Jimmy Doolittle was pretty famous outside of the military. Read up on him
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‘Aayo Gorkhali’
Veterans: Survivors who have learned not to use doors and windows when conducting FISH and instead to make their own!
Commonwealth Veterans: as above but always make time for a cuppa!
Another one would be Gurkha Bishnu Shrestha, who just with his kukuri, fought off 40 robbers on a train, killing 3, injuring 8 and causing the rest to flee.
Little brown supermen. Remember the first time I ever heard about Gurkhas and their exploits...thought, "They have to be making this shit up!"...they weren't. Utterly amazing!
Famous quote:
"If a man says that he is not afraid of dying, he is either lying, or a Gurkha." - Indian Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw
When the story dropped that he had been denied permission to come to the UK for treatment in 2006 because in the words of the limp wristed brainless snowflake of a bureaucrat "did not qualify for British citizenship" or words to that effect I (and many others I was happy to learn) wrote the most scathing letter to my local MP.
I was and remain embarrissed that the man was so poorly treated.
David Flin
Gone Fishin'
Although, to be fair, they have their limitations as well, as they are the first to admit.
My cousin who was in 'your mob' specifically four-five CDO worked with them in the early 90s and claimed 'they were even more wooden than we are' - which says a lot
They are a bit old stylish too, like when asked to get a DNA sample of a Taliban commander, instead of doing it the proper forensics way, the Gurkha in question just got out his kukri, chopped the commander's head off at that moment and brought it back to base as the "DNA sample".....
David Flin
Gone Fishin'
My cousin who was in 'your mob' specifically four-five CDO worked with them in the early 90s and claimed 'they were even more wooden than we are' - which says a lot
Oh, I worked with them for two years in Nepal in the mid 1970s. It's possible things have changed since those days. Wooden isn't a term I'd use, not by a long shot, although I guess it depends what he meant by that. They're quick enough to show emotions when it suits. On parade, yep, they've got emotionlessness down pat.
Because of the poor educational facilities in the hill villages, many of them don't have the basic technical skills we take for granted from an early age, and there's a lot of catch-up involved. They're also not a great choice for peacekeeping activities, for any number of reasons. Loyalty and bravery are a given with them; this means that they can have difficulty getting their head around the idea that others might not be so honourable, or have a different sense of priorities. They're not an ideal choice, for example, for a fighting withdrawal. Going forward, or holding tight (which rarely involves staying put, but that's a digression), no-one can better them. Pulling back, not so much.
There can also be communication difficulties. A rumour does the rounds, which I've no way of proving or disproving either way, but it wouldn't be out of character. Down in the Falklands, a group were tasked with looking after some Argentine prisoners. Rumour has it that the instruction they were given was: "Take care of the prisoners", which - so the story goes - they misinterpreted.
Yes I have read your Falklands story written in the 19C style - very entertaining.
I under stood that the term 'wooden' meant that they took orders very literally i.e. take that position - and they would keep trying to take it regardless of losses or perform given task etc until told to stop (which can be very good or very bad) - he also said that the Platoon commanders literally had to run around acting like Section leaders do in the Marines and Army.
I don't think he meant emotionally! Nor was he being overly critical - well no more than usual!
Story 1255
April 19, 1942 Rhodes
The air raid siren went off again. The Italian fighters overhead headed southwest even as the rest of the defending fighters began the long scramble to get into the air and at altitude. They might not catch the raiding bombers on the inbound strike but they might be able to jump them on the egress.
Forty miles the south, two squadrons of Hurricanes flown by Greek and Yugoslav pilots weaved in front of the three squadrons of RAF medium bombers. Gunners were ready for the furball as the pilots looked at the engine gauges. The bombers had taken off from Crete earlier in the morning and the fighters had staged out of Kasos to increase their effective range and loiter time. It was not a milk run, it was never a milk run, but the steady stream of raids out of Crete and Cyprus had been wearing the Italian defenders down. Today was another attempt to inflict attritional casualties that the Allies could afford while the Italians could not replace. That was not the mission briefing given to the crews.
At the western tip of Rhodes, the Italian interceptors dove on the Hurricanes, the first pass achieving mild surprise as the divers were seen by sharp eyed pilots well before the light Italian fighters were in machine gun range. One squadron of Hurricanes pointed their nose skyward and let their heavy cannon armament loose as they invited a heads on pass. The other squadron broke from the front sweeping position and began searching for a second Italian element.
