I SPY

Hi all, I've been busy lately so no posts but came on today. Looking at the plot for who is on-line I note we have a visitor from Moscow watching our every move.
Until this person is proven to be innocuous we should all be careful with what we say about modern BAOR affairs and also anything from the past regarding Signals, Int, EW etc etc

We used to get a laugh at them back in the 60's, watching us watching them watching us. Everytime we had a crash out ( exercise Quicktrain), there they were with their little notebooks, lined up like a load of trainspotters, taking notes.

We used to listen to them sending their messages back to Moscow on a regular basis. When I asked why, since we knew exactly who and where they were, didn't we just arrest them, I was told " Better the Devil you know than the Devil you don't", so we left them to it.

If we have a visitor from Moscow, we should invite him in for a pint and tell him if he wants to know what the Brit army is up to, he should just click onto the BBC news channel rather than listen to us lot chewing the fat about our Glory Days and extolling the virtues of obsolete kit that was probably designed in the 1930's.

[quote="Nick642"]
If we have a visitor from Moscow, we should invite him in for a pint and tell him if he wants to know what the Brit army is up to, he should just click onto the BBC news channel rather than listen to us lot chewing the fat about our Glory Days and extolling the virtues of obsolete kit that was probably designed in the 1930's.

Ah such cynicism, and from one so young ! (1930s ? What mob were you in mate ? )

Not long after we were afflicted with Honest John, we were exercising in a clearing off a main road, when someone noticed a SOXMIS marked car, the occupants of which were boredly going through the motions of monitoring our activity.
Suddenly a red-faced captain came running over to me and said something like "We'll catch those buggers, get after them !".
Off we went, us in our Austin Champ, pusuing them, in their Opel Diplomat.
I think I'd got into third gear before they became a dot on the horizon !

Well!Well!..History keeps repeating itself.. On exercise in the late 60's, I was woken up and told to man the c42 in the back of a 1/4 ton Landrover. Next thing, I'm getting chucked all over the place as we charged through the forest tracks trying to keep up with a Ferret with some Cavalry 2nd Lt. doing the 'Follow me chaps" thing. Turns out a SOXMIS vehicle had been spotted in our exercise area and we were out to get him. Never got a sniff of him but it was good fun.

The 1930's quip referred to most of the vehicles we were issued in 22 Sigs. ( Circa 1965) e.g. Humber 1 Tonner, Austin K9, Humber Pig and Austin Champ. All of which were derived from mechanical designs from the 1930's. The Champ B40 engine, in particular, owes its origins to the Rolls Royce 20 hp which actually pre dates 1930. ( I regularly drive a 1929 RR 20 HP at weddings funnily enough and it goes a damn site faster than a Champ or Ferret ever did).
The Vintage RR:- http://www.flickr.com/photos/nickspartan/7859321032/in/set-72157627240294241

From the Champs B40, we get the B60 of the Ferret and the B80 of the Saracen/Saladin .... all derived from and closely related to a pre war design. Even the motorcycles we used ( Triumph 500) was a 1937 design.

Having said that, My old Saracen never broke down .... can't say the same for it's replacement, the FV432.

Much of that old kit was still in use by the time I left 7 Sigs in '69 although we had trashed most of the Triumph 500's on the Signals Display Team selection course ... I think we left a few undamaged BSA 350's but I suspect that they had been hidden away from us by the REME Sgt. who treated them as his private property.

At least they had the decency to issue us with a decent rifle...!

I too was staioned in Churchill Bks Nick642, (64 - 69) and well remember the vehs on 22 Sig ET as I wended (wound?) my weary way over to the Church Army. Most of them were parked outside and reminded me of a military scrapyard. How many vehs did you possess, must have been around 500?

@Sheldrake.
I guess you were in 42 Med Regt RA. Didn't you have a mad Major with a horse..?

Anyway, not sure how many old bangers the Regt had but Recce Troop had approx a dozen of them. When I first saw the line up of scrap when I arrived at 22 Sigs in '65, I thought this was normal for the Brit Army, having just passed my driving test in a 1 ton Humber at JTR Troon.
Through time, we trimmed down to two FV432 command posts, half a dozen LR FFR rebro detachments and a SWB Landrover for the OC.

We still had '58 pattern webbing in '69 and some of the Compo rations were positively ancient.

At least we had a good rifle ( they never trusted us with bullets for it though!)

Nick642 wrote:

@Sheldrake.
I guess you were in 42 Med Regt RA. Didn't you have a mad Major with a horse..?

Ahhh, that would be Major Smith and his dog Grock. He was the BC of 68 Bty and 2IC, DeeZ will have some stories to tell I am sure he was 68 Bty Clk.

malaboman wrote:

Hi all, I've been busy lately so no posts but came on today. Looking at the plot for who is on-line I note we have a visitor from Moscow watching our every move.
Until this person is proven to be innocuous we should all be careful with what we say about modern BAOR affairs and also anything from the past regarding Signals, Int, EW etc etc

Probably some sad old git (like us) from the 3rd Shock Army trying to get his reminiscences on here.

I'd love to hear what the other lot were up. So if you are listening Sergei, let us know what you were up to ( apart from swallowing copious amounts of Vodka and kicking the crap out of each other)

(ahem !) Try to avoid mentioning Afghanistan-or Chechnya come to think of it !

brum wrote:

(ahem !) Try to avoid mentioning Afghanistan-or Chechnya come to think of it !

We are not doing too well with Afghanistan ourselves.