Why Urqh can be a pain in the ....The explanation from Urqh

How would you know this and whose dog was it?

 

Sadly not - it was in the French Alps . Accidentally did some WW1 stuff on the way back : pics to follow ....

 

Martin....My god man...I've actually got you off topic....What about the goats man? Didnt 617 sqn have a link and a goat man? I aspired in my service career to keep to RAF standards and history. 617 Must have had a goat surely?

 

Anyway not the the Royal Marines have cleared me to tell the world about the RAF's small but strategically vital part in the land war of the Falklands I'll continue. Joint services ACP 117/3 specifically states that this information should remain secret as its content could lead to international embarassment to other nation states. I know you folk are like me, staunch repectors of all things legal and right so I'll trust you on this..Its a long one I'm afraid.

It all started in 1980, Costa Mendez on arrival at Northolt RAF vip terminal outside London was to be met by the Duke of Edinborough and the queens flight of the the RAF Regiment in all their finery. I just happened to be passing through with Hitler. On route to our special posting in RAF Saxa Vord, well not the actual station in the Shetlands just a hut to the north of the rock. Well a tent actually with goat tethering rights granted by Olaf the Viking in 1057 but thats another story. We were to fly out to Aberdeen and onwards, all arranged by my previous co who explained that we, myself and Hitler deserved a holiday with all the hard work we had been doing in projecting the RAF into the media and putting it on the front page as it were.
It was a dark drizzly day, and we had stepped out of the vip trench