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And to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference :-) Harry S Truman.
Explortastic!!
popcorn cassia, american orchid society garden, delray beach, florida
a dreary cold wet day here in the piedmont of north carolina, with snow and sleet expected overnight, a rarity for our neck of the woods in march. so a bright yellow post to brighten our day, take care :-)
We also got to try a kiddie-style watermark (aka, the kind children do in school). It was much more difficult than I expected.
Pippy lolling in the sun and looking rather mysterious. She seems to be saying, "I know something you don't know." What can she be hiding? Hopefully, a belly full of babies.
And before anyone asks, I wanted her to have one heat and hopefully one litter so I can keep one of her kittens. Then I'll have them both neutered and sell the rest. I've already got takers for all of her theoretical kittens.
Pippy had her first heat a couple of weeks ago and we had quite a few tomcats coming to call. One even invited himself into my kitchen! However, I don't know for sure that she's pregnant. It's early days. If she is, she'd have her kittens mid-April.
Watch this space.
St Andrew, Honingham, Norfolk
I had almost given up hope of seeing inside Honingham church, until my friend John told me he'd arranged for it to be open, and would I like to come along? In truth, I was wary about meeting a character I had encountered at the church some ten years previously; not so much for what had happened, but that I had written about it in some detail afterwards. I was a little apprehensive, therefore, to turn up and discover that the man opening the church was the same one I had met all those years before. But it didn't matter, because he didn't remember me, and probably had never read what I had written.
And I found I liked Honingham church rather more than I had expected to. There is a rich atmosphere of the last decade of the 19th Century and the first decade of the 20th, and the Victorian glass is really very good. It can't have much of a congregation, and I decided that it was essentially a churchwarden's hobby church, a fiefdom. He obviously did everything here, kept in in good order looking spick and span and shipshape, and locked it determinedly against anyone who wanted to see inside without attending a service. I imagined that even God would have to wipe his feet and mumble apologetically if he wanted to get inside. All well and good for now, but once the churchwarden has gone it will soon be lost to us.
In 2006, I wrote: This big, locked, Perpendicular building, the nave and chancel rebuilt by the Victorians, is surrounded by a wide graveyard. On the north side there are sparsely scattered headstones, but to the south the church is set within a wide murderous curve of the A47. To describe this church as a landmark on the road is to assume that it would be safe to look up from the wheel to spot it; the stretch of the road between here and Hockering has claimed more deaths than any other since the A47 was taken outside the villages. I'm not suggesting that the church is responsible for this, of course, just that spotting it shouldn't be one of your priorities.
If a Martian came down and landed in the graveyard of St Andrew, Honingham, what on earth he would make of it? Would he think it was an art object? A barn, or storage facility? Or would he search for an industrial purpose? Perhaps the tall pinnacles on the tower might suggest to him that he was at the site of a scientific experiment. If the Martian had any brains, and I assume that he would have if he'd made it this far, he might perceive that the road is a lot newer than the church, and perhaps he would decide that the church was a relic of the past, its function now sidelined, perhaps forgotten altogether. Indeed, he might wonder if the road had been built deliberately to speed humans past this building and the tall stones set around it.
Perhaps this was a dangerous place. Or, maybe, it was simply an embarrassing reminder of past superstitions, a haunted site. An unlucky place, perhaps. The Martian might watch the traffic hurtling past, the drivers deliberately not looking, and think yes, that must be right. Whatever he decided, it would have to be based on a survey of the exterior, because St Andrew is always locked, unless the Sunday club is in session. He wouldn't even be able to look through the windows, because they are filled with frosted quarries.
Eventually, he might find the porch, and think it is some sort of antechamber (not an entrance, of course, for the doors beyond are locked) and for a moment ponder the holy water stoup, now filled with an old birds nest. What on earth would he make, I wonder, of the signboard on the wall that reads in part:
Friend, you have come to this church. Leave it not without a prayer.
No one entering a house ignores him who dwells in it.
This is the house of God, and He is here.
Pray, then, to him who loves you, and bids you welcome, and awaits your greeting.
A lovely sentiment, no doubt; but the Martian would still be left locked out of the house of God - if it is the house of God, of course, for if the locks and chains keep out the stranger and the pilgrim, how on earth can it be that God is in there to bid us welcome?
My friend Peter had been trying to see inside this church for years. We came this way most recently in early March, 2006. The day had started in bright sun, but as we headed here from Marlingford the east wind blew sheets of glacial cloud above us, which turned grey and, as we parked the car, turned to snow. Parking is difficult; there is a layby, but you need to approach from the west to park here. Otherwise, there is a drive which goes up to the east end of thechurch, but this was already occupied by a large BMW estate. We parked in the layby, and sat in the car for a moment, watching the fat flakes thicken.
What to do? We decided that we might just as well get out and go and take a look. Either, by some miracle, the church would be open and offer us shelter, or we could confirm our prejudices about the perpetual locking of St Andrew and be on our way.
The south side of the church has been cleared of headstones, and they have been placed in two perfectly straight lines, about 15 m apart. What would the Martian make of this? Some sort of sports arena, perhaps? Or a place to worship the sun at the solstice?
Our Martian couldn't possibly be expected to know about the great lawnmower enthusiasm of the 1960s and 1970s, when so many graveyards were cleared like this one. But the dead have their revenge, and this wide open space is now scattered with an acne of molehills.
We got into the porch and tried the inner door, which was locked of course; although it did feel as though one great shove with a shoulder would probably open it. And that was when the heavens opened. The snow was so thick in the air we could only just make out the suicidal cars thrashing up the main road to and from the Midlands. Peter is a careful driver, and he didn't much fancy heading on in a blizzard, and there didn't seem much point getting caked in snow just to go back and sit in the car, so we sheltered from the weather in the porch, and read the notices miserably.
I noticed that the presentation to the living had been suspended, which sounds drastic but simply means that the parish can't afford a Rector. The annual accounts were posted, and I noticed that the total income for the year was roughly the same as the weekly income of the church I attend in the middle of Ipswich, so this is a small parish. Eventually, I exhausted the possibilities of the noticeboard, and, feeling that I had probably squeezed the last ounce of pleasure out of the porch, I gazed out at the graveyard. This was when I noticed something rather curious. The back of the BMW estate was open, and beyond the second line of gravestones a smartly dressed man was standing in the snow bashing molehills with a spade.
At first I thought this must be an act of devotion on the part of a parishioner, or simply a Saturday morning habit. And then I wondered if it might be some kind of East Anglian country lore: if in the snow you clear his stack, mister mole will not be back. Perhaps this man had been waiting for it to snow for months.
We watched him for a while, the snow blanketing the sound of his spade into silence, rendering it surreal. But the wind was vicious, and so we stepped back into the porch, and worked out where we wanted to go next. It was while we were pondering over the map that we heard footsteps, and looking up saw that the smartly dressed man had approached us. He looked at us quizzically.
"Just here out of interest?" he asked.
"Well, we'd like to be", I replied, indicating the door. "But the church is locked."
This was such a heavy hint that, once dropped, it hit the floor with a loud clang. Surely, if this man had a key, he'd give it to us, or let us in. But he just smiled sadly and nodded in agreement, as if to say yes, the church was locked, and there was nothing he could do about it. Perhaps he'd been trying to see inside for years as well. Instead, the three of us exchanged a few polite comments about the weather, and he wandered off back to the moles.
