You couldn't make it up !

[quote="BobG"]
Did Fd Regts use Cents as OPs at that time?

There was a time, when we were in Nienburg as a Medium Regt, that we had OP Centurions Bob.

I've got a couple of photos of them somewhere.

With reference to the Osnabruck incident involving a Cent I think this might be an urban myth, it would have been difficult as bag charges were only introduced with Chieftain. Cents used cased ammo, a large tin of pom in front of a blank round would have caused considerable damaged to the gun and possibly the crew.

BobG

its funny that all theese stories (urban myths ) are all second hand tales,even i heard them as a new trooper to the 15/19H, another one you must of heard as well was the one about the cent/chieftan sinking into the lake at vogalsang never to be seen again, as i said second hand tales,i never heard from any one that done the deed.

Not forgetting the one concerning the guy who stole the HMLC Stalwart and swam it across the Channel, apparently he was subsequently employed by Alvis in Research and Developement. I do know of a case involving 16 Regt, I think, who set fire to the Centre of Dortmund when a few of the guys had too may Dortmunders and decided to nick a Fuel Tanker.


40 Regt also got the blame for burning down the Gasthof on the road from the Guter Bahnhof to Trauen Camp.

dandc wrote:

its funny that all theese stories (urban myths ) are all second hand tales,even i heard them as a new trooper to the 15/19H, another one you must of heard as well was the one about the cent/chieftan sinking into the lake at vogalsang never to be seen again, as i said second hand tales,i never heard from any one that done the deed.

There were two stories, urban myth or not, that made my blood run cold.

One, from QOH, (there was a man's name on this one) ,told of how a couple of blokes were standing behind a Cent which was engaging targets on a range. Having fired, the tank reversed down the slope, standard drill, crushing one bloke in the process. I think the officers on the firing point might've had something to say about people standing behind tanks that were firing, somehow !

The other story was of a crew that dossed down under their tank. The story varied between a Cent of 10 HUSSARS or a Conqueror of 13/18 H.
During the night the tank sank in the soft soil, trapping and suffocating them.

God, imagine that !

dare i also relate to you the story of the bloke in your regiment/corps, the one that used to drag a piece of string around (imaganry dog on other end ) untill he got sectioned and discharged. i missed the one in my regt by about 2 years i think.

During the night the tank sank in the soft soil, trapping and suffocating them.

God, imagine that ! [/quote]


Probably goes back a long time, this sinking AFV tale. It was certainly current
in the 1950's when we were advised not to kip under any vehicle. And my
ex-tankie mate quotes chapter & verse of a similar happening told to him by a
colleague who knew a man who had heard about it from someone who swore it happened on the previous year's exercises.......... Probably based on fact, likely it happened more than once. On a recent TV prog. one of the old & bold from WW2 reckoned it was SOP to dig a shallow scrape in the ground, then drive the AFV over it to give protection from both weather & enemy activity whilst they kipped......... surprisingly, he never said shallow scrapes can fill with rainwater.

Certainly we were warned about the potential hazards & instructed never to unroll the blankets under a vehicle. We had a tp. cdr. who decided such a spot was a reasonable place to lay his head, he knew the Bedford QL wouldn't move without his say so. He regretted the decision when the patrolling guard decided to take a leak and irrigated both the back wheel & his bed space.

At Larkhill they fired a Honest John whilst it was still attached to the Launcher - load of people told me about that.

i heard another good one about a RA officer (who for some apparent reason was a pain in the arse ) it goes,that when he was in charge of a missile BTY,during some inspection he was quized about targeting and bearings amongst other things,the outcome was that on closer inspection it was found that he was actually aiming at Frankfurt,quick posting and bee in ear, some gunners wishfull thinking.

dandc wrote:

i heard another good one about a RA officer (who for some apparent reason was a pain in the arse ) it goes,that when he was in charge of a missile BTY,during some inspection he was quized about targeting and bearings amongst other things,the outcome was that on closer inspection it was found that he was actually aiming at Frankfurt,quick posting and bee in ear, some gunners wishfull thinking.

