Dark Alley Dan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Darkest Edmonton
Progression...
Picture of the day
- Thread starter jwhc
- Start date
PinkyPlinker
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Kenora, ON
Behold the glory that is the "Bob Semple" tank:
Pity small, isolated, and under-industrialized New Zealand at the outbreak of WWII. With a genuine fear of Japanese invasion, the government decided they needed to do "something" about their lack of armour, and tasked their "Top Man" - a bureaucrat by the name of Bob Semple, to sort things out.
The result was essentially a steel box spouting Bren guns like porcupine quills, strapped onto the sturdy, rugged, but in the configuration, heavily overloaded, Caterpillar D8, of which numerous were available on the civilian market in New Zealand at the time.
3 were built, and very quickly converted back into bulldozers as soon as supplies of Valentine tanks were made available to New Zealand as war aide.
Pity small, isolated, and under-industrialized New Zealand at the outbreak of WWII. With a genuine fear of Japanese invasion, the government decided they needed to do "something" about their lack of armour, and tasked their "Top Man" - a bureaucrat by the name of Bob Semple, to sort things out.
The result was essentially a steel box spouting Bren guns like porcupine quills, strapped onto the sturdy, rugged, but in the configuration, heavily overloaded, Caterpillar D8, of which numerous were available on the civilian market in New Zealand at the time.
3 were built, and very quickly converted back into bulldozers as soon as supplies of Valentine tanks were made available to New Zealand as war aide.
fingers284
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Alberta Cowboy Ranges
That top photo....has there ever been a better "it was worth it" example ever...
Dark Alley Dan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Darkest Edmonton
Behold the glory that is the "Bob Semple" tank:
Pity small, isolated, and under-industrialized New Zealand at the outbreak of WWII. With a genuine fear of Japanese invasion, the government decided they needed to do "something" about their lack of armour, and tasked their "Top Man" - a bureaucrat by the name of Bob Semple, to sort things out.
The result was essentially a steel box spouting Bren guns like porcupine quills, strapped onto the sturdy, rugged, but in the configuration, heavily overloaded, Caterpillar D8, of which numerous were available on the civilian market in New Zealand at the time.
3 were built, and very quickly converted back into bulldozers as soon as supplies of Valentine tanks were made available to New Zealand as war aide.
"Sloped armor is for pussies" said the Kiwis. And Bob Semple heard them.
- Location
- WMU247 near Edmonton
"Sloped armor is for pussies" said the Kiwis. And Bob Semple heard them.
oh and something about high ground need to get those MG's mounted nice and high so they can sweep over the surrounding ground. Cant do that without building vertical.
Not going to post it, but my wedding photo beats it. I'd like to take this moment to thank every soldier who was a part of the liberation of Holland, which eventually led to my wife's parents moving to Canada after the war.
PinkyPlinker
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Kenora, ON
My Grandmother’s brother died liberating Holland. Every year they flew her out for Liberation Day. Her flower gardens were never without tulips.
fat tony
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Edits mine. Imagine the gall of me correcting Mrs. Kirkpatrick's comments! If she were around today and in the unlikely event I could afford to pay her she probably could write several scholarly volumes on how I have screwed everything up!
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Dark Alley Dan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Darkest Edmonton
The Falklands, I assume?
Somebody never learned punctuation ?
Argentinians believed the timing was right. They underestimated Margaret Thatcher.Grizz
She also got a lot of REAL AID from the US to fight that war. The Brits didn't have enough available intel or resources to do it alone.
fat tony
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Somebody never learned punctuation ?
Grizz
Jeane Kirkpatrick was on the peace junket to Buenos Aires. I looked for this quote from her on the internet, and nobody has uploaded it as far as I can tell. This is from her comments on the collapse of the peace negotiations from "The Falklands War, the Untold Story", circa 1987 iirc. Pretty hard to discern where the periods & commas etc. should be from her audio comments.
I believe it was a near thing even with all the help the US provided to the UK.
Quite a difficult position as it was in the days of the Reagan doctrine. Kirkpatrick although a Democrat at the time was in favour of authoritarian regimes as long as they were aligned with Washington DC. This is a lesson for those who think the Democrats are all peaceniks.
Stanley airport
Raids
more pics at this link. Sorry I goofed off on that link.
pics hotlinked for educational purposes only these are obviously not mine.
another Falklands gallery, related to the Fleet Auxilliary:
http://rfanostalgia.org/gallery3/index.php/RFA-FALKLANDS-1982
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The Argentinians miscalculated British resolve over the Falklands.
Surely, the cost was high to Britain, in bodies and treasure, to retake the Falklands. The Falklands continue to be a financial liability and little strategic value to Britain in a modern world.
A predictable tragedy and irony of war, as a way of solving disputes between nations.
Surely, the cost was high to Britain, in bodies and treasure, to retake the Falklands. The Falklands continue to be a financial liability and little strategic value to Britain in a modern world.
A predictable tragedy and irony of war, as a way of solving disputes between nations.
"War is simply an extension of state policy by other means". Clausewitz
In other words, when diplomacy fails to resolve the issue, war will. Often "diplomacy" is merely a smoke screen for the real objective, buying time in preparation.
In other words, when diplomacy fails to resolve the issue, war will. Often "diplomacy" is merely a smoke screen for the real objective, buying time in preparation.
