Keynes' Cruisers Volume 2

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Isn't winchester used by the pilot of an Air-to-Air missile armed fighter that has expended all missiles and is now down to guns only.
From my years of playing simulators, years of amateur historical sleuthing and a quick foray onto the interwebs it almost certainly mans "I am out of ammunition and need to return to base" over Vietnam it probably did mean missiles.

I understand it was also used by British Army Apache pilots / crew when they had expended their 'useful' ammunition load in Afghanistan
 

McPherson

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From my years of playing simulators, years of amateur historical sleuthing and a quick foray onto the interwebs it almost certainly mans "I am out of ammunition and need to return to base" over Vietnam it probably did mean missiles.

I understand it was also used by British Army Apache pilots / crew when they had expended their 'useful' ammunition load in Afghanistan
"Winchester" is missiles expended.

"Dry" is out of guns' ammunition.

"Bingo" is only enough fuel to return to base.

All terms are post Korean War lingo and quite subject specific.

WWII, the pilot would say "out of ammo, or bombs gone; breaking off", or "request permission to retire" depending on circumstances and whether he was under a strike coordinator's or ground controllers or CAP director's positive control.
 
Story 2489
Lemnos, Greece April 19, 1944

Fire engines were ready. A Liberator was coming in fast and on fire with the two port-engines out and the inner one still burning. A minute later, the wheel strut blew out and the wing collapsed. As foam started to be sprayed on the burning bomber, two crew members scrambled out somewhat athletically, and then another two dragged a fifth man out a minute later. Screams from inside soon faded even before the fire was under control.

The airfield continued to receive damaged bombers from the successful raid on the Romanian oil distribution system.
 
Story 2490
Moscow April 19, 1944

The sergeants and junior officers yelled at the conscripts to stop staring at the city and get back onto the trains. The division had been reconstituted from their losses over the fall and winter. New conscripts, including some from the recently liberated portions of the Rodina had arrived in January and since then the division had been re-equipped with new weapons from the factories of the capital and the relocated plants in the Urals. Now the division would be shipped to the Ukrainian fronts for finishing training before the general staff wanted them on the front lines for blooding and experience before the summer offensives.
 
Story 2491
Guam, April 20, 1944

USS North Carolina swung at anchor. Across the bay, half a dozen ships were being tended to by the repair ships and heavy construction vessels of the fleet train. Aboard the battleship, the deck divisions were busy as hoses full of Navy Bunker C snaked across the decks and were filling the massive oil tanks below decks. Seaman Jaroschek and others who were loading fresh produce and food for the galleys had to navigate around the crowded deck as they worked. Later in the afternoon, the anti-aircraft magazines would be replenished and then the aviation department would take on more 100 Octane gasoline and depth charges for the float planes. By nightfall, the only work left would be to establish a movie screen on the deck by the rear turret and then the battleship and most of the fleet would be ready to head back to sea the next morning.
 
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Nice little slice of life and a reminder that a lot of military and naval existence is boring work.

movie screen on by the rear turret
I think that should be wither on or by, but not both. I thought they usually showed movies on a screen at the stern. Thinking about it, they could turn the stern crane outboard and use it to support the screen.
 
Nice little slice of life and a reminder that a lot of military and naval existence is boring work.


I think that should be wither on or by, but not both. I thought they usually showed movies on a screen at the stern. Thinking about it, they could turn the stern crane outboard and use it to support the screen.
Updated --- mid-sentence, I was interrupted to explain long division.
 
Story 2492
Portsmouth, England April 21, 1944

Sailors cleared their stations from the hot shell casings of the quad pom-pom that was on the stern of the old French battleship Courbet. They had fired several hundred rounds against a trio of German fighter bombers that had never ascended above ninety feet as they penetrated into the harbor. A few shells were close. None hit the intruders. A machine gun from one of the dozens of landing ships in the harbor managed to score on the left wing of the leader after the fighters had dropped their bombs in a skip-bombing attack. One bomb went in between a pair of LSTs, while the other two bombs crashed into the side of an empty landing ship. It was on fire and by the time that the damage control crews could start spraying the fires, the captain had made the decision to abandon ship.
 
Story 2493
Southern California, April 22, 1944

A dozen Corsairs tipped over. As they dove, speed built up. After dropping eleven thousand feet, the squadron leader whipped his controls to shed speed and change direction. The worst pilot was a hundred yards out of position by the time the entire formation was on the new heading. He scrambled to play catch up as the double ace up ahead noticed that the formation was a bit off. The half squadron then commenced to gain altitude once again as the bombers that they had attempted to bounce turned to fly back to the coast where the factories were located.