The snow gradually thinned, and at last it stopped. We stepped out, examining the sky for signs. An uneasy truce had set in. Just a thin dusting remained on the grass to show that it had ever snowed; the sun was edging to come out, the white rime on the green fading, but there were more sheets of greying clouds huddled off in the distance. It was time to go. We wanted to make a statement of some kind, and so we left the porch gates open, as if to suggest that the the doors were not barred, and that God was in His dwelling house waiting to bid a welcome.
But by the time we got back to the car and headed eastwards past the church, someone had already closed them.
Remembrance Sunday, 8 November 2015
Bill Speakman VC in the first wheelchair.
He was born in 1927 and brought up in Altrincham, Cheshire, and educated at Wellington School.
On 4 November 1951, William Speakman, a 25-year-old Private serving with 1st Battalion The King’s Own Scottish Borderers (KOSB), displayed one of the most outstanding examples of leadership and courage in British military history, recognised with the award of the Victoria Cross. His was one of only four awarded for the Korean War and the first VC to be invested by Queen Elizabeth II.
The Battalion had taken over the defence of a tactically important hill, nicknamed “United”, which had been captured by the Australians. The KOSB quickly set about improving the defences, taking in a plentiful supply of ammunition, particularly grenades, to withstand the expected Chinese counter attack. Following a heavy artillery barrage, a full scale assault from a Chinese Division of 6,000 men was pressed forward with great ferocity reports. For over four hours of intense fighting, Speakman rallied a group of five other soldiers, most senior to himself, and repeatedly charged the attacking waves of Chinese infantry. Outnumbered by at least ten to one, Speakman was reckoned to have thrown or rolled over 100 grenades at the enemy.
Having exhausted their ammunition and taken considerable casualties, the company was ordered to retire under cover of artillery and mortar fire, whilst in a final charge Speakman threw smoke grenades. The withdrawal with as many wounded as possible was accomplished in an orderly manner. Speakman and his Company Sergeant Major, both badly wounded, helped each other down the hill, before being evacuated by field ambulance.
The remainder of his military career was spent with the KOSB. He rose to the rank of Sergeant, serving in Malaya, Aden, Borneo, Germany and the UK. He retired from the Army in 1968.
After various false starts in ill-suited jobs, he joined the Merchant Navy where he had a successful second career as a Master at Arms with the Union Castle Line.
He emigrated to South Africa and took up flying microlights over game reserves. He later returned to Britain and spent a year as a pensioner at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, before going back to South Africa for a second time. Eventually he returned to Altrincham before retiring permanently as a Chelsea pensioner in 2015.
He died on 20 June 2018 in Chelsea, aged 90. His Victoria Cross is displayed in the National War Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh Castle. His ashes were buried in the United Nations Memorial Cemetery, South Korea on 19 February 2019.
In the United Kingdom, Remembrance Sunday is held on the second Sunday in November, which is the Sunday nearest to 11 November, Armistice Day, the anniversary of the end of hostilities in the First World War at 11 a.m. on 11 November 1918. Remembrance Sunday is held to commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts.
Remembrance Sunday is marked by ceremonies at local war memorials in most cities, towns and villages, attended by civic dignitaries, ex-servicemen and -women, members of local armed forces regular and reserve units, military cadet forces and uniformed youth organisations. Two minutes’ silence is observed at 11 a.m. and wreaths of remembrance poppies are then laid on the memorials.
The United Kingdom national ceremony is held in London at the Cenotaph in Whitehall. Wreaths are laid by Queen Elizabeth II, principal members of the Royal Family normally including the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge, the Duke of York, the Princess Royal, the Earl of Wessex and the Duke of Kent, the Prime Minister, leaders of the other major political parties, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Commonwealth High Commissioners and representatives from the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force, the Merchant Navy and Fishing Fleets and the civilian services, and veterans’ groups. Two minutes' silence is held at 11 a.m., before the laying of the wreaths. This silence is marked by the firing of a field gun on Horse Guards Parade to begin and end the silence, followed by Royal Marines buglers sounding Last Post.
The parade consists mainly of an extensive march past by veterans, with military bands playing music following the list of the Traditional Music of Remembrance.
Other members of the British Royal Family watch from the balcony of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
After the ceremony, a parade of veterans and other related groups, organised by the Royal British Legion, marches past the Cenotaph, each section of which lays a wreath as it passes. Only ticketed participants can take part in the march past.
From 1919 until the Second World War remembrance observance was always marked on 11 November itself. It was then moved to Remembrance Sunday, but since the 50th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in 1995, it has become usual to hold ceremonies on both Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday.
Each year, the music at the National Ceremony of Remembrance remains the same, following a programme finalised in 1930:
Rule, Britannia! by Thomas Arne
Heart of Oak by William Boyce
The Minstrel Boy by Thomas Moore
Men of Harlech
The Skye Boat Song
Isle of Beauty by Thomas Haynes Bayly
David of the White Rock
Oft in the Stilly Night by John Stevenson
Flowers of the Forest
Nimrod from the Enigma Variations by Edward Elgar
Dido's lament by Henry Purcell
O Valiant Hearts by Charles Harris
Solemn Melody by Walford Davies
Last Post – a bugle call
Beethoven's Funeral March No. 1, by Johann Heinrich Walch
O God, Our Help in Ages Past – words by Isaac Watts, music by William Croft
Reveille – a bugle call
God Save The Queen
Other pieces of music are then played during the march past and wreath laying by veterans, starting with Trumpet Voluntary and followed by It's A Long Way To Tipperary, the marching song of the Connaught Rangers, a famous British Army Irish Regiment of long ago.
The following is complied from press reports on 8 November 2015:
"The nation paid silent respect to the country's war dead today in a Remembrance Sunday service. Leading the nation in remembrance, as ever, was the Queen, who first laid a wreath at the Cenotaph in 1945 and has done so every year since, except on the four occasions when she was overseas.
Dressed in her customary all-black ensemble with a clutch of scarlet poppies pinned against her left shoulder, she stepped forward following the end of the two-minute silence marked by the sounding of Last Post by 10 Royal Marine buglers.
The Queen laid her wreath at the foot of the Sir Edwin Lutyens Portland stone monument to the Glorious Dead, then stood with her head momentarily bowed.
She was joined by King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, who was invited to the Cenotaph for the first time to lay a wreath marking the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands by British troops.
Watched by his wife Queen Maxima, who stood next to the Duchess of Cambridge in the Royal Box, the King laid a wreath marked with the simple message, 'In remembrance of the British men and women who gave their lives for our future.'
Wreaths were then laid by members of the Royal Family, all wearing military uniform: Prince Philip; then Prince Andrew, Prince Harry and Prince William at the same time ; then Prince Edward, Princess Anne and the Duke of Kent at the same time.
Three members of the Royal Family laying wreaths at the same time was an innovation in 2015 designed to slightly reduce the amount of time of the ceremony and thereby reduce the time that the Queen had to be standing.
Prince Charles attended a remembrance service in New Zealand.
The Prime Minister then laid a wreath. The Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, appeared at the Cenotaph for the first time. He wore both a suit and a red poppy for the occasion.
