Paco QNS

Just seen, just sent !

Post a bird´s eye view of each map. Surely their designers will identify them. (( Edited to add: eck, make it a Quiz! ))

See the thread: Most effective WWII MG and specially the article: ""Natural Killers —Turning the Tide of Battle"" by Major David S. Pierson, US Army Not related, but by SLA Marshall I´ve found this document: Commentary on Infantry and Weapons, Korea, 1950-51 ------------------ Edited to add: Yeah!, I got the original source, look at CAC Military Review in Past editions. In the May-June 1999 number is the Pierson article and in a letter published in Nov-Dec 1999 there is a rebuttal by Joseph Forbes [ September 26, 2004, 12:55 AM: Message edited by: Paco QNS ]

Please edit 3) , both polish and engineers would feel offended.

Aprox. translations are: LEFT "Cut by cradles drillings" and RIGHT "Cut by view drilling for tower sight telescope" Edited to add: Redwolf gets better and faster

P 4 2 Ghz 256 Mb RAM 2:02 2:00 2:07 1:57 1:57

Hey, Hans, check this page also -in case you didn´t see it-: Les Tirailleurs Sénégalais du 24è RTS dans la tourmente de 1940

There are two alternatives: a) Give the mortar a "Turn to" order (along with the firing order), up to 180º from the target. The more degrees, the more delay. Give the mortar a very short "Move to" order. This will delay it -along with the mounting time- for an amount of seconds. Both have the same problem: they only fire at the end of turn. If I have understood you correctly, you use a Pause and a "Move" order, so the mortar fire a few shots and then stops fire and move. Regards,

(( Around the 26 footnote )) Soviet Operational Deception: the Red Cloak by Lt Col Richard N. Armstrong Though, note there is no reference to smoke arty ammo, but -only possibly- for the " 20.000 smoke cannisters" in the Table 1.

AFAIK the more used "impact fuze" grenades in the WW2 were the italian ones, such as the granada de mano modelo OTO, granada de mano S.R.C.M. o Roma and granada de mano modelo Breda (((links went quite slow lately))). Known as "red devils", due to their colour and unreliable fuzes, which failed to explode and let the battlefield sown with dangerous unexploded grenades. As related here NZ 5th Field Regiment 1941 Baggush - Syria The danger was in the heavy ball which on impact press a spring-and-sting and blows the fuze. Though it is -nominally- an offensive grenade, that ball can kill anybody several dozens meters away. It is the same case of the nº 69 british grenade, used playfully till someone ended with a ball inside. Later this grenade gave born to the The Grenade with Instant Fame . A few other links on the nº 69 british grenade: Ananova - 'Beer bottle' turns out to be unexploded grenade Away to Scotland History of the North Shore Regiment BattleFieldRelics.co.uk WW2 No.69 Grenade. 1940 dated. Incomplete One Vale fan Regards,

Can´t say it will help you, but there are new Catalyst 4.7 in the ATI webpage http://www2.ati.com/drivers/Catalyst_47_release_notes.html NOT THAT I HAVE USED THEM! Nor endorse them in any way, if it works, I´m not in the mood of trying to fix anything. Just discover it when Messenger doesn´t worked and freezed my computer. My alternative fix: unloading Messenger.

Source is "Para! Fifty years of the Parachute Regiment" by Peter Harclerode, pages 38 and ff, only the mentions on enemy forces:

Beg pardon, my misunderstanding. Question? What question? It is/was a doubt!. Of course, if you saw those mortars in the demo, fired while been holding with one hand, that would dissipate my doubt. ((and yes, I can imagine you were at a longer distance than you wish. If fire demos included MBT and heavy guns, they put you safely away. )). Thanks for the link! amplified image of the 51mm mortar ------------------------------------------------- The fashion of "commando"-type mortars In the late seventies and eighties of the past century, a kind of mortars was reborn. The Japanese Army used in WW2 the "infamously" called "Knee mortar", specially noted for his misgivious name, that led allied soldiers to employ captured mortars using their own legs as baseplates (or so told allied manual, that overemphasized "How NOT to use that weapon"). The new theories post-Vietnam led to the use of lighter weapons, with more punch and requiring less personnel. Mortars hold with one -or both hands- were designed and marketed. Both the modern 51mm british mortar and the ECIA 60 MM "Commando" mortar were members in that tribe, and there were others I can´t place now. For one, the spanish 60mm model was tried in units, but AFAIK not in wholespread regular service. There are leftovers of the preseries in several elite units Personally I´ve always considered disturbing the "hand-holding" issue (perhaps influenced by the horror tales of the "knee mortar"). The shockwave of firing, continually and for long time can´t be good for both hand-bones and tendons!, though the use of gloves and an aislant holder. Regards.

