A question about the British military

[Alan de Enfield]

Many years ago (about 25) I was flying south alongside the A1 (the Brits will know it) between Grantham & Stamford when a Vulcan passed about 100ft below me, heading North, talk about "brown trousers" - put me in a bit of a spin (literally) but nothing was done when I reported the airmiss
Never liked the things since.

Do get a buzz as the Battle Of Britain Flight pass over us most weekends in the summer its based about 10 miles away - and as we are based alongside an old WW2 Lancaster airfield the Lanc does a low flypast everytime (about 250 - 300ft, occasionally considerably less and we get a wave from the guy up front). Great noise and everyone looks up - unlike the Typhoons - nobody looks at them.

[dogtag]

It took a year after demob for my GS medal to arrive {Cypress]
A while back I applied for my Canal Zone GS -my posting began one month too late for that one !!
I did get dysentery in Egypt; that definitely deserved a medal.
Oh well.

[harry mac]

[QUOTE=Alan de Enfield;57029]
Do get a buzz as the Battle Of Britain Flight pass over us most weekends in the summer its based about 10 miles away - and as we are based alongside an old WW2 Lancaster airfield the Lanc does a low flypast everytime (about 250 - 300ft, occasionally considerably less and we get a wave from the guy up front). Great noise and everyone looks up - unlike the Typhoons - nobody looks at them.[/QUOTE
The BBF used to stack up above my junior school when I was a kid, when they used to do the fly past for the RAF Finningly open day. As has been said many times before on here, the sound of the Merlin engine is distinctive and stirring.
On the flip side of the coin, I was once driving an 8 tonner between Fallingbostel and Hohne when I just happened to glance up and see a Messerschmidt 109 fly over. At first it didn't even register, I just thought, "Hmm, a Messersh...What!?" I nearly crashed the bloody wagon doing a double take.

[Alan de Enfield]

You may have seen n the press a few weeks ago the story about the Lancaster "breaking down" in Holland.

One of our members is one of the Lancaster pilots and he told me the true story.

The Dutch Government requested the Lanc to do a couple of fly-pasts over the war graves during a rememberance parade.
The turbo on one of the Engines failed and the Lanc ended up landing at Schipol airport.
There was not a single aircraft in the RAF available to collect a spare engine from Coningsby and fly it out to Schipol,
The memorial flight looked at using their old Dakota but the floor loading would not take the engine so they couldnt use that.

The German airforce offered to collect and deliver the engine which was gratefully accepted.

So the Luftwaffe carried Lancaster parts - bit Ironic.

Postscript - the Memorial flight have now received a bill for Hangerage for the Lancaster of £20,000

[gj.atkins]

as an ex -british soldier I can confirm that all wounded servicemen with overseas postings recieved the VD and scar medal.

[PrinzEugen]

You may have seen n the press a few weeks ago the story about the Lancaster "breaking down" in Holland.

One of our members is one of the Lancaster pilots and he told me the true story.

The Dutch Government requested the Lanc to do a couple of fly-pasts over the war graves during a rememberance parade.
The turbo on one of the Engines failed and the Lanc ended up landing at Schipol airport.
There was not a single aircraft in the RAF available to collect a spare engine from Coningsby and fly it out to Schipol,
The memorial flight looked at using their old Dakota but the floor loading would not take the engine so they couldnt use that.

The German airforce offered to collect and deliver the engine which was gratefully accepted.

So the Luftwaffe carried Lancaster parts - bit Ironic.

Postscript - the Memorial flight have now received a bill for Hangerage for the Lancaster of £20,000

That's just a tremendous turn up isn't it!

[Mk VII]

I'm not surprised, with our 'one pound shop' air force these days. Jump training for the Parachute Regiment has been abandoned, as Crab Air can't spare any a/c for them to practise, and many new people have gone off to their units and the war without ever having jumped at all.

[Alfred]

The B-58 Hustler is the finest looking aircraft I've seen yet. The F-106 is a close second.

As for Purple Hearts I've heard WW2 veterans say that everyone got hit by shell splinters and the like, often many times. They almost never asked for a purple heart for the first wound unless it was really serious. They figured it was bad luck to expect a medal for a minor wound and that if they got one then the next time they were hit it would be much worse.

I've treated a few gunshot wounds and some very serious injuries, first aid only of course. Most men seem more embarassed by relatively minor wounds than anything else.
One guy refused to be taken to the hospital after an AD. The wound was clean through the thigh, and I don't see how it could have missed the bone.
A round nose .38 Special. Exit wound was little larger than intrance wound.
He is pretty muscular and there was a suprising penetration for a pistol bullet even at close range.
He'd missed the artery and bleeding had all but stopped by the time he got here.
I loaded him up with Cipro I had put away for emergencies, and since he didn't want anyone to know about the wound I suggested he tell his doctor he had the Clapp and ask him to call in a script for anti-biotics.

Several guys I know have taken some fairly serious wounds and gone on fighting. The step father of a close friend took five .380 bullets including one that took out part of his jaw and exited under the eye, and another that destroyed a kidney, and he then disarmed the shooter and broke his arm before beating him to a bloody pulp.
Another fellow, a bouncer at a nightclub, was hit seven times point blank with a .25. He broke both the shooters arms and then broke his back.