Today I....

great pictures

Fixed my MP40 with the magwell mod finally

Excellent pics, _Arthur!

Excellent pics, _Arthur!

Thank you. But the appreciation really goes to our photographers. We even had a guy running around with a bigass filmcamera, but haven't seen his results yet...

Did some fieldtesting with all our telephone equipment from me and two of my friends.

What's in the picture;
1x BD-71, 6 lines Switchboard
2x BD-72, 12 lines Switchboard
12x US EE8 fieldtelephones (war & postwar)
2x post-war Dutch fieldtelephones
3x DR8 wire reels (1 more not pictured) with 2x Reeling Machine RL39
2x small type handreels post-war German
1x large type reel with foldable back carrier post-war German
2x US TS-10 magneto handsets

Not pictured: 2 other BD-72, 12 lines Switchboards (we have a total of 4 all together), 2 large US reels (RL159) with wire (total of ~ approx 5,5km of wire) and Reeling Unit RL31.

Yes: we do use (portions of) this in our airsoft-games.

Released my first proper film

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QrhS8O4TqI&sns=em

Yesterday me and my friends walked the 22km trial/march "In The Footsteps of the 82nd Airborne Division" in Belgium / Ardennes.

It was a freaking heavy walk, with lots of ice under the snow for most of the time. Up hill, down hill, repeat, a bit flat, up again etc. The only thing I can say is respect to the men in those days walking these paths because of war and our cause.

On the firs hill after only 1,5km.

A bit of re-enactment inbetween.

Some of our German friends.

Walking, Walking, Walking ...

More pictures;
http://www.ww2airsoft.eu/media/thumbnails.php?album=304
http://www.ww2airsoft.eu/media/thumbnails.php?album=305
http://www.ww2airsoft.eu/media/thumbnails.php?album=306

Movies;
[youtube2]0vIBFU4g24Y[/youtube2]
[youtube2]1NH83JVTWno[/youtube2]

Today I told my Grandfather that I'd been at a Coffee Shop in Southport and had seen a gentleman in his late 80's/ early 90's with his family on the table next to me. He was wearing a parachute regiment jumper. I finished my drink and went over to ask him what Battalion he had served in? He told me he had served in the 13th Batt. of the Parachute Regiment on D Day, I told him my Grandfathers name, Ken Lang, and he remember him from the Battalion.

My grandfather then went on to tell me about what happened leading up to and on D Day, a story in detail that I had not heard before. I thought I would pass it on whilst it is fresh in my mind...

My Grandfather served in the 13th Battalion (Lancashire) Parachute Rgt, he spent 12 months training as No.1 on a Mortar and was in HQ Company. A few weeks before D Day he was given a crash course on a Vickers Machinegun and his Section was moved to A Company, therefore he became No.1 on the Vickers Machinegun.

On D Day he jumped in to Normandy with his Battalion and was No. 11 and last man out of Short Stirling LJ819 'H for Hellsapoppin', the rest of the Paras, crew and plane, vanished without a trace and the crash site was never found.

He landed near Ranville and was one of the Paras who took part in the liberation of the town which is arguably the first, if not one of the first towns to be liberated in Normandy.

Near Ranville there were two bridges, just in front of the bridges was two orchards with a cornfield in between. At 11am on the morning of D Day, the 13th Battalion was lined up along the edge of the cornfield hidden in a sunken road, behind a hedge. With them they had 4 Vickers machineguns and 4, 6 Pounder AT guns which had been flown in by glider.

The were arranged with the Vickers and 6 Pounders placed alternately down the length of the cornfield and mortars to the rear.

Soon after, 4 German Self Propelled guns rolled over the hill at the rear of the cornerfield and made their way slowly in to the field as it was the only way to get through with Orchards on either side, behind this the Paras could see more tanks and vehicles coming up behind the reconnaisance unit.

The 4 tanks rolled all the way across the field until they were within 50 yards of the Paras, who had been told not to open fire with the Vickers Machineguns until the 6 pounders had opened fire. The 6 pounder anti tank guns opened fire on after the other knocking out 4 tanks one after the other in quick succession, then the Vickers Machineguns, my Grandfather manning one of them, opened fire, cutting down the crews of the German tanks as they attempted to climb down. The ones that survived the climb down off the tank were then raked with machinegun fire in the long grass of the field for about 20 minutes.

The tanks coming up behind the reconnaisance unit turned round and decided to go a different way.

If these tanks had not been stopped at this line, they would have crossed the bridge at Ranville and cut off the British section of the Landings from passing over the bridges and out in to the advance across Normandy.

This is as freely and fluently as my Grandfather has ever told me about his exploits on D Day, I am proud of my Grandfather, he is a braver man than I will ever be.

I hope you enjoyed hearing it as much as I did.

Excellent, and I'm glad you have added a bit more to your family history. Just goes to show that real war is a million miles away from movie portrayal of war. Part of the reason why I get irritated by the hero worship of a few characters that just happened to have books or films written about them. Here's a challenge - make your next film 'My Grandfather's war'. A successful movie is based on a character/s the writer/audience cares about - and you have a flying start there. In fact, you have already written the screenplay. Scene 1 - Coffee shop, Southport, 2013; Scene 2 - Grandfather's sitting room, relating story mixed with flashbacks to real events...

Absolutely. I have already considered it, trouble is I don't think I can get together enough Paras and I wouldn't want to change the story for American Airborne which is obviously where my main interests lie. I reckon for this kind of story, I'd need at least 25 in total, including some guys with extra sets of kit to kit out the actors.

Either way, I'm glad you enjoyed the story.

Have a go at audio then - radio paints just as vivid pictures as movies. Faux gun flashes, props and a large cast is just a distraction, it's the story and how it is told that matters!

On that we can agree.

I (and I'm sure a few others) would be keen on being your paras if you ever required us

Thankyou for the offer. That's very generous. I'll let you know if and when I go ahead with the script. Glad you enjoyed the story.

Have a go at audio then - radio paints just as vivid pictures as movies. Faux gun flashes, props and a large cast is just a distraction, it's the story and how it is told that matters!

I second that! Radio drama needs more regional voices on it too.

To see how effective a radio broadcast ca be, have a listen to Orson Welles' retelling of War of the Worlds: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egudvdwtDIg

Ahhh I was listening to that the other day! It was bloody good!

Not sure if you know the legendary stories of how people thought it was a real Martian invasion when they heard it on the radio: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_of ... adio_drama)#Public_reaction

Seen/heard about that before, shame you couldnt pull anything like that off nowardays

We have now decided to go in to preproduction on 'The 13th - Win Or Die' the story of defence of the bridge over the Orne River on D Day morning. Anyone who does British Para or British infantry and would consider buying a Maroon beret and would like to be part of the production please give me a PM.

I will also probably put a post up on the British Subforum to see if anyone is interested.

..got back from the Middle East (Jordan). I see this country has't got much warmer in my absense but now it feels colder than ever.