Vietnam Trucks

Glider launcher:evil:

Air Force!!!! Wash your mouth out Terry.

Lang

wee-allis wrote:

And to think they were mostly only "kids" flying them.

No they weren't, they were men and we should never sell them short

And Im not having a go at you just looking at it from a different angle, and yes I think I do understand what you were saying


Paul

Yes Paul, they were kids, turned into men in a hurry in the harshest way.

I was one of the lucky ones who missed out. In the Navy at the time and served for a short time on the Sydney, thankfully between trips over there.

Steve.

Lang wrote:

Air Force!!!! Wash your mouth out Terry.

Lang

Defence Force issued...

But were they a play thing or did they serve a purpose? It seems well constructed.

Terry

600 DODGE - far as I know, all machinery had to be cleaned and painted
to get back to Aus through quarantine. Some smashed and blasted gear
was buried in the sand hills and a few holes about the place. Nothing of
any great value.
Eg, our Engineer units had to clean up bitumen sprayers and dozers
worked hard on land and mine clearing, quarry work etc.

GEOFF B and SWISHY - sheds full of doors taken off the trucks for
driver safety had to be refitted for shipping home.
The idea was quick exit if needed, and less cabin pressure in the event
of a blast. An effort to reduce injuries like damaged eardrums.

No Official use except recreation. VW motor, Briggs 25hp, even a baby Cummins from a generator. When you have workshops and lots of skilled blokes with nothing to do off duty "foreigners" are always in progress at the back of the shop.

Just as an aside, this politically correct "Defence Force" is total BS invented by public servants and politicians. It is Army, Navy and Air Force. The Canadians have lost the plot and have the world's woosest (is that a word) military after they disbanded everything and made it a "defence Force" with everyone wearing the same uniform.

The blokes in those photos were Army Aviation (pilots, air traffic controllers, observers, dispatchers) and RAEME (Royal Australian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers , Mechanics, Aircraft Technicians, Aviation Tradesmen etc) who understood the Army they were supporting. Every one of them went through basic infantry training regardless of whether they were a pilot or a spanner bender in the workshop. In fact, every pilot was a qualified Infantry Platoon Commander, Armour or Artillery Troop Commander etc. Everyone did their stint on Duty Defence spending their time in a weapon pit on the perimetre with a rifle.

On the other hand the Air Force, despite having some brave blokes in aircraft, lived on more secure and certainly more comfortable bases and had limited understanding of what was going on with earth-bound mortals. The very reason Army Aviation came about and the reason the Army now own all the helicopters in the Australian "Defence Force" because helicopters are intrinsically a battlefield tool of the ground commander.

Lang

GRYPHON - these karts mainly built up by the workshop guys.
Wheels, engines and bits appeared from many sources.
Nothing to see a V4 Wisconsin re-purposed for the job.
There were a few serious stacks, but their use was allowed as a
means of letting off steam.

Sometimes Dee and I escape for short breaks down to Stockton Beach near Newcastle. We always go down on a Friday morning and sometimes go to Fighter World at the Williamstown Air Base which doubles for the civilian air port. Friday is the day when the fighter planes arrive back to base around lunch time. We watch the fly-by which usually has a single plane do a low level pass above the runway and head out to sea. turn around and fly up the Hunter river to Raymond Terrace and come into land. We went down to the cafe to get lunch not long after they all landed. While sitting there a few of the pilots came over for a cuppa as well. Now I do not wish to offend but these guys did not look old enough to drive a car never mind a fighter plane with a value more than I could imagine. Yes they are young looking but must be very much the adult with high IQ and ability.