Ian Abel Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 As an ATC cadet I was shown how to strip and reassemble a Bren, but (probably wisely) was never given an opportunity of shooting with it. My instructor had been an RAF Regiment sergeant in Malaya during WWII, and, reminiscing about those days, mentioned that he had only once shot from the hip: "But that was because some other bu99er was shooting at me at the time ..." our man's shooting was accurate ... Excellent, and a "me too"... Our ATC squadron (11F I think, memory fading that far back ?!?!?!) was based on the airfield at Brooklands (Vickers/Weybridge). We had a rifle range right there since the airfield was so bloody large a space. They used to allow .303 as well as .22 target practise, but "RUMOR" was the .303 was curtailed after someone had let an errant round fly over the backing of the range, and managed to break a window in the signal box about 1/2 mile away on the Waterloo-Portsmouth mailine which runs on an embankment at the far end of Brooklands... not sure how true the rumor really was, but by the time I was there we only ever stripped the .303s locally. We did fire .303s and Brens at the RAF based summer camp though! That was fun. 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coombe Barton Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 Errrm ... Where is Thamesmead? Or don't I want to know? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Happy Hippo Posted October 15, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 15, 2014 That was it and my next company car was a metallic maroon 25 with a cream interior. Felt like the dogs danglies….. Do you spend much of your time tickling up a dog's undercarriage? Personally if I had a car that felt like that, i'd change it! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 (edited) If a gun can be called delightful it was the Bren gun. Easy to strip, easy to sight in, accurate and comfortable to fire. I could do the strip blindfold and did as a test. One of the weapons I used to fire down at Shoeburyness ranges. Not as good as my accurized L1A1 with the heavy barrel but that was my personal firearm and quite modified and very slick. H.H. - Did they ever make any calibered to 7.62NATO? Answer: Yes they did - I had no idea that some remained in service until 1992! I keep my eye out over here for one to buy but as rare as hen’s teeth in the USA - I want to hang it on my studio wall to frighten Drummers....... Good to hear from Tim. As we know, as we get a little older everything takes longer to heal... Best, Pete. PS. ATC Sqdn 1474 Edited October 15, 2014 by trisonic 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold grandadbob Posted October 15, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 15, 2014 (edited) Errrm ... Where is Thamesmead? Or don't I want to know? I think not knowing is good but it is actually London SE28 I haven't been there for years (since I was a Sales Rep selling building materials when they were adding to it in the 1970s) but from memory one of the nicer things about it was the adjacent Crossness sewage works! Edited October 15, 2014 by grandadbob 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Happy Hippo Posted October 15, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 15, 2014 (edited) Returning to the shooting theme..................... the old .303 SMLE no 4 remained in service for quite a time after the introduction of the 7.62mm SLR. it was re barrelled and reworked and remained the standard army sniper rifle until it was finally replaced by the L96, which was specifically built as a sniper weapon. Certainly we had a few L42 rifles in the WMR (War Maintenance Reserve) stock we held at 62 Ord Company, and they were still there when I left Bielefeld in 1985. Likewise the Bren was similarly rebarreled, and with a straighter mag (to allow for rimless 7.62 ammn) soldiered on until the big regime change with the introduction of the 5.56mm. (See Trisonic's post) I used to particulary like firing the LMG, especially at night, with a ball and tracer mix....................Oooooh look at the pretty lights! Using a full mag of tracer rounds at the end of the shoot always looked as if we were using a laser beam. The downside to that was the cleaning of the gun afterwards as tracer is particularly dirty and leaves a lot of carbon deposit. Switching to the Stokesay saga: I was informed this morning that the team have decided not to take the scenic box with them to the Peterborough show this weekend, as they reckon that enough improvement has been made, so the debut will now be next year. I'm quite happy with this as having seen the edifice fully erected there are already some changes I wish to make, as well as building a cradle to take all the bits to protect in when in transit. Edited October 15, 2014 by Happy Hippo 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete 75C Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 Errrm ... Where is Thamesmead? Or don't I want to know? For those of us north of the water, if you were in Becontree, it's pretty much due south... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Lurker Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 Errrm ... Where is Thamesmead? Or don't I want to know? No, not really. It was built in the 60s in a brutalist style. It hasn't stood the test of time (IMO). Unfortunatelythe place is rife with brutal behaviour, witness the news today. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 45156 Posted October 15, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 15, 2014 (edited) Afternoon Again Hope Sherry's move has gone well - moving day is both exciting and traumatic all at once - as I can testify having had TWO moves from hell - one where we had to refuse to let the new person in and to stop our van going North, as the money had not changed hands by the time the banks closed as some numpty down the chain want on holiday and didn't give his solicitor a cheque in time, and the other where the van broke down, and they literally dumped everything very randomly into the rooms as they had to use a smaller van with multiple runs - needless to say, moves like that are not common, and I'm sure that Sherry's has gone better, and we'll hear from her as soon as she finds her computer again lol. Great to get an update on Don - thanks Tim - hope that the next post is from Don himself once he's able to get online himself. Can't say I've ever used firearms myself, so can't comment on the merits of different rifles - the furthest I got was a .177 air rifle on a makeshift range in the local church hall at a Boys Brigade games night. Yes, 45156 was a BB man through and through - I was actually an officer both in Scotland and in Surrey - any other ex BB people among us ERs I wonder - my first thought is that as it was always a more popular organisation in Scotland, Jock would possilbly be a contender here? Day has been incredibly hectic with the rush to the hospital and to the Adult College - but for once, my much loved bus company came up trumps, and the bus was on time, early into town, and a connection was just behind, and when I got further up the road, the hospital bus itself was at the stop (as this runs only every couple of hours, that was incredible) and dropped me right outside the unit that I needed - never had such luck with Stagecoach before! Still not getting the hang of the artistic way of cutting glass, though - must try harder according to "miss". Off now as again, Lily wants a walk. Regards again Stewart Edited October 15, 2014 by 45156 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Tony_S Posted October 15, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 15, 2014 My Dad was in the Boys Brigade. He played the big drum in their band. As he was very small I'm sure there must have been some concern about him rolling away. The next organisation he was in was the Home Guard at the Rover factory. They must have been quite a bit more sophisticated than the characters in "Dads Army" as they had a machine gun on the roof to deter what I think were called daylight raiders. Following Dunkirk he was very keen to join up and was in the Royal Tank Regiment. He did have in interest in gun mechanisms and I recall telling me about the Bren gun. 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiffy2 Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 350 Squadron, ATC. Yup, stripping Brens blindfold, shooting the SMLE at annual camp. Also witnessed the test firing of an Aden cannon. Now that's a gun... 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Barry O Posted October 15, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 15, 2014 Had a go at clay pigeon shooting with a nice double barrelled Italian mad shotgun.. not bad at it but could never afford it. 7.62gpmg was ok, chain gun made a better sound.... but for proper guns... L30 is the d*gs B*ll*cks! A nice 120mm rifled gun accurate out to .. well far enough! And dead easy to fire! Baz 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortliner Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 (edited) But for REAL fun see a target hit exterminated with the Gatling in the nose of an A-10 Warthog - (and you will learn why it was called a tank buster!) "B-U-U-R-R-R-R-R-R-R-R-P!" and it is gone! Edited October 15, 2014 by shortliner 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold beast66606 Posted October 15, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 15, 2014 Evening all. Back from a fantastic day at Brandon stripping the signal box, of the frame and near enough everything else useful, even some things which probably aren't useful ! - very tired now, aching and with some war wounds but very happy - the North Norfolk Railway bought my dinner (some very nice fish and chips) and they benefit from the equipment we removed, so when I go there and see the new signalling (next year) I can honestly say that "I helped with that". Some of the frame was heavy, VERY heavy but we managed with lots of grunts and groans. I'm hoping to get on the next strip, this time the box will be stripped and then physically moved - that will be something different ! Photos will appear in due course. I also managed to photograph the RHTT - which had a pair of DRS 57/3s on it, passing the box and 66114 which is the last DB Schenker loco I needed for photograph, so all in all a great day - and thanks to Richard (LNERGE) and the gang for letting me be part of it, and getting dirty, very dirty. 12 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium AndyB Posted October 15, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 15, 2014 So, as we appear to be on the verge of another millenium of pages I think we should mark this in some way. The obvious one is to get Jock to do one of his famous daily summaries, but of 3000 pages instead. Alternatively perhaps we could each sum ER up in one word? Here's my offering: Companionship. Failing that, lets all put a photo of a loco on and drive Debs nuts! 13 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