Frankfurt ?

From the British zone ?

dandc wrote:

dare i also relate to you the story of the bloke in your regiment/corps, the one that used to drag a piece of string around (imaganry dog on other end ) untill he got sectioned and discharged. i missed the one in my regt by about 2 years i think.

Couldn't have been our mob, he'd have had to white blanco the string !

I never came accross 15/19 much.

I know one night, 1971, I needed a gene change and was sent to rear echelon 15/19.

Having programmed our brains to understand Geordie, we arrived at the RQMS (T)'s place only for the man himself to speak to us with a Brummie accent you could've cut with a knife.

Do you remember him ? (It could even have been the QM(T) ).

I know one night, 1971, I needed a gene change and was sent to rear echelon 15/19.


[/quote]



Were you not happy with the colour of your eyes of summit?

i went on ERE from the 15/19 in 71, the RQMS(T)was a tall fair bloke his name was dave bloomfield,( not a geordie ) but do not know where he came from.

Shelldrake wrote:

I know one night, 1971, I needed a gene change and was sent to rear echelon 15/19.

Were you not happy with the colour of your eyes of summit? [/quote]

Pronounced "Jenny", you Caledonian peasant.

By the way, there's nothing even vaguely military about a German bird's Bristols !

dandc wrote:

i went on ERE from the 15/19 in 71, the RQMS(T)was a tall fair bloke his name was dave bloomfield,( not a geordie ) but do not know where he came from.

Dunno what his name was mate. We just called him "Sir" !

brum wrote:

Shelldrake wrote:

I know one night, 1971, I needed a gene change and was sent to rear echelon 15/19.

Were you not happy with the colour of your eyes of summit?

Pronounced "Jenny", you Caledonian peasant.

By the way, there's nothing even vaguely military about a German bird's Bristols ![/quote]



Can't get much more military than that. It must be in the Jennys.

I think the story of the 11th Hussars and Osnabruck is another BAOR myth

Cuxhaven Steve is our resident expert on the 30 Corps activities in Spring 1945 but I have done some parallel research into the origins of the name Quebec Barracks Osnabruck (including contact with the RBL still based in the city) as recorded elsewhere on this site.

The 11th Hussars were the Reconnaisance Regiment for the 7th Armoured Division who together with the 11 Armoured Division were under orders to push north as fast as possible to the Elbe following the Rhine Crossing. As a result Osnabruck was bypassed by the British Forces but surrendered to the Army Commando Battalions of the 1st Special Services Brigade (later renamed Commando to avoid use by the British of the initial SS). There was no mention of the 11th Hussars in this connection.

Incidentally the 11th Hussars were equipted with armoured cars not tanks at the time. Also as the Divisional Screen Force would have been spred across the entire front not concentrated in one particular area.

As an aside there was a nasty incident further north at this time when a Canadian Infantry Battalion destroyed a newly captured German village when their very popular CO was rumoured to have been shot and killed in the main street by an individual dressed in civilian clothes.

Finally the tank barrel through the Gastatte window myth, I can add the name of another famous Cavalry Regiment to the growing list of supposed incidents. Conversely can anyone substantiate the opposite where by Out of Bounds pubs on FTX Rule could be circumvented by thirsty tank crews when the barrel would be poked through the door/window and in return for cash the requisite cans would be pushed back down the barrel

Lots of gunner stuff on this net, but it's OK if it's RA lads who are doing the finger pointing.....

Some more of a similar sort :-

1. We had an OP officer who often mixed up his eastings & northings. Never saw logic in eastings running north/ south & northings running east/west. Good thing there was a safety crew out on live firing days. Ashamed to admit that was TA, not reg.

