schliesser92

look closer and you'll find a Landy somewhere in there, and at the end, I could have sworn that there was a MK VI crash tender near the tower!

I trust these may be of assistence. The old monochrome photo is of a Polish vehicle. The drawing comes from a Czech manual, Roger

Some treasures there. Remember, that at the time the NVA had older equipment than most of their fraternal socialist neighbours, simply because the Russians didn't quite trust the Germans. (and who could blame them?). The bridging equipment is known as a Ribbon Bridge these days, and has indeed been copied by NATO.

One of my work colleagues here in Germany was an NVA political officer - we call him (affectionally, of course) Stasi-Müller. Although a lot of vehicles were taken over, temporarily, into the Bundeswehr, the T-72 wasn't. The BMPs were partly modified and westernised, and when it was realised that it was too expensive and a complete waste of time - they were sold off. The scrapyards were full of Russian/Soviet armour Only the softskin stuff had a somewhat longer life before disappearing intp collectors' hands - with a lot of Roburs and W50s being donated to various African countries as part of Germany's aid program.

Comrade! You'll find that all vehicles delivered to the NVA, regardless from which fraternal socialist brothers, were first sent to a depot and "Germanised". Therefore one can only really tell by the standard of Germanification when they entered service, and with a little luck and expedient research, whence they originated. It was rumoured that the socialist brothers of the NVA had changed the T-72 so much, that they were not 100% compatible with those from their peace-loving socialist neighbours, and infinitely better than those used by GSFG.

I Know, but it does seem odd that they're departing from tradition, unless of course the one that gets paraded before the troops is the Reischstag one, and the one in the Gaz67 is, as you say, the party flag. It still seems wierd that a party flag is on a military vehicle (especially from a vitually defunct party) , unless it's the Army flag, and we can't make out the logos on the photos?

Normally, the Red Flag paraded, especially in front of the massed troops, was the one (or copy thereof) that flew over the Reichstag in Berlin. Recently, they've paraded that (or it's copy) together with the current Russian flag.

If you've got a satellite system, it should be live on most of the Russian channels. Alternatively,it's also shown live on the German-Austrian channel "3SAT", which you can get on ASTRA 1, or online if you've got the right PC-program.

I take it that apart from being slow and noisy, it either failed trials or they decided on the Landrover. As fot the K9 ambulance, I see shots of RAF ones, but I'm sure that the Army ones had different bodywork. At least the one in the Hebrides (1970 - as a temporary replacement for our Bedford J1) did. Is there an ex-Army one out there??

Nice site. The Austin K9 ambulance in the collection is in fact the BMC vehicle put forward as a replacement for the K9. i can't remeber the designation. It's in bit of a state, though.

Certainly some were used by the linemen in the Royal Signals - we had one up in the Outer Hebrides. They weren't seen in field units (ie Bruin system), as defective cables were simply rolled up and replaced. 21 Signal Regiment (Air Formation) had some for use on the RAF Germany airfields they supported. A rare beast, even in civilian guise.

The battle of Culloden. This battle, in the vicinity of Inverness, saw the end of the Jacobite Rebellion under Charles Edward Srewart (aka Bonnie Prince Charlie). It led to repressions of the Highlanders by the Duke of Cumberland, the banning of bagpipes (and the Celtic culture) and the composition by Handel of the Oratorio "Judas Maccabeus" in celebration of this victory. Apparantly, relatively few English troops were involved, the battle mainly between clans loyal to George II and those loyal to the Stewarts. The only clan to gain anything was Clan MacGregor. They couldn't decide which side to join, so they waited, and in the end, looted the dead (source - MacGregor of that Ilk) It was also the last battle fought on British soil The date only remains in my memory as it's my daughter's birthday!

missed it - came in about a third of the way through after duty. Did notice the squaddy with a Sterling L2 though!

That regimental flag is, in fact, a company guidon. Army Transportation Corps (ATC) above the crossed swords (which is normally a US Cavalry badge) with the company number below. They still use these!

Whentthe Green Howards came over, they didn't have side markings- they weren't all that usual in the 60s anyway

the black paint was relatively late , it depends on what era you're doing it in. In the mid-60s, they were just "Tannengrün". Much later (early to mid 70s) they were painted in standard British Army Olive Drab/Black.

The Argentinian Army still has a number of Mogs and G-wagons in its inventory. Have a snoop in SAORBATS.

Yep, that was the beast - side protective plates are missing, though.

I seem to remember the Rover at Girdwood Park, Belfast, home to "E Troop" 233 Signal Squadron (NI).It was painted black as it was used at night. I was installing Pye Westminsters into the Army Fire Service armoured fire appliances at the time and as I wasn't "in the loop" didn't get to find out anything about the beast. It disappeared after a short time, so I suspect it was a trials system that wasn't that much cop, like so much stuff we had at the time, like CLARABEL. I don't think it was photographed - certainly not by us (don't know about the oppostion!). The two vehicles that were a common sight at Girdwood were the two 109s with Makrolon bodywork - one with a loudspeaker array (in a cage), and the other with a fibreglass bin on the rooof (DF vehicle). We always had to have a heavy escort for those vehicles - the loudspeaker one was used to disperse riots with exremely loud, earsplitting tones that caused bowel misfunctions! I remember it as being a two-tone vehicle - olive drab and brick dust!

They were only used by the Berlin Brigade (aka 29 (Infantry) Brigade) I seem to remember that they were originally painted "Tannen-Grün", a colour also used by the German Police and Bundesgrenzschutz. Berlin Brigade plate on one side and , of course, the red "Infantry" flash with the appropiate number( in white). (This goes back to 1966, when the Green Howards came to Munsterlager for an annual training exercise - something they couldn't do in Berlin) although obviously not a Mog, this pic shows the colour used: Roger

I don't recall that the Germans ever captured a DUKW. There's certainly no reference in the "Wehrmacht" forums. At the time the Allies were using them, the Germans were retreating faster than we could advance. The Federal German Navy (Bundesmarine) did aquire some 200 "second-hand" vehicles in 1959. They were in use until 1965, when they were replaced by the LARC5.

They're probably untouched as there are probably still an awful lot of untouched mines out there! It's amazing what's still lurking around in the Western Desert.

Mark I think that the Korps Mariniers (Marines), especially Whisky Company have had them (at least British pattern) for quite a long time. The rest sort of snuck up, with no announcement at all, sometime between the Balkans punchup and the Afghanistan deployment. I can't find a definate date, but it is relatively recent.

Living and working in Germany, the news of a remake amused my German colleagues, until I pointed out that they were going to do it for real in the interests of accuracy. Smiles disappeared, most of them live in the Eder valley! Incidentally, my late maternal uncle, Fritz, was a Flak-gunner in the Luftwaffe, and told me years ago (I was about 16 then!) that the Flak protection at the Mohne dam had been reduced about two weeks before the attack, with his Abteilung (= battalion) being sent North to protect the industrial "heartland" of Germany, eventually moving further from the Ruhrgebiet to protect the U-boat motor factory in Bremen. His unit had 8.8cm Flak 18s, and when they went there were only light units (20mm Flak38 etc) defending the dam.

It seemed to me that the numbers were allocated to what ever arm of service ordered the vehicles, the contract including those (usually a small amount) for other arms. I have a picture of an RN ambulance (32KC52) taken in Edinburgh in 1986.