His bow as he laid a wreath marked with the words 'let us resolve to create a world of peace' was imperceptible – and not enough for some critics. Yet unlike the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Battle service earlier this year, Mr Corbyn did join in with the singing of the national anthem.
Following the end of the official service at the Cenotaph, a mammoth column more than 10,000-strong (some 9,000 of whom were veterans) began marching along Whitehall, saluting the Cenotaph as they passed, Parliament Street, Great George Street, Horse Guards Road and back to Horse Guard Parade. The Duke of Cambridge took the salute from the column on Horse Guards Parade.
Time takes its inevitable toll on even the most stoic among us, and this year only a dozen World War Two veterans marched with the Spirit of Normandy Trust, a year after the Normandy Veterans' Association disbanded.
Within their ranks was 95-year-old former Sapper Don Sheppard of the Royal Engineers. Sheppard was of the eldest on parade and was pushed in his wheelchair by his 19-year-old grandson, Sam who, in between studying at Queen Mary University, volunteers with the Normandy veterans.
'It is because of my admiration for them,' he says. 'I see them as role models and just have the utmost respect for what they did.'
While some had blankets covering their legs against the grey November day, other veterans of more recent wars had only stumps to show for their service to this country during 13 long years of war in Afghanistan.
As well as that terrible toll of personal sacrifice, the collective losses – and triumphs - of some of the country’s most historic regiments were also honoured yesterday.
The Gurkha Brigade Association - marking 200 years of service in the British Army – marched to warm ripples of applause. The King’s Royal Hussars, represented yesterday by 126 veterans, this year also celebrate 300 years since the regiment was raised.
They were led by General Sir Richard Shirreff, former Deputy Supreme Allied Commander of Nato and Colonel of the regiment who himself was marching for the first time.
'We are joined by a golden thread to all those generations who have gone before us,” he said. “We are who we are, because of those that have gone before us.' "
Cenotaph Ceremony & March Past - 8 November 2015
Summary of Contingents
Column Number of marchers
B (Lead) 1,754
C 1,298
D 1,312
E 1,497
F 1,325
A 1,551
Ex-Service Total 8,737
M (Non ex-Service) 1,621
Total 10,358
Column B
Marker Detachment Number
1 Reconnaissance Corps 18 Anniversary
2 43rd Reconnaissance Regiment Old Comrades Assoc 10
3 3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery Association 60
4 Royal Artillery Association 18
5 Royal Engineers Association 37
6 Royal Engineers Bomb Disposal Association 65 Anniversary
7 Airborne Engineers Association 24
8 Royal Signals Association 48
9 Army Air Corps Association 42
10 Royal Army Service Corps & Royal Corps Transport Assoc 54
11 RAOC Association 18
12 Army Catering Corps Association 48
13 Royal Pioneer Corps Association 54 Anniversary
14 Royal Army Medical Corps Association 36
15 Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers Association 48
16 Royal Military Police Association 100
17 The RAEC and ETS Branch Association 12
18 Royal Army Pay Corps Regimental Association 36
19 Royal Army Veterinary Corps & Royal Army Dental Corps 18
20 Royal Army Physical Training Corps 24
21 Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps Assoc 48
22 Royal Scots Dragoon Guards 30
23 Royal Dragoon Guards 78
24 Queen's Royal Hussars (The Queen's Own & Royal Irish) 12
25 Kings Royal Hussars Regimental Association 126
26 16/5th Queen's Royal Lancers 36
27 17/21 Lancers 30
28 The Royal Lancers 24 New for 2015
29 JLR RAC Old Boys' Association 30
30 Association of Ammunition Technicians 24
31 Beachley Old Boys Association 36
32 Arborfield Old Boys Association 25
33 Gallipoli & Dardenelles International 24
34 Special Observers Association 24
35 The Parachute Squadron Royal Armoured Corps 24 New
36 Intelligence Corps Association 48
37 Women's Royal Army Corps Association 120
38 656 Squadron Association 24
39 Home Guard Association 9
40 British Resistance Movement (Coleshill Research Team) 12
41 British Limbless Ex-Service Men's Association 48
42 British Ex-Services Wheelchair Sports Association 24
43 Royal Hospital Chelsea 30
44 Queen Alexandra's Hospital Home for Disabled Ex-Servicemen & Women 30
45 The Royal Star & Garter Homes 20
46 Combat Stress 48
Total 1,754
Column C
Marker Detachment Number
1 Royal Air Force Association 150
2 Royal Air Force Regiment Association 300
3 Royal Air Forces Ex-Prisoner's of War Association 20
4 Royal Observer Corps Association 75 Anniversary
5 National Service (Royal Air Force) Association 42
6 RAFLING Association 24
7 6 Squadron (Royal Air Force) Association 18
8 7 Squadron Association 25
9 8 Squadron Association 24
10 RAF Habbaniya Association 25
11 Royal Air Force & Defence Fire Services Association 30
12 Royal Air Force Mountain Rescue Association 30
13 Units of the Far East Air Force 28 New
14 Royal Air Force Yatesbury Association 16
15 Royal Air Force Airfield Construction Branch Association 12
16 RAFSE(s) Assoc 45 New
17 Royal Air Force Movements and Mobile Air Movements Squadron Association (RAF MAMS) 24
18 Royal Air Force Masirah & Salalah Veterans Assoc 24 New
19 WAAF/WRAF/RAF(W) 25
19 Blenheim Society 18
20 Coastal Command & Maritime Air Association 24
21 Air Sea Rescue & Marine Craft Sections Club 15
22 Federation of RAF Apprentice & Boy Entrant Assocs 150
23 Royal Air Force Air Loadmasters Association 24
24 Royal Air Force Police Association 90
25 Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service Association 40
Total 1,298
Column D
Marker Detachment Number
1 Not Forgotten Association 54
2 Stoll 18
3 Ulster Defence Regiment 72
4 Army Dog Unit Northern Ireland Association 48
5 North Irish Horse & Irish Regiments Old Comrades Association 78
6 Northern Ireland Veterans' Association 40
7 Irish United Nations Veterans Association 12
8 ONET UK 10
9 St Helena Government UK 24
10 South Atlantic Medal Association 196
11 SSAFA 37
12 First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (Princess Royal's Volunteers Corps) 12
13 Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen & Women 48
14 British Nuclear Test Veterans Association 48
15 War Widows Association 132
16 Gurkha Brigade Association 160 Anniversary
17 British Gurkha Welfare Society 100 Anniversary
18 West Indian Association of Service Personnel 18
19 Trucial Oman Scouts Association 18
20 Bond Van Wapenbroeders 35
21 Polish Ex-Combatants Association in Great Britain 25
22 Stowarzyszenie Polskich Kombatantów Limited 18 New
23 Royal Hong Kong Regiment Association 12
24 Canadian Veterans Association 10
25 Hong Kong Ex-Servicemen's Association (UK Branch) 24
26 Hong Kong Military Service Corps 28
27 Foreign Legion Association 24
28 Undivided Indian Army Ex Servicemen Association 11 New
Total 1,312
Column E
Marker Detachment Number
1 Royal Marines Association 198
2 Royal Naval Association 150
3 Merchant Navy Association 130
4 Sea Harrier Association 24
5 Flower Class Corvette Association 18
6 HMS Andromeda Association 18
7 HMS Argonaut Association 30
8 HMS Bulwark, Albion & Centaur Association 25
