The Loose Association of Wargamers

Yeah, but that was just to keep German football supporters out. 17 pdr APDS would take the hooligan out of anyone.

RMD wrote: ↑Mon Apr 01, 2019 6:28 am

grizzlymc wrote: ↑Mon Apr 01, 2019 4:01 am I reckon they're just using Leo 1 turrets as part of a Maginot line.

String the huns out, cover W Germany in persistent chemicals and stop them on the Rhine with fixed fortifications. What could possibly go wrong.

Funnily enough, the Austrians did exactly that and used hundreds of tank turrets in fixed fortifications - particularly ex-British and ex-Dutch Centurion turrets, but also Sherman, Chaffee, M36, M47, T-34/85 and Charioteer turrets. There's an Austrian military museum based on one of the bunker complexes that still has loads of tank turrets still in situ. The Cloggies also had quite a lot of Firefly and Ram turrets in fixed defences - In 1990 I remember seeing a Firefly turret that was still being used near the German border, somewhere near Roermond.

The Bulgarians did similar with their WWII German kit, there have been several StuG etc recovered from there https://www.rctankwarfare.co.uk/forums/ ... f=1&t=9309 Anyone fancy digging up a jagdpanzer?

If I was stinking rich, I'd collect 1:1, how cool would that be?

Etranger wrote: ↑Mon Apr 01, 2019 7:59 am

RMD wrote: ↑Mon Apr 01, 2019 6:28 am

grizzlymc wrote: ↑Mon Apr 01, 2019 4:01 am I reckon they're just using Leo 1 turrets as part of a Maginot line.

String the huns out, cover W Germany in persistent chemicals and stop them on the Rhine with fixed fortifications. What could possibly go wrong.

Funnily enough, the Austrians did exactly that and used hundreds of tank turrets in fixed fortifications - particularly ex-British and ex-Dutch Centurion turrets, but also Sherman, Chaffee, M36, M47, T-34/85 and Charioteer turrets. There's an Austrian military museum based on one of the bunker complexes that still has loads of tank turrets still in situ. The Cloggies also had quite a lot of Firefly and Ram turrets in fixed defences - In 1990 I remember seeing a Firefly turret that was still being used near the German border, somewhere near Roermond.

The Bulgarians did similar with their WWII German kit, there have been several StuG etc recovered from there https://www.rctankwarfare.co.uk/forums/ ... f=1&t=9309 Anyone fancy digging up a jagdpanzer?

I forgot to mention the Bulgarians... About 10 years ago a couple of Germans were arrested and convicted for stealing Bulgarian state property when they were found in possession of a train-full of Pz IVs! They'd apparently been paying the locals to dig up the panzers, which were buried completely intact along the border with Greece.

RMD wrote: ↑Mon Apr 01, 2019 3:37 pm I forgot to mention the Bulgarians... About 10 years ago a couple of Germans were arrested and convicted for stealing Bulgarian state property when they were found in possession of a train-full of Pz IVs! They'd apparently been paying the locals to dig up the panzers, which were buried completely intact along the border with Greece.

So all ready for the start of the next one, then? Until the EU meant that Germany no longer had to invade in order to conquer......

A train full of PZ IVs. WOW!

Baron, they were probably nicking them so the Bundywear would have some runners to train with. The Luftwaffe had 4 runners at one point last year. A kid with a 22 could have grounded the entire fighter force in minutes.

Britain could probably overrun most of Western Europe, although why Britain might want to do that is another question.

grizzlymc wrote: ↑Mon Apr 01, 2019 11:58 pm Baron, they were probably nicking them so the Bundywear would have some runners to train with. The Luftwaffe had 4 runners at one point last year. A kid with a 22 could have grounded the entire fighter force in minutes.

Britain could probably overrun most of Western Europe, although why Britain might want to do that is another question.

While I agree that European NATO countries' under-funding of their armed forces, counter to their pledges to NATO, is worthy of discussion, it needs to be noted that source for 99% of all such stories is Putin's propaganda wing. His intent is to sow misinformation and discord within NATO - primarily to thick-as-pigshit US voters.

Stories re the Luftwaffe/RAF's lack of airworthiness pop up regularly and the source is almost always RT, Sputnik or some other Kremlin-sponsored source. They invariably get some Useful Idiot to put in a freedom of information request, then cherry-pick the serviceability state at the very end of one single day - the day where the weather was good, where there was maximum routine training, when there was a big NATO exercise going on and when there were ongoing ops in sandy shit-holes - when everything was run ragged and aircraft were 'unserviceable' because the cup-holder was sticking a bit and the night shift was going to have a look at it...

They never look at the start-of-day serviceability states...

On the subject of understaffing, according to the news, the British army is currently 30-something percent understaffed

Seems a bit high, but isn't 20% pretty much normal in a peacetime army.

RMD, I note what you say, but issues with German serviceability have been rife for over a decade.