Probably got more use out of those Maxims than they did from the IS-3 they fired up and drove off from its gate guard position...
Article:
https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-soviet-memorial-tank/25412840.html
Picture of the day
- Thread starter jwhc
- Start date
Probably got more use out of those Maxims than they did from the IS-3 they fired up and drove off from its gate guard position...
Article:
https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-soviet-memorial-tank/25412840.html
Probably got more use out of those Maxims than they did from the IS-3 they fired up and drove off from its gate guard position...
Article:
https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-soviet-memorial-tank/25412840.html
IS-3 was used in combat along small lake/ water reservoir. It hit motorized infantry company. There used to be video of the damage on youtube. The surprise was complete, cannon was operational so vehicles that got hit with that 122mm shell were just obliterated, they had no anti-armor shells but regular high explosive shells of this size on bvp-2 preformed very well
"THE AIR Bridge
In 1975 the TAP fleet was involved in one of the largest repatriation operations in the history of aviation. During several months dozens of crews from Boeing 747 and 707 made real prodigies(wonders) to remove from Angola (and Mozambique also) hundreds of thousands of refugees escaping the hasty independence of those new countries and civil wars that were now declared themselves.
It was worth everything. Crews were working 26 consecutive hours, resting the drops when circumstances allowed. Overweight? Who cared about this?
The Boeing 747 had 350 spots but rarely walked with less than 400 souls on board. The B707s also ′′ stretched ′′ as they could. It was to come in while there was space and close the doors as soon as possible.
Aircraft crowding was often exceeded and most of the rules and procedures were on stand by; lives were to be saved, everything else didn't matter.
As if all this effort wasn't enough, the crew members lived live live the dramas of thousands of families who lost everything they had conquered in their lives and headed now to a country that few knew and would only have hardly conditions to receive them.
I did not participate in this operation, adequately known as the Air Bridge. At the time it flew Boeing 727, a plane that had no autonomy to reach Luanda or anything that looked like it, but every day I found hundreds of people in the airport rooms. They piled up on bags and bins while waiting for someone to get them a place to stay. I only saw looks of disbelief around me. How was this even possible?
Seven hundred homeless people a day and sometimes more than a thousand. Lisbon airport was transformed into a large refugee camp, only with less conditions than the real refugee camps. An immense tragedy unfolded in front of our eyes and we could do little or nothing.
The story of this Air Bridge has never been told in its true dimension. The drama of the refugees and the heroism of those who saved them from certain death will one day be revealed to the Portuguese in all their crueza(rawness) and without any complexes.
Yes, TAP then responded to the call without looking at sacrifices and will respond back whenever necessary."
Afghanistan reminded me.
Last edited:
Dark Alley Dan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Darkest Edmonton
Reminds me of Dorothea Lange's Migrant Mother. One wonders what happened to these women and their kids.
That many people in a Dakota would mean they would have to stand up during the flight out.
Great planes. The last time I flew in one of them was 1976, out of the old Rio De airport. It was operated under charter by Varig and the only plane that could carry a decent cargo, for the price, into the Amazon River delta area mud airfields. Most of them had been upgraded to more powerful engines.
Those planes leaving Hong Kong were fitted with the original engines for the plane. Those pilots had to know what they were doing to get them up.
Years ago when flying the Hajj from Indonesia to Jeddah in old clapped out 747’s we had 430 pax, baggage and enough fuel for a 9.5 hr flight and we would still be under max weight. The new model 747’s with the 2 man crew have even higher max all up weights. The -7 model freighter was test flown at close to a million pounds all up weight. You could stack refugees like cordwood and still get off the ground in one of those.
"THE AIR Bridge
In 1975 the TAP fleet was involved in one of the largest repatriation operations in the history of aviation. During several months dozens of crews from Boeing 747 and 707 made real prodigies(wonders) to remove from Angola (and Mozambique also) hundreds of thousands of refugees escaping the hasty independence of those new countries and civil wars that were now declared themselves.
It was worth everything. Crews were working 26 consecutive hours, resting the drops when circumstances allowed. Overweight? Who cared about this?
The Boeing 747 had 350 spots but rarely walked with less than 400 souls on board. The B707s also ′′ stretched ′′ as they could. It was to come in while there was space and close the doors as soon as possible.
Aircraft crowding was often exceeded and most of the rules and procedures were on stand by; lives were to be saved, everything else didn't matter.
As if all this effort wasn't enough, the crew members lived live live the dramas of thousands of families who lost everything they had conquered in their lives and headed now to a country that few knew and would only have hardly conditions to receive them.
I did not participate in this operation, adequately known as the Air Bridge. At the time it flew Boeing 727, a plane that had no autonomy to reach Luanda or anything that looked like it, but every day I found hundreds of people in the airport rooms. They piled up on bags and bins while waiting for someone to get them a place to stay. I only saw looks of disbelief around me. How was this even possible?
Seven hundred homeless people a day and sometimes more than a thousand. Lisbon airport was transformed into a large refugee camp, only with less conditions than the real refugee camps. An immense tragedy unfolded in front of our eyes and we could do little or nothing.
