Serving through the German Winter

We had a bottle with said antifreeze - it was inside the guardroom - the Trg Sgt ordered it be put inside, on the shelf by the radiator so that the Gd Comd could always see it..... SENIOR RANKS CAN BE THICK AS PIG SHIT LOL

brrowe wrote:

It's remarkable how topics seem to drift in various directions, but getting back to army dentistry, I had my very first filling by an army dentist in Osnabruck (possibly Roberts Barracks, because where I was, Belfast Barracks, I don't think the facilities were there) It was completely successful, relatively painless and lasted more than ten years.

I can't imagine undergoing a procedure that lasted more than ten years!!! Awfully slow dentist, but thorough!! LOL

German civilian dentists used...was it arsenic?....in their fillings. My mom had a fair amount of dental work courtesy of wearing a bridge since she was a child and upon returning to Canada one of the first things her new dentist said was "OMG....who did this work???" "A German dentist....why?" "I'm surprised you're still walking and breathing!!" or words to that effect. Apparently he dug it all out and refilled....OUCH....

I don't recall that alcohol/ethanol thing at all in the '70's? and god knows I did plenty of guards and guard commanders in my time.

I think, Jim, not that many vehicle parks in JHQ type places which didnt have their own permanently manned MT hut.... Nice, cosy and warm with TV, Video and ,kitchen where you served mate HEHEHE

ah good point Martin.

The three guard rooms that JHQ had on the main entrances were a sad place to stag on - I liked the RMP duty station when I was an AMP (as opposed to an RMP) as I ended up chatting to the German coppers most of the time.

I remember that anything in the LAD in park or outpark had to have its antifreeze read every day. it was a really detested job going round and taking all the readings

steve jones wrote:

I remember that anything in the LAD in park or outpark had to have its antifreeze read every day. it was a really detested job going round and taking all the readings

God yes. The hydrometer used to be in a big brown box, I remember.

It was supposed to be a part of the driver's First Parade checks but they didn't like the job either !

The anti-freeze was AL3 wasn't it ?

Brum, it was AL 3 but later changed to AL 39 - around about the same time as Degrees changed to Mils. Or didn't you know about that either?

Shelldrake wrote:

Brum, it was AL 3 but later changed to AL 39 - around about the same time as Degrees changed to Mils. Or didn't you know about that either?

Yeh whatever but unless you added coke it tasted like shit!

Shelldrake wrote:

Brum, it was AL 3 but later changed to AL 39 - around about the same time as Degrees changed to Mils. Or didn't you know about that either?

AL 39 ? Look mate, I'm happy I remembered AL3 !

Degrees to Mils, with that I go way back, to my OP Ack days I think.

Teabag wrote:

Shelldrake wrote:

Brum, it was AL 3 but later changed to AL 39 - around about the same time as Degrees changed to Mils. Or didn't you know about that either?

Yeh whatever but unless you added coke it tasted like shit!

LOL PMSL,

When I was stationed at the REME Data centre in Woolwich, I lived in the QE Hospital mess, They used to make this concoction with surgical alcohol and orange juice, the army powdered stuff, that was rocket fuel indeed teabag.

"Serving through the German Winter" seems to have wandered erratically to
London SE 18

When were you in Woolwich then Jim ?

Ha Ha Road - nothing to laugh about.

Shelldrake (Thu Dec 16, 2010 9:16 am) wrote:

Ha Ha Road - nothing to laugh about.

I used to think it was a daft name to give a road until I realised what a Ha Ha was.

Dragging us back from Sarf East London then !

Scraping the ice from my windscreen yesterday morning, I was reminded of a car that a Sgt in our Regt had in Hemer in '71.

He'd bought it from a departing Canadian the previous year. The car was fitted with a heating system which, working from a timer, switched itself on and circulated warm air around the engine and passenger compartment so that the driver came out to a warm, defrosted car and was able to get in and drive off straight away.

When he told me that the heater worked on petrol I was a bit sceptical but some months later as I drove home one morning from duty there, in the middle of a row of refrigerated motors was the ex-Canadian car, all nicely defrosted and waiting for it's happy owner, (smug bastard !).

I wonder, was this system Canadian/American ? I don't ever remember seeing it since and I've never heard of modern cars being so equipped. I'd be nervous of a system that burned petrol like that but even so, what a great idea !

Hi Brum
Google "Standheizung" available in Europe as an add on to almost any car...regarding MFO boxes not one in sight we have "Umzugkisten" a cardboard box system that cost us nothing they look 3rd or 4th hand...from a friend and will go to the recycling when we unpack 'up north'
Cheers
Steve - packing almost done!

Thanks for that Steve.

Funny how so little is known about Standheizung, I bet it costs an arm and a leg to install.

Never, ever heard of that. I know that in Alberta, most of the residential car parks were fitted with an electric socket to which you could hook up your car, this provided a trickle charge to the battery. In the UK you could buy, what looked like the bottom part of a Blue Flame heater, which you lit and put under the engine on cold nights. Just been looking at Standheizung on the German Amazon, seems they are still obtainable for between 600 - 900 Euros - one lives and learns.

In Canada, I believe that most cars have heater coils in the cylinder block, which when the car is plugged in keeps the coolant warm and hence the engine, this makes for a much quicker warm up of the interior.

Bob

BobG wrote:

In Canada, I believe that most cars have heater coils in the cylinder block, which when the car is plugged in keeps the coolant warm and hence the engine, this makes for a much quicker warm up of the interior.

Bob

Also reduces engine wear, so I'm told. Incidentally, one reason diesel engines outlive petrol, is that when a petrol engine is started, raw fuel washes the oil of the cylinder walls, whereas with a diesel you are injecting oil into the cylinders. My old Vauxhall Corsa has 156,000 on the clock and burns no oil.
Digressing again.

This thread is going to end up in a discussion about a Cross Dressing Warrant Officer in the REME - how unlikely is that?

Shelldrake wrote:

This thread is going to end up in a discussion about a Cross Dressing Warrant Officer in the REME - how unlikely is that?

But I knew of one who came out of his tent one cold morning while on exercise in the Nottingham area , dressed in silk pajamas.

The engine of my old Beetle during the winter, would turn a few times and then the battery went flat. I converted it to 12 Volts and my first job with it was to jump start a Bedford RL.

If they were so bloody clever in the cold, how come loads of them froze to death outside Moscow, Leningrad and Stalingrad?

Well, what did expect if they were wearing silk pyjamas ?