QRIH badges - for Faugh-A-Ballagh

[Hussar100]

Originally Posted by wright241

John,
OK and not a problem - mind yourself.

Its just such a nice badge and very well made - but, apart from the "missing" apostrophe - which in military tradition terms would (in my opinion) have made it completely unacceptable "regimentally" - and I don't mean that in the same way that politicians bandy the word around. I would have expected the CO to go bonkers at such an error....
Take it easy over there - if its possible. One of these days I'll try and make another trip and call in.
Best Regards, David

A wee tip for you. In the cavalry you don't have a "CO". You have a "colonel". You address him as colonel and you refer to him as "the colonel".

Cavalry, especially Irish cavalry, are bound up in so many traditions it would make your eyes water. As QRIH recruits in Catterick we were educated on these in regimental "link" classes taken by a serving sergeant. Didn't stop me making the error of wearing a shirt and jumper without a tie however. Right up until 1982 we still wore ties with shirts, even under coverall on the tank park. H&S wouldn't allow that these days.

[wright241]

Originally Posted by Hussar100

A wee tip for you. In the cavalry you don't have a "CO". You have a "colonel". You address him as colonel and you refer to him as "the colonel".

Cavalry, especially Irish cavalry, are bound up in so many traditions it would make your eyes water. As QRIH recruits in Catterick we were educated on these in regimental "link" classes taken by a serving sergeant. Didn't stop me making the error of wearing a shirt and jumper without a tie however. Right up until 1982 we still wore ties with shirts, even under coverall on the tank park. H&S wouldn't allow that these days.

I can well imagine it taking years to get to grips with all the "correct" aspects - although it can't be made any easier with all the amalgamations - unless seniority takes precedence...... I was always getting pulled up by my stepfather (dyed in the wool Gunner) about RA traditions.

Thanks for the info. Arn't H&S lovely, can't stop children - or animals - from being killed or abused, but the tie is crucial. I'm still waiting for the day when all pavements have 3M high barricades to stop morons from stepping into the road.

All the best, David

[Hussar100]

Originally Posted by wright241

I can well imagine it taking years to get to grips with all the "correct" aspects - although it can't be made any easier with all the amalgamations - unless seniority takes precedence...... I was always getting pulled up by my stepfather (dyed in the wool Gunner) about RA traditions.

Thanks for the info. Arn't H&S lovely, can't stop children - or animals - from being killed or abused, but the tie is crucial. I'm still waiting for the day when all pavements have 3M high barricades to stop morons from stepping into the road.

All the best, David

On amalgamation the traditions to be carried over are agreed beforehand. I've got a friend who knows all about these things and he was considering joining this site. He could provide the correct answers down to the last full stop.

We didn't have H&S so much when I joined up but they were starting to observe it. We had a s/sgt who we fondly referred to as "The Tank Park Rat" and it was his job to let us know what was permissible or not: like no sleeping under tanks, always use barrier cream, that sort of thing.

The tie thing really surprised me. Even a raw recruit like me knew it was dangerous tow ear a tie around machinery but somebody had decreed it so we had to wear them. Then another person came up with the idea of coloured polo neck jumpers (bottle green in our case) to be worn under wooly pullies. A much more practical idea. They weren't issues though: you had to pay a fiver a jumper from the PRI shop.

I noted that by the mid eighties most cavalry regiments were wearing them.

[wright241]

Originally Posted by Hussar100

On amalgamation the traditions to be carried over are agreed beforehand. I've got a friend who knows all about these things and he was considering joining this site. He could provide the correct answers down to the last full stop.

We didn't have H&S so much when I joined up but they were starting to observe it. We had a s/sgt who we fondly referred to as "The Tank Park Rat" and it was his job to let us know what was permissible or not: like no sleeping under tanks, always use barrier cream, that sort of thing.

The tie thing really surprised me. Even a raw recruit like me knew it was dangerous tow ear a tie around machinery but somebody had decreed it so we had to wear them. Then another person came up with the idea of coloured polo neck jumpers (bottle green in our case) to be worn under wooly pullies. A much more practical idea. They weren't issues though: you had to pay a fiver a jumper from the PRI shop.

I noted that by the mid eighties most cavalry regiments were wearing them.

ref the tie - this is where I am totally against these H&S sorts of rules i.e. common sense goes out the window. Surely "everyone" knows that anything like a tie/scarf etc around the neck (if caught up in anything) could choke you to death...... What you need are a few people to get choked to death because they are wearing ties/scarfs etc - oh, I was forgetting, thats why they don't let prisoners wear them - so its ok for squaddies to choke to death, but not criminals - somethings definitely wrong somewhere..... Bit like the woman falling over on a "Its wet and slippery" signposted floor and being able to sue. I despair. Sleeping under a tank or any vehicle - unless its wartime, does sound foolish. Barrier cream also sounds good. I can live with those types of rules. I am surprised that they still serve food on hard plates in restaurants and with metal "stabbing" instruments like knives and forks. Whatever next...............................
Tablet time for me. All the best, David

[Hussar100]

Originally Posted by wright241

ref the tie - this is where I am totally against these H&S sorts of rules i.e. common sense goes out the window. Surely "everyone" knows that anything like a tie/scarf etc around the neck (if caught up in anything) could choke you to death...... What you need are a few people to get choked to death because they are wearing ties/scarfs etc - oh, I was forgetting, thats why they don't let prisoners wear them - so its ok for squaddies to choke to death, but not criminals - somethings definitely wrong somewhere..... Bit like the woman falling over on a "Its wet and slippery" signposted floor and being able to sue. I despair. Sleeping under a tank or any vehicle - unless its wartime, does sound foolish. Barrier cream also sounds good. I can live with those types of rules. I am surprised that they still serve food on hard plates in restaurants and with metal "stabbing" instruments like knives and forks. Whatever next...............................
Tablet time for me. All the best, David

It was bizarre. Then again that's the army for you. They also insisted on us polishing our boots lol - even though they were so saturated with oil there was no chance they'd ever get a shine on them and the oil protected the boots far more than polish ever would have.