The Macchis twisted and turned as half a dozen tried to slip around the flank. Two elements succeeded and made an unopposed pass against the last Baltimores in formation. One element managed to flame the tail end Charlie while the concentrated machine gun fire from four Baltimores scared the other element from pressing their attack too closely. By now, the rest of the defending Hurricanes had time to recover. A furball evolved even as the bombers pressed ahead. As the bombers passed over Apollona, anti-aircraft guns began to fling shells skyward as the bombers came within ten miles of the target. They tightened up as the ping of shell fragments scraped and scarred the aluminum skins. A lucky shell sprayed shrapnel 30 feet from the port engine of a bomber forcing it to tip over. A single man parachuted to the ground. The bomb bay doors opened and the bombs began to drop on the fighter field below them.
As the bombers turned home, the Hurricanes formed up on them again. They were three aircraft short. One pilot would be recovered as he managed to limp back to Kasos. The other pilots would claim eleven kills for the day despite only eighteen Italian defenders actually engaged the enemy.
The air raid siren went off again. The Italian fighters overhead headed southwest even as the rest of the defending fighters began the long scramble to get into the air and at altitude. They might not catch the raiding bombers on the inbound strike but they might be able to jump them on the egress.
Forty miles the south, two squadrons of Hurricanes flown by Greek and Yugoslav pilots weaved in front of the three squadrons of RAF medium bombers. Gunners were ready for the furball as the pilots looked at the engine gauges. The bombers had taken off from Crete earlier in the morning and the fighters had staged out of Kasos to increase their effective range and loiter time. It was not a milk run, it was never a milk run, but the steady stream of raids out of Crete and Cyprus had been wearing the Italian defenders down. Today was another attempt to inflict attritional casualties that the Allies could afford while the Italians could not replace. That was not the mission briefing given to the crews.
At the western tip of Rhodes, the Italian interceptors dove on the Hurricanes, the first pass achieving mild surprise as the divers were seen by sharp eyed pilots well before the light Italian fighters were in machine gun range. One squadron of Hurricanes pointed their nose skyward and let their heavy cannon armament loose as they invited a heads on pass. The other squadron broke from the front sweeping position and began searching for a second Italian element.
The Macchis twisted and turned as half a dozen tried to slip around the flank. Two elements succeeded and made an unopposed pass against the last Baltimores in formation. One element managed to flame the tail end Charlie while the concentrated machine gun fire from four Baltimores scared the other element from pressing their attack too closely. By now, the rest of the defending Hurricanes had time to recover. A furball evolved even as the bombers pressed ahead. As the bombers passed over Apollona, anti-aircraft guns began to fling shells skyward as the bombers came within ten miles of the target. They tightened up as the ping of shell fragments scraped and scarred the aluminum skins. A lucky shell sprayed shrapnel 30 feet from the port engine of a bomber forcing it to tip over. A single man parachuted to the ground. The bomb bay doors opened and the bombs began to drop on the fighter field below them.
As the bombers turned home, the Hurricanes formed up on them again. They were three aircraft short. One pilot would be recovered as he managed to limp back to Kasos. The other pilots would claim eleven kills for the day despite only eighteen Italian defenders actually engaged the enemy.
Interesting seeing action in the Aegean region. Even if it's a low priority side theater, given the better Allied position in the region, and a somewhat stronger Greek military remnant, invading mainland Greece might not be doable, but taking more islands in the region could be possible.
Even if the US doesn't want a major operation around Greece, I could possibly see a token deployment there. Or it could make a dumping ground for some US personnel also.
Even if the US doesn't want a major operation around Greece, I could possibly see a token deployment there. Or it could make a dumping ground for some US personnel also.
The Italian position on Rhodes, and other occupied Aegean Islands very much resembles that of Japanese forces on various islands in the Pacific. Any replenishment and replacement has to come from Italy via mainland Greece or directly from Italy. With the Allied air forces in the Eastern Med being stronger and more forward based, and RN light forces and submarines in the area stronger and more forward based, getting supplies is costly. The only advantage Italian forces have is that the Aegean Islands and fishing produce a decent amount food, so starvation is unlikely.
Errolwi
Monthly Donor
And it's not practical to poison the food supply like the Allies did at Rabual (by spraying diesel on the gardens).
Driftless
Donor
As you note, for the Italians in this universe, their supply pipeline has a valve in the middle (Crete) that the Italians do not control. Getting military supplies through, especially heavy materials that need to come by sea(tanks, artillery & it's ammunition) is going to be very difficult. Some lighter weight or less bulky items can be airlifted in from Greece, but that's still 500km +/- at high cost in fuel, aircraft, and crew.
Apart from their strategic presence there to be an annoying burr-under-the-Allied-saddle; there's little real purpose for the Italians controlling those islands. Pride-of-possession? Not a great number of Italian emigres to the islands and their administration of the local Greek majority populations was heavy handed and not productive.
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