9 HMS Cumberland Association 18
10 HMS Ganges Association 48
11 HMS Glasgow Association 30
12 HMS St Vincent Association 26
13 HMS Tiger Association 25
14 Algerines Association 20
15 Ton Class Association 24
16 Type 42 Association 48
17 Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service 36
18 Association of WRENS 90
19 Royal Fleet Auxiliary Association 10
20 Royal Naval Communications Association 30
21 Royal Naval Medical Branch Ratings & Sick Berth Staff Association 24
22 Royal Naval Benevolent Trust 18
23 Yangtze Incident Association 24
24 Special Boat Service Association 6
25 Submariners Association 30
26 Association of Royal Yachtsmen 30
27 Broadsword Association 36
28 Aircraft Handlers Association 36
29 Aircrewmans Association 40 Anniversary
30 Cloud Observers Association 10
31 The Fisgard Association 40
32 Fleet Air Arm Armourers Association 36
33 Fleet Air Arm Association 25
34 Fleet Air Arm Bucaneer Association 24
35 Fleet Air Arm Field Gun Association 24
36 Fleet Air Arm Junglie Association 18
37 Fleet Air Arm Officers Association 30
38 Fleet Air Arm Safety Equipment & Survival Association 24
39 Royal Navy School of Physical Training 24
Total 1,497
Column F
Marker Detachment Number
1 Blind Veterans UK 198
2 Far East Prisoners of War 18
3 Burma Star Association 40
4 Monte Cassino Society20
5 Queen's Bodyguard of The Yeoman of The Guard 18
6 Pen and Sword Club 15
7 TRBL Ex-Service Members 301
8 The Royal British Legion Poppy Factory 4
9 The Royal British Legion Scotland 24
10 Officers Association 5
11 Black and White Club 18
12 National Pigeon War Service 30
13 National Service Veterans Alliance 50
14 Gallantry Medallists League 46
15 National Malaya & Borneo Veterans Association 98
16 National Gulf Veterans & Families Association 30
17 Fellowship of the Services 100
18 Memorable Order of Tin Hats 24
19 Suez Veterans Association 50
20 Aden Veterans Association 72
21 1st Army Association 36
22 Showmens' Guild of Great Britain 40
23 Special Forces Club 12
24 The Spirit of Normandy Trust 28
25 Italy Star Association, 1943-1945, 48
Total 1,325
Column A
Marker Detachment Number
1 1LI Association 36
2 Royal Green Jackets Association 198
3 Parachute Regimental Association 174
4 King's Own Scottish Borderers 60
5 Black Watch Association 45
6 Gordon Highlanders Association 60
7 Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders Regimental Association 12
8 Queen's Own Highlanders Regimental Association 48
9 London Scottish Regimental Association 30
10 Grenadier Guards Association 48
11 Coldstream Guards Association 48
12 Scots Guards Association 48
13 Guards Parachute Association 36
14 4 Company Association (Parachute Regiment) 24
15 Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment 72
16 Royal East Kent Regiment (The Buffs) Past & Present Association 30
17 Prince of Wales' Leinster Regiment (Royal Canadians) Regimental Association 24
18 Royal Hampshire Regiment Comrades Association 14
19 The Royal Hampshire Regimental Club 24 New for 2015
20 Royal Northumberland Fusiliers 48 New
21 Royal Sussex Regimental Association 12
22 Green Howards Association 24
23 Cheshire Regiment Association 24
24 Sherwood Foresters & Worcestershire Regiment 36
25 Mercian Regiment Association 30
26 Special Air Service Regimental Association 4
27 The King's Own Royal Border Regiment 100
28 The Staffordshire Regiment 48
29 Rifles Regimental Association 40
30 The Rifles & Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire & Wiltshire Regimental Association 30
31 Durham Light Infantry Association 60
32 King's Royal Rifle Corps Association 50
33 King's African Rifles 14 New for 2015
Total 1,551
Column M
Marker Detachment Number
1 Transport For London 48
2 Children of the Far East Prisoners of War 60
3 First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (Princess Royal's Volunteers Corps) 24
4 Munitions Workers Association18
5 Evacuees Reunion Association48
6 TOC H 20
7 Salvation Army 36
8 Naval Canteen Service & Expeditionary Force Institutes Association 12 Previously NAAFI
9 Royal Voluntary Service 24
10 Civil Defence Association 8
11 National Association of Retired Police Officers 36
12 Metropolitan Special Constabulary 36
13 London Ambulance Service NHS Trust 36
14 London Ambulance Service Retirement Association 18
15 St John Ambulance 36
16 British Red Cross 12
17 St Andrew's Ambulance Association 6
18 The Firefighters Memorial Trust 24
19 Royal Ulster Constabulary (GC) Association 36
20 Ulster Special Constabulary Association 30
21 Commonwealth War Graves Commission 12
22 Daniel's Trust 36
23 Civilians Representing Families 180
24 Royal Mail Group Ltd 24
25 Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals 24
26 The Blue Cross 24
27 PDSA 24
28 HM Ships Glorious Ardent & ACASTA Association 24 Anniversary
29 Old Cryptians' Club 12
30 Fighting G Club 18 Anniversary
31 Malayan Volunteers Group 12
32 Gallipoli Association 18
33 Ministry of Defence 20
34 TRBL Non Ex-Service Members 117
35 TRBL Women's Section 20
36 Union Jack Club 12
37 Western Front Association 8
38 Shot at Dawn Pardons Campaign 18
39 Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes 24
40 National Association of Round Tables 24
41 Lions Club International 24
42 Rotary International 24
43 41 Club 6
44 Equity 12
45 Romany & Traveller Society 18
46 Sea Cadet Corps 30
47 Combined Cadet Force 30
48 Army Cadet Force 30
49 Air Training Corps 30
50 Scout Association 30
51 Girlguiding London & South East England 30
52 Boys Brigade 30
53 Girls Brigade England & Wales 30
54 Church Lads & Church Girls Brigade 30
55 Metropolitan Police Volunteer Police Cadets 18
56 St John Ambulance Cadets 18
57 YMCA 12
Total 1,621
i've been sensing a lot lately that i am in a photography rut with my images and what better time than today to make some resolutions to try to break out and move forward. so you may see me posting some things that are a little more erratic, experimental, etc. as i try for less perfectionism (ha, as if i'd ever come close) and less playing-it-safe. some of you may recognize it as just more of the same, me vacillating with no personal style but i'm not in this for business, just for fun and, as much as my nature allows, a creative outlet and so these are my excuses for being all over the place. one offshoot of this thinking is that I am not going to be reluctant to post some half-baked images, such as the one at hand. Happy New Year friends and Happy Sliders Sunday.
I read that Facebook are losing the plot and sending out warnings to people for nothing and I expect some of you might say there is nothing new about that. I wondered if I wrote about a topless bus and put it on one of their groups they might all rush out from under a stone and block me as some kind of wicked pervert, we'll see lol. It does sadden me though that they have a whole police squad stamping out nipples yet didn't seem to care or spot more really offensive postings till they got their arses kicked. Sadly Bretonside Bus Station has closed but in recent times more departures went from Royal Parade where I got this busy view of Leyland Atlantean 'Plymouth Adventurer' on a short local trip down to the Barbican and the Hoe. Those were the days, the sound of seagulls, the roar of Atlanteans and the VR chug and whisle.
