Firefly

Ah yes! I remember the final scene, the bombs falling in the water. Little would the u-boat men have thought the base would now be home to French trawlers!

Is it true that 80% of German u-boat men died in WWII?

I think most of it is still there. Saw a programme on the Discovery Channel a few weeks ago with plenty of info.

How many people died at the factory?! Terrible. Strange looking vehicle...

Just finished a lovely pork lunch at Mr Vice Chairmans!

I think the Bradley is a perfectly good piece of kit for the job, but it's certainly not outstanding. I remember many moons ago when they were actually going through the process of building it, i heard that they wanted to scrap the entire project, but couldn't because it had cost too much. They had to crack on with it because it was too late to go back.

I also heard that they rigged most of the field trials to make it look far better than it actually was. The sheer cost of the project would probably equip most European armies for years............

I heard that a certain European partner in the project was none too pleased about it being called 'Typhoon' for certain *ahem* historical reasons?!

It's certainly cost enough so lets hope it was worth it. What i have seen and read leads me to believe that it is very good indeed.

The M26 Pershing tank mounted the 90mm gun. This tank entered service very late in the war. The 90mm gun, although a massive improvement on earlier efforts, was not considered to be a match for the famed '88'.

Krupp Protze? Is that Czech or something?

I've been looking at the picture with Foo over a beer. He made a good point, the grill of the truck looks like an Alfa Romeo one. In my opinion this is not a German truck, hence my post about it possibly being an adapted captured Allied vehicle. I therefore think it's Italian. We would know for sure if it had six reverse gears (sorry, please moderate if necessary!)

Any other views on what it could be?...........

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:

A Ha!! Thought it wasn't Stalingrad, they must have knocked that down after the war, idiot.....

Not too hot on U-Boat bases, i take it that's France then? Brest? Le Havre?

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?!!

A stab in the dark....

Could it be a certain Grain Elevator somewhere in Russia???!!!

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..........