travelintrev Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 Evening all, Beasts signal box distmantleing exploints take me back to the week-end when a group of us from the Lieghton Buzzard NG soc. Distmantled the ex-LNWR ground frame & hut at Standbridgeford (Beds) which had controlled the exchange sidings for the Tottenhoe Lime Co. As one track had been lifted I drove my 1960 mini with the "Team" and tools along the down line formation - the demolition trains were using the remaining up line! One of these left a drop side (sleeper?) wagon on to which we loaded our haul - which was duly dropped at Arnolds private siding so we could transfer to the NG. Anglia TV showed up to film our endeavors for the evening news, but they were only interested in us cooking sausages on top of the huts stove! I do have some photos of this somewhere... would a group of teens & twenties be allowed to do stuff like this now - unsupervised apart from their own common sense? Well I suppose I'd best stop reminiscing and get on with some work!. Trev. 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluebottle Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 Can't say I've ever used firearms myself, so can't comment on the merits of different rifles - the furthest I got was a .177 air rifle on a makeshift range in the local church hall at a Boys Brigade games night. Yes, 45156 was a BB man through and through - I was actually an officer both in Scotland and in Surrey - any other ex BB people among us ERs I wonder - my first thought is that as it was always a more popular organisation in Scotland, Jock would possilbly be a contender here? I was in the Life Boys – the junior branch of the Boys Brigade – in the early 1950s. The only thing that I remember clearly about that was appearing in a big show at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh. It was supposed to be a trip round the world, with historical scenes in different countries. My lot were blacked up and dressed in shorts and vests, and were told to run onto the stage to welcome David Livingstone to Africa. At dress rehearsals I shot across the stage like a miniature Jesse Owens, so I was told to take it easy on the night. In fact, I overcompensated and strolled across with a big grin on my face, pausing to wave to the huge audience (the Usher Hall's a BIG place). I was possibly the smallest kid in the show, so of course this got a huge laugh and round of applause. I was probably wise never to appear on stage again; I was unlikely ever to have topped that ... 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 Gordon S, 85 Squadron ATC, reporting for duty, SIR! Ian, I was in a room at either no 6 or no 8 Oatlands Drive. An elderly Irish widow who enjoyed having company in the house. Her son also lived there, but rarely saw him. I was only there Mon-Thurs night . I was at BAC for about a year on contract. At that time I had a 1071S and bought an Oselli 1300 engine. I took the whole lot out in the workshop somewhere on the airfield, only to find some b*stard nicked the S engine whilst is was out of the car. Long time ago and am I bitter?…..You bet your bottom dollar, I am. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium New Haven Neil Posted October 15, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 15, 2014 Good evening, getting later every day it would seem.. Late Riser.... ooh, 46 years ago i was in the hideous Mrs Watt's class 3A at Mowbray Juniors - wondering what I had done to deserve her. As for a 10 year timeline...hmmm, thinks.... ...still thinking....[smoke issues from brain...] OK, 10 years ago, Executive Officer managing HR, IoM social services. 20 years ago, ummmm HR Adviser in HR for the NHS in Tyneside, don't recall which hospital at that exact point, maybe the General or St Nick's. 30, just married, working in estates in the NHS. It's odd how 10 year jumps miss out so many other jobs! 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium New Haven Neil Posted October 15, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 15, 2014 Humanists owe their organisation to the Friends. No-one would allow atheists to use their premises, but the Friends believed enough in the individual pursuit of spiritual growth, with or without a deity, that they opened their meeting houses for them. Honourable and principled people. That, my friend, I REALLY like. If it wasn't for the dry policy, just maybe I could feel in company there, they appear to show a lack of hipocrisy I fully approve of. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 (edited) Errrm ... Where is Thamesmead? Or don't I want to know? I grew up down that way, in Barnehurst. Thamesmead was always on the top of the list place to avoid if at all possible. It also has HMP Belmarsh there too. I was in 1579 Sq ATC, fun times. I was never good at shooting, always preferring the gliding and flying when the opportunity arose. Though we did get to fire the L98 (non-auto, bolt version of SA-80). Acrobatics in gliders or Chipmunks/Bulldogs were always (to me) much more fun! PS: not been reading the forum much recently, but speedy recovery wishes to Don. Edited October 15, 2014 by Kelly 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium skipepsi Posted October 15, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 15, 2014 I joined E company Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry a bottom of the pile TA outfit and got to play with Brens that way live firing with respirators on was awful my glasses steamed up and I am not sure we could have hit a barn door from the inside... near the end we had run out of ammo and the range pulled up a 'Chinese Horde' from underneath the front of the trench so we were declared dead and useless or something similar....... In our defence we were only 17 years old at the time. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyram Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 Evening all. I hope you are all well. Just over 24 hours since I last looked in and so many pages to get through to catch up with all that is ER. Firstly great to hear from Tim and I hope that Don continues to improve so we can hear from the man himself very soon. I hope that the move went / is going well for Sherry. The last few pages seem to be full of memories. 46 years ago I was not even a glint in my parent's eyes. In fact they were not even married then. 29 years ago I was making my way through the early part of my last year at primary school. I believe we were even doing some kind of topic on transport in those days. 15 years ago: I was at the same school in my first year as a qualified teacher. I was 24, and my then girlfriend had just turned 18. A very pleasant young lady, but not quite the replacement for the girl who had dumped me the previous summer, leaving me in an emotional mess that, with hindsight, took too long to get over. 10 years ago: I was at my current school, was still single and was in the middle of decorating and furnishing my first ever house. I had just injured my back, an injury that was to lead to months of problems - some that were connected and some that were not. 5 years ago: Sarah and I were preparing for our first Christmas after moving in together. We had just met our the little stray cat for the first time and Freddie was to be a part of our family for several years. Today has been a good day. Despite Amber keeping us awake again last night, resulting only four hours sleep, I managed to get through the course I was on. A very good and useful day with an early finish as a bonus. I stopped off at the local garden centre for a break on way home and had a chance to wander around their Christmas area. Yes, I admit it, I love the festive season. The wet weather put me off venturing out to the club tonight. Instead I sat in, watching "The Apprentice" and beginning to update our show's floorplan. Amber did awake screaming at just after 9pm. She went back to sleep though so at present there will be just the two of us in bed tonight! Hope tomorrow is kind to you all. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted October 15, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 15, 2014 Just back from the model railway club, the very cheap Airfix RAF recovery set kit was passed on to one of our layout groups as they required the crane, I hope to grab any bits left over as I might have a use for them. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jock67B Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 Evening all, Early night tonight as I've got to be at Colchester general hospital for my next oncology appointment tomorrow morning - I hope the weather isn't as bad as in 1987 when Michael Fish got it so wrong! No post tomorrow morning but I hope to look in later in the day. Stewart, never made the Boys Brigade as when we moved to the 'Blocks' at Barlieth, mum didn't drive and with dad on a drivers varied work schedule, I couldn't walk down through Hurlford and out along the road to Kilmarnock (or rather mum wouldn't let me even then!). AndyB, even with my verbosity it would be a tall order - my word, based on personal experience would be 'supportiveness'! Neil, agree entirely with your summing up of the 'friends', the dryness didn't appeal to me but credit for their lack of hypocrisy. As Dick said, honourable and principled. Beast, we had the RHTT back through to Clacton again today, two DRS 57s but I couldn't catch the numbers as they sped by. Haven't had that many leaves fall round here yet! Hope you have a good run into the weekend folks and look forward to hearing from Sherry when she gets her WiFi up and running, Kind regards, Jock. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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