John Kettler Posted February 6, 2020 Author Share Posted February 6, 2020 If you saw the Danish movie 9 APRIL, you'll probably find this wonderful article quite the engrossing read. It's the story of the attack on Denmark and has lots of detailed info on the garrisons, armament, uniform illos, pics, etc. Grog goodness on a topic most of us know little about.http://www.chakoten.dk/The Danish Army on April 9th, 1940_complete.pdf?fbclid=IwAR1-4U5QnkYwxES-7nt_ZaQiC70VgCiovg9WRte19gz99s-uf2VTQwsKa1A Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted February 7, 2020 Author Share Posted February 7, 2020 Stunning large format original color pic of the bow of a Siebel Ferry. Like being there! Detailed info on Siebel Ferry and related operations, losses, etc.http://www.ww2.dk/articles/flot.htm?fbclid=IwAR2wQnv3txdQ_4h980lo6ffDZj5kqyd708tCjyGVdJ-XDildpv_aj4w-MQI Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erwin Posted February 7, 2020 Share Posted February 7, 2020 I googled the film and got a Netflix link, but then can't find it there. Where did you see it? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted February 8, 2020 Author Share Posted February 8, 2020 Erwin, Amazon Prime has it. But a quick search found it on YT! Â Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted February 8, 2020 Author Share Posted February 8, 2020 (edited) Don't know whether any of you saw "Combat Dealers" on Discovery TV, but here's a sampling of the fun (and my near bottomless envy I don't get to play with these wonderful toys). Business head Bruce Crompton travels the world finding, repairing and selling historic weapons, including a Panther tank and 88s. Here, he creates a mini war movie as a marketing tool, with a real WW II tanker on the set as his military advisor.https://youtu.be/0jEo8v1LjQ4?list=PLSdOd4Ju-5yuFUM6iCVrk0Udk47N9uuuv  Regards, John Kettler Edited February 8, 2020 by John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erwin Posted February 8, 2020 Share Posted February 8, 2020 Oh good. Thanks... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted February 8, 2020 Author Share Posted February 8, 2020 ERwin, You're welcome. He and his outfit were heavily involved in "Fury". Millions were spent transporting many AFVs from his collection to another part of England. Restored Me-109 G6, flying under power of the DB 605A engine. Â Regards, John Kettler 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted February 9, 2020 Author Share Posted February 9, 2020 When this comes out, the Navy's going to need more aircraft carriers! The original "Top Gun" had a huge impact on naval aviation and the Navy in general, and I expect this will cause interest to explode. Cinematography has made an Oscar-sized leap in this film, and the actors have experienced ACM (Air Combat Maneuvering) AKA dogfighting with the best the Navy has--while sometimes pulling 7-8 Gs! All the trailers and some wonderful stuff from behind the scenes. Dying to see this!  Regards, John Kettler  2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ncc1701e Posted February 9, 2020 Share Posted February 9, 2020 I am waiting for this one too. I hope there is a scenario and that they do not count only on the flight scenes. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted February 11, 2020 Author Share Posted February 11, 2020 Came across a guy named Justin Pyke on Twitter. He's a military historian specializing in the CBI and PTO. @CBI_PTO_HistoryMA in History. Studies intel, sea power, air power, & the Asia-Pacific War. Researching US intelligence assessments of Japanese air and sea power, 1919-1941. Needless to say, I Followed him and passed the word to two brothers and a famous military thriller writer and wargame designer. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted February 12, 2020 Author Share Posted February 12, 2020 (edited) You say you're a German aircraft grog, right? Let's see, shall we? Regards, John Kettler Edited February 12, 2020 by John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted February 13, 2020 Author Share Posted February 13, 2020 UXO and the resulting EOD is an interest of mine, and this is a first. Digging in an inner courtyard in Brno, Czech Republic unearthed a weapon cache of a sort I've never seen.  Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted February 13, 2020 Author Share Posted February 13, 2020 Did you know the OSS had library spooks? I sure didn't. This is an excerpt from a fascinating book about a high level OSS operation to obtain books from Nazi Germany through a variety of means, some overt, others covert, as well as securing valuable books from a Europe in chaos after the war. Call them, The Library Men, if you will. Quite the story!https://crimereads.com/librarian-spy/?fbclid=IwAR3cMfdjSm5hoyM2ZS6J7YIUVpK9E2vAePFwGw_aSV2VV03WWJPY5P9w49s Regards, John Kettler  0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted February 14, 2020 Author Share Posted February 14, 2020 (edited) Those of you with an interest in the Sino-Japanese War (or unusual military units) will find these of interest. Did you know the Japanese had a squadron wearing the deathshead insignia? Part of the unit was mounted. http://www.chinaww2.com/2014/04/10/japans-skull-squadron-i/ http://www.chinaww2.com/2014/04/13/japans-skull-squadron-ii/ Regards,  John Kettler   Edited February 14, 2020 by John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted March 8, 2020 Author Share Posted March 8, 2020 Brother George, who's quite the Vietnam War air campaign student, sent me this, which concerns the earliest clash between the North Vietnamese Air Force and USAF. This is a movie excerpt and has English subtitles. Have had the opportunity to see all three types up close. Â Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted March 8, 2020 Author Share Posted March 8, 2020 Wanted to pass the word about an important documentary called "Return to Tarawa" by Snagfilms. Because the protagonist was an extremely salty tongued and POed landing craft skipper at the battle, I'm not providing a link, but it's on YT. It's got lots of good footage and a look at what's left and the truly terrifying amount of UXO all over the place there. The Australians even found a 250 kg Japanese bomb being used as the corner of a chicken coop! Return to Tarawa - Full Movie | Snagfilms Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erwin Posted March 8, 2020 Share Posted March 8, 2020 Great movie finds! Thanks for finding movies with subtitles.  