Final selection of these. Most others were doubles.
Not the feedback I was expecting, so I won't ask for more from my friend.
Hope some have enjoyed these or found interesting.
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Eastern Coach Works[1] was a bus and train bodybuilder based in Lowestoft, England.
The origins of Eastern Coach Works (ECW) can be traced back to 1912, when United Automobile Services was founded in Lowestoft to run bus services.[2] United began a coach building business at the Lowestoft site in 1920.[3] In 1931, the East Anglian operations of United were hived off into a new company, Eastern Counties Omnibus Company, and Eastern Counties inherited the coach works - now concentrating on building bus bodies, with a workforce of over 600 people.[4] In July 1936, the coach works were separated into a new company, Eastern Coach Works Limited, which developed into the largest full-time employer in Lowestoft.[1][4][5]
In May 1940, the factory received orders from the military authorities to cease production. It was thought that, following the outbreak of World War II, the East Coast would be the first target for an invading German army, so all wheeled vehicles were moved away from the site so that they did not fall into enemy hands. As a result of this, 950 staff were laid off with production shifted to Irthlingborough.[4][5] By 1947, though, production was back to pre-war levels.
ECW was nationalised in 1947. For the next 18 years, its business consisted mainly of building bus bodies, which were mounted on Bristol chassis, for state-owned bus operators. In 1965, the state-owned Transport Holding Company sold a 25% share in ECW to Leyland Motors, which enabled ECW to sell to the private sector.[6][7][8] During the 1960s, it was common to see a bare bus chassis being driven through town by a goggle-wearing driver, delivering the chassis for a body. In 1969, ECW became part of a 50/50 joint venture between the National Bus Company (successor to the Transport Holding Company) and British Leyland (successor to Leyland Motors).
The materials to build the buses came into the Coachworks via Essex Road at the back of the factory, but the newly built buses were driven out of the big doors at the front. They drove down the short, narrow lane, with no pavements called Eastern Way, on their way to their new depot. Eastern Way used to be called Laundry Lane, but the name was changed to Eastern Way following the opening of Eastern Coachworks.[8]
The joint venture came to an end in 1982, when British Leyland bought out NBC's shareholding. ECW closed in January 1987.[5][9] The site was subsequently demolished to make way for the North Quay Retail Park, which opened in 1990.[8][10] ECW was one of Lowestoft's largest employers, with around 1,200 staff at its peak
ECW was probably best known for its close association with Bristol Commercial Vehicles. Amongst the Bristol buses most frequently bodied at Lowestoft were the:
Bristol LH - a small, single deck bus (1970s)
Bristol Lodekka - a front-engined double deck bus (1950s and 1960s)
Bristol RE - a single deck bus (1960s and 1970s)
Bristol VRT - a rear-engined double deck bus (1970s), successor to the Lodekka
Leyland Olympian - a rear engined double deck bus (1980's) successor to Bristol VRT
170478 heads over the River Don at Long Sandall, with a Sheffield-Scarborough working, 8.1.24.
I had expected the river to be much higher here, although looking at the detritus on the river bank, it has been much higher recently.
So ladies this week you had a chance to be on a cover of vogue and a spread also ,the photos were great but i feel disappointed i guess i expected much more from you guys.
IN
THETE- you got best because you had the most believable cover and spread of all.
LOU-your cover was ok but your spread was phenomenal
GRACE- your photos were good but needs more spark!
KYORI-like i said more editing on the lighting try doing outdoor shoots again the light is amazing when u do it. Why is that your other photos are amazing and when it comes to the challenge photos its not as good as your other photos in your photostream still you\'re on the top 4.
ELIMINATED
BRIANNA- i dont want to eliminate you
Because you\'re the most improved in the bunch but your photo this week is very weak and not high fashion.! Too bad i wanted to see you in the cover of barbie magazine. You could have done better and i hope you enjoyed working with us!! Thanks for joining! Till next time.
HONEY- you did well in the whole competition i\'m happy to see you made this far! You got eliminated because your photo wasn\'t as strong as the others but still i\'m happy you reached top 6! Thank you for joining! I hope you enjoyed working with us :)
NEW THEME
ELEMENTS OF NATURE
(Earth,fire,water & air)
lindendeux thete is FIRE
summer-sun lou is WATER
Elizabeth 1986 Grace is EARTH
Miss America 2011 kyori is AIR
I want to see shocking photos!
Put effort and make it high fashion.
You girls don\'t need long instructions because i know you\'re all talented and you can directly have an idea on what the theme is about.
Deadline: aug.24,2013
Its a long deadline so make your photos amazing!
Nice little photo shoot with some friends. Maternity shoot at Kings Park on a disappointingly cloudy golden hour. 17/1/2021 - Staggering beautiful sunset though.
Pregnancy Strobist shoot with a blue postprocessing
Set-up: Nikon SB-600 Right rear bouncing through ceiling triggered by CLS
Wasn't expecting to see this in Assford Today!, and this vehicle appeared to have just been into Assford Station to drop off its learner.
And be sure to check by my other acount: www.flickr.com/photos_user.gne?path=&nsid=77145939%40..., to see what else I saw Very Recently!!
Polling Station sign, Percival Street, Islington, EC1. This wasn't the actual Polling Station for the London Assembly/London Mayoral elections but was attempting to tell the electorate where it was! Made me smile anyway.
Photo captured near the decommissioned Punta Gorda Lighthouse via Minolta MD Celtic 28mm F/2.8 Lens at Mattole River Beach on the Lost Coast. Kings Range National Conservation Area. North Coast. Humboldt County, Northern California. Late November 2013.
Just wandering around the Telliskivi Creative City in Tallinn, Estonia. I was hunting for murals, street art and graffiti but then discovered this.
This roll surprised me; I wouldn't expect such amazing results with Infrared Film and HC-110, especially Dilution B! But it probably helped I gave the film a big pull to ASA-12, and it's Medium Format.
You can read the full review online:
www.alexluyckx.com/blog/index.php/2018/07/04/ccrfrb-revie...
Mamiya m645 - Mamiya-Sekor C 35mm 1:3.5 N (Kenko R72) - Rollei IR400 @ ASA-12
Kodak HC-110 Dil. B 8:45 @ 20C
Meter: Pentax Spotmeter V
Scanner: Epson V700
Editor: Adobe Photoshop CC (2018)
I was expecting more exhaust here. 34046 'Braunton' heads through Haxey on the 1Z70 Kings Cross-York via the Joint Line, 28.11.24.
With Violetta's support, Pippa is reading the weather report:
"Currently it is 25 Celcius (77 F) with a gentle breeze and it should drop to a minimum of 19 ( 66 F) overnight with increasing humidity.
Expect increasing heat till Friday when we should get a maximum temperature of 30 (86 F). There is no rain for the foreseeable ..."
"Though you never know - summer thunder storms can be unpredictable" interrupts Violetta.
--- ---
Summer here and that is classic December weather for Sydney - the summer thunder storms can be quite intense but brief. They always seem to arrive for the afternoon peak hour when everyone is trying to get home and collect children from school ... and the trains stop running or the roads flood ... great fun !
Expect to have hope rekindled.