------------------------------------------------ Note: what follows are funded speculations, based in Hogg´s book cited in a previous post, and the excerpting of some mortar manual I have fast-readed. I only own an annex on the tactical use of 81 mm mortars, Laffitte and Valero -one big brother of the 50mm one-. The knowledge on "how-fuzes-and-safety-catches-work" Mortar grenades case Refering to the Army, excluding mortar-rounds/fuzes producers, and their personnel (male and female). a) Technical NCOs Those in charge of explosive ammo, grenades, mortar rounds and so. They "need-to-know", mainly to supervise the arm-on of that kind of rounds and to teach it to the ammo NCO/Corporal in the mortar crew (case of the 3" mortars). ((Apart from other reasons, that´s why it was a very good idea to use the same system in all types of mortar rounds -when possible-)). The manteinance/repairment of fuzes corresponds him, also, though I think it was mainly preventive: assure fuzes are not corroded; nor drowned; nor mistrated, ... etc In cases of necessity -scarcity, siege,...- he HAD to put in order enough "doubtful-fuzes/rounds", and best, all-of-them. Ammo NCO/Corporal in each crew To suplement (a) in every mortar/battery. c) Mortar commander He had to know exactly how fuzes-and-mortar-rounds worked. Mainly, to instile in him the absolute respect to the proper procedures in case of misfire ((classic in mortars)), and a horror-tale to inspire his men that respect. Useful also to supplement (a) and (. d) probably I left out others. Suggests? ------------------------------------------------- Back to the point, even a lowly private CAN know the fuze-workaround, if he is specialized enough. A Political-Economy teacher of mine repeated, thrice per semester, ""La especialización en Ciencia, más que una virtud es una conveniencia"" (("Specialization in Science, more than a Virtue is a convenience"). But I digress... A Rangers Captain was specialized in leading men... Also in all weapons, both reglamentary and special -all of them-, and enemy weapons ... On every kind of tactics, both sane and less-sane ... He had to know enough, about almost everything and every-tasks in his command. The private had to know everything, in one task. ------------------------------------------------- The spanish catch-phrase related is: ""Las reclamaciones/quejas, al Maestro Armero"". (( Claims/Complaints, to the Tech Sergeant.- Is a classic in the noble sport of passing-the-buck/hotpotato. )) I can imagine a soldier in the old Tercios, claiming to his Sarge (he who carries the halbard): "Saaargeee, my ´cabuzzz does´nt work anymore. And that "noble" man, with enough problems to kill six captains, using the magical phrase to evade/dilate ... ------------------------------------------------- Regards...

In Re to SailorM: the 51mm mortar is not the same weapon as the classic 2" . Can´t say what weapon was used in that demo, but find doubtful it was the old. ------------------------------------------------ Question for flamingknives : Don´t you forget the weight of the ammo box (or containers), the proyection charges box, the tool box, the mouthcover, the cleaning tools... ((almost sure I forget something)). -- Yes! A handgun at least for one and a knife for the other. -- ------------------------------------------------ The British Army "Light Mortar Competition" In the early thirties the British Army had the Stokes 3" mortar -produced by Vickers- as the company indirect fire support weapon, but they felt the need for a lighter mortar. Something as a grenade-launcher, since the reglamentary rifle grenade, model 54, was judged unsatisfactory. Rules were set and the candidates were: (1) A 2,5" mortar presented by the Birmingham Small Arms Company ; (2) one or two more mortars in the same 2,5" caliber; (3) a spigot model, designed by our old friend, the Lt-Col Blacker. His invention was retired, due to the complexity of the ammo. ((In a month´s time he retried with several corrections and get a contract for the Parnall Aircraft Company to produce a model with 60 or 70 grenades to test it. No further notice -AFAIK- till the frantic 1940 months of the Home Guard race to find anything lethal enough. Then his babies reborn as the Spigot Mortar Emplacements in the United Kingdom. Even Today, they survive as structures near Eckington Bridge, WorcesterShire and Pershore Bridge, Worcs )). The rest, is history (the experiments lightening the Blacker´s bombard, and finally the PIAT). and the winner in the mortar competition wasss... -after comparative trials in late 1937- 4) the spanish "Valero"/Ecia 50mm mortar. In fact, A mortar have been bought to experiment with it around 1934. With several improvements to easier its production, an initial run-up was ordered in November 1937 to test in units. It included ten mortars with 1.600 HE grenades and another 1.600 smoke ones. (( ""gases"" in the original,-that is fumes or gas grenades-, but I´m certain they were smoke ammo)). The units tests went well, and in February 1938 the Master General of the Ordnance ordered a first serial production of 500 mortars and their ammo, whith no more delays. Source is "Grenades and mortars", by Ian V. Hogg -indirectly via the following paragraphs/links-. ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- BTW, anyone who read that book (and spanish fluent) will find it familiar, up to the point to "suspect" if the Coronel Ian V. Hogg uses as an alias: Marcello Francini . I´m going to post-in-the-guessbook of the following webpage (or wrote to the webmaster), E. Fontenla, to test if he has been framed, and he is in a good-faith unknowledge. IMO, it´s either a fragant case of plagiarism, in the worst case, and abusive "clipping"-without-giving-credit in the milder. :mad: :mad: The Ballantine edition of Hogg´s "Grenades and mortars" was edited in Spain by the Editorial San Martín, excelent book. Francisco Sánchez P.S. Does anyone knows a web address for Mr Hogg? -provided he still alives-

