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hoadie
Moderator Group Joined: March 16 2006 Location: Niagara/Canada Status: Offline Points: 9003 |
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Yes,,it was precarious for the Aussies - they even got bombed a few times. (You should see the movie KOKODA..Allan - Shotgun Bill - sent me a copy of it. I don't think it was ever released Stateside).
It was a very nearly run thing, to be sure. There was "death March" in Europe, as well.(Thomas Bunion R.N RIP) was a survivor of it. |
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Loose wimmen tightened here
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SherwoodZ
Newbie Joined: January 12 2018 Location: Chicago Status: Offline Points: 1 |
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I watched the same thing the other day, Honkytonk. O'Keefe is a brilliant guy. I thought I knew stuff about the Dieppe raid but I soon realized that I didn't know jack. I wish there was more stuff like that on TV. |
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Honkytonk
Senior Member Joined: December 30 2017 Location: Brandon Mb Status: Offline Points: 4770 |
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Agree. He has several shows about Canada from the trenches of WW1 to the Garrison of Hong Kong. Check him out. Very informative, very Canadian. I believe he still is a reserve officer. Myself, I went to our local reserve Depot to inquire about joining up. My pop was a vet. I didn't follow that course, as I got a job in the fertilizer industry for 34 yrs but thought now retired and in decent shape, give it a whirl. I was told at 57 yrs old, while no age discrimination, my dreams of donning the beret were probably not gonna happen. Bummed...
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hoadie
Moderator Group Joined: March 16 2006 Location: Niagara/Canada Status: Offline Points: 9003 |
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apparently they wont take you after 45
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Loose wimmen tightened here
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paddyofurniture
Senior Member Joined: December 26 2011 Location: NC Status: Offline Points: 5255 |
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Just tell them you are tall for your age.
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Always looking for military manuals, Dodge M37 items,books on Berlin Germany, old atlases ( before 1946) , military maps of Scotland. English and Canadian gun parts.
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Honkytonk
Senior Member Joined: December 30 2017 Location: Brandon Mb Status: Offline Points: 4770 |
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As the recruiter said, and I agree (although disappointed) they invest a lot of $$ in a new recruit and like to get a good return (years of service) for the investment. Can't really argue with the logic...
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A square 10
Special Member Donating Member Joined: December 12 2006 Location: MN , USA Status: Offline Points: 14452 |
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hey , some of us that worked for 40 plus years are just getting started on our second/third carreers we have no intent of not giving the sergvice they want i will work to 70 god willing and the creek dont rise or perhaps beyond that if my mind is intact ,
i have a lot better education , far more experience and im a lot smarter than most doing what im doing these days , im having fun doing it and the company is profiting from my efforts , dont short change those over 50 er OK 60 , we got lots to offer , just sayin , besides that we are irritable and can be deadly when provoked and that aint that hard these days
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Macd
Senior Member Joined: January 26 2018 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 195 |
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Full pack route marches, field rations, sleeping sitting up for a few hours a day, wet, dirty, bouncing around in an APC, long hours of boredom, fording cold rivers, laying in tall grass surrounded by biting insects, blisters, cuts, scrape, bruises and assorted aches, pains, sprains and strains, sand in your face, rain down your neck and snow friggin everywhere. Then there is the other side trying to blow your brains out or separate you into your constituent parts. No life like it eh but a young persons burden.
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Shamu
Admin Group Logo Designer / Donating Member Joined: April 25 2007 Location: MD, USA. Status: Offline Points: 17603 |
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"Full pack route marches, field rations, sleeping sitting up for a few
hours a day, wet, dirty, bouncing around in an APC, long hours of
boredom, fording cold rivers, laying in tall grass surrounded by biting
insects, blisters, cuts, scrape, bruises and assorted aches, pains,
sprains and strains, sand in your face, rain down your neck and snow
friggin everywhere".
Wow I had a problem with slow Room Service once, but I went Air Force, or course. |
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Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force)
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Honkytonk
Senior Member Joined: December 30 2017 Location: Brandon Mb Status: Offline Points: 4770 |
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If they would have me, knowing I would be answering to and obeying orders from a youngster that probably works at 7-11 in his full time job, I would do it in a second. At 57, I've worked hard to get to where I am. I'm retired now, but always felt there was something missing. Hardships in the field? Please! I've been married for 37 years and have 30 year old twin girls. Some wood ticks, wet weather, cuts and scrapes? Heaven!! To have said I served Canada in uniform?...Priceless...
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Marco1010
Senior Member Joined: February 04 2020 Location: New Zealand Status: Offline Points: 400 |
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I understand the Canadians were thrown in at the deep end in Hong Kong.
Arrived with hardly any equipment, in fact a whole ship load of gear for the troops got as far as Manila in the Phillipines and never got to Hong Kong. Shipment included a heap of bren gun carriers (universal carriers). The Americans took them on as they has only a few armoured cars and some M1 half tracks in the Phillipines. US troops were a bit dismayed to see these tiny and tinny little vehicles ! but needs must, the japs were litterally on their door step. In any case the Candians were never going to need the bren gun carriers in the end, not much need for them in Hong Kong. |
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hoadie
Moderator Group Joined: March 16 2006 Location: Niagara/Canada Status: Offline Points: 9003 |
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Yes..sad part is..Churchill knew the Winnipeg Rifles et al were going to be fodder..but they had to show strength somehow.
2nd mistake was everyone underestimated the drive & tenacity of the Japanese troops. |
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Loose wimmen tightened here
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Marco1010
Senior Member Joined: February 04 2020 Location: New Zealand Status: Offline Points: 400 |
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Sad really as the Allies had seen how the Japanese had operated in China against the Nationalists, so knew what they were in for, but were prepared to thow away the troops in the asia pacific region on a gamble for time. And they lost the gamble. Down here in NZ we had already thrown away half our airforce into the battle to save Singapore. While back home the cupboard was almost bare of equipment and troops. If you want to see deperation look at the Charlton Automatic rifle and the Semple tank they came up with to fill the gaps.
Australia was not much better either. If the Japanese had know how precarious the situation was they could have really pushed through. Battles of the Coral Sea, Guadalcanal, Milne Bay and Kokoda were the one in a hundred chance oportunities to turn the tide. terrible sacrifice of men. And those who survived carried the scars physically and mentally afterwards. My father used to work with men who had survived the Burma Railway as POW, they were hard men who drank hard, hated the japs with a vengance and only rarely spoke of their experiences. They never left food on a plate, always smoked a cigarette down to the last grains of tobacco. |
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paddyofurniture
Senior Member Joined: December 26 2011 Location: NC Status: Offline Points: 5255 |
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God Rest Them all!
Without these Men the world would be a different p!ace today.
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Always looking for military manuals, Dodge M37 items,books on Berlin Germany, old atlases ( before 1946) , military maps of Scotland. English and Canadian gun parts.
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hoadie
Moderator Group Joined: March 16 2006 Location: Niagara/Canada Status: Offline Points: 9003 |
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Yeah...& methinks it's about to become a "different" place again! I fear that there is going to be a terrible wailing & gnashing of teeth!!(& I'm not talkin about Paddy's house!).
I think the only way out of this mess will be a 3rd twirl at war |
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Loose wimmen tightened here
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paddyofurniture
Senior Member Joined: December 26 2011 Location: NC Status: Offline Points: 5255 |
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More of the big bang theory!
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Always looking for military manuals, Dodge M37 items,books on Berlin Germany, old atlases ( before 1946) , military maps of Scotland. English and Canadian gun parts.
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