@Nein2.0(Nomad) , probably the largest exception (given scale of what mongols did to kievan rus) to what i was talking about just now:
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Difficult to justify that horrifying bunch, merely on account of their having had unusual experiences for their time and place. They were really among the extreme points of depravity that the human race has reached, along with various Central Asian specialists in building mountains of skulls.Honestly I know the conquistadores are not a pleasant bunch.
Still if I had to choose which time period I would love to be in is being a conquistador in the new world.
I cannot imagine what kind of experience you will go through when you meet a different civilisation. It would be as if the world has changed.
Just would like to say this is aptly picked name. (i.e A. T Mahan)
His works form a number of volumes in my largest bookcase.
A good friend of mine (untimely passed away last year... RIP) was his biggest fan. I always remember him when I see the name Mahan....I maybe acquired 20% of his extensive naval historical knowledge...and I will be lucky to get to one third.
The Pakistani Army’s special forces were raised as the Special Service Group (SSG) in 1956 using the cadre of 19 (Para) Baloch. This special force was trained in sobotage and disruptive activities behind enemy lines.
On the night of 6th September, around 200 officers and men of the SSG were air-dropped by C-130s near the Indian airbases of Adampur, Pathankot and Halwara on a bold mission to destroy Indian combat aircraft and put the bases out of action. They would then ex-filtrate back to Pakistan, following the numerous rivulets and streams that flow from Punjab back to their home territory.
Pathankot
It was wee hours of the morning when para-troopers landed at Pathankot. The pitch darkness and difficult terrain (it was criss-crossed by canals, streams and the fields were full of water) prevented them from regrouping. Most of them, including their Commander, Major Khalid Butt were arrested by the Police and the Army within the next 2 days.
Adampur
SSG wows the Pakistani public with their marching.
SSG is marched off by the unimpressed Indian public in 1965
View attachment 31273
This group too faced the same fate as the Pathankot team - unable to assemble, they tried to hide in the cornfields during the day. However, the farmers formed mobs and captured them, and some were even killed by the Punjabis. Their Commander, Capt Durrani was also taken POW.
Halwara
Some of the men landed within the airfield perimeter itself and were soon rounded up. However the detachment commander, Major Hazur Hasnain, and one of his men managed to get away in a captured Jeep.
It is clear that troops possesed little knowledge of the terrain and were dropped in too large a number to be effective. The final analysis revealed that more than 180 commandos were dropped out of which 136 were taken prisoners, 22 were killed in encounters with the army, police or the civilians and 22-15 managed to escape to Pakistan. Considering the fact that Pathankot is barely 10 miles from the IB, this number is'nt too much of an achievement.
@Lonewolf @kumata @Nilgiri @crixus
Generally have to go big like Tangail or go home.
Large lessons were learned (by defending team as well) during WW2 when SAS successfully raided major Luftwaffe air base:
Raid on Sidi Haneish Airfield - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
So replicating it after OG becomes fraught with difficulties given lessons learnt and actions taken by militaries going forward during war time.
Edward Shames, last ‘Band of Brothers’ veteran, dies at 99...RIP.
@VCheng
Edward Shames, last of the surviving WWII officers who inspired HBO's 'Band of Brothers,' dies at 99
Shames, who took part in D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge, was in Easy Company, the unit that inspired the 'Band of Brothers' book and miniseries.www.usatoday.com
As the line in the song goes, "wheel in the sky keeps on turning!"
The inevitable passing of generations slowly changes society., whether we realize it or not.
Bud and I earlier had a chat about Bob Dole (who also recently passed as I am sure you saw).
He told me Senator Dole helped in making known the larger heroism and sacrifice of the 5th Army in Northern Italy....operations in the last part of WW2 that are often forgotten and overlooked.
Dole penned a forward to The War North of Rome, describing the Fifth Army’s war after Rome fell:
The War North Of Rome: June 1944- May 1945: Brooks, Thomas R.: 9780306812569: Amazon.com: Books
The War North Of Rome: June 1944- May 1945 [Brooks, Thomas R.] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The War North Of Rome: June 1944- May 1945www.amazon.com
I will be acquiring and reading that book later.
