AlienFTM

Thinking about, isn't this how the Mark 2 Ferret's turret was traversed too?

Thomas bins did it for me! Did you ever use the smoke grenade launchers, and the stowage rack on the roof for anything other than smoke pots? About the same size but containing something far more refreshing? :lol: pmsl. Ramble alert. Bear with me, it's a long one. Our C Sqn was warned off for a six-week exchange trip to Australia in 1982. For eighteen months leading up to it, they went on and on about it, really getting up everybody else's nose about it. Then, as the big day got closer and closer, they got unbearable. One day, I was having a really bad day, so much so that eventually, I actually ripped beret from head and jumped up and down on it in the middle of the main vehicle park square surrounded by REME Light Aid Detachment, two squadrons (ours and C) and the Sergeants' Mess in a fit of pique in the style of good cartoons (I was really mad, but my sense of humour was still running in the background). A mukker from C attempted to lighten the mood and made a remark along the lines of "Did you know we're going to Australia next month?" in an attempt to wind me up. Now I didn't hide my talents under a bushel and everybody in the Regiment knew I'd done three years in Command Troop and had a direct line to the CO. I turned to this guy and said, absolutely straight-faced, "You haven't heard then? Maggie is assembling a Task Force to sail for Ascension Island and as the most experienced Recce regiment available, we are to be mobilised and packed off. The Colonel is right now announcing it to Squadron Commanders at an O Group. Your trip to Australia is OFF Bonny Lad, so you can put away all thoughts of Australia and start collecting together your winter woollies for a real I Am shooting war in the Falklands. Stick that in yer pipe and smoke it." And I stomped off, brushing the muck off my beret. (I was going to write shite, but figured the expletive checker might pull it ...) This really brought the ruination of his day down to the level mine was at, and it was loud enough that the whole of the LAD, two sabre squadrons of Scorpions and most of the Regiment's senior NCOs on their way to NAAFI break in the Mess heard it. And when I said things like this, people knew who I knew ... Within 15 minutes, C Squadron Leader was banging on the Colonel's desk asking if it was true that their jolly to Oz was off and we were going to have to play Soldiers for real instead? Anyway, needless to say History shows the Blues and Royals provided the Recce element during the Falklands War and that the Argies were able to advance backwards more quickly over the marshland than the RHG/D Scimitars could advance to contact. So C Squadron 15/19H did indeed go to Oz for 6 weeks, and a squadron of Aussies came to BAOR. Our B Squadron was tasked during the first week with familiarising the Aussies with their vehicles, so that our drivers took their drivers out, our commanders showed them how the radio kit worked and gunners showed them tricks for stowing their kit (there was to be no live firing, so why bother teaching them the intricacies of Scorpion gunnery?). Having taught them how to stow their tinnies in the smoke dischargers, I took a right bollocking for forgetting to remind them that constant vibration of a tinny resting on the firing pin of a smoke discharger had the unfortunate tendency to push a hole into the base of the can which, having been shaken, would then make pretty foam patterns when the hole perforated the tin, so "Don't forget to line the bottom of the smoke discharger tube with some cotton waste." I tried stowing kit up the barrel, which wasn't so bad, but if the gun depressed below horizontal, the sound of cans sliding down the barrel was disconcerting and beside, the commander had better things to do than keeping opening the breech whenever I wanted, say, a can of rice. Of course, a can of rice inserted into a 76mm blank turned it into quite an efficient grapeshot round, but one doesn't do that sort of thing. does one? ;o)

