Snapper

Nothing wrong with your memory.

DCLI - sorry to jump on the bandwagon, but I would like to find out more about my VW Iltis. I know it came from Castle Martin and was sold for scrap when the Germans quit in 1996 and am sure it belonged to 280 Panzer Brigade there. Any advice you can give would be gratefully received. Although I don't have original registration plates - I do know the reg number and can find others if I hunt. I did not get any military paperwork when I bought the old brute. ta in advance

Henry Probert's superb biography gives a detailed insight into this most controversial figure. Even after certain aspects of his relationship with Churchill are explained, I still feel that Harris and his Command were shafted by their political and military masters. The whole sordid issue of the Bomber Command campaign medal is explained and it is not difficult to see how aggrieved the bomber crews and thousands of back up people felt. Harris himself comes across as the bluff "no prisoners" sort of bloke he has always appeared to be. But the human side of him is well advanced and he was clearly a thoroughly decent human being. His life as something of a shipping magnate after the war makes interesting reading as does his early career. I don't have any problem with the way Harris took up the reins of the bomber offensive and lay waste the cities of an evil empire. I am sorry in some ways that his doctrine was not fully vindicated. In the end the major sadness is that for all his genuine devotion to his "old lags", they have all suffered from doing their duty for King and Country while the politicians who sent them crawled away. Nothing changes, does it?

you're obviously bonkers, so you've come to the right place!! welcome aboard.

You may have seen that the Uruguayan authorities began raising sections of the Graf Spee in 2005. I think they plan to put them on display. The film Battle of the River Plate is always worth a look; you may even get a cheap DVD of it. The makers used a serving US Navy cruiser to replicate the Graf Spee. Anthony Quayle was Admiral Harwood and Peter Finch was Captain Lang. A good sunday afternoon matinée.

another flipping asylum seeker

I've just finished the softback edition of Lie In The Dark And Listen, a remarkable book by Ken Rees; wartime bomber pilot and one of the tunnellers of the Great Escape. I will not spoil things by giving anything away because this book is brilliant from first to last. Ken Rees is a plain speaking Welshman who tells a great story of bombing raids, booze ups and birds before settling into the always fascinating story of the mass escape from Sagan. The blurb for the book claims he is the person much of the Steve Mcqueen character from The Great Escape is based on. We all know what Hollywood can do and I have to say there are definitely many facets of the Hiltz character in Ken Rees. But there is definitely no motorbike!! A good thing about this book is that Ken has no complaints with either Paul Brickhill or the film. Ken Rees is a hero; Nothing more, nothing less. His story is terrific for it's complete lack of a stiff upper lip, being more concerned about the misery of an empty beer glass. Wonderful stuff. Most importantly the book serves as a memorial to lost aircrew he served with and for the fifty escapers murdered by the Gestapo. Nuff said.

Top man, Neil. I remember this type now. But, how they were used is probably more for a planes site than ours!

Cheers for that, Kev.

I was out at Wickem Fen today and it was bloody freezing.

We always hear so much about Pearl Harbor, but lets not forget that today is the 65th anniversary of the loss of the battleship HMS Prince Of Wales and the battle-cruiser HMS Repulse. This cataclysmic event removed all major sea power from the Pacific theatre under attack by Japan and in it's own way signalled the death of the British Empire. Never again would the indigenous populace of our colonies in the Far East have faith that their European "masters" had the will or ability to defend them. The loss of face suffered with the disasters in Malaya, Singapore and Burma was total. On a human note the loss of life when the two ships were sunk was huge, 800 sailors died; including the Captain of the Prince of Wales, Captain John Leach and the fleet commander Admiral Sir Tom Phillips. Phillips was a diminutive character who was much liked in the service and elsewhere and he was one of many people of his rank who claimed that "Well fought" capital ships could see off air attack. It was his friend General Archibald Wavell who warned him that one day he would have his ships sunk from under him by air attack and he would claim "that was a great mine". And so it came to pass. Only three Japanese aircraft were shot down. Prince of Wales is generally claimed to have been a "Jonah" ship having been at the centre of several unfortunate incidents. It is often said that the failings of her armament during the chase of the Bismark caused the loss of the supreme HMS Hood - the most famous warship of Her generation. On the day she was sunk the PoW was severely damaged almost immediately by a torpedo which caused the loss of almost all electrical power. She was helpless. The Repulse, however, fought brilliantly and really gave the Japs something to think about. Unfortunately she was severely lacking in anti-aircraft guns. Captain Tennant, who survived, had been the beach commander on the mole at Dunkirk during the evacuation in 1940. What a bloke he must have been. Think of the survivors, taken to Singapore only to fall into the hands of the barbaric Japanese. These great ships now lie in just under a 100 metres of water and are fiercely protected as war graves by the modern Royal Navy (or what is left of it). They did suffer some problems with rogue salvage crews in the past and to that end the bell of the Prince of Wales was raised and is on display in Liverpool. God bless the survivors and victims of this terrible tragedy.