Three hours later, Josh Jaroshek ran his hand through his hair and enjoyed the last few sips of the cold Coke. The squadron was coming together really nicely. The least experienced man had just ticked over 500 hours in the air including his 100th hour in type. Josh had logged his 1300th hour earlier in the week. The exercises had gone well this afternoon and tomorrow's would be similar although he and the other veterans would be held on the ground with "appendicitis" and "flu-like symptoms" to see how the newer pilots could apply their lessons without the constant guidance of men who had fought and survived throughout 1942 and early 1943. He finished his cola and grabbed a dozen more cold ones before heading to the flight line to listen to the ground crews and give the men who kept Smoking Maggie working a break and a token of sugary thanks.
 
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The least experienced man had just ticked over 500 hours in the air including his 100th hour in type.

Safe to say that there's no chance in hell rookie German/Japanese pilots have anywhere near this much training overall or in type by this stage of the war.

Excellent update, love these slices of life.
 
Story 2494
April 23, 1944 Charleston, South Carolina

LST 34, 242 and 243 followed a wooden hull minesweeper through the sanitized channel. Just east of Fort Sumter, another half dozen LSTs took station. An hour outside the harbor, a pair of gunboats as well as a trio of subchasers joined the small sub-convoy. By nightfall the fifteen ships had returned to the harbor after embarkation and assault training had revealed flaws in the combat loading of the equipment.

The quartermasters and bosuns aboard the assault and cargo ships engaged in complex negotiations and re-arrangements with the sergeants and majors of the infantry division that was a follow-on division and part of the army's floating reserve. They needed some items to be the first things off any ship. Those alterations were simple and straightforward. The challenge was prioritizing cargo, supplies and vehicles that needed to be on the beach by the fifth day. These crates and boxes could sometimes just be switched with other boxes. Other challenges emerged as the balance of the expedient landing craft could soon be off and the bow would dig too deeply into the water if the waves were greater than those of a bathtub. More than a few chiefs shouted down majors, more than a few sergeants threatened violence against ensigns. By mid-morning most of the disputes had been resolved and the arduous labor of moving cargo around could begin.
 
Story 2495
Inter-Irish Border near Dundalk 0000, April 24, 1944

As the day turned over, the border guards on the Northern side pushed rock and water filled barrels across the road. The border between the two Irelands was closed until further notice.
 
Southern California, April 22, 1943

A dozen Corsairs tipped over. As they dove, speed built up. After dropping eleven thousand feet, the squadron leader whipped his controls to shed speed and change direction. The worst pilot was a hundred yards out of position by the time the entire formation was on the new heading. He scrambled to play catch up as the double ace up ahead noticed that the formation was a bit off. The half squadron then commenced to gain altitude once again as the bombers that they had attempted to bounce turned to fly back to the coast where the factories were located.

Three hours later, Josh Jaroshek ran his hand through his hair and enjoyed the last few sips of the cold Coke. The squadron was coming together really nicely. The least experienced man had just ticked over 500 hours in the air including his 100th hour in type. Josh had logged his 1300th hour earlier in the week. The exercises had gone well this afternoon and tomorrow's would be similar although he and the other veterans would be held on the ground with "appendicitis" and "flu-like symptoms" to see how the newer pilots could apply their lessons without the constant guidance of men who had fought and survived throughout 1942 and early 1943. He finished his cola and grabbed a dozen more cold ones before heading to the flight line to listen to the ground crews and give the men who kept Smoking Maggie working a break and a token of sugary thanks.

Shouldn’t this be April of 1944?
 
And then the newbies should go against the old hands so they learn that they don't know everything.

As someone who does this for a living (I'm a corporate trainer) I always have my new hires shadow existing reps - it shows the new guys not only what a "day-in-the-life" really is but also how far they have to go to get there. It curtails a lot of the "yeah yeah, I know this already" mentality some new hires may have.
 
As someone who does this for a living (I'm a corporate trainer) I always have my new hires shadow existing reps - it shows the new guys not only what a "day-in-the-life" really is but also how far they have to go to get there. It curtails a lot of the "yeah yeah, I know this already" mentality some new hires may have
During the late 70s early 80s I was a clerk in the Electrical Engineering Branch of the Victorian Railways. One clerical role was making up the fortnightly pay sheets. This role was for experienced clerks but even then before promotion to this role you worked under instruction from your predecessor for two pays before being let loose by yourself. We recoginsed a phenomena known as the Third Pay Syndrome - The first time by yourself had numerous errors, the second time you had less errors - the third time was absolutely atrocious as you thought you knew what you were doing, after that you got consistently better.
 
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Inter-Irish Border near Dundalk 0000, April 24, 1944

As the day turned over, the border guards on the Northern side pushed rock and water filled barrels across the road. The border between the two Irelands was closed until further notice.
Why did that happen? To prevent any spies from crossing into the UK before the start of the liberation of France?
 
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