Yes, likewise the Sultan was my usual mode of transport in Command Troop and FHQ (when not in a Ferret and after the Saracens had gone, so maybe not all that long!). Besides, first thing we did to our Sultans was attach an XPM cage hmmm maybe 18" high to the roof to carry all the equipment necessary to run a Battlegroup / Combat Team headquarters. The cage went round two sides of the commander's hatch, so that closed down, vision would be extremely limited. I remember an occasion it was decided to move our Combat Team in some sort of competition whilst on exercise and the OC decided to monitor it and add / deduct points for good / bad military performance. He was going to dock me points for standing to look over the cage to make sure the alternate command vehicle was still with me. I stood and had a blazing row with him because if I hadn't ensured the vehicle behind was keeping up, he'd have deducted points for splitting the packet. Lance Corporal Alien stood and argued with the Major long enough and hard enough to get those points back. He was taken aback by my attitude, but I had already had my transfer out accepted, I really didn't give a toss and besides, as my last Confidential Report to be issued by an officer some six years later stated, "Sergeant Alien does not tolerate stupidity from anybody, regardless of their rank." How true. (You don't want to know about that day in the Brigadier's office ...) The Sultan cupola never whetted my appetite the way the Spartan Cupola did. On reflection, you're probably right, though and the Spartan cupola was hand-traversed: certainly less work than a Scorpion turret!

If you are ever struggling to get into a pair of lightweight trousers, I can offer you the following conversion I actually saw in the field (well in barracks) in the late 70s. This guy was legendary for his inability to get through a Chieftain hatch before we converted to recce (and I joined). It took me a long time to work out what was wrong with his lightweights. Then I spotted the press stud on the map pocket: the regimental tailor had cut the top off a pair of overalls (Coveralls, Man's, OD, Lightweight) and added belt loops. A more than passable conversion out of necessity.

I believe that in Eastern lands, you might see "cupola" meaning "minaret" (tower attached to a mosque). In German, Turm translates as both "turret" and "cupola". Jane's is a bit liberal with its definition, since by implication of the Jane's definition, the whole turret is a cupola. So a cupola is strictly a mini-turret on top of a turret, usually for a(n A) vehicle commander (and in my experience it tends to have some functionality like rotation and a machine gun). The Spartan cupola is equipped to mount a remotely operated GPMG from inside the vehicle with hatches battened down. Naturally it comes with an array of periscopes to give the commander vision. I believe that in the days way back when, it wasn't unheard of for B vehicle commanders (as per the OP) to mount an MG on the hip ring, which could be dragged round the hip ring to offer a degree of anti-infantry and anti-aircraft protection. On a truck cab roof, there is little reason for an array of periscopes, since the roof is attached above glass windows all around. I therefore posit that the hip ring on a B vehicle is functionally equivalent to the all-singing, all-dancing cupola on a Spartan, just without bells and whistles, so it it not entirely ridiculous to refer to it as a cupola. But I wouldn't. ps. You may have gathered that I have a particular affection for the Spartan cupola: I once spent an exercise commanding a Spartan (because the Scorpion that would have been mine had been BERed (final drives, engine and gearbox) but was due for Scorpole the following week anyway, but the replacement Scorpion hadn't yet been made combat ready. The Spartan Cupola with r/c GPMG was a revelation compared with the ring of periscopes around a Scorpion commander's hatch. I am sure one of the Spartan owners here will confirm or correct if I say that traverse on the Spartan commander's cupola might even have been powered, whereas as a Scorpion gunner, I traversed the entire turret by hand. How else do you think I got this giant, muscled right arm?!? ;o)

Cupola - Hip-ring: a question of degree IMO. Personally I'd expect rather more bang for my buck if I asked for a cupola and got a hip-ring. But I can see why the terms are used interchangeably. If I asked for a hip-ring and got, say, the commander's cupola from a Spartan, I'd think it was a bargain.

as2 a 3ancer/ 1. Sorry, I only quoted it as 17/21L because it carried the badge - oops motto (ask a lancer!). 2. It was 33 BA 81 that I had in 15/19H, not this one, 33 BA 64. But it means nothing: it was around for about 25 years before I got hold of it. I vaguely recall that 17/21L were ahead of us in the deployment cycle: I think 1RTR were in front of us, 16/5L before them and 17/21L before that. Since the Scorpion only came on the scene in - what the mid 70s? - it is entirely possible that a 17/21L vehicle was passed on (eventually) to 15/19H. But then it's all entirely academic since, as you point out, the badge - sorry motto - was probably not genuine. Never mind. ;o)

That's what I thought: a 3.7" Bofors. Were they made by bofors? Didn't know that, thought they were Vickers, only heard of the 37mm and the 40mm Bofors before You may very well be right. Like I said, I thought it was a 3.7" Bofors - I could very well be wrong. A quick Google suggests you are absolutely correct. It's not often I am right, but I'm wrong again. (

