I know some of you will be familiar with SLTA or Soltau as it was usually called, and it was indeed a lovely place... if you were into nature! I mean lets face it there wasn't a fat lot there! Because we were posted to Soltau (1 ADOC Bournmouth Barracks) the OC would have us on the area at every opportunity but we wouldn't drive from camp directly to the area, that would be far to easy (and take ten minutes) the OC would drive the company around northern Germany for hours to give the impression we had travelled a long way to get to the exercise area, and indeed by the time we got there... we had.

And another thing about SLTA...

If there are any Tankies listening in, fill your effin holes in!

Explanation: I drove around the area in pitch darkness looking for the waggon in front who "just for a laugh" had switched his convoy light off just before a sharp turn which I have to say we often did to each other. I suddenly felt the front of the waggon (which was an old AEC ten tonner or knocker) fall, and water splashed up the windscreen. Kin hell I thought as we scrambled through the cupola, there aren't any rivers on SLTA are there? in the darkness I'd driven into a bloody great hole that was previously occupied by a Chieftain (oh yes it was) of course the hole had filled with water since they buggered off. We had no radio so crawled into our dos bags on the canopy, recovery found us the next day as we were cooking bacon roll on a hexi cooker on top of a half submerged knocker.

The reason troops today don't have exercises like this is because health and safety law has banned driving on convoy lights unless each vehicle has at least two escort vehicles with flashing beacons and all occupants are wearing flourecent vests and scuba kit.

Progress.

LOL, apologies not necessary Soprano, dodging tank scrapes on Soltau was all part of life's rich tapestry.

We once acted as "enemy" for a tank regiment (Royal Hussars if memory serves) on Soltau. The plan was for us to get close enough to a tank (Chieftain) to hit it with headlight mainbeam from a Landrover, this was obviously done at nighttime. It was quite easy to sneak up on the beast and zap it with a burst of mainbeam, not so easy to get away from it. To our horror we discovered the cheating sodding cavalry were not sticking to tracks as we had to! Incredible how fast a Chieftain can go through bushes. We did this over two nights but due to the damage inflicted to the Landrovers (x2) as we bounced off trees in blind panic trying to escape, this little exercise was not repeated.

There is nothing more frightening than being of foot in the dark with tanks all around you, scared me witless on one Autumn Sales.

I remember a story that was going around a number of years ago (too many to remember).

It apparently involved a Land Rover or Jeep. It was said that two soldiers (ID unknown) decided to scare the **** out of two cyclists riding down a track at night.

After the resulting bang, it was discovered that the "cyclists" were the sidelights of a Centurion with the consequent damage to both softskin and occupants being rather severe.

Paul.

It was very disorientating when the gits did that (revved the nads of em) we could obviously hear them, and we knew they were close but in the darkness it was often difficult to tell which direction they were comming from. It was at this point that dents appeared in Landrovers as we bounced off trees in blind panic...would this be when the crew were laughing like drains per chance...

PS, if you were in a Landrover and due to terrain and darkness you had to crawl along at walking pace and you suddenly saw the hull of a Chieftain in your rear view mirror trust me, two things spring to mind, it's too bloody close and it's too bloody fast.

I don't care if it was a joke or not, me and tanks don't mix, especially at night.

Oh boy oh boy, SLTA yeh what a luvly place. Had my 21st there, heard the first Muhamed Ali fight over a tank radio (C10) there (we, 1st RHA had two cents per Bty as OP vehicles since we were in support of QOH)

I know what is meant by scaring the s--t out you by the sound of tanks at night too.

In a rest area one night I drew guard. Waggon line picket 8-10 and 2-4. About halfway thrugh my second stint, tucked up nice and cosy in back of AEC with a fag and suddenly the whole bloody world shook. Took a peep out in the blacknes, saw nothing, but the noise and clatter, oh boy! Then I knew what it was but couldn't place where from.
Thought about scurrying down to the guard biv but, No! I didn't know where they were and my thoughts were, up in back here at least I can run the length of this bloody truck. If one hits front, I run to back and jump, if it hits back, run tother way and I'm in the cab.
After a while (a long while) I did get brave and ran like hell toward the bivy area only to be hailed by ROS on his way to guard biv.
Bloody QOH!

GHB

Hi Guys
I would still like someone to explain to me how come all the Military equipment used to get bogged in but Wolfgang's Bratty van could travel where no other vehicle would dare to tread.

Cause he could ????

I was put off tanks for good on one exercise, and I think it was Saltau, It was nearly 50 years ago. We were doing advance to contact at night, at, I suppose, brigade level as we had tanks in support. Moving to the start point we followed some tanks by convoy light along one of the tracks and they turned right we followed and the vehicle in front stopped suddenly having run into the remains of a Champ that had just been run over by a tank It had been occupied at the time by some umpires. The tank had cut the corner and not seen the Champ sitting quietly in the bushes. The umpires were of course officers with maps which probably explains why they chose to park where they did.

In 16 years I only knew of two exercise fatalaties. The first was an accident at nightime where the driver of a Ferret was killed. The second was a despatch rider who crashed into a Chieftain AVLB, again at nightime. On this occasion I went to the funeral, his wife was inconsolable.

Looking back, exercises were bloody dangerous. Particularly where night moves and vehicles were involved, I remember many accidents and near misses that were largely ignored. I suppose exercise accidents were factored in at Brigade and considered an acceptable risk.