Bren parachute drop canister's

[breakeyp]

... only two things fall from the sky, bird poo and fools. Thoughts expressed to me by a straight leg infantryman.

[browningautorifle]

only two things fall from the sky

And the rest come down under controlled decent by parachute.

[Gil Boyd]

Breakeyp,
Reason he's straight legged, is because he forgot to lower his rifle in the container, does happen and it hurts

[Flying10uk]

Are back problems common among, older, former parachutists who have done many jumps or is it just those who have had a number of bad landings? The reason that I ask is that a friend of a friend, who had been a parachutist in his younger days, had terrific back problems in later life but I don't know how common this is.

[browningautorifle]

back problems

Back, knees, ankles...neck...concussions... Picture jumping repeatedly from a 12 foot platform onto various surfaces. Depending on the man, could be several hundred times and a high several hundred. Feet and knees together, diagonal line across the back. That's unless you misjudge the wind and do a heels-a*s-head...and perhaps since it was a night jump didn't get your equipment down in time. So, you land with your rucksack attached. Shall we go on about the Machine gunner? Makes it hard to walk and stand some days. Or...sit, or sleep...can't squat down...

[Gil Boyd]

....................other than that we are fine, might need a hand up from the prone position on occasion

[Peter Laidler]

I did 24 or 26 static line jumps and while I did suffer from a bad back for a year in the mid to late 70's, that was caused by leaning over incorrectly lifting a battery from the boot of a mini. I learned from that and always looked after my back thereafter. Had a smashed knee in late 70 and shredded cartilage following a really heavy landing at Watchfield of all places. 2 weeks at BMH Tidworth but nothing since......

Your comments always make me laugh BAR and Gil....... Brian at BDL did plenty of real heavy drops......... Back and shoulders Brian?

[browningautorifle]

the prone position

You mean getting out of bed?

[Peter Laidler]

Back trouble.......... getting off it in the morning!

[Gil Boyd]

Spot on.
I remember a night jump at Frog Hill, on STANTA which to the non UK Military Thetford Military training area where they filmed DAD'S ARMY.

You know sometimes you are glad it happened to someone else, well this was one such night drop of 3 Herc's in line with 180 jumpers, full kit not clean fatique.
It was a moonlit night, and not a sound in the air once the Herc's had left the immediate area.
It was a tactical DZ and drop from 800 feet, (normally 1000) to test Company RV's and rally points for the Battalion for its role as the quick reaction force (QRF) use in the future.

As the last lads came in, there was an almighty shrill and screaming that I have never heard anything like it since to this day, that filled the air.

One of the lads had managed to drop his container but had landed on a solitary concrete wire post not picked up by the RAF ground team which was overgrown, which had parted his legs on contact, but luckily his container had pulled him a fraction to one side, the post went right through his leg missing his vital parts, but it took two blankets and a lot of pressure to stem the bleeding. Had he hit it centrally, it would have gone right up into his chest taking his vitals with it. Nasty business this MILSPEC parachuting lark, and you ask whether we had bad backs

Anyway, thats my sales pitch for anybody considering Military parachuting.......Don't do it, join the Navy