Only because I've read this one book on the subject can I claim to be the expert on this raid in my house, if nowhere else!! There is certainly no mention of helicopters in the book. The Germans were thrashing around trying to find Mussolini for quite a while and actually prepared to raid an island he'd not even been held on at one point. The Germans certainly had autogyros but I don't think any were used operationally and they must, as you say, have been well advanced in helicopter developments. Interesting stuff. It's possible any designs would not have been able to have flown at the 7,000 feet altitude of the mountain summit anyway.

Subititled "The Most infamous commando operation of World War II, Hitler's Raid To Save Mussolini by the American Greg Annussek is a rattling good yarn. It trundles along with all the style of a Jack Higgins book, and to be honest it could almost be one. Even some of the characters appear in The Eagle Has Landed. It begins with a run down of the toppling of Il Duce and then tells the amazing saga of the Germans search for the old despot after he had been stashed away by the new regime. Not unlike John Howard's Pegasus Diaries the book hinges on one chapter of action as Student and his paratroops and Otto Skorzeny's Friedenthal Commandos make their assault on the Gran Sasso. There is much bickering between the branches of service over who thought up what and who did what. But the image of the glider force flying in towed by stubby Henschel Hs 126 tugs is evocative as is the breathtaking flight from the summit by a Fieseler Storch taking Benito and Otto away to supper with the Fuhrer. The pilot was something else... Otto Skorzeny is the focus of interest and there is some detail about his actions in the Ardennes and even working for the Mossad. You couldn't make it up. The only danger is of being swept up in the thrill of the chase; but Annussek makes constant effort to remind us that the Nazis are the bad guys and the all-purveying evil of their regime is never far behind the action.

Enigma's idea of a meet up for photos is nice. But you should bare in mind that the light is rubbish at that time of the evening. The events snap team had to shoot the Reos, red ball express and convoy of steel and it was bloody difficult. The way the sun sets over the arena and the general loss of light as all the dust settles (again) after 1800 is not great. I'm more than happy to give it a go. But there will be a lot of late afternoon and evening MV events this year. I'm sure we can work out how to have a decent gettogether. I would really like to do some pix of everyone, with their motors, with their beers..whatever (almost). Discuss.

Jack - I'll speak to you about this at the Mods Christmas Party in the HQ.

Dropzone Borneo by Roger Annett is a colourful account of his time flying RAF Armstrong-Whitworth Argosy transports during the "confrontasi" between beligerent Indonesia and the British Commonwealth in the early 1960s. This is a grand tale of the end of Empire and the delights of the Far East as much as it is about the operations to resupply the troops keeping Sokarno's armies at bay in the jungles of Borneo etc. I love this book. Masses of detail, humourous stories and lots of heroics are mixed with a fair degree of tragedy. A little known conflict is brought to life with due respect to the British and Gurkha troops, Aussies, Kiwis and Malays. There is even a view of the wholly disproportionate events breaking out in Vietnam and a glimpse of British troops building bases for the Americans in Thailand. Picture the good life in Singapore mixed with flying at 100mph in a RNZAF Bristol Freighter ("Frightener") to drop supplies into a football pitch sized DZ cut out of dense jungle and you have some idea what to expect.

This won't happen. There will always be enough Brits to play the Unspeakable in American films, anyway. Money for old rope.

I'm getting the hang of this now, Jack & Mark. Welcome Tim. Have fun, make friends, learn stuff, chip in etc. I do. Look where it's got me!

If you need any help with translations check with Joris. His English is better than most of ours.

Whisky, eh? Check the country of origin. If it's anything like the Bulgarian Reilsing I got then you are as well to mix it with nitromors. Very good for sheds.

Belated welcome from me, Karl. I am the very worst of the Mods when it comes to being sociable. Have I snapped your Pinkie at Beltring???

I'll be there, too...and I got a Christmas card. I've joined the killer elite.

I'll definitely be there. I am hoping to have made some progress restoring my Itis to better condition. It passed the MOT yesterday....so we have another year.

Trying to remain as open minded as possible, I had a look at the link you refer to. Not a lot I can say here in the interests of good taste.

started with me yesterday. Must be all the snow getting in the processors.