Expect your prayers to be answered in wondrous ways.
The dry seasons in life do not last.
The spring rains will come again.
Wasn't expecting to see this in Dover today, and this vehicle was on SouthEastern Trains Emergency Rail Replacement Service to Ramsgate due to a major power failure on the "Southeastern Hi Speed" line at Ebbsfleet earlier in the day.
And be sure to check by my other acount: www.flickr.com/photos_user.gne?path=&nsid=77145939%40..., to see what else I saw Yesterday!!
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The Sondergerät SG104 "Münchhausen" was a German airborne recoillless 355.6 mm (14-inch) caliber gun, intended to engage even the roughest enemy battleships, primarily those of the Royal Navy. The design of this unusual and massive weapon began in 1939. The rationale behind it was that a battleship’s most vulnerable part was the deck – a flat surface, with relatively thin armor (as typical hits were expected on the flanks) and ideally with vital targets underneath, so that a single, good hit would cripple of even destroy a ship. The purpose of such a high angle of attack was likely to allow the projectile to penetrate the target ship's deck, where the ship's armor, if there was any, would have been much thinner than the armor on its sidesHowever, hitting the deck properly with another ship’s main gun was not easy, since it could only be affected through indirect hits and the typical angle of the attack from aballistic shot would not necessarily be ideal for deep penetration, esp. at long range.
The solution to this problem: ensure that the heavy projectile would hit its target directly from above, ideally at a very steep angle. To achieve this, the gun with battleship caliber was “relocated” from a carrier ship or a coastal battery onto an aircraft – specifically to a type that was capable of dive-bombing, a feature that almost any German bomber model of the time offered.
Firing such a heavy weapon caused a lot fo problems, which were severe even if the gun was mounted on a ship or on land. To compensate for such a large-caliber gun’s recoil and to make firing a 14 in shell (which alone weighed around almost 700 kg/1.550 lb, plus the charge) from a relatively light airframe feasible, the respective gun had to be as light as possible and avoid any recoil, which would easily tear an aircraft – even a bomber – apart upon firing. Therefore, the Gerät 104 was designed as a recoilless cannon. Its firing system involved venting the same amount of the weapon's propellant gas for its round to the rear of the launch tube (which was open at both ends), in the same fashion as a rocket launcher. This created a forward directed momentum which was nearly equal to the rearward momentum (recoil) imparted to the system by accelerating the projectile itself. The balance thus created did not leave much net momentum to be imparted to the weapon's mounting or the carrying airframe in the form of felt recoil. A further share of the recoil induced by the moving round itself could be compensated by a muzzle brake which re-directed a part of the firing gases backwards. Since recoil had been mostly negated, a heavy and complex recoil damping mechanism was not necessary – even though the weapon itself was huge and heavy.
Work on the "Münchhausen" device (a secret project handle after a fictional German nobleman created by the German writer Rudolf Erich Raspe in the late 18th century who reputedly had ridden on a cannonball between enemy frontlines), was done by Rheinmetall-Borsig and lasted until 1941. The first test of a prototype weapon was conducted on 9th of September 1940 in Unterlüss with a satisfactory result, even though the weapon was only mounted onto an open rack and not integrated into an airframe yet. At that time, potential carriers were the Ju 88, the Dornier Do 217 and the new Junkers Ju 288. Even though the system’s efficacy was doubted, the prospect of delivering a single, fatal blow to an important , armored arget superseded any doubts at the RLM, and the project was greenlit in early 1942 for the next stage: the integration of the Sondergerät 104 into an existing airframe. The Ju 88 and its successor, the Ju 188, turned out to be too light and lacked carrying capacity for the complete, loaded weapon, and the favored Ju 288 was never produced, so that only the Dornier Do 217 or the bigger He 177 remained as a suitable carriers. The Do 217 was eventually chosen because it had the biggest payload and the airframe was proven and readily available.
After calculations had verified that the designed 14 in rifle would have effectively no recoil, preliminary tests with dumm airframes were carried out. After ground trials with a Do 217 E day bomber to check recoil and blast effects on the airframe, the development and production of a limited Nullserie (pre-production series) of the dedicated Do 217 F variant for field tests and eventual operational use against British sea and land targets was ordered in April 1942.
The resulting Do 217 F-0 was based on the late “E” bomber variant and powered by a pair of BMW 801 radial engines. It was, however, heavily modified for its unique weapon and the highly specialized mission profile: upon arriving at the zone of operation at high altitude, the aircraft would initiate a dive with an angle of attack between 50° and 80° from the horizontal, firing the SG 104 at an altitude between 6,000 and 2,000 meters. The flight time of the projectile could range from 16.0 seconds for a shot from an altitude of 6,000 meters at a 50° angle to just 4.4 seconds for a shot from 2.000 meters at an almost vertical 80° angle. Muzzle velocity of the SG 104 was only 300 m/s, but, prior to impact, the effective velocity of the projectile was projected to range between 449 and 468 m/s (1,616 to 1,674 km/h). Together with the round's weight of roughly 700 kg (1.550 lb) and a hardened tip, this would still ensure a high penetration potential.
The operational Sondergerät 104 had an empty mass of 2.780 kg (6,123 lb) and its complete 14 inch double cartridge weighed around 1.600 kg (3,525 lb). The loaded mass of the weapon was 4,237 kg, stretching the limits of the Do 217’s load capacity to the maximum, so that some armor and less vital pieces of equipment were deleted. Crew and defensive armament were reduced to a minimum.
Even though there had been plans to integrate the wepaon into the airframe (on the Ju 288), the Gerät 104 was on the Do 217 F-0 mounted externally and occupied the whole space under the aircraft, precluding any use of the bomb bay. The latter was occupied by the Gerät 104’s complex mount, which extended to the outside under a streamlined fairing and held the weapon at a distance from the airframe. Between the mount’s struts inside of the fuselage, an additional fuel tank for balance reasons was added, too.
The gun’s center, where the heavy round was carried, was positioned under the aircraft’s center of gravity, so that the gun barrel markedly protruded from under the aircraft’s nose. To make enough space, the Do 217 Es bomb aimer’s ventral gondola and his rearward-facing defensive position under the cockpit were omitted and faired over. The nose section was also totally different: the original extensive glazing (the so-called “Kampfkopf”) was replaced by a smaller, conventional canopy, similar to the later Do 217 J and N night fighter versions, together with a solid nose - the original glass panels would have easily shattered upon firing the gun, esp. in a steep high-speed dive. A "Lotfernrohr" bomb aiming device was still installed in a streamlined and protected fairing, though, so that the navigator could guide the pilot during the approach to the target and during the attack run.
To stabilize the heavy aircraft during its attack and to time- and safely pull out of the dive, a massive mechanical dive brake was mounted at the extended tail tip, which unfolded with four "petals". A charecteristic stabilizing dorsal strake was added between the twin fins, too.
The ventral area behind the gun’s rear-facing muzzle received additional metal plating and blast guiding vanes, after trials in late 1940 had revealed that firing the SG 104 could easily damage the Do 217’s tail structure, esp. all of the tail surfaces’ rudders and the fins’ lower ends in particular. Due to all this extra weight, the Do 217 F-0’s defensive armament consisted only of a single 13 mm MG 131 machine gun in a manually operated dorsal position behind the cockpit cabin, which offered space for a crew of three. A fixed 15 mm MG 151 autocannon was mounted in the nose, too, a weapon with a long barrel for extended range and accuracy. It was not an offensive weapon, though, rather intended as an aiming aid for the SG 104 because it was loaded with tracer bullets: during the final phase of the attack dive, the pilot kept firing the MG 151, and the bullet trail showed if he was on target to fire the SG 104 when the right altitude/range had been reached.
