Picture of the day

[Sharps '74]

There is an acappella version of a song sung by a lady with a great voice about the ANZAC contribution at Gallipoli - ".... no more waltzing Matilda for me ...." being one of the poignant lines.

Recently there was a TV series abut the ANZAC nurses who served, denied permission to wear the Red Cape of the "Imperial" nurses. One girl got around the bureaucratic BS by being a KIWI as the rule applied to Aussie nurses. Typical stuffed shirt arrogance on the part of the Brits.

Very true. New Zealand and Australia don't have Remembrance Day on November 11 they have ANZAC Day (Australia and New Zealand Army Corp) on April 25, the Anniversary of the Gallipoli landings. Both New Zealand and Australia suffered huge casualty rates in the Battle of Gallipoli, mind you so did the Brits and Turks. But for Australia and New Zealand Gallipoli is a bit like Vimy Ridge only with much higher casualties and a negative outcome. Division wide casualty rates in excess of 50% were common. When you are a country like New Zealand with a population of M1 and only fielding one Division this was pretty horrendous. Pretty much the whole New Zealand and Australian Armies of 1915 where at Gallipoli. Even though Gallipoli wasn't much different to other WW1 battles it has a lot more significance to New Zealand and Australia.

 

[XRCD011]

While I feel the CWM butchered a lot of stuff, we also have to bear in mind that the practises today were probably not the norm in the 50's and 60's when most of the butchery occured, likely with good intentions. Also, the old CWM was tiny and some of these guns were likely displayed outdoors at some point.

Sorry, I will not cut todays CWM any slack nor excuse make for them. Take the manned V1 (I believe they started on that in the 1980s) that has been like so many other vehicles/guns and artifacts seems to be in perpetual "work in progress" mode. The gallery was made far to small and the CWM never even thought long, hard or deep about building in any restoration floor space and extremely limited work capability (no sand blasting, paint shop, no gantry, etc). And then on top of it the place has that huge floor space dedicated to wine and cheese parties instead of displaying stuff, called "stuff" because its all jammed in a tight/chaotic manner that or hidden away in storage. Certainly nasty things have been done to artifacts in days gone by but there is todays aversion to correct the wrongs and deal with that used car lot of junk on display beyond the day to day work.

 

[Dark Alley Dan]

There is an acappella version of a song sung by a lady with a great voice about the ANZAC contribution at Gallipoli - ".... no more waltzing Matilda for me ...." being one of the poignant lines.

"And the Band Played Walzing Matilda". Great tune. I've only ever heard the Pogues version. I think Shane McGowan's voice lends itself well to the telling of the story.

[youtube]cZqN1glz4JY[/youtube]

 

[bearhunter]

Sorry, I will not cut todays CWM any slack nor excuse make for them. Take the manned V1 (I believe they started on that in the 1980s) that has been like so many other vehicles/guns and artifacts seems to be in perpetual "work in progress" mode. The gallery was made far to small and the CWM never even thought long, hard or deep about building in any restoration floor space and extremely limited work capability (no sand blasting, paint shop, no gantry, etc). And then on top of it the place has that huge floor space dedicated to wine and cheese parties instead of displaying stuff, called "stuff" because its all jammed in a tight/chaotic manner that or hidden away in storage. Certainly nasty things have been done to artifacts in days gone by but there is todays aversion to correct the wrongs and deal with that used car lot of junk on display beyond the day to day work.

Not to be contrary but the CWM likely had very little to do with this state facility. A few bureaucrats with to much power made the decisions for them and in doing so limited them severely.

 

[grelmar]

"And the Band Played Walzing Matilda". Great tune. I've only ever heard the Pogues version. I think Shane McGowan's voice lends itself well to the telling of the story.

[youtube]cZqN1glz4JY[/youtube]

From the blood of Gallipoli, 3 nations were born. Australia, New Zealand, and Turkey.

"As at Anzac, the Ottoman defenders were too few to defeat the landing but inflicted many casualties and contained the attack close to the shore. By the morning of 25 April 1915, out of ammunition and left with nothing but bayonets to meet the attackers on the slopes leading up from the beach to the heights of Chunuk Bair, the 57th Infantry Regiment received orders from Kemal, commanding the 19th Division: "I do not order you to fight, I order you to die. In the time which passes until we die, other troops and commanders can come forward and take our places". Every man of the regiment was either killed in action or wounded. As a sign of respect, the 57th Regiment no longer exists in the Turkish Army."