Er isn't that pretty much what I said? ;o)

I wondered why the 17/21st Lancers Mark 1 Ferret gave me just such a warm feeling, until I clocked the VRN. 33 BA 81 was my (15/19H) rebroadcast Ferret around 1978 - 80 (but at that time it had a .30" Browning mount rather than the LMG shown in the picture). Note the square driver's side hatches, rather than shaped to fit the slope of the front plate. In three years I only realised that our (four?) Ferrets were not identical when I moved from one to another and started to cut out Perspex fillers to keep the wind out of the side hatches. (I am sure that, even though there were numerous Mark 1 - and indeed Mark 2 - variants that were functionally identical, somebody in here will tell me what model of Mark 1 it is.) I do remember that as far as I could tell by VRN, this was the oldest vehicle in the barracks, which included our regiment and a Task Force HQ Signals Troop.

Never mind German: this is DCLI. I once read a book about Normandy, where it related to communication problems between British and US forces. An American unit was sent warning that 5 DCLI would be moving through their position that night. The Americans struggled with the term and came to the conclusion that five "Duck, Craft, Landing, Infantry" would be moving through their position and let it pass. They were apparently unprepared for an Infantry battalion moving through them. Classic - you couldn't make it up.

That's what I thought: a 3.7" Bofors.

If it's any consolation, I bet it doesn't allow you to cock the weapon either by pulling the working parts to the rear and allowing them to go forward on the spring. Unless you cheat and write cock.

I can no longer remember what the track life was of a Scorpion. The figure 500 miles sticks in my mind but I really cannot remember. Maybe that was the life of a Chieftain engine? Notwithstanding the cost of 152 track links (76 per track IIRC), if you haven't ever changed tracks, be prepared for a hot, sweaty all-day three-man job (and best not in winter when your fingers will be cold ...). Consider how often you want to go through (how often you can afford / source the new track for) a track change. That's why even CVR(T)s got / get carted around on trains / lowloaders, even though they are perfectly suitable to drive on public roads.

Try here: http://www.dvla.gov.uk/vehicles/taxation.htm

IIRC in BoB the StuG mantlet they represented was the early riveted model with square edges, rather than the more universal cast Saukopf (Boar's Head) shape. No criticism at all for BoB. In the episode where 506 PIR are on the road to Arnhem, they tell an English Troop Leader to watch out for a Panzer round the corner. I never thought about it until I went on to read a history of 11 Armoured Division. Operation Market Garden gets a footnote along the lines of: Being my own former regiment, needless to say I picked up on this. I then got the boxed set of DVDs for Christmas. This particular episode, I freeze-framed a shot of the Troop Leader's head filling the screen. His goggles were on top of his head, obscuring the cap badge, yet there was the unmistakeable upside down Newcastle Brown Ale label on a red background of the cloth officer's cap badge of 15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars. They could have put any cap badge on this man - a Guards badge would have been so easy to get away with, but they bothered. IIRC I suspect the Cromwells were also on 432 chassis and they even made a passable representation of a Jagdpanther given the task involved. I then paid another visit to Bovvy, where the SPR Tiger (same conversion from a T34 as Bob and Kelly's Heroes) was on display. Unfortunately for them, the Bovington Tiger (http://www.tiger-tank.com/) was nearing completion of its restoration to full roadworthiness, subsequently (after pushing a con-rod through the engine block and trashing a Maybach, necessitation the location of a replacement) becoming the first Tiger ever to turn a roadwheel under its own power on British soil. Being close enough to see the T34 glacis plate through the driver's hatch spoilt the illusion enough: seeing the size of the first true Mammoth Tank against the pale immitation was the final straw. Last year on Meridian TV I saw a Tiger skin job on a T55 chassis. Yes it was a good job, and its owner was rightly proud, but for me as an icon the Tiger 1E nearly matches the Spitfire and the Lanc. Even if it was a heap of junk.

