Dark Alley Dan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Darkest Edmonton
Can't fault the man's dedication to the job...
Picture of the day
- Thread starter jwhc
- Start date
Just wanted to say that I have learned more useful and interesting things on this list about WWI and WWII armament than I have from other sources over the years. I am very impressed with the general and specific knowledge of many who post detailed info and photos.
I was talking about hand grenades like RPG-40 here.One of those thrown on engine compartment will stop the tank.Few of those will ruin your day.
Germans had huge problem with infantryman rushing at tank in bunches armed with nothing but those from day one of Barbarossa.
Later on came AT rifles like PTRS and PTRD and those were fielded in huge numbers just like PPSh-41.AT grenades were still serious issue for tankers all the way till fall of Berlin,especially in urban settings.
The Finns took "anti-tank infantry" to whole new levels both during and after the war. Their web-gear after the war was specifically designed with hooks and loops for carrying strings of anti-tank mines.
Hearty young man taking full advantage of the uniform.
Are those fiberglass cases AT mines or some training props?I have never seen those in yellow,usually some sort of green or grey.
Unless those are Finnish Army issue cheese wheels
Probably training dummies, I would guess.
Hate to think what would happen if they were live... And he tripped.
fat tony
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
The Nuclear Strike Force. Interesting that by around 1967 the Starfighter was pulled out of combat use in Vietnam. Where it shone was in foreign service. Could not carry a one man airforce bombload like Thunderchief or Phantom but was ideal for lightning quick nuclear strike at tree top level. I guess our guys in the Strike Force would have been like the gophers in the ultimate game of whack a mole. The enemy would have been wielding the sledge hammer until the gophers showed up with the ultimate sledge hammer gently getting Ivan's attention.
Well their success, unlike some gophers, would have been short lived ... about as long as it took to return to their base and discover that neither it nor the runway existed anymore. And since during the initial phases of the action ... the Soviets would have been jamming ALL frequencies ... they werent going to know where they could land -- I suppose some sections of the autobahn would be ok ... but then they would have got flattened by an M109 (or dozen or so!) running up to a battle position... It was pretty much a suicide tasking.... unless you got very lucky. I suppose they could have tried to ditch somewhere ... and die of hypothermia.
The 'Breakthrough' scenario's that were developed by the Americans painted a pretty bleak situation for anyone unlucky enough to be 'enroute' so to speak of the Soviet main axis of advance. The expectation was that tactical nuclear weapons would already have been employed by Warsaw pact (as well as chemical and possibly bio wpns) -- before we got a Starfighter in the air.
The Finns took "anti-tank infantry" to whole new levels both during and after the war. Their web-gear after the war was specifically designed with hooks and loops for carrying strings of anti-tank mines.
Hearty young man taking full advantage of the uniform.
I'll bet he had no problem finding a seat on the bus!
These Cold War battle tactics were the stuff of "Dr. Strangelove" - insane. Remember the short range (20 miles) "Honest John" ballistic missile that had nuke capabilities? How would you like to have been a member of one of those launch crews knowing that the nuke cloud was going to get you and there was no escape?
Both the Americans and Germans had missile bases in several locations where the Canadian Brigade Group was stationed. I don't now if these had nuke capability or conventional warheads.
There is a great joke about a British general lecturing a BAOR Battalion in a large auditorium about tactical nuclear weapons...when he was finished he decided to ask some 'confirmatory' questions. One question was 'what immediate steps should you take if a tactical nuclear strike is imminent in your area of operation?'...then looking around he pointed at a Sgt Maj. And said 'you there... Sgt Major'....'what steps would you take?!' ... the Sr NCO stood up... reflected for a second and said.....'I should think bloody BIG steps sir!!'
As for having US and German missile bases in your area...well they were probably mobile...assuming they could move anywhere with civilian refugees clogging everything... the real wild card was the French. And when they would launch....and their targets. They werent too concerned about fratricide. And they would very likely get targeted by the Soviets early on (unless they managed to cut a 'separate' deal --which we wouldnt know about). But there would be a very early - and decidedly violent - focus by the Soviets on several US/Brit missile batteries that were tasked with destroying the soviet flights responsible for most of the 'all frequency' wireless jamming. Some of these batteries would be operating in parts of France presumably.