The story of this Air Bridge has never been told in its true dimension. The drama of the refugees and the heroism of those who saved them from certain death will one day be revealed to the Portuguese in all their crueza(rawness) and without any complexes.
Yes, TAP then responded to the call without looking at sacrifices and will respond back whenever necessary."
Afghanistan reminded me.
Addition comment about it Luis Silva Correia Google translated from Portuguese.
We have to remember Colonel (1976) General António Gon çalves Ribeiro. (we met in Nampula (1958) was Lieutenant Cavalry and Squad Commander parked there. Was Founder of Nampula Equestrian Center. With the Dr. Torres Fevereiro and the local administrator, former student of the Military College of Light-Lisbon. Then went to LM where he stayed for several years. Nampula friend of ORLANDO CRISTINA who was detained in Cav Squadron. in LM in January / February 1965. (After returning to Mozambique via NEGOMANO in the last days of 1964). Where it was placed there at this time OCTAVIO CORREIA. So we all had past relationships. But the most important thing was that as the Secretary General of the Government of Angola, he was the coordinator of the withdrawal of those who left Angola during 1975. Good to read at least the books: ′′ THE RECONCIL ′′ From the Airport to Cooperation and another ′′ THE VERTIGE OF DECOLONIZATION ′′ both by GON ÇALVES RIBEIRO And another one by Rita Garcia Author of ′′ S.O.S. ANGOLA The Days of Bridge Area ′′ She states in her 2th book: ′′ THOSE WHO CAME FROM AFRICA: ′′ In the mid-70 s, half a million Portuguese were forced to leaving a lifetime in Africa, leaving for a country many of them never knew about and didn't welcome them with open arms: PORTUGAL. This is the story, told by those who have lived in the skin THE STIGMA OF BEING RETURNED. Friend General António Gon çalves Ribeiro called them ′′ DESALOJADOS ′′ I recommend more the other book: ′′ THE VERTIGE OF DECOLONIZATION-From the agony of Exodus to Full Citizenship ". He was Secretary General of the High Commission of PORTUGAL in ANGOLA in 1975. Thank you so much Friends specially Manuel Resende Ferreira Luiz
Same thing happened to french colonials that returned to France after the Algerian War and failed Foreign Legion coup. They did not receive a warm welcome in France, many came to Quebec for a better life. Several settled in my area and became canadian citizens.
From Facebook page:
Batttleships and Battlecrusiers of WWII
Tomak Plewa
I just completed restoration of the shell flat in our number two 16" barbette aboard the USS Alabama. My partner Thomas Motes and I repainted all the shells and stripped the paint off the deck in order to give it a more realistic look. During the war, these huge shells were moved using a process called parbuckling. Sailors would loop a rope around the base of the shells and use Gypsie heads to slide the them into a position where they could be lifted up to the turrets for loading. There was no paint on the decks, and they were coated with a light oil to make the process easier. Be sure to see this part of the ship whenever you come to visit. It's really awe inspiring. — with Ebb Counts Sr. and 4 others at USS ALABAMA Battleship Memorial Park.”
via Christopher Bryant, USN BBs group
Batttleships and Battlecrusiers of WWII
Tomak Plewa
I just completed restoration of the shell flat in our number two 16" barbette aboard the USS Alabama. My partner Thomas Motes and I repainted all the shells and stripped the paint off the deck in order to give it a more realistic look. During the war, these huge shells were moved using a process called parbuckling. Sailors would loop a rope around the base of the shells and use Gypsie heads to slide the them into a position where they could be lifted up to the turrets for loading. There was no paint on the decks, and they were coated with a light oil to make the process easier. Be sure to see this part of the ship whenever you come to visit. It's really awe inspiring. — with Ebb Counts Sr. and 4 others at USS ALABAMA Battleship Memorial Park.”
via Christopher Bryant, USN BBs group
Canadian physicist Louis Slotin with the Gadget bomb during the Trinity test. He was killed a year later by a "three dimensional sunburn" from exposure to radioactive material when his screwdriver slipped during an experiment(The Demon Core). 1945
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demon_core
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demon_core
Canadian physicist Louis Slotin with the Gadget bomb during the Trinity test. He was killed a year later by a "three dimensional sunburn" from exposure to radioactive material when his screwdriver slipped during an experiment(The Demon Core). 1945
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demon_core
Slotin's remains were shipped back to Winnipeg in a lead casket.
fingers284
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Alberta Cowboy Ranges
Slotin's remains were shipped back to Winnipeg in a lead casket.
Oh god , don't reveal final resting place....lack of wheel weights these days has bullet casers searching out every avenue to a lead supply that comes up...
Haha, how true. We were tasked to fly the last surviving member of the Georgia monarchy from JFK to Tbilisi and the wooden casket was covered in a lead box. So there was an honour guard and band beside the aircraft patiently waiting while on the other side workers were using crowbars and snips trying to get the lead cover off the casket. I asked for the lead but none of them spoke English and were only interested in getting the lead out..
The Campbelltown if I'm not mistaken. I had a model of her when I was a kid.
