Picture of the day

[bearhunter]

Is that a recoiless rifle??

What rifles do they have?

A rifle grenade ready to go?

That looks more like a bazooka or some other sort of rocket launcher to me. The rifles have been identified.

 

[purple]

That looks more like a bazooka or some other sort of rocket launcher to me. The rifles have been identified.

Having been stuck with lugging a 3.5in "bazooka" around the tules, that's what it looks like to me.

 

[Dark Alley Dan]

Speaking of lads in trucks, here's a nice study from LIFE magazine:

 

[scott585]

early war? gas mask bags and SMLEs, interesting that the bren gunner has a bayonet, unless the gun is not meant to be dismounted, and there is a rifle for him

 

[Gibbs505]

Maybe a maneuver in the late 1940 to 41 period?

 

[Dark Alley Dan]

Surprisingly few years later, the whole concept of "a few well-armed lads in a wee truck" evolved into this.

 

[hnachaj]

Desert Rats!

 

[Cdn303]

Desert Rats!

Actually the Desert Rats were the 7th Armoured Division. Those are pictures of either a Long Range Desert Group, or of the Special Air Service. I tend to lean towards an SAS patrol, as I think I've seen the pictures in a book about the SAS

 

[Dark Alley Dan]

Yeah, I think they're SAS. The pic from this series we've all seen is this one:

Neat to see that steely-eyed piratical sum##### actually kinda smiling:

LRDG also operated big Chevy trucks with wide tires. They made pretty awesome looking rigs.

A dune rolled off of the wreck of one in the 1980's, and now it's in the IWM:

That's restorable...

 

[kjohn]

^International truck.

 

[RRCo.]

The officer in the great coat standing is David Stirling. "Rotowaro" would have to be a Kiwi truck. The .303 MGs are Vickers K guns salvaged from obsolete aircraft; very high rate of fire; about 1200rpm IRRC. Obviously the .50 BMG is also ex-a/c. Not sure if that is a Lewis gun or a 3 inch mortar sticking up in front of the Boys Rifle in the middle picture. Mortars would have been excellent for their purposes. Of course time delay sticky bombs put on enemy aircraft covertly were even better. More resources should have been devoted to those forces as the return on investment was great. "Private Armies" were always very unpopular with the red tabs though.

Later...I see it is a Lewis Gun attached to the passenger side pillar.

 

[Donny Fenn1]

Plus I think the "Jeeps" in the original pictures are Bantams not Willys?

 

[Dark Alley Dan]

^International truck.

http://www.lrdg.de/vehicles1.htm

Sorry, mate - no Intersmashables in uniform with these gentlemen. Unless you meant a Canadian truck in British service with Kiwi operators, and so very international indeed.

 

[bearhunter]

Plus I think the "Jeeps" in the original pictures are Bantams not Willys?

No Bantams there, either CJ1 or 2

 

[sail32]

Long Range Desert Group ( LRDG ) machine guns.

http://lrdg.hegewisch.net/mgs.html

https://www.google.ca/search?q=breda+m37+8mm+machine+gun&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=6tWYU8jqJ4r0oAS4o4LoCg&ved=0CC4QsAQ&biw=1280&bih=896#q=LRDG+machine+guns&tbm=isch&facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=lp7t2u8LWEHNDM%253A%3BWYlbq1kS2Z-DrM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Flrdg.hegewisch.net%252FLRDG_images%252F50calm2.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Flrdg.hegewisch.net%252Fmgs.html%3B598%3B302

Popski's Private Army

http://www.popski.org/

Images

https://www.google.ca/search?q=Popski+private+army+images&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=q9eYU4_8A9CBogTvyICQDQ&ved=0CBsQsAQ&biw=1280&bih=896

 

[Cdn303]

A good movie showing LRDG type operations is Play Dirty (1969) starring Michael Caine. Lots of Chevy's and a whilly's or two.

Another good one with similar type operations is Toburk (1967) starring George Peppard. Only in this one they are driving halftracks.

 

[Zdragunov]

 

[fraserdw]

Plus I think the "Jeeps" in the original pictures are Bantams not Willys?

No Bantams there, either CJ1 or 2

Bantams have a rounded fender, CJ1 was developed in late 1944 and the CJ2 is post war. Both have tailgates, power take offs and draw bars and were sold to civies only.

 

[screwtape]

Isn't jacklighting for deer illegal in most jurisdictions? Or is this one intended strictly for nocturnal space bear defence?

 

[Rifleman1911]

^^^. I am sure that's not a light. No think it's some kind of infra red or night vision targeting system. If that was a light you would be the fastest target when switched on.