20th Century Battlefields & The Falklands

[Durka-Durka~SPARTA~]

I'm not sure if you guys get this show over there, but here it runs on the Military Channel and has some really great episodes explaining a battle. I watched the episode on the Falklands War and really enjoyed it, considering I know someone what was in it Just wondering, from your point of view, what were the accuracies and inaccuracies of this presentation? I have to confess, I didn't know much about the campaign, and now I want to know more, lol.

 

Here's the first part of 7. (hour-long show)

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25lnmemNgC8

[Zebb]

Glad you got to see this Durka, it's a pretty accurate account of what went on during the conflict, a lot of the public over here don't realise how close we came to losing this one and we had some luck on our side, the fighting was very intense and included a lot of hand to hand stuff when it came to taking the high ground.

 

I don't know about you mate but personally I don't watch a lot of the documentaries etc that are made about the Falklands it seems like it was another planet away from my life now and in all honesty I tend to think that may be for the best, but I have seen bits of this series when it was shown and it seemed to be on the money.

 

Btw, look up a place called "Pebble Island" that was one of my first engagements..

[Durka-Durka~SPARTA~]

Will do! Not trying to bring up any old wounds. I've been taking interest in a lot of military history lately, espically when someone I know is involved. I guess it has something to do with that "proudness" factor of knowing those who influenced history.

 

Personally, I like watching most of the docs about Iraq just because it serves to put me in my place. Any time I think I might be proud of what I did, I know what I experienced was nothing. I actually ran into a Kiowa pilot last weekend who was a part of the Uday/Qusay fight. He is now a civvie medivac pilot here in town. Smal world.

 

The raid on Pebble Island was impressive, and I'm sure it was much more interesting than how Wiki explains it

[Athlon64~SPARTA~]

A freaken great show, I wacth it all the time.

Edited June 15, 2009 by Athlon64~SPARTA~

[Zebb]

It's all good mate, it's not so much bringing up old wounds as it is reminding me what an old git I am and missing this sort of action,

 

I enjoy watching the Iraq stuff because no matter what super duper gear the military gets it's always the poor bloody guys on the ground who have to get in there and do the dirty work, same as it's always been down through history, every generation of soldiers have their own dangers to face and comparing what I did to what the guys do today is always interesting.

Perhaps I get more out of it because I did serve but that's the nature of the beast, it's hard to explain to someone who hasn't done it and in all honesty I have no desire to even try, and for people who know about it all too well they don't need to ask..

 

Military history is a topic I have been studying for a while, just as a hobby, especially the experiences of the guys on the ground, my families military lineage goes back to before the Indian Mutiny so being the eldest I never really had much choice really lol

[NoScream~SPARTA~]

Just watched it a very good doc. of the events. Thx for the post.

[Durka-Durka~SPARTA~]

It's all good mate, it's not so much bringing up old wounds as it is reminding me what an old git I am and missing this sort of action,

 

I enjoy watching the Iraq stuff because no matter what super duper gear the military gets it's always the poor bloody guys on the ground who have to get in there and do the dirty work, same as it's always been down through history, every generation of soldiers have their own dangers to face and comparing what I did to what the guys do today is always interesting.

Perhaps I get more out of it because I did serve but that's the nature of the beast, it's hard to explain to someone who hasn't done it and in all honesty I have no desire to even try, and for people who know about it all too well they don't need to ask..

 

Military history is a topic I have been studying for a while, just as a hobby, especially the experiences of the guys on the ground, my families military lineage goes back to before the Indian Mutiny so being the eldest I never really had much choice really lol

 

 

What's the quote? "Build a kit that weighs less, and they will find more to put on your back" ?

Anyways, when I can get my wife to sit down and watch one of these shows with me, I try to explain what they're doing and how they're moving and such, and of course it goes right over her head, lol. But I enjoy talking about it Some people have puzzles, others have crosswords to stimulate their brain. I like looking at maps.

 

Sadly, my interest in the tactics employed in Iraq have waned lately. I guess it's because we're looking at a totally different place now than when I was there. When I was in Mosul, it was fairly quiet and much of the rest of the country was on fire. Now, the country is fairly quiet and Mosul is on fire.

 

Watching what's going on over in Afghanistan right now has really peaked my interest. I remember watching a National Geographic show a couple years back where some soldiers were hunting Taliban. Just watching them, you could tell they were immersed, and it wasn't the same-ol, same-ol. Of course, they were like 6,000 ft up on the side of a mountain trying to provide overwatch on a highway lol. I remember the guy, who looked like he was from the inner-city, poking at some human dung looking at footprints like an expert tracker from backwoods Virginia. You could see it in the tone of his voice like he was really immersed in what he was doing.

Plus, there are more international troops getting involved in firefights lately there.

[Zebb]

Too true mate, Afghanistan is definitely a difficult AO to fight in, I especially dislike the use of IED's out there that seem to be the offensive weapon of choice for the Taliban right now, they obviously don't want to get into too many firefights with coalition troops and an IED is the perfect way to attack a stronger enemy without taking too many casualties.

I guess you would have read about some of the US actions over there such as "Roberts Ridge" etc, where they ran into big problems high up in the mountains, I have them as audio books and listen on my way to and from work, I don't understand some of the things they did or why they did them and would love to discuss them with you when we get a few minutes on TS, maybe you would know a few more of the finer details.

