in life / or in a truck
Doing my Class 2. Leaving my current job at the time was a leap in the dark.
Leave the RN, sell up in the UK and move to France.
Falls Road 1981 close confirmation of a car bomb, “grunts” are cheaper than ATO’s!
the maoster:
Falls Road 1981 close confirmation of a car bomb, “grunts” are cheaper than ATO’s!
Is that military speak for summit ?
raymundo:
the maoster:
Falls Road 1981 close confirmation of a car bomb, “grunts” are cheaper than ATO’s!Is that military speak for summit ?
Yeah it is. Back in the day before h&s reared its ugly head if a bomb was reported a soldier had to do a close confirmation (basically walking up to it and looking at it) before a bomb disposal techy was requested. The unit I was working with at the time (I think it was 3 RRW) decided that the Englishman should do all these! It’s a long walk there and a longer walk back hoping that the guy with his finger on the button would rather kill the techy later than the squaddie now.
■■■■ that for a game of soldiers !! During the troubles I was driving for Alstons of Ipswich delivering furniture to NI also to a shop in the Falls road but why were the black cabs cruisin around but never seem to be carrying passengers if memory serves me correct ■■
The black cabs were used as replacement buses as the regular buses wouldn’t enter the Catholic areas. It was quite common to see them picking 6 or 7 passengers up who didn’t know each other but were merely stood waiting for one to turn up.
A lot of the cabs were rolling death traps tbh as (iirc) the province only required vehicles to be MOT’d once every 8 years! (I stand to be corrected on that though)
The cabbies were more often than not very low ranking PIRA members (google Derek Howes).
Edit to add; just reread what you said about the cabs being empty. Well apart from the totally innocent occasions when they were looking for a fare, they used to do a lot of “dicking”. Dicking was a military term for “dickers” who noted security forces movements and tried to establish a pattern of actions. If you established a pattern you died. Simple as that.
I remember my mum telling me about the Troubles. I do remember them blowing up a truck in Manchester though.
Pushing a ■■■■ out with a dicky tummy…
Driving for MFP.
Happy days.
Big personal risk for me was walking out on a very long term girlfriend to move in with another woman, who’s now been my wife for eleven years and I wouldn’t change anything.
Biggest risk this year was skiing and found myself on a FO black run. But I got to the bottom with no injury.
Risk is relative to training…
Paul
Questioning the Wifes opinion… Only done it once mind… Never again! 
I went to Nottingham once.
the maoster:
The black cabs were used as replacement buses as the regular buses wouldn’t enter the Catholic areas. It was quite common to see them picking 6 or 7 passengers up who didn’t know each other but were merely stood waiting for one to turn up.A lot of the cabs were rolling death traps tbh as (iirc) the province only required vehicles to be MOT’d once every 8 years! (I stand to be corrected on that though)
The cabbies were more often than not very low ranking PIRA members (google Derek Howes).
Edit to add; just reread what you said about the cabs being empty. Well apart from the totally innocent occasions when they were looking for a fare, they used to do a lot of “dicking”. Dicking was a military term for “dickers” who noted security forces movements and tried to establish a pattern of actions. If you established a pattern you died. Simple as that.
I went back to driving ships after that job on a 950 ton coaster called the Commodity and after discharge in Port Ellen on Islay one trip we went to Belfast to load stone for the south cost of UK and on one horrible dark rainy and very windy night we were going up Belfast Lough after a rough type of no sleep trip and me half asleep when both wheelhouse doors burst open and heavily armed British soldiers/marines or what ever came in, I very nearly crapped me pants or maybe I did cos it frightened the ■■■■■ of of me !! they searched the ship for whatever and by that time I had regained my composure and I tried to give the head honcho a piece of my mind about not liking having gun muzzles that appeared the size of dustbins without the lids pointed at me but it did no good and they disappeared into the night in their black camouflaged boats and clothes , all told there were about 18/20 of them.
I also married a lass from Yorhshire … big risk an fail !!! 
the maoster:
Falls Road 1981 close confirmation of a car bomb, “grunts” are cheaper than ATO’s!
Happy days, takes me back to Londonderry in the eighties, yes I was up the soft end. I remember being told the first time you do it your hoop will be going sixpence, shilling , dustbin lid, the first time! Every fn time as it happens. I also remember trying to hide behind a brick, all 6 foot of me. I must have got a taste for it though as I went to work for Ramage transport later, not for long though. 
Hats off to you guys that were on the streets during the troubles. Can only imagine what it was like. I’ve been caught in a riot during the orange marches where they crosse the short strand area. It was not fun. The PSNI seemed to be taking a lot of damage. Must be a shadow to what it was of course.
BillyHunt:
the maoster:
Falls Road 1981 close confirmation of a car bomb, “grunts” are cheaper than ATO’s!Happy days, takes me back to Londonderry in the eighties, yes I was up the soft end. I remember being told the first time you do it your hoop will be going sixpence, shilling , dustbin lid, the first time! Every fn time as it happens. I also remember trying to hide behind a brick, all 6 foot of me. I must have got a taste for it though as I went to work for Ramage transport later, not for long though.
Funny how you suddenly find God in them situations isn’t it? I used to tell him that I’ll go to church every Sunday if he’d just make it not explode while I was looking at it!
Fair play to you though Billy, a tour of Ramage would make lesser men weep. 
On approach I used to go through the body parts I would prefer not to get damaged. Top of the list was always the wedding tackle, followed by eyes, the rest were interchangeable depending on wether you had a BFT/CFT that week. For non army people they were physical tests hated by all except the gym queens & club swingers.