He was also known to visit the site of his grievous wounding (assumed fatal by the medic who gave him "one last shot" morphine):
Bob Dole returns to visit the battlefields where he fought and was severely wounded in 1945
Museums, trails and fortifications of the Gothic Line on the Modena Apennines in the municipality of Montesewww.lineagoticamontese.eu
Edward Shames, last ‘Band of Brothers’ veteran, dies at 99...RIP.
@VCheng
Edward Shames, last of the surviving WWII officers who inspired HBO's 'Band of Brothers,' dies at 99
Shames, who took part in D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge, was in Easy Company, the unit that inspired the 'Band of Brothers' book and miniseries.www.usatoday.com
There is growing rasputitsa in lot of places
There is a massive growing pow camp north of kiev that russians have to upkeep (ukrainians need not spend a dime)...
There is now more for (logistically inclined) folks to read on this kind of thing:
Over here (read the full twitter thread), as to why there is this self-imposed POW camp feature in Russian military logistic chains:
LOGISTICS LOGISTICS LOGISTICS!!!!!
@Joe Shearer @Vergennes @xenon5434 @Fuzuli NL @MisterLike @Paro @Saithan @AlphaMike @Lordimperator et al.
The more things change, the more they remain the same......mud gridlock and all.
Here was deeper historical delve (in same context) of a respected friend in another gathering (TIFWIW) that you folks may find useful context:
Why could the Soviets conduct the offensives of 1944 and 1945 like they did? American and British support via Lend-Lease. In particular massive numbers of American trucks.
Without those trucks the Red Army would have still made progress but at a much, much slower pace. Their offensives would have outrun their supplies much more quickly than they actually did. Would they still have killed massive numbers of Germans? Yes. Would they have been much further east in May 1945 than they actually were? Yes.
People don't realise just what a logistical miracle the UK and US pulled off. Six separate major campaigns in six different areas of the world. At the same time. North West Europe. Mediterranean. Battle of the Atlantic. Burma. South West Pacific. Central Pacific.
On top of that was the significant Lend Lease support being given to both China and the Soviet Union.
Today we see the sorts of logistical ability from Russia that the Soviets would have had without Lend Lease support.
What this also shows is just why the Falklands War in 1982 gave the Soviets such a fright. Consider what the UK did on the hoof within 3 months at the end of a 10,000 mile supply chain with essentially only one intermediate base. Then think what it could do in Europe right at its home base along with other powers of comparable size (France and West Germany) and with the US to back things up.
Consider also how it reinforces the logistical prowess displayed with the Gulf War in 1991. 700,000 US troops. 50,000 UK troops. 25,000 French troops. All deployed from nothing inside five months. Not just light infantry like in the Falklands but heavy, mechanised forces.
Now we have an incompetent, badly led force with appalling logistics (they can't even operate in scale within 150 miles of their own frontier without supply issues of serious magnitude) against a motivated, patriotic defender that is getting rapidly supplied with plenty of modern firepower suitable for defence.
This is costing the Ukrainians terribly in blood and damage to infrastructure. It is costing the Russians much more.
A very weird chapter, when Russia/USSR used her 'neutrality' towards Japan to flood war materiel in through Vladivostok. I wonder if Japan's hilarious attack on the Aleutians was a peevish response by some intransigent elements at Tokyo to send a signal to the Russians.On further reading of the lend-lease corridor particulars for the (~ 50% of total chain) route : US ---> Vladivostok ----> Trans siberian railway etc, some matters of further interest surfaced.
The Soviets did the bulk of the sea shipping ....given the americans transferred large part of their western merchant marine to lease to soviets as the first block of the arrangement.
It seems the IJN was most reluctant to interdict Soviet flagged shipping (even in waters really close to Japan), for fear of breaking the non-aggression agreement with the soviets after khaklin gol et al.
This upset the Germans a great deal!...and soured the Axis relationship at this stage quite deeply apparently.
@Joe Shearer @Anmdt