Firefly

Good order too! So glad to see these acts being rewarded, in a conflict which most of the British Public seem to have either forgotten about or are somehow ashamed of. These guys are out there risking their lives for Democracy and our free way of life. I'm sure they deserve every award, well done boys!!.....

Surely the Medal of Honour can't be compared to the Victoria Cross? What do other members think of this? I am NOT undermining the worth of the Medal of Honour. If anything, i feel the Victoria Cross is actually TOO hard to be awarded. I second Foo Fighter's post, i'm sure i remember reading his point somewhere....

I read that they're thinking of 'mothballing' one of our 'carriers' (in other words get rid of it by letting it rot in Portsmouth) They also want to considerably downsize the surface fleet. If they do this, there's no way we could defend the Falklands again. I think that they see the Navy's role in any future conflict as being part of some huge multi-national force, never having to operate independently. Lets not forget, one of the main factors in Argentina's decision to invade the Falklands in the first place was the fact that Thatchers government wanted to get rid of Endurance (the ship permanantly assigned to 'protect' the islands), even though she annually only cost about two million pounds to keep there, a small price to pay. They saw how obviously little we valued the islands so thought we wouldn't put up a fight if they invaded. Of course we did put up a fight to save our soil, and NOT because it would win Thatcher the next election, oh no!!!!!!!

What on earth is that?! Never seen it before. Had a flick through the books but no luck. Is it some sort of adapted Allied truck? Very odd looking......

:excl: :excl: :violent-smiley-017: :violent-smiley-017: :violent-smiley-017:

I believe that Wittmann actually lost his tank upon his return into Villers-Bocage, being hit by a 6-pdr anti-tank gun (the crew all escaped). It says a lot for the Tiger I that it was actually hit several times in the first engagement, including one from a Sherman Firefly with it's 17-pdr gun, yet remained undamaged. Very interested by the 'Typhoon theory' in Wittmann's demise, i had never heard of this till now. I actually read an account by the man who claimed to have killed Wittmann, the gunner in a Firefly. He said he never fired another shot after that day because they made him a radio-operator! I'm sure Foo will enlighten us with more Wittmann facts at some point.......

You would have to be a bloody good shot to shoot down a plane from 1957!!! Or did hand-held SAM's count?!!

Make no apologies for the length of the post Barney, it made an excellent read.... It's always amazing to read of the sacrifices made by normal men in WWI, many of whom probably won't have even understood what the conflict was all about (as if anyone did?). They were just looking out for their mates, putting their own lives on the line in the process.

As Moderator of the forum i must 'plug' this place........... The Tank Museum in Bovington, Dorset, houses the worlds largest collection of Tanks and armoured fighting vehicles. The Museum is only ?10 to enter, and to become a lifelong 'friend' of the museum is very reasonably priced too. This is NOT like a big city museum. There aren't security guards or cctv, you can just explore in peace for hours. The museum is home to the world's only working Tiger I, which i had the honour to see during it's first public outing at 'Tankfest 2004' The surroundings could not be better suited. You will regularly see Challenger II's live-firing nearby on the Bovington training ground (which is about 100 yards from the main road into Lulworth, ear-spilitingly awesome to watch!!!!!) Accomodation is cheap (a good B&B is ?40 per-night), and there are some lovely country pubs. As you may have guessed, i am a regular visitor. Doors open at 1000 and close at 1700. Well worth a visit.......... www.tankmuseum.co.uk for full details........

Great story Barney. You mentioned North Weald. I am actually going to the old North Weald airfield at the end of the month for an advanced driver-training day (it's used by a Welsh company called 'First Lotus'.) Do you know if everything from WWII is long since gone from there, or are there still 'relics' dotted about that may be of interest to me?

It's a great testament to the design of these things though. In an age where appliances are not expected to last five minutes, it's fantastic to see a 60 year-old piece of world-changing history up and running. Quite how the D-Day veterens would feel seeing it painted bright yellow and full of German and Japanese tourists is another matter.......

I thought the M16 was a pretty good piece of kit in terms of 'all-round' useability? I've always read how rugged the AK was but was under the impression it wasn't very accurate and was just a bit too rugged. Not suprised you mention the German stuff, is anything they make bad?!!

Slightly off topic, but from i what i recall of Portsmouth when i was there it was a right dump. I was waiting for a ferry to Le Havre at the time and was rather the worse for wear on the old grog, hence no visit to Victory. Won't be rushing back.... :food-smiley-004:

Have any of the Gentlemen ever visited HMS Victory in Portsmouth? Something i've always meant to do, must get round to it at some stage..........

Not an area i know much about. What is the 'best' modern Assault Rifle? By this i mean the best all-round, soldier-friendly piece of kit? We all know the problems with the British SA80 but i've heard this is one of the most accurate rifles. The Eastern Bloc stuff is obviously rugged and easy to maintain, but is it any good? Opinions please......

Truly frightening. What the hell happens to a person to make them like that? And perhaps of greater concern is why his Government went to such great lengths to have him freed. I never understand why Governments do this to 'protect their own'. It's like the British Government with the Camp X-Ray suspects. As far as i'm concerned they can rot there. Perhaps a subject for a different Forum...........

I've seen it (them?) too. Don't know how many there are but i'm pretty sure they're the old American 'DUKW'. About 20,000 of these things were built from 1942 onwards. Although they obviously now look stupid painted yellow with 'Frog' written up the side, isn't it great to see a piece of history still being used? (I saw one going round Parliament Square and the rear 'ladder' ripped the front off a Honda Civic trying to undertake on the corner!!). I was up in Liverpool recently and they have them there too. The bloody thing was actually in the water! Brave tourists indeed, rather them than me!!!!

Aboukir was struck by a torpedo from U9 on 22 Sept 1914 whilst on North Sea patrol. Hogue went to her rescue, thinking she was on the 'safe' side of her having seen a preiscope. However, U9 had repositioned and hit her too. Cressy was the third ship to be hit. 1459 men lost their lives. The ships were all Cressy-class cruisers. Very old and slow ships. They had meant to be patrolling a zig-zag course as protection against u-boats, but had not been doing so because of the lack of any percieved threat by their Captains. Captain Otto Wessigen of U9 was killed aboard U29 in 1915, when she was rammed by Dreadnought

What does Mr Vice Chairman think of a Challenger 2 vs Merkava 4 scenario? Is the Challenger a better 'all round' MBT, the Merkava being more specific in it's role? I would have said Challenger myself, but the Mk4 Merkava really does narrow the margin between them.

What can i say? Two things gave it away. Upon closer inspection it was the anti-aircraft guns on top of the turret, and the shape of the bit of funnel visible in the photo that gave it away. These meant she couldn't be an Iowa-class ship. I really must get out more..........

Just been studying some photgraphs and i think the ship may actually be North Carolina? Tell us soon Mr Chairman......... :ph34r:

All four ships i mentioned were re-commissioned during the Reagan era in the 80's. The cost was astronomical. Can't remember which one fired into Beirut though. None remain in service, they were de-commissioned a few years ago. The Yanks have 8 Battleships preserved as memorials to their history, and the brave men who served on them. The British have preserved, suprise suprise, NONE. Obviously far more important things to spend money on. Then again who cares, all these ships did was preserve our freedom and save us from invasion................. flame

The only Acorn i've found was the name ship in the Acorn-Class of Destroyers, built between 1910-11. There were 20 ships in this Class, and Acorn was scrapped in 1921.

I think she's American, one of the four Iowa class Battleships i think. This means she will be either Iowa, Missouri, New Jersey, or Wisconsin. Probably not Missouri because she's at Pearl Harbour and it doesn't look hot enough!