The first Do 217 F-0 was flown and tested in late 1943, and after some detail changes the type was cleared for a limited production run of ten aircraft in January 1944. The first operational machine was delivered to a dedicated testing commando, the Erprobungskommando 104 “Münchhausen”, also known as “Sonderkommando Münchhausen” or simply “E-Staffel 104”. The unit was based at Bordeaux/Merignac and directly attached to the KG 40's as a staff flight. At that time, KG 40 operated Do 217 and He 177 bombers and frequently flew reconnaissance and anti-shipping missions over the Atlantic west of France, up to the British west and southern coast, equipped with experimental Henschel Hs 293 glide bombs.
Initial flights confirmed that the Do 217 airframe was burdened with the SG 104 to its limits, the already rather sluggish aircraft (the Do 217 had generally a high wing loading and was not easy to fly) lost anything that was left of what could be called agility. It needed an experienced pilot to handle it safely, esp. during start and landing. It is no wonder that two Do 217 F-0s suffered ground accidents during the first two weeks of operations, but the machines could be repaired, resume the test program and carry out attack missions.
However, during one of the first test shots with the weapon, one Do 217 F-0 lost its complete tail section though the gun blast, and the aircraft crashed into the Bay of Biscay, killing the complete crew.
On 4th or April 1944 the first "hot" attack against an enemy ship was executed in the Celtic Sea off of Brest, against a convoy of 20 ships homeward bound from Gibraltar. The attack was not successful, though, the shot missing its target, and the German bomber was attacked and heavily damaged by British Bristol Beaufighters that had been deployed to protect the ships. The Do 217F-0 eventually crashed and sank into the Atlantic before it could reach land again.
A couple of days later, on 10th of April, the first attempt to attack and destroy a land target was undertaken: two Do 217 F-0s took off to attack Bouldnor Battery, an armored British artillery position located on the Isle of Wight. One machine had to abort the attack due to oil leakages, the second Do 217 F-0 eventually reached its target and made a shallow attack run, but heavy fog obscured the location and the otherwise successful shot missed the fortification. Upon return to its home base the aircraft was intercepted by RAF fighters over the Channel and heavily damaged, even though German fighters deployed from France came to the rescue, fought the British attackers off and escorted the limping Do 217 F-0 back to its home base.
These events revealed that the overall SG 104 concept was generally feasible, but also showed that the Do 217 F-0 was very vulnerable without air superiority or a suitable escort, so that new tactics had to be developed. One consequence was that further Do 217 F-0 deployments were now supported by V/KG 40, the Luftwaffe's only long range maritime fighter unit. These escorts consisted of Junkers Ju 88C-6s, which were capable of keeping up with the Do 217 F-0 and fend of intercepting RAF Coastal Command’s Beaufighters and later also Mosquitos.
In the meantime, tests with the SG 104 progressed and several modifications were tested on different EKdo 104's Do 217 F-0s. One major upgrade was a further strengthening of the tail section, which added another 200 kg (440 lb) to the aircraft's dry weight. Furthermore, at least three aircraft were outfitted with additional dive brakes under the outer wings, so that the dive could be better controlled and intercepted. these aircraft, however, lost their plumbed underwing hardpoints, but these were only ever used for drop tanks during transfer flights - a loaded SG 104 precluded any other ordnance. On two other aircraft the SG 104 was modified to test different muzzle brakes and deflectors for the rear-facing opening, so that the gun blast was more effectively guided away from the airframe to prevent instability and structural damage. For instance, one machine was equipped with a bifurcated blast deflector that directed the rearward gasses partly sideways, away from the fuselage.
These tests did not last long, though. During the Allied Normandy landings in June 1944 E-Staffel 104 was hastily thrown into action and made several poorly-prepared attack runs against Allied support ships. The biggest success was a full hit and the resulting sinking of the Norwegian destroyer HNoMS Svenner (G03) by "1A+BA" at dawn on 6th of June, off Sword, one of the Allied landing zones. Other targets were engaged, too, but only with little effect. This involvement, however, led to the loss of three Do 217 F-0s within just two days and four more heavily damaged aircraft – leaving only two of EKdo 104's Do 217 F-0s operational.
With the Allied invasion of France and a worsening war condition, the SG 104 program was stopped in August 1944 and the idea of an airborne anti-ship gun axed in favor of more flexible guided weapons like the Hs 293 missile and the Fritz-X glide bomb. Plans for a further developed weapon with a three-round drum magazine were immediately stopped, also because there was no carrier aircraft in sight that could carry and deploy this complex 6.5 tons weapon. However, work on the SG 104 and the experience gained from EKdo 104's field tests were not in vain. The knowledge gathered from the Münchhausen program was directly used for the design of a wide range of other, smaller recoilless aircraft weapons, including the magnetically-triggered SG 113 "Förstersonde" anti-tank weapon or the lightweight SG 118 "Rohrblock" unguided air-to-air missile battery for the Heinkel He 162 "Volksjäger".
General characteristics:
Crew: 3 (pilot, navigator, radio operator/gunner)
Length: 20,73 m (67 ft 11 in) overall
18,93 m (62 ft 3/4 in) hull only
Wingspan: 19 m (62 ft 4 in)
Height: 4.97 m (16 ft 4 in)
Wing area: 57 m² (610 sq ft)
Empty weight: 9,065 kg (19,985 lb)
Empty equipped weight:10,950 kg (24,140 lb)
Max takeoff weight: 16,700 kg (36,817 lb)
Fuel capacity: 2,960 l (780 US gal; 650 imp gal) in fuselage tank and four wing tanks
Powerplant:
2× BMW 801D-2 14-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engines, delivering
1,300 kW (1,700 hp) each for take-off and 1,070 kW (1,440 hp) at 5,700 m (18,700 ft),
driving 3-bladed VDM constant-speed propellers
Performance:
Maximum speed: 475 km/h (295 mph, 256 kn) at sea level
560 km/h (350 mph; 300 kn) at 5,700 m (18,700 ft)
Cruise speed: 400 km/h (250 mph, 220 kn) with loaded Gerät 104 at optimum altitude
Range: 2,180 km (1,350 mi, 1,180 nmi) with maximum internal fuel
Ferry range: 2,500 km (1,600 mi, 1,300 nmi); unarmed, with auxiliary fuel tanks
Service ceiling: 7,370 m (24,180 ft) with loaded Gerät 104,
9,500 m (31,200 ft) after firing
Rate of climb: 3.5 m/s (690 ft/min)
Time to altitude: 1,000 m (3,300 ft) in 4 minutes 10 seconds
2,000 m (6,600 ft) in 8 minutes 20 seconds
6,100 m (20,000 ft) in 24 minutes 40 seconds
Armament:
1x 355.6 mm (14-inch) Sondergerät 104 recoilless gun with a single round in ventral position
1x 15 mm (0.787 in) MG 151 machine cannon with 200 rounds, fixed in the nose
1x 13 mm (0.512 in) MG 131 machine gun with 500 rounds, movable in dorsal position
Two underwing hardpoints for a 900 l drop tank each, but only used during unarmed ferry flights
The kit and its assembly:
This was another submission to the "Gunships" group build at whatifmodellers.com in late 2021, and inspiration struck when I realized that I had two Italeri Do 217 in The Stash - a bomber and a night fighter - that could be combined into a suitable (fictional) carrier for a Sondergerät 104. This mighty weapon actually existed and even reached the hardware/test stage - but it was never integrated into an airframe and tested in flight. But that's what this model is supposed to depict.