2. And when the L70 Bofors was fired electrically, a safety 2/Lt stood behind each gun. In his hand he had a switch which he pressed to activate the piece when a green flag replaced the red one on the point which faced out to sea. Layer tracked the target in reflector sight. thumbs down on firing lever to ensure thing went off as soon as it was clear to do so & 4 rounds a sec. zipped up towards the sleeve behind the Mosquito. Don't know how it was missed at the medical, but safety officer was red/green colour blind. It was rumoured the irate pilot wired back " I am towing this bastard not pushing it !" ( Sorry, another TA incident )

3. And one from Parliament........ Old ammunition stocks were being fired off by a Brit fd. arty bty at Sennybridge, some dropped outside the range boundary too close to a party of walkers. Questions were asked in the House like "....... isn't the minister alarmed that such a thing could happen ?". I think Profumo had to answer, he said "Indeed I am. I'm alarmed that cuts made by the previous government have resulted in old stocks of ammuntion being issued and that all of the party who were within 30 yards of the explosion are still alive ". ( Not TA this one ).

I must go to Specsavers before I delve back into my researches and get the facts about 11 Hussars.

JPW wrote:

I think the story of the 11th Hussars and Osnabruck is another BAOR myth

The 11th Hussars were the Reconnaisance Regiment for the 7th Armoured Division who together with the 11 Armoured Division were under orders to push north as fast as possible to the Elbe following the Rhine Crossing. As a result Osnabruck was bypassed by the British Forces but surrendered to the Army Commando Battalions of the 1st Special Services Brigade (later renamed Commando to avoid use by the British of the initial SS). There was no mention of the 11th Hussars in this connection

Normally I keep clear of WW2 history...but to add to JPW's post 1 Cdo Bde were under command 6 Airborne Div on the 4 Apr 45 took Osnabrück but at 1600 hrs command switched to 8 Corps as their 11 Armd Div was to the north of the town as JPW points out 8 Corps pushed on then 1 Corps were responsible for Onsbrück after VE day 3 Inf Div moved south from Bremen their RA units in the town by Jun 30 Corps District took over and British RA units under Canadian command moved in...watch this space for more details...

The story about the Stalwart swimming the Channel is certainly not urban myth, nor second-hand in my case. I was attached to the 11th Hussars in August 1965 and the chap concerned "borrowed " the Stolly in September and made his attempt at the crossing. After he had served his time in Colchester, I did a piquet with him and he explained, probably for the umpteenth time how it was done. He didn't actually succeed in his attempt because the hand throttle broke and he was unable to steer and keep the revs up at the same time so he turned back and made landfall in France where he was apprehended. He wasn't employed by Alvis, although there was much speculation that, had he succeeded, he would had been offered a job, instead, he carried on soldiering for some years, ending up, I believe, with the Army Air Corps.

by chance i also ended up in the Army Air Corp. there is a slim chance i know him,if you could PM me his name.

Now we know, Chapter and Verse. They didn't teach him to fly by any chance, csqnblackhat?

I really don't know, Shelldrake, it was being discussed at one of the Cherrypickers reunions a couple of years ago.

[quote="csqnblackhat"]The story about the Stalwart swimming the Channel is certainly not urban myth, nor second-hand in my case. I was attached to the 11th Hussars in August 1965 and the chap concerned "borrowed " the Stolly in September and made his attempt at the crossing. After he had served his time in Colchester, I did a piquet with him and he explained, probably for the umpteenth time how it was done. He didn't actually succeed in his attempt because the hand throttle broke and he was unable to steer and keep the revs up at the same time so he turned back and made landfall in France where he was apprehended. He wasn't employed by Alvis, although there was much speculation that, had he succeeded, he would had been offered a job, instead, he carried on soldiering for some years, ending up, I believe, with the Army Air Corps.

I remember this story circulating. At the time the general opinion among us was that once the ocean got the slightest ripple going the bloody Stalwart would've been swamped and he'd've gone down like a brick. Maximum speed four knots, I seem to recall.
I must say it's refreshing to see at least one urban myth confirmed as true. (Where was this wazzock going again ? Oh yes, Ireland. Roger).

Here's another.
Early sixties, a soldier, dissatisfied with his lot, defected to The Glorious Peoples Proletariat.
The Commies pumped what little info they could out of the mental midget then sent him back to face the wrath of his capitalist masters.
I have no beef with the Welsh but I think the story went that he was from the Royal Welsh Fusiliers.
Over.