A few excerpts from: Mortars between the wars - by WL Ruffell ((Here the author is mistaken regarding the spanish mortars: from thirties till fifties, the Valero 50 mm outnumbered vastly the Valero 60 mm. They were replaced with the mortero ECIA de 60 mm, during the sixties decade.)) spanischer 5 cm Granatwerfer Ecia

The british 2" mortar was a licensed copy of the spanish "Valero" 50 mm mortar, designed by the infantry Captain Vicente Valero de Bernabé y Casañez. He associated with the industrialist Juan Esperanza Salvador, funding in 1925 the society "Esperanza y Cía”, builder of the later ECIA mortars. An article on the grenade of the spanish original mortar, and its inertial fuze is here: Granada de mortero Valero de 50 mm Though, the british ammo used a different fuze, and impact one. During the SCW there were also variants with impact fuzes in the Valero mortars -both the 50 and 81 mm-). Another photo os the Seville variant of the 50 mm Valero mortar is here.

FM 71-100-3 Chptr 7 Environmental Considerations As a matter of fact, the height of the dust column raised depends more on winds and heat than the speed of the vehicle. Observe that here, in "Techniques for operating vehicles" there is no such thing as "drive slowly in order to not raise dust": Moreso, in special areas a "minimum speed is needed": Appendix 3 TECHNIQUES FOR OPERATING EQUIPMENT IN THE DESERT

The map is here, in the fourth chapter, entitled "2nd Division", under a destroyed bridge photo: Japanese Armoured Units on Java Island, 1942 -that is, if it works, being a geocities site -

The CMBB´s "sewer movement" represents the subterranean movement-and-combat, historically associated with the sieges (and long term urban-combat). That means a long struggle inside a city. No sieges, no need of "sewer movement". It also requires subterraneans passages, either sewers, water conducts, catacombs, wine-cellars, or even secret passages (common in jewrys, old towns and castles). Most of them existed -and even exist today- in a lot of old towns builded by the classic romans, both in Italy and in the north of Africa (speaking of the theater of operations of CMAK). I see the need of it for "what-if" ops, such as a Cairo/Rome/Naples last defense. On a related matter, mine-and-countermines are absent from CM, in the "tunnel mine" variant. According to this source, though, they were used in the russian front: The Origins of Military Mines: Part I By Major William C. Schneck ((Yes, I can imagine the possible "wildly use" could be made of this "tunnel-mines", but in the Spanish Civil War they were used quite extensively -in Toledo and Teruel (certainly), and in Oviedo and Madrid (if I´m not mistaken)- . So, if there is a wish-list for CM2, please add the "tunnel-mines to it, please! ))

Just finished reading the spanish translation "Nápoles 1944", from the book "Naples ’44 .An intelligence officer in the Italian labyrinth", 1978 by Norman Lewis. There is related the following episode, in the pages 41 to 45: Since it´s a retranslation, I beg pardon to the late Mr Lewis Obituary: Norman Lewis Thursday, July 24, 2003 any misspellings and errors are mine, and not his. I include also the spanish translation (for the languages-grogs). ((Credits to Angela Pérez Gómez, translater:

In 1956 the only weapon on AMX-13s was the 75 mm gun. The 90 mm gun was introduced in the AMX-13 in 1966. AMX-13/90 light tank The high velocity of the AMX, combined with a light armor is more the american doctrine in tank-hunters than the german one. I see the AMX more similar to the Hellcat than anything else. There are no captured Hellcats, aren´t they? (( Edited to correct the "Hellcaesm"-ism )) [ June 09, 2004, 01:30 AM: Message edited by: Paco QNS ]

Can´t find now my "La Luftwaffe", by Cajus Bekker -the spanish translation-. But I remind clearly how he cites in the Poland campaign the use of 20 mm. AA guns (along with the 88 mm. guns). The first ones were used against machine-guns towers, and the later against bunkers. And yes, certainly, I remember quite clearly how he described what a b*tch was to move them! // Off Topic -forgive me-, but while searching for this story I found this link on the Romanian Air-to-Ground forces, in both sides!: Grupul 8 Asalt //

Yes. It is unavailable now. It had a table of casualties per unit, that´s was more interesting in it. I add this other Operation Tiger Pages, Slapton Community Webs It includes in News - Exercise Tiger a couple of oral testimonies. Regards,

In memoriam: Exercise Tiger, a disaster of WW2 - what did happen? 'Slapton Sands: The Cover-up That Never Was' By Charles B. MacDonald Tiger, the E-boat attack OPERATION TIGER - 27/28th of APR 1944