On the Do 217, the Sg 104 would have been carried externally under the fuselage, even though there had been plans to integrate this recoilless rifle into airframes, esp. into the Ju 288. Since the latter never made it into production, the Do 217 would have been the most logical alternative, also because it had the highest payload of all German bombers during WWII and probably the only aircraft capable of carrying and deploying the Münchhausen device, as the SG 104 was also known.
The fictional Do 217 F-0 is a kitbashing, using a Do 217 N fuselage, combined with the wings from a Do 217 K bomber, plus some modifications. What initially sounded like a simple plan soon turned into a improvisation mess: it took some time to realize that I had already donated the Do 217 K's BMW 801 engines to another project, an upgraded He 115... I did not want to use the nightfighter's more powerful DB 603s, and I was lucky to have an Italeri Ju 188 kit at hand which comes with optional BMW 801s and Jumo 211s. Transplanting these engines onto the Do 217's wings took some tailoring of the adapter plates, but was feasible. However, the BMW 801s from the Ju 188 kit have a flaw: they lack the engine's characteristic cooling fans... Another lucky find: I found two such parts in the scrap box, even though from different kits - one left over from another Italeri Do 217 K, the other one from what I assume is/was an Italeri 1:72 Fw 190 A/F. To make matters worse, one propeller from the Ju 188 kit was missing, so that I had to find a(nother) replacement. :-/
I eventually used something that looked like an 1:72 F6F Hellcat propeller, but I an not certain about this because I have never built this model...? With some trimming on the blades' trailing edges and other mods, the donor's overall look could be adapted to the Ju 188 benchmark. Both propellers were mounted on metal axis' so that they could also carry the cooling fans. Lots of work, but the result looks quite good.
The Do 217 N's hull lost the lower rear gunner position and its ventral gondola, which was faired over with a piece of styrene sheet. The pilot was taken OOB, the gunner in the rear position was replaced by a more blob-like crew member from the scrap box. The plan to add a navigator in the seat to the lower right of the pilot did not work out due to space shortage, but this figure would probably have been invisble, anyway.
All gun openings in the nose were filled and PSRed away, and a fairing for a bomb aiming device and a single gun (the barrel is a hollow steel needle) were added.
The SG 104 was scratched. Starting point was a white metal replacement barrel for an 1:35 ISU-152 SPG with a brass muzzle brake. However, after dry-fitting the barrel under the hull the barrel turned out to be much too wide, so that only the muzzal brake survived and the rest of the weapon was created from a buddy refueling pod (from an Italeri 1:72 Luftwaffe Tornado, because of its two conical ends) and protective plastic caps from medical canulas. To attach this creation to the hull I abused a conformal belly tank from a Matchbox Gloster Meteor night fighter and tailored it into a streamlined fairing. While this quite a Frankenstein creation, the overall dimensions match the real SG 104 prototype and its look well.
Other cosmetic modifications include a pair of underwing dive brakes, translanted from an Italeri 1:72 Ju 88 A-4 kit, an extended (scratched) tail "stinger" which resembles the real dive brake arrangement that was installed on some Do 217 E bombers, and I added blast deflector vanes and a dorsal stabilizer fin.
In order to provide the aircraft with enough ground clearance, the tail wheel was slightly extended. Thanks to the long tail stinger, this is not blatantly obvious.
Painting and markings:
This was not an easy choice, but as a kind of prototype I decided that the paint scheme should be rather conservative. However, German aircraft operating over the Atlantic tended to carry rather pale schemes, so that the standard pattern of RLM 70/71/65 (Dunkelgrün, Schwarzgrün and Hellblau) with a low waterline - typical for experimental types - would hardly be appropriate.
I eventually found a compromise on a He 177 bomber (coded 6N+BN) from 1944 that was operated by KG 100: this particular aircraft had a lightened upper camouflage - still a standard splinter scheme but consisting of RLM 71 and 02 (Dunkelgrün and Grau; I used Modelmaster 2081 and Humbrol 240), a combination that had been used on German fighters during the Battle of Britain when the standard colors turned out to be too dark for operations over the Channel. The aircraft also carried standard RLM 65 (or maybe the new RLM76) underneath (Humbrol 65) and on the fin, but with a very high and slightly wavy waterline. As a rather unusual feature, no typical camouflage mottles were carried on the flanks or the fin, giving the aircraft a very bleak and simple look.
Despite my fears that this might look rather boring I adapted this scheme for the Do 217 F-0, and once basic painting was completed I was rather pleased by the aircraft's look! As an aircraft operated at the Western front, no additional markings like fuselage bands were carried.
To set the SG 104 apart from the airframe, I painted the weapon's visible parts in RLM 66 (Schwarzgrau, Humbrol 67), because this tone was frequently used for machinery (including the interior surfaces of aircraft towards 1945).
RLM 02 was also used for the interior surfaces and the landing gear, even though I used a slightly different, lighter shade in form of Revell 45 (Helloliv).
A light black ink washing was applied and post-shading to emphasize panel lines. Most markings/decals came from a Begemot 1:72 He 11 sheet, including the unusual green tactical code - it belongs to a staff unit, a suitable marking for such an experimental aircraft. The green (Humbrol 2) was carried over to the tips of the propeller spinners. The unit's code "1A" is fictional, AFAIK this combination had never been used by the Luftwaffe.
The small unit badge was alucky find: it actually depicts the fictional Baron von Münchhausen riding on a cannonball, and it comes from an Academy 1:72 Me 163 kit and its respective sheet. The mission markings underneath, depicting two anti-ship missions plus a successful sinking, came from a TL Modellbau 1:72 scale sheet with generic German WWII victory markings.
After some soot stains around the engine exhaust and weapon muzzles had been added with graphite, the model was sealed with matt acrylic varnish and final details like position lights and wire antennae (from heated black plastic sprue material) were added.
Well, what started as a combination of two kits of the same kind with a simple huge pipe underneath turned out to be more demanding than expected. The (incomplete) replacement engines were quite a challenge, and body work on the hull (tail stinger, fairing for the SG 104 as well as the weapon itself) turned out to be more complex and extensive than initially thought of. The result looks quite convincing, also supported by the rather simple paint scheme which IMHO just "looks right" and very convincing. And the whole thing is probably the most direct representation of the inspiring "Gunship" theme!
Wasn't expecting to see this in Dover tonight, and this Herne Bay based vehicle was on SouthEastern Trains Rail Replacement Services From Dover to Canterbury East and Faversham, and was one of 4 of their vehicles helping today.
And be sure to check by my other acount: www.flickr.com/photos_user.gne?path=&nsid=77145939%40..., to see what else I saw Very Recently!!