I really hated that film for that reason. The one that really gripped me though was A Bridge Too Far. They went to a lot of trouble to pad out a few (the number three springs to mind) what ISTR were M4A3E8 Shermans (which were entirely the wrong model but at least they were Shermans), with fibreglass bodykits on Landrovers (all of which appeared to be Fireflies). They did a not unacceptable job. And what did they do for the Panzers? They took a Leopard 1 and stuck a cardboard cutout onto the front of the turret to make the front aspect look vaguely like a Mark 4, maybe an F2, whereas any SS Mark 4 in September 1944 was probably an H and besides, if you were going to make a Leopard look like anything contemporary, the obvious candidate was a Panther (for the hull: the Leo turret bore absolutely no resemblance at ll to any German tank of 1944). If anything, the Leo 1's appearance owed more to say the M47, M48, M60 genre. Which brings us back to Battle of the Bulge.

It's easiest to start at the bottom (and let's talk infantry for simplicity). Given in brackets are how units would be referred to without drawing attention to what they actually were Squad (Section in UK, a sub-unit of a platoon): At full strength, a British infantry rifle section consisted of ten men. This was not continually attained. In the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS, ISTR it was eight. Platoon (a sub-unit of a company): Three sections. Company (a minor unit): Three platoons and a Field HQ (FHQ). Also potentially a mortar section and an MG section. Battalion (a major unit. For non-infantry arms, see Regiment): Three rifle companies with Support and HQ companies. Regiment (Infantry: an entirely administrative concept; anything else: a major unit): A red herring. Infantry major units were battalions, adminstered as regiments. A regiment consisted administratively of any number of battalions, all with the same cap badge but rarely if ever fielded side by side. Aside from the infantry, the major unit in for example armour, artillery, engineers was (and is) a regiment, which approximately equates to an infantry battalion in shape, though each section consists of tanks, guns, engineers, not infantry. Brigade (a formation, like anything bigger): A grouping of maybe three regiments or battalions with its own HQ. Divisions: A grouping of maybe two brigades and a Div HQ and services. There would also be REME, Signals, RMP, etc. Corps: A grouping of two or more divisions and a Corps HQ. Army: A grouping of two or more Corps with its own HQ (note that throughout the Cold War the British Army of the Rhine consisted of a single corps, 1 Br Corps). Army Group: A grouping of armies with its own HQ. If you ever see map markings, each unit carries an indicator of its size above the box. From memory (shoot me if I am wrong!): xxxxx = Army Group xxxx = Army xxx = Corps xx = Division x = Brigade /// = Regiment / Battalion // = Squadron / Company / = Troop / Platoon The size of a platoon might vary from say 32 in a rifle platoon down to six in a three-car armoured car troop. The size of anything bigger is entirely dependent upon the structure of the formation. In 1944 you would find US Divisions comprising three Regimental Combat Teams, A, B and R (+ Reserve). The division's half dozen or so constituent major units would be spread around through the three RCTs as the situation demanded in approximately Brigade-sized formations, this being the first Allied attempt at the flexibility which had served the German Kampfgruppen (Battlegroups) so well through the war.