The violence, velocity and complexity of the battlefield scenarios expected between Nato and Warsaw pact (over 30 years ago!) makes the current actions in Afghanistan an Iraq/Syria look pretty tame by comparison. Certainly any screwing around between the US and North Korea (aided by China)...will not be a walk in the park where guys go to pay off their mortgages.
The violence, velocity and complexity of the battlefield scenarios expected between Nato and Warsaw pact (over 30 years ago!) makes the current actions in Afghanistan an Iraq/Syria look pretty tame by comparison. Certainly any screwing around between the US and North Korea (aided by China)...will not be a walk in the park where guys go to pay off their mortgages.
The Finns took "anti-tank infantry" to whole new levels both during and after the war. Their web-gear after the war was specifically designed with hooks and loops for carrying strings of anti-tank mines.
Hearty young man taking full advantage of the uniform.
Training props. My guess is this is a disciplinary photo. He's being punished for screwing up (late for formation, left his firearm somewhere, didn't pack his ruck to the required weight...etc.)
On a related note, there's a very good Danish movie on Netflix called "Land of Mine" that tells the story of the German soldiers kept behind to help clear the Danish beaches of German mines at the end of the Second World War.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvsKIBSPfWw
And now for something completely different...
Westland Lysander-ugly duckling made for different kind of war but found to perfectly fine for other uses.
I found very,very few pictures of one still sporting tiny wings mounted on wheel spats.I'm still looking for a good pictures of one with bombs on them. Here is the an example in service with Polish 309 Squadron
Westland Lysander-ugly duckling made for different kind of war but found to perfectly fine for other uses.
I found very,very few pictures of one still sporting tiny wings mounted on wheel spats.I'm still looking for a good pictures of one with bombs on them. Here is the an example in service with Polish 309 Squadron
fat tony
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
The prognosis for the fate of CAST & AMF (L) was not much better from what I have skimmed in the intervening years. 
To poke at a hornet's nest, I do not think the gov't would have bothered sending CAST. I do not think there ever were any serious plans to send CAST in a "cold start" 11th hour mission. Spinning off SOME Canadian units to AMF(L) was seen as a far more agreeable proposition for the government, especially from an isolationist perspective. *Insert huge acrimonious political discussion here.*
To poke at a hornet's nest, I do not think the gov't would have bothered sending CAST. I do not think there ever were any serious plans to send CAST in a "cold start" 11th hour mission. Spinning off SOME Canadian units to AMF(L) was seen as a far more agreeable proposition for the government, especially from an isolationist perspective. *Insert huge acrimonious political discussion here.*
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And now for something completely different...
Westland Lysander-ugly duckling made for different kind of war but found to perfectly fine for other uses.
I found very,very few pictures of one still sporting tiny wings mounted on wheel spats.I'm still looking for a good pictures of one with bombs on them. Here is the an example in service with Polish 309 Squadron
my dad when training on Salsbury Plain, with the British Army mentioned to me several times, how his battalion was "attacked" by a formation of Lysanders, dropping bags of flour..lol, and flying low to simulate been strafed, this in no way compared to later , when his battalion landed at the Hook of Holland to cover the evacuation of the Dutch Royal Family, and later in Boulonge France, and they came under attack by German Stuka dive bombers, and they had their first casualties
Interesting ... for some reason (that he never bothered to explain) my father .. also infantry from Brest, Sicily etc etc all the way to occupation ... spoke very highly of Lysanders ... I wish I knew what it was about them that he liked so much.
The prognosis for the fate of CAST & AMF (L) was not much better from what I have skimmed in the intervening years.
To poke at a hornet's nest, I do not think the gov't would have bothered sending CAST. I do not think there ever were any serious plans to send CAST in a "cold start" 11th hour mission. Spinning off SOME Canadian units to AMF(L) was seen as a far more agreeable proposition for the government, especially from an isolationist perspective. *Insert huge acrimonious political discussion here.*
Yes! Charlie Belzile ('the little guy from Trois-Pistoles' - a super guy!) had a few choice words about our CAST Brigade Grp's capability (or lack of) .... I recall Perrin Beatty being very pre-occupied with buying submarines...