 

My wife does exactly the same thing, she just switches off now when I go into one about the wrong kit, or tactic being used, old habits die hard I guess lol

 

I guess you remember the days of having so much gear packed away in your "bergen" that the weight of it made it too heavy to lift and you had to lay it down the ground, climb into it and clip it all up, then get a buddy to pull you to your feet so you could walk about with it on your back all day while carrying your weapon (we even had no slings because you had to carry it at the ready position at all times), bloody great thing weighed a ton, let alone the weight of the ammo.

 

My joints remind every day of those fun packed days..

[Durka-Durka~SPARTA~]

I was never infantry or Airborne, so didn't carry much, but in training I believe the most I carried was around 70-80lbs. Our rucks had frames on them, and we devised a way of "flipping" it over our heads like a body builder "pops" the weights up in competition. I used to have fun with my buddies on marches by nudging their packs while they were walking, they come close to tumbling over hehe.

 

I've read two books on Afghanistan,

 

Lone Survivor - By Marcus Luttrell: It's about a SEAL who lost his whole team during a mission, while one of them recieved the Medal of Honor. It's really good, and written in very plain Texas English, like you were there talking to the guy. Brits may find it hard to read lol.

 

Not a Good Day to Die: It's about Operation Annaconda and Roberts Ridge, although apparently SEALS hate the writer because they thought he said bad things about them or something.

 

A really good book about figting in Iraq is "House to House: By David Bellavia" He was part of the 1st Inf Div in Falluja and went through some intense CQB. That's been my favorite, so far, and it was a cheap book, lol.

[Zebb]

Lol, "Lone Survivor" is the other book I have, it was recommended by X-Wind and your right it is a great story, again I was a bit surprised by some of the decisions made during that action, but I wasn't there so trying to second guess guys in the ground is always a bad idea.

 

This was the version of "Roberts Ridge" I bought:

http://www.amazon.com/Roberts-Ridge-Sacrif...n/dp/0553803638

 

I haven't the "Not a good day to die" version

 

I am going to look for "House to House" right now, thanks.

 

Edit: Result I just found it in my audio books on iTunes so I'm downloading it now and will listen to it on my way to work.

[Durka-Durka~SPARTA~]

Edit: Result I just found it in my audio books on iTunes so I'm downloading it now and will listen to it on my way to work.

 

You'll really like it. Without going into too many details, my favorite part was reading his about his personal struggle with getting the courage up to enter a house. That's what I like about personal stories, you don't just get the facts, you can get into their heads a bit too.

 

Also, I like how he ribbs the Marines, hehe.

[Athlon64~SPARTA~]

Wacthed it last night on the Desert Storm campain Great show!

[Durka-Durka~SPARTA~]

It's definately one of those underrated shows. I wish they'd do more of them. That, and the "tour of duty" shows.

[Athlon64~SPARTA~]

Well they have done serveral epasodes one the 7 day war the golan hights. One on the battle of the buldge serveral outhers . Isralies war to.

[Durka-Durka~SPARTA~]

If you want to watch a good show about Israel and their war machine, History Channel's "Dogfights" did a great episode on the raid to blow up Sadam's nuclear reactor.

 

oop! Here it is...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMgr6awbwEE

 

[Athlon64~SPARTA~]

Yes have seen it, GOOD! Wacthed the color of war last night, remember all those ww2 movies in black and white? Well they colorized it and that was great as well.

Edited June 20, 2009 by Athlon64~SPARTA~

[Durka-Durka~SPARTA~]

Re: this last post in the posters section:

 

Btw, working my way through the "House to House" you recommended excellent stuff, I couldn't believe the BCIED and other gear the guys encountered when they first went in, I don't know I would want to go into any buildings over there with that sort of setup being used by the insurgents.

 

Yeah, the way they rigged the whole friggin city as one big combat enviornment was really amazing. I knew there were a lot of booby traps, but not until I read that book did I find out the city was one big boobytrap. They had what, 3 full months to rig the city for a firefight? It absolutely amazes me that the battle didn't last months. Falluja, to me anyways, had the potential to be another Stalingrad. Either Coalition forces were just so superior, or the insurgents couldn't fight well, I don't know.

 

I just finished another book "Killing Rommel" by Steven Pressfield. Pretty good book, but his work has a habit of bogging down in the middle. The beginning and endings were great.

[Zebb]

I was astounded by the way they had the city rigged in classic style, "obstructions" mines, IED's even those aircraft fuel tanks, all trying to funnel any attackers into designated killing zones, it must have been a nightmare not knowing if you were entering a rigged up building or over a mined patch of ground, let alone then trying to fight it out against all the RPG's and AK's.

 

Kudos to the guys who took part, it's not exactly the sort of combat environment you can ever train for although I expect a lot of lessons were learnt and have been passed on since those days.

 

 

I finished a book called Apache by Ed Macy recently, it's the story of a guy who started out in the Parachute Regiment, became injured and retrained as an Apache pilot which is an amazing achievement in itself, but the missions he carried out in Afghanistan while flying are outstanding and I was gripped from start to finish, definitely recommended.

[Durka-Durka~SPARTA~]

Apache, I've seen it on bookshelves here. That might be my next read.

 

About Falluja, makes me wonder who amongst the enemy knew how to do all this stuff, but then again warfare to them is a lifelong thing. I remember charity drives here requesting silly string, so Marines and Soldiers could squirt it into doorways looking for tripwires.