Nelson: "Order the signal, Hardy." Hardy: "Aye, aye sir." Nelson: "Hold on, that's not what I dictated to the signal officer. What's the meaning of this?" Hardy: "Sorry sir?" Nelson (reading aloud): "England expects every person to do his duty, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religious persuasion or disability". "What gobbledygook is this?" Hardy: "Admiralty policy, Im afraid, sir. We're an equal opportunities employer now. We had the devil's own job getting 'England' past the censors, lest it be considered racist" Nelson: "Gadzooks, Hardy. Hand me my pipe and tobacoo." Hardy: "Sorry sir. All naval vessels have been designated smoke-free working environments." Nelson: "In that case, break open the rum ration. Let's splice the mainbrace to steel the men before battle," Hardy: "The rum ration has been abolished, Admiral. Its part of the Government's policy on binge drinking" Nelson: "Good heavens, Hardy. I suppose we'd better get on with it full speed ahead." Hardy: "I think you'll find that there's a 4 knot speed limit in this stretch of water." Nelson: "Damn it man! We are on the eve of the greatest sea battle in history. We must advance with all dispatch. Report from the crow's nest please." Hardy: "That wou't be possible, sir." Nelson: "What?" Hardy: "Health and Safety have closed the crow's nest, sir. No harness. And they said that rope ladder doesn't meet regulations. They won't let anyone up there until a proper scaffolding can be erected." Nelson: "Then get me the ship's carpenter without delay, Hardy." Hardy: "He's busy knocking up a wheelchair access to the bridge, Admiral." Nelson: 'Wheelchair access? I've never heard anything so absurd." Hardy: "Health and safety again, sir. We have to provide a barrier-free environment for the differently-abled." Nelson: " Differently-abled! I've only one arm and one eye and I refuse even to hear mention of the word. I didn't rise to the rank of admiral by playing the disability card." Hardy: "Actually, sir ... The Royal Navy is under-represented in the areas of visual impairment and limb deficiency." Nelson: "Whatever next? Give me full sail. The salt spray beckons." Hardy: "A couple of problems there too, sir. Health and safety won't let the crew up the rigging without hard hats. And they don't want anyone breathing in too much salt- haven't you seen the adverts?" Nelson: "I've never heard such infamy. Break out the cannon and tell the men to stand by to engage the enemy." Hardy: "The men are a bit worried about shooting at anyone, Admiral." Nelson: "What? This is mutiny." Hardy: "It's not that, sir. It's just that they're afraid of being charged with murder if they actually kill anyone. There's a couple of legal-aid lawyers on board, watching everyone like hawks." Nelson: "Then how are we to sink the Frenchies and the Spanish?" Hardy: "Actually, sir, we're not." Nelson: "We're not?" Hardy: "No, sir. The Frenchies and the Spanish are our European partners now. According to the Common Fisheries Policy, we shouldn't even be in this stretch of water. We could get hit with a claim for compensation." Nelson: "But you must hate a Frenchman as you hate the devil." Hardy: "I wouldn't let the ship's diversity co-coordinator hear you saying that sir. You'll be up on defaulters." Nelson: "You must consider every man an enemy, who speaks ill of your King." Hardy: "Not any more, sir. We must be inclusive in this multicultural age. Now put on your Kevlar vest; it's the rules." Nelson: "Don't tell me, health and safety, whatever happened to rum, sodomy and the lash?" Hardy: As I explained, sir, rum is off the menu! And there's a ban on corporal punishment." Nelson: "What about sodomy?" Hardy: "I believe it's to be encouraged, sir." Nelson: "In that case... kiss me Hardy

No, no. Was I just imagining it was also done to a jeep?

This has planted the vague memory in my head of a picture or plans of an MLRS system mounted on a Jeep along the lines of the Nebelwerfer / Stalin Organ-type device fitted to the Sherman T34 Calliope. (I had this vague idea it was also done to a T34, then realised it was the Sherman designation in the deep dark recesses of my memory.) Am I just imagining it?

The recoil of a 76mm on a Scorpion was quite impressive. Modern recce troops in their pansy Scimitars don't know they're born. ;o)

My cousin recently granted me access to her deceased parents' memorabilia. Her father, my uncle, joined Northumberland Hussars in September 1939, only to have his squadron immediately re-roled as Light Anti-Aircraft Artillery. According to the regimental history (copy in his memorabilia), during May 1944 during the build-up to his third drive up an invasion beach dragging a Bofors gun on The Day (after Sicily and Messina), he and his battery were encamped in the very grounds where I sit in as I type, at Hursley Park near Winchester. There was no damage by them to the now Grade 1 listed Hursley House, mainly because it had been turned over to building Spitfires in 1940 after Supermarine's Woolston and Itchen works were bombed out by the Luftwaffe. Coincidentally, whilst researching my Family History in Durham a couple of years ago, I found the War Diaries of a battalion of Durham Light Infantry, which was encamped on Toot Hill, which I drive past to and from work every day. It's a small world, isn't it?

You could try baby oil ... ?

It certainly wasn't unheard of that they were refashioned into sleeves slipped over the epaulettes: I saw it, but I query whether these items had actually become available in the early 70s.