Fugly Posted December 9, 2012 Share Posted December 9, 2012 Spent a great day yesterday with an ex British Army soldier (Graham) who was in Oman in 1974/75 , and took part in the Dhofar war whilst commanding a Saladin. He came with his son Chris to take a look at the Ex Oman Saladin that I am restoring ( slowly... restoring !!) This was one of an estimated 34 vehicles that form the Sultans armoured car squadron. Graham is a font of knowledge about this period and first hand accounts of the operations he took part in. He won the Sultans DSM for assisting wounded SAS men back from a contact on the rear decks of his Saladin, after at least one of them was seriously injured and during the process the vehicle came under enemy fire , receiving hits including shattering the commanders episcope. Small bits of metal from rounds that shattered around the turret were removed from Grahams head 20 years later ! I was shown some great photographs of a Saladins in Oman , showing day to day activities , and some of the damage they received. As soon as i receiv copies I will be able to post some of them. Graham was a gunnery specialist and described some of the finer point on how to hit a moving target at 500M ! He had a look at the damage on the turret on our vehicle and reckoned it was likely caused by molten metal from RPG round that had detonated against equipment slung on the turret side. The photos he had showed bags and equipment slung all around the turret sides, so it looks like this may have been a life saver. From Grahams explanation an RPG penetration into a lightly armoured vehicle like the Saladin would not have been pretty. Some of the other marks on the turret may have been 12.7 mm (Sphagin??) His photo showing damage to his scopes showed that the AK47 rounds barely left a mark on the turret side, so the marks on our turret was somthing meatier! I asked him about the arabic writing , and the arabic name written on the inside of the hull beside the drivers position. I had always doubted that a disciplined soldier would write his name on a vehicle like this , however Graham said that a lot of the Omani crewmen were unable to read and write, and after being taught how to write by the army , would gleefully put their name on anything that did not move !! He described how the headlamp glass on the vehicles would be coated in grease and smothered with sand to stop the enemy seeing the glint from the headlamp glass , and the time that they had to take to top off the gearbox to try and select 1st gear after the vehicle failed to climb a sand dune - and the time a captured AK47 was shot out of the hands of a colleague. All good stuff and very interesting. I find it hard to link the dusty , camoflaged vehicles shown in 40 year old photos with the lump of metal sat on my yard, but last night when he had gone home , as I shut the door on the shed I'm sure I heard the faint sound of gunfire Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
recymech66 Posted December 9, 2012 Share Posted December 9, 2012 Great post Jim, must've been fantastic listening to his stories. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RecyMech Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 I agree, thats the type of bloke you could happily pull up a sandbag for. And that lump of metal in your yard, having seen action, has a soul & needs TLC, so mind how you speak to it. H Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timbo Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 Great story. Petexrh used to drive my Saladin so I have promised to show him round the old girl in the New Year. Funny ive owned cvrt's for a few years now and Saladin for less than 6 months but people are much more interested in it - maybe the history is just too recent and people will get more interested as the years go by! Jim we should meet up and compare projects at some point. Mine doesnt need much doing but I susoect yours will be finished first! Cheers Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fugly Posted December 12, 2012 Author Share Posted December 12, 2012 Hello Tim Yes , would be great to meet up , and share some experience ( and a few parts ??) will pm you . Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brucie Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 Great post thoroughly enjoyed reading it felt very envious of you looking forward to when you post the photos Regards Georg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fugly Posted December 12, 2012 Author Share Posted December 12, 2012 I agree, thats the type of bloke you could happily pull up a sandbag for. And that lump of metal in your yard, having seen action, has a soul & needs TLC, so mind how you speak to it. H Yes I agree !! Its definately got a presence ........ My son told me last night that he saw me sat on the engine decks as he walked past one night a few weeks ago . The Saladin was undercover but the shed lights were on. He said Hi Dad to me and came in to the house . The scary part is that I was over the road at the time visiting my parents ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RecyMech Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 Spooky !!!!! I won't go through it all again, but I had an 'interesting experience' on Hohne ranges many years ago when I had a good look around a pair Conquerors standing close to each other that were hard targets & been shot to bits. The hair on the back of my neck still stands up when I recall the experience. Someone on here suggested it might have been residual kinetic energy from all the SABOT hits.... maybe, maybe not. H Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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