0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted March 14, 2020 Author Share Posted March 14, 2020 Tonight I'm going naval--Russo-Japanese War to be specific. Here is an amazing video on the Tsarist cruiser BAYAN, which fought the Japanese at Port Arthur. It's how a video should be done, replete with period photos, drawings, paintings and engineering renderings accompanied by nothing less than magnificent music and rousing singing. My Russian is limited to the odd military word here and there, but no Russian is necessary at all in order to appreciate this superb work. Here's the long detailed Wiki.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_cruiser_Bayan_(1900) Erwin, You're most welcome, and you'd be amazed how much you can get out of watching even the Russian only films. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted March 15, 2020 Author Share Posted March 15, 2020 Just finished watching "Panfilov's 28 Men" (English subtitles) on YT and having some memory of reading the events were fabricated, decided to do more digging. That's how I found this, where I learned a TOP SECRET doc, now declassified, shows the chief Soviet military prosecutor in 1948 informed a Politburo member it was "a fiction". Sadly, the truth is even worse than that shocker.https://www.rferl.org/a/soviet-wwii-panfilov-guardsmen-fiction/27123430.html Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted March 15, 2020 Author Share Posted March 15, 2020 Serious question for Russians, Ukrainians, possibly others. Have noticed many times, both in documentaries and old Soviet war films, that troops run around ungloved in conditions where my hands would be uncomfortably or worse cold almost instantly. Is this some sort of immunity that's developed from growing up in places where the winters can get terrifyingly cold? The notion isn't as crazy as it may sound, for one of my brothers, who'd been transferred on his job from Los Angeles, California to Minneapolis, Minnesota, returned and joined my friends and I, bundled up in our jackets and such, while we were wargaming on our sand table, our only weather protection the patio roof. To our consternation and shock, his attire was tennis whites, the ones with shorts! Blown away by this, we asked how he could do this in such cold. His astounding response? "Oh, this is balmy weather to me." Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted March 15, 2020 Author Share Posted March 15, 2020 If you're going to build a scale model (and you have the space and budget) consider 1/1 scale!  Regards, John Kettler  0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted March 24, 2020 Author Share Posted March 24, 2020 Relatable sculpture--Vernon Mine Warfare and Diving School Beautifully executed and most ingenious! Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted April 5, 2020 Author Share Posted April 5, 2020 Did you know the great actor Michael Caine (now Sir Michael Caine) was a soldier (and a brave one at that, since he volunteered for Korea when he could've stayed with the BAOR in Germany) before he became an actor? His film debut was "Zulu".https://www.warhistoryonline.com/instant-articles/michael-caine-a-korean-war-vet.html Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sublime Posted April 6, 2020 Share Posted April 6, 2020 On 3/15/2020 at 12:57 AM, John Kettler said: Just finished watching "Panfilov's 28 Men" (English subtitles) on YT and having some memory of reading the events were fabricated, decided to do more digging. That's how I found this, where I learned a TOP SECRET doc, now declassified, shows the chief Soviet military prosecutor in 1948 informed a Politburo member it was "a fiction". Sadly, the truth is even worse than that shocker.https://www.rferl.org/a/soviet-wwii-panfilov-guardsmen-fiction/27123430.html Regards, John Kettler JK i really recommend mark felton productions on youtube TIK does excellebt ost front stuff. I never got why the Sovs had all these real heroes and seemingly couldnt help themselbes regarding lying. Pavlovs house too apparemtly is a fictiom or not as important as stated. Ths nationalities were lied about too - suddenly every SSR hasa guy. Its weird to me. If panfiliv isnt the case im thinking of there was a hero kv crewed allegedly who fought to the death. Postwar the nkvd found half dead; a couple alive. One was a pow and another definitely became a hiwi! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted April 8, 2020 Author Share Posted April 8, 2020 Sublime, He does fanatic work, though so far I've only seen ETO stuff of his. Shall have to go look into those. In Drabkin's PANZER KILLERS one of the veterans spilled the bean about how the Russians manufactured HSU awardees. What they'd do is credit other kills made in the unit to one already well performing ATG crew. From what I can tell, the same was true for tanks and fighter planes. Also, the HSU wasn't always awarded for extreme combat heroism. The US did this in a number of cases during the Civil War, but I believe that later, these were rescinded. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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