Mind you, if they'd seen half the stuff we got up to they'd have had a fit.

I remember one day finding a wire guided rocket called a TOW Anti Tank Missile. Usually fired from a helicopter. We slobbered when we saw it and couldn't wait to get the toolkit out and take it apart.

Then there were the guys who drove the "Target Tanks" (yes you read that right - "Target Tanks")

These were Centurions which had extra slabs of armour added on. This brought them up to 80 ton. They were painted battleship grey with fluorescent orange liberally dabbed around weak points such as optics. The gun was removed and a big steel pipe welded onto the turret to look like a gun. Apparently you could have danced in the turret there was so much room.

Anyway - some infantry guys from the IDB or School of Infantry would volunteer to drive and command these and they got an extra 50p a day for doing so. Out onto the range they would trundle and drive slowly up and down whilst helicopters fired missiles at them which made one helluva clang when they hit. (NODUFF)

Once that was over they had to get back to their base at 27 Command Armoured Workshops. That meant going down the steepest hill I've ever seen in my life. Cents had a max main brake period of 14 seconds constant. That was at 50 ton. With the extra weight of the added armour these only had 3 seconds constant main brake pressure before the brakes burnt out - so they had to go down this massive hill by careful down changes on the notoriously difficult clutch system. Miss a gear and you went into what we called "Mexican overdrive" . This did happen often.

I wonder do they still do this or have the H&S people realised the madness of it?

Oh yes, btw - all the Target Tanks Crews were Scottish. (it was the extra 50p a day which attracted them - or so one of them told me in the bar one night).

[wright241]

Bloody hell. My brother followed me in but went through Arborfield and after a while was posted to somewhere in Germany - this was around the very late 60's/early 70's. He lost a mate out there when they were running some checks on the Cent - not sure whether it was used as a target tank or not. Apparently they hadn't got around to sorting out the brakes on these two tanks. They take them out, mate was in front, Alan about 30/40 metres behind. His mate went over this steep looking rise and took a nose dive on the other side i.e. it flipped right over end to end - couldn't those things do 70/80kph??. My brother had already realised that he needed to slow down and managed to, just. Unfortunately, his mate didn't and was in the turret at the time..... Say no more. Alan took it pretty badly and took some leave and came up to Leeds to see me. What with this and having skin problems (not "challenges"......) he came out shortly after on a MD. Beats my daughter getting upset over dropping her mobile phone in a bowl of water. But she didn't see it quite like that.
All the best, David

[Hussar100]

Originally Posted by wright241

Bloody hell. My brother followed me in but went through Arborfield and after a while was posted to somewhere in Germany - this was around the very late 60's/early 70's. He lost a mate out there when they were running some checks on the Cent - not sure whether it was used as a target tank or not. Apparently they hadn't got around to sorting out the brakes on these two tanks. They take them out, mate was in front, Alan about 30/40 metres behind. His mate went over this steep looking rise and took a nose dive on the other side i.e. it flipped right over end to end - couldn't those things do 70/80kph??. My brother had already realised that he needed to slow down and managed to, just. Unfortunately, his mate didn't and was in the turret at the time..... Say no more. Alan took it pretty badly and took some leave and came up to Leeds to see me. What with this and having skin problems (not "challenges"......) he came out shortly after on a MD. Beats my daughter getting upset over dropping her mobile phone in a bowl of water. But she didn't see it quite like that.
All the best, David

Cents didn't do over 25mph as far as I know mate but if they were
going full pelt over a substantial hump they could flip over I'm sure.

Here's a link to pictures of a target tank at Bovvy http://preservedtanks.com/Profile.aspx?UniqueId=1377

This appears to be one of those I saw at Warminster.

I don't know if they ever used these in Hohne or elsewhere? Must do a bit of searching.

[wright241]

He never did mention the actual speed, just that they were going at a fair old pace. Mind you, even going at 25mph would be scary - if you had to suddenly stop..... I just can't remember the name of the place where he was stationed at the time.
David

[Hussar100]

Originally Posted by wright241

He never did mention the actual speed, just that they were going at a fair old pace. Mind you, even going at 25mph would be scary - if you had to suddenly stop..... I just can't remember the name of the place where he was stationed at the time.
David

I can tell you from experience that 25mph over broken ground is going at some rate and can mean a fairly uncomfortable ride inside. I've also been the victim of an unexpected stop at this speed - hit an anti tank ditch which was covered in long simmer grass on Salisbury Plain. That was in a Chieftain. I was in the gunner's seat and got a great whack on the bonce from the gunnery sight which was linked to the gun through the stabilisation equipment. The gun bounced on impact which meant that the sight did too, right onto my napper. Thankfully I was wearing a crewman's helmet. There wasn't one of us who wasn't knocked out by something hitting them or vice versa.

Tanks are pretty dangerous things.