Mustafa Kemal is better known today as Kemal Atatürk, the founder of Turkey.

 

[Scarecrow]

 

[machman]

Pretty funny, but here is the original.
View attachment 98981

 

[Dark Alley Dan]

The Gun Motor Carriage T77: For those times when you need to cover a chunk of sky with big angry bullets:

I imagine it carried double its weight in belted ammunition.

 

[maple_leaf_eh]

The Gun Motor Carriage T77: For those times when you need to cover a chunk of sky with big angry bullets:

....

The Canadian armoured regiments were issued Crusader Anti Aircraft guns before D-Day. They were organized into a troop and attached to Regimental Headquarters. The German air threat was present, but not nearly as prominent as originally feared, and fairly quickly into the Normandy campaign very low-mileage vehicles were returned to brigade and divisional 'used tank' lots for disposal.

 

[donor]

Marlene Dietrich died May 6 1992 .

Iconic woman of the 1930's cinema.

Moved to US long before war and supported war effort by selling War Bonds,touring for troops on both Pacific and European theater.

Known to solders on all sides of the front from songs recorded for Morale Operations Branch of the OSS including "Lili Marleen".

I vaguely recall The Big Band Show with Glen Woodcock on FM 91.1 specially dedicated to Marlene and other singers performing for the troops.

If I ever felt like being time warped back that was it.Look it up.

WW2 wasn't always about war,sometimes it was a radio with tunes like that on.be it on front line,in the tank or in airplane ladies like her kept guys going.

 

[Claven2]

That private in the lower right looks A LOT like a young Barak Obama to me. Obviously not him, but similar face & smile.

 

[Bubba Yugga]

Dude, the picture. And THAT is what you noticed?

 

[6GunJustice]

I think I see ankle!

6Gun

 

[Dark Alley Dan]

And to keep the military theme going...

Hard to say who had the more advanced bone structure - Ms. Dietrich or Katherine Hepburn - but either way, damn.

It's said this is Ms. Dietrich giving a guy something to remember:

http://2.bp.########.com/-l_1GVKxWZxw/VAd9MaTnN8I/AAAAAAAAJyE/Gp0f6H1Lwaw/s1600/Actress%2BMarlene%2BDietrich%2Bkisses%2Ba%2Bsoldier%2Breturning%2Bhome%2Bfrom%2Bwar%2C%2B1945.jpg

 

[Sharps '74]

When my late Panzergrenadier father-in-law was well oiled, he'd burst into marching songs. I couldn't join him in those but then he'd get melancholy and sing "Lili Marlene". Then I could join him, like the Tommies in North Africa.

Marlene Dietrich died May 6 1992 .

Iconic woman of the 1930's cinema.

Moved to US long before war and supported war effort by selling War Bonds,touring for troops on both Pacific and European theater.

Known to solders on all sides of the front from songs recorded for Morale Operations Branch of the OSS including "Lili Marleen".

I vaguely recall The Big Band Show with Glen Woodcock on FM 91.1 specially dedicated to Marlene and other singers performing for the troops.

If I ever felt like being time warped back that was it.Look it up.

WW2 wasn't always about war,sometimes it was a radio with tunes like that on.be it on front line,in the tank or in airplane ladies like her kept guys going.

 

[RRCo.]

The Gun Motor Carriage T77: For those times when you need to cover a chunk of sky with big angry bullets:

I imagine it carried double its weight in belted ammunition.

Canada was there first, only with 20mm's, not .50 cals.

Of course being Canadian it was too much of a climb-down for the UK or US to adopt the Ram Skink.

http://4.bp.########.com/-AFUZX8FlpdA/TloSzEaWIKI/AAAAAAAAAzQ/J5gqCa1x5Es/s1600/skink_006.jpg

 

[Rule 303]

"And the Band Played Walzing Matilda". Great tune. I've only ever heard the Pogues version. I think Shane McGowan's voice lends itself well to the telling of the story.

[youtube]cZqN1glz4JY[/youtube]

Eric Bogle, a Scot now living in Australia, also sings a very good version.

 

[Cottage Hill Bill]

He should, since he wrote it.

 

[Dark Alley Dan]

"Dear Mom. Hell of a day today. Bent an airplane, I'm OK. Say Hi to Dad. Love, Kazimierz"

Spitfire XVI, QH-V (since August 1945 unit's code letters changed), TD283, after force landing near Cloppenburg (Germany) in May 1946. The pilot was F/Sgt Chomacki photographed by his kite.

 

[Sharps '74]

Were those prop blades wood?