77. The night life in Nicosia centred around Regina Street (it actually looked salubrious by day until you got into the dim dark deep recesses of the bars ...). The name by which it has always been known to squaddies does actually rhyme with Regina. "You buy me drink, Johnny? I show you good time." It was all a con: they only wanted you to buy them a hideously expensive drink. Mind at the Black Cat Bar in Larnaca, some claimed you could smell the syphilis in the air. At end of tour we got two weeks' disembarkation leave, which I spent at home in Co Durham (no it had become Tyne and Wear by then). I'd read the Sunday paper and turned on the telly in the desperate hope that one of the three channels had something worth watching. Imagine my surprise when I found a programme about modern Nicosia. Me mother walked into the room just as I burst out, "Oh, look, it's [sounds like Regina] Street!" She looked at me, unsure that she'd heard me right. She had, but quick as a flash, I told her, "Regina Street: some very nice street cafes, there you know?" She walked back into the kitchen and I removed foot from mouth.

Raymond Baxter, Battle of Britain Spitfire pilot. The only man I know who could get away with referring to members of the Women's Royal Army Corps as Racks (when we all know a rack is something you screw to the wall, as I was told by a female assistant adjutant who didn't seem to notice the WAH!!!) every single year at the Festival of Remembrance and not get a single letter of complaint from Annoyed of Guildford.

From the deepest darkest recesses of my memory, to start a CVR(T) you first turn the driver's T Bar master switch to bring the power online then, after checking it's in neutral, you press a big black button like the horn on a Ferret. Or a meringue? Tip of the day: If you are tactical, sat in your Ferret driver's seat and fancy catching up on some ZZZs, apply the horn cover before drifting off. There is nothing as embarrassing as sliding forward in your seat and activating the horn with your knee, then being the last person in the county to hear it because it's on the outside and you are on the inside, with a headset on to "monitor the HF radio" which is churning out white noise to put you to sleep.

sorry it's all Double Dutch to me. Yes, the combat jacket on the hook: it's mine.

Oi!!! I resemble that remark. And being the Fire Warden for Area 57, I have every right to tread any corn growing in our office. As for the flag fluttering on the moon, before they even took off, Tomorrow's World explained how the flag would flutter, because the Americans recognised that otherwise it would just hang limp and nobody would ever see it. As a conspiracy, I am sure it would have been easier to seal the hangar doors where they were faking a moon mission than to announce in advance that the flag was going to flutter.

I first saw a CES for a Scorpion on 20 May 1977, the day after we returned from an 18 month tour of Omagh, Co Tyrone as we signed for our vehicles.

During the restoration, there was a dedicated website. I searched for "Bovington Tiger" and found the site. Chapter and verse. Last month I was invited to the Officers Mess at Bovington for the museum's open day. We were lucky enough to be able to follow by the side of the Tiger (behind barriers maybe 20 yards away) through most of its travel along the track around the display arena during a reconstruction of an ambush in the Normandy countryside south of the bocage. Bovy were very keen to stress that we were present for the first occasion since 1945 where a Tiger had been in battle. I'd show you pictures, but fool that I am, I took the new camera rather than the trusty old one and had problems with it.

I agree with this apart from the first sentence. It looks absolutely right to me, even if it doesn't conform to standards. Take the loop of black coming up from the wheel arch over the door off and there is an awful lot of bare green, but it would be very close to the spec. Paint jobs, particularly resprays, would be done by individual drivers and I can well imagine this little chance at artistic licence being jumped upon. It certainly did in our regiment when we had to strip and respray everything with IRR paint. I read an interesting paragraph in the proof version of Armoured Farmer - A Tankie's Tale (it isn't in the shops yet: I was proof-reading it for the author). I think it was 1987 and the 70th anniversary of the Royal Tank Regiment - something like that and for the only time since the Great War, the entire Royal Tank Regiment (at the time four tank regiments, 1 to 4 - its a nomenclature thing) were in the same theatre, so 3 RTR, The Armoured Farmers of the book title, based at Barker Barracks Paderborn, hosted a grand parade with HM the Queen taking the salute. The author made the point that every tank (some Chieftain, some Challenger) was made serviceable and painted with identical cam for the sake of the parade. Then after the parade, they were all resprayed to randomise the cam, otherwise the cam would become a recognition feature.

I am quite certain that naming tanks did happen. From memory, the Airfix Sherman came with a transfer "CHARGER" to stick on the front of the sponson side plates. It seems likely to me that Airfix lifted the name Charger from an actual tank and I'd but a pound to a pinch that a name like that came from a tank in a cavalry regiment. That said, I also seem to recall it came with A Squadron triangle markings. I am sure that vehicle names would start with the letter indicating the squadron, so that Charger ought to have come with C Squadron circles instead of A Squadron triangles. During the 1970s, I saw only one vehicle with a name painted on it, that of the recently late C. E. Garforth VC, 15th Hussars, on the A Squadron 15/19H Saracen ACV. Apparently after I left and 15/19H reverted to tanks, they named their tanks during the 1990s, names beginning with the squadron letter. Not much help, I guess.

On NBC training we were assured that any Marigolds would be a suitable replacement for the black neoprene gas gloves we were issued. There may be a camouflage issue there though ... unless you enjoy hiding in a cherry tree.