I am a fairly frequent visitor to your site so I will no doubt get the notification on one of my future visits - Thanks OOTFOriginally Posted by SHAWZIE
I'll look forward to reading that one when it comes out!
Hey I think I saw Nigel Lamb get a mention at your site a while ago? I got his autograph at the Red Bull Air Races last year without realising he was ex-RhAF. Seems a nice guy. But then I guess if your day job alternated between air racing and flying Spitfires you would be always cheerful!
Anybody remember these? 2
Found better photo in my bin...
Tenting Tonight
A 74" reach? Do the back of your wrists have drag marks?5' 9" - but I have a 74" reach.
I concur, the M-14 is the finest shooting iron ever developed by man or the Gods!
Better photo of my old FN... Also good shots of my cigarettes
(Berkley as I recall... quit smoking in '85) and my butt...
Alamo at Kariba
When I first arrived in Rhodesia an unlikely set of circumstances put me in the company of a dentist (major in the reserve) and his friends on a trip to the Cutty Sark at Lake Kariba. They took me to dam. My information was that 50% of Rhodesia's power from dam, but *all* of Zambia's... and power generation equipment on *our* side so it behooved them to behave at the dam site...
But as guards on their side could wind up with too much chibuku or dagga... "tourist facility" of sandbags set up... Most times no problems...
On a less happy note: Dentist (I think his first name Ron?) was about to be arrested not long after Mugabe took power for being part of an (actual) plot against Mugabe... When police broke into his home they found him dead of some nasty mix of chemicals...
Last edited by Yankee Papa; 01-07-2009 at 05:21 PM. Reason: Spelling from damn to dam
As I have mentioned before, I was stationed for 3 years at 2nd Independant Company in Kariba. No matter the % of power going to which country... the loss of this facilities ability to supply power would have been catastrophic. The placement of guards in and around the dam wall was one of our functions. On numerous occasions I had the opportunity to tour the dam wall as duty NCO - one of those "pain in the butt" duties but ... necessary nonetheless. As I recall, we placed guards at 3 different levels / areas. 1 Main Building / Control room 2. Road level - top of dam wall & 3. Turbine room or more specifically at the river level just above the tail-races (fishing was good there until some officer decided to shut us down)
OOTF
[quote=Yankee Papa;3821294]A 74" reach? Do the back of your wrists have drag marks?
Nope, even though I have short legs...I'll never forget being on the outside position of a sweep line going through a maize field near Mtoko to contact in Apr/79 that was being led by 6' 6" Lt. Hartley who was on the inside of the line.
Whenever he wheeled the sweepline to turn on his position it took about 20 of my little steps to stay even with the guy next to me!!!
He kept shouting at me to keep up even though I was practically sprinting with all my gear on to stay in position...guess they never taught stepping short on the inside when wheeling about at the School of Infantry in Gwelo...???
What was that little blurb we had to memorize about the function of drill on the parade square and its' application to the battlefield?
No contact was made although the terrs had done a nice job of shooting up a Guard Force MAP vehicle - good grouping on the windshield with an RPD!
I am almost sent a 42Zulu into the underbrush at two sets of eyes I saw staring at me until a women working in the field shouted "Mira-Mira" and darted into the brush - she emerged moments later dragging two little piccanins about 4 or 5 years old by the hand scolding them (me?) in the process.
[quote=Yankee Papa;3821314]
But as guards on their side could wind up with too much chibuku or dagga... "tourist facility" of sandbags set up... Most times no problems...
Except the time (1976?) the Zambian Guards shot and killed 2 teenage Canadian girls from Ontario who were swimming on the Rhodesian side of the dam while on vacation.
The above two images are from the story here, http://hararetribune.com/harare-city...us-scouts.html on the arrest of two former RF soldiers in Zim.
Aaaah, what dan we say here?
Only that once again mugabes lack of education and syphilis tortured brain cell is again making its presence known.
When I read the first 2 of these posts about the shooting down of those Viscounts, exactly the same thoughts came to mind as those in the 2nd post. I think the question of Apartheid and Majority Rule was very much a "Cause celebre" at the time with celebrities and pop stars telling everyone who'd listen how wonderful African nationalists were and the Arabs were the "baddies" on the world stage with Israel seen as the victims. A similar thing happened not long ago with the "Left" telling us how wonderful the Muslims were. The problem is that when you come across Liberal/Left dogma they won't admit there is anything wrong with them or the people they are promoting. Let's face it, if I went out on the streets of the UK and called for people to kill Jews I would be in Prison before you could say Unilateral Declaration of Independance. However when certain Muslim Clerics said it, that action undermined the beliefs of the Left that all Muslims were wonderful and should be engaged rather than castigated. In the case of the Viscounts, I fear much the same could have happened. Dawson's Field stands out in my mind, as does the USS Vincennes shooting down the Iranian airliner, but, try as I might, I can't remember the shooting down of those aircraft.
Yankee Papa,
your rifle had the long flash hider typical of the British SLR (a few hundreds Australian L1A1s made their way to Rhodesia as well). When the Army changed for the FN (or SA R1) around 1966-67, all the SLRs went to the BSAP.
At the same time, it had a FN handguard (3 holes where the SLR has 2) - I suppose a replacement of damaged original wooden handguard.
I re-call the SLR was also given out to the Rhodesian Defence Regiment... did any of you guys ever make "Samanths" nite club or the disco at the Park Lane Hotel?????
Max, what/where was the "Terrace Cane" - was it the disco at the Park Lane Hotel?
Here is a pic of the "Terrace Kane" where we Troopies often went for the ritual Saturday afternoon piss-up!
Recognize any of these guys? I did not know them but I think they were soldiers.
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