Picture of the day

I was a kid in Comox back in the mid 60's, when Dad was on 409 Squadron. I have his 409 patch above my desk as I type, along with a "VooDoo Medicine Man" patch. Also flying out of Comox was the Albatross.

Dad was an armourer. I recall the Voodoos in the ready quonsets, next to the main gate. And I remember when the "ban the bomb"ers came to protest the presence of nuclear weapons on the base. Dad and I had a conversation about that, and about how very complex was the procedures for dealing with them.

I had an interesting childhood.
 
Hi stevebc,
I was in Victoria in the 70's and a friend was a Voodoo armor in Comox and had an extensive collection of Webley revolvers.
I can't remember his name.
He kept refusing promotion as he would have to leave the Courtenay Comox area.
 
sail32 said:
Hi stevebc,
I was in Victoria in the 70's and a friend was a Voodoo armor in Comox and had an extensive collection of Webley revolvers.
I can't remember his name.
He kept refusing promotion as he would have to leave the Courtenay Comox area.
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I think Comox must be the best base one could be sent to. I am sure lots of guys decided to return to the area for retirement.

It must be quieter now, without those Voodoos going AB on take off and climbing almost vertically.
 
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Ganderite said:
I was an armament officer. We had nukes on base, but not depth charges. I suspect that the Argus had an American weapons controls system, which would have had nukes on the menu. Neptune had 2 types of homing torpedo (active and a passive), 2.75" rockets with HEAT warheads and conventional depth charges. Also had a big air rifle that shot wooden floating smoke markers out the back of the plane. We could dial up an air charge that would launch the bowling-pin size and shaped marker out the back at the same speed as the plane. Marker would then fall straight down. Handy.
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The Argus indeed had weapons control for the Mk 57 and Mk 101 nuclear depth bombs, and mostly American avionics and electronics. (Excepting the British radar on the Mk 2.) The torpedoes would have been the Mk 30 initially, and later the Mk 44 Mod 1 and Mk 46 Mod 2 torpedoes. The usual depth charge was the conventional NATO standard Mk 11.
 
Sail32 and Ganderite: Comox was (according to my parents) the most sought after posting of all.

As a kid aged 6 to 10, it was nothing short of paradise. No-one (least of all my dad) was happy about the subsequent posting to Ottawa.

I vowed as we left Comox to return one day, and I did. Spent many years there, and on the North island.

I'm close to Kamloops now, and I won't be leaving anytime soon, but I'll always have a soft spot for the Comox valley.
 
bearhunter said:
They found it inadequate for punching through great coats embedded with ice. It seems that the heavy, insulating under garments provided a backing that was flexible enough to slow or help deflect the bullet.

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I'm not going to try it out for effect but I'm willing to bet that any combatant wearing a frozen greatcoat didn't enjoy the impact of the bullet one bit.
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I was told a similar story by a Wehrmacht NCO who had served on the Eastern front. His platoon were in their holes shooting at waves of Russians attacking through the deep snow. He fired his MP40 at one, and watched him drop. The Russian staggers back to his feet and keeps coming. The German told me he'd hit the guy, who'd fall down, two or three more times in the attack. Finally he gave a target indication to a rifleman who dropped the guy for real. After the attack failed and the defenders felt themselves all over for leaky spots, the salvage party crept forward. The Russian had been hit many times by 9mm but the bullets were stopped by his frozen sheepskins.

Knowing enough about German small arms, I recall asking about their belt fed machine guns. This same German said they liked the old gun because it was reliable, but in the defensive the gunner would traverse and hit every second Russian. The new machine gun fired fast enough to hit every Russian. The things you remember decades after the fact.
 
Ahhh yes, the myth of the frozen great coat that stops bullets is the zombie that never dies and keeps on going and going and...............
 
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My uncle Gordon served as a fitter with 135(F) . Most of his time was at Terrace when they were flying P-40's. "They" are pretty well all gone now. Attended a Legion service last week for our small communities last veteran of World War II. My generation remembers because we knew them. The next generation we can only hope for the best and do what we can.
 
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Sharon Tate (PBUH) atop a Nike missile. A little harder to saddle in launch position:

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XRCD011 said:
Ahhh yes, the myth of the frozen great coat that stops bullets is the zombie that never dies and keeps on going and going and...............
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And then there's the myth that the Ross bayonets were recalled and ground to a new configuration because the original point wouldn't penetrate greatcoats. Or is that one true?
 
That one is true. Bayonets in Canadian service were given the spear point grind; those used by the Royal Navy were given a Bowie knife profile.
 
uglydukwling said:
And then there's the myth that the Ross bayonets were recalled and ground to a new configuration because the original point wouldn't penetrate greatcoats. Or is that one true?
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I just threw out my old 1964 issued RCAF greatcoat and I'd be inclined to believe if it was wet and frozen, it would be damn near bulletproof, maybe even bayonetproof.....
Warm but heavy as hell.....
 
bush1 said:
I just threw out my old 1964 issued RCAF greatcoat and I'd be inclined to believe if it was wet and frozen, it would be damn near bulletproof, maybe even bayonetproof.....
Warm but heavy as hell.....
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"Bullet proof" to what ? Nerf, airsoft, paint ball, Daisy Red rider? Funny how no one actually offers to don a frozen great coat and give it a try. Actually the frozen great coat myth has been laid to rest numerous times for 9mm, .30 carbine and other sizes but it just keeps lurching back to life. Next up should be a "they used to throw a Sten into a room and it would go on a wild killing spree" myth, or that PIAT bombs where sent to target by a big spring (and not by the propellant charge in the bomb itself) .
 
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