Picture of the day

Pilot Officer Smith, from USS Wasp, 9 May 1942, during a replenishment mission of Spitfires to Malta. His external fuel tank feed system failed so he landed back aboard after all the other aircraft had gotten airborne. Ref The Spitfire Story by Alfred Price Revised Second Edition page 132. This doesn't actually say he was RCAF, just Canadian.

Tah-dah ... ! We have a winner. Jerrold Smith it was. Spits were just too damn valuable to ditch one in the drink unintentionally. Must have been quit a dicey thing. I wonder if it was ever photographed.
 
There is a video of a Hercules landing on a carrier. No hook.

I guess it is easier if there is a brisk wind plus 20 knots or more from the carrier. I am guessing a Spit would touch down around 80. If there is 40 knots across the deck, ground speed is only 40.

But an airforce pilot would be making his first carrier landing. I wonder if he got it down on the first approach?
 
There is a video of a Hercules landing on a carrier. No hook.

I guess it is easier if there is a brisk wind plus 20 knots or more from the carrier. I am guessing a Spit would touch down around 80. If there is 40 knots across the deck, ground speed is only 40.

But an airforce pilot would be making his first carrier landing. I wonder if he got it down on the first approach?


jato landing rig
 
I think there were two exceptions to this in WW2 Europe:
1.Many German officials in occupied Poland never recognized Polish Home Army and any other organisations as solders. Wehrmacht officers for the most part did but not SS, Generalgouvernement or anybody else.
2.Judging by pictures and Russian literature on subject their partisans hardly bothered with identifying themselves in any way unless they had pre-war uniforms or insignia.
Understandable since German practice was pretty much "shoot on sight" very much like in Poland.
The question was, is an armband the "uniform" and the GC view is yes it is. Whether or not the Germans respected the opposing side does not come into it. In fact the GC states that.
Inhabitants of unoccupied enemy territory who spontaneously take up arms and display them openly on the approach of an invading force, without having the time to form themselves into regular armed units, provided they respect the laws of war. Are combatants and treated the same as a armed formation/army.
I believe the USSR never signed the Geneva Conventions so the Germans felt no great need to adhere to them in regard to the treatment of combatants or PWs from the USSR or Eastern front.
 
801816d1373590485-indonesian-madsen-lmg-m51-instruction-book-m48-madsen-vandk-let.jpg

common for any military trials for new models, they all go though an "inclement weather" test. A continued rapid fire with round count is kept track of until the first malfunction of any kind is observed. Some of the competitors for the "U.S. carbine" completion failed their trials in this part of the test.
 
Ouch! Would it break the leg?

Yes, yes it would...

I remember reading about these a while back, and the recoil is pretty stiff. The acquired the nickname "knee mortar" from Pacific Campaign Marines who mis-guessed how they were used based on picking them up and taking a look at the shape.

The Japanese soldier in the top pic, and what looks to be Korean soldiers in the second pic are doing it right. The big beefy "strong like bull, smart like tractor" yankee in the last pick would end up having a very bad day if he tried firing it like that. Although he probably didn't - even Marines can learn lessons, and it only took a few mistakes for word to spread. Didn't stop them from posing for glory pics with captured pieces though.

They were pretty effective little mortars. Man portable in the jungle, and an effective range over 100meters, a heckuva lot further than even Roger Clemens could have pitched a pineapple grenade.
 
Ok, I actually decided to use my google foo, instead of relying on my leaky memory...

I was mostly right, except those look like Type 89 launchers, with an effective range of about 120 meters and a maximum range of 670 meters (wow), and the second pic is of Japanese soldiers using them in Manchuria in 1942.
 
The big beefy "strong like bull, smart like tractor" yankee in the last pick would end up having a very bad day if he tried firing it like that. Although he probably didn't - even Marines can learn lessons, and it only took a few mistakes for word to spread. Didn't stop them from posing for glory pics with captured pieces though.

I'm no particular fan of the USMC, but what's your issue with them? A lot highly intelligent people served in the Marines in WWII and they were certainly a hell of a lot better human beings than your average Japanese, or Korean soldier; the latter in particular having a nasty reputation for cruelty to PoWs.
 
I'm no particular fan of the USMC, but what's your issue with them? A lot highly intelligent people served in the Marines in WWII and they were certainly a hell of a lot better human beings than your average Japanese, or Korean soldier; the latter in particular having a nasty reputation for cruelty to PoWs.

It's a joke, lighten up.

Truth is, as a large military force (excluding special forces units, praetorian guard type units) the USMC are probably among the most effective fighting forces in history, with a stunning esprit de corps and track record.

Which makes it all the more fun to poke fun at them.
 
*Correction* ;)

Ah, but Comrade Fox is mistaken. Hero SMG of Mother Russia PPS is pointed left of comrade banner bearer. Comrade at far left (where all good comrades should be) is point PPSh at center of comrade banner bearer's head. This is standard procedure when motivating comrades politically...

Failure to raise banner high is evidence of counter-revolutionary thought. Only cure is to let evil thought escape via 7.62 mm hole in back of head...
 
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