Bernhard H.Holst

Hello Brian.

Should he or she shoot back at the pictured shooter he will end up with a whole bunch of rock fragments in his precious body ( the steel pot/battle bowler notwithstanding ). The spare magazines appear to be tottering already.

Please take this from a former service man as constructive criticism who has only your very best interest in mind though rooting for the one less powerfully armed.

This writers experience is with the French automatic rifle ( FM 24/29 ) very similar to the Bren.

Bernhard H. Holst

PS: not likely to be driven to drink but enjoying your writing as always. B.H.H.

Hello readers.

I am reminded of the battle of Jutland after which both sides claimed victory. This battle just passed its 100 year anniversary .One can lean either side depending which criteria one wants to apply:

ships' displacement tons  total sunk,

personnel lost, type of ships lost etc.

BTW: a popular German writer, pen name Gorch Fock for Johann Kinau lost his life during this battle after volunteering for service. His body was recovered on a Swedish coast later and he is buried in Sweden.The current navy officer candidates are trained aboard the sailing ship named after him.

I always read Brian's contributions and with a considerable envy regarding his writing skills.

Bernhard H. Holst

Hello Brian, Rick and Mervyn and all other commentators.

Growing up on the other side of the fence, so to speak, I must say how much my childhood resembled the recollections given above. Realities however set in once the war ( WWII ) was on its way what with air-raids, separation from family, losses experienced but not close to family until later.

After the war I elected to actively participate in one conflict which I deemed justified and a following one not so much. Managed to stay out of a continuation conflict by arranging early discharge never regretted since.

All the above made me an observer and somewhat of a pacifist. Someone once said that the greatest of those are to be found in foxholes?

As stated in this forum : Wars are easily started but not ended.

In the 1950's a French colonel, Col. Trinquier I believe it was, wrote a book : Modern War about revolutionary warfare. We have heard other terminology such as counter revolutionary warfare, war on terror ( please ), and so on.

In the 1990's when the Great Socialist Camp came undone my hope was up for a beneficial change in the world. Did not last long, that hope.

Too much rambling of my part should just follow this thread.

Bernhard H. Holst

Hello: Interesting posts by the two gentlemen above.
Here is a small contribution from another oldtimer ( born in 1931) who has been slow in advancing with the rapidly advancing technology or better perhaps gadgetry in some instances. Just got a cellphone for use by my wife when by herself visiting the city ( Chicago ) or while driving in emergency situations. We gave up our rotary phone when one could no longer function with it. I consider some of these advances with mixed feelings such as cellphones in use while driving even walking, leading to distracted driving ( walking?) accidents. Not mentioning a considerable nuisance effect while used in public within hearing distance. Criminal minds are shown very fertile in use and abuse of electronic devices. The number of security updates for my computer ( still on dial-up ) by Microsoft or Symantec nearly every other day is astounding.
Looking back it seems that we functioned quite well even though not "connected" all of the time.
I believe the hectic "lifestyle" of today may just lead to some shortening of life expectancy combined with certain ailments popping up more often. A pronounced impatience in everyday activities especially traffic is very noticeable. This oftentimes includes disregard for fellow humans and is very unpleasant to observe.
Just some quick observations by someone who has been around the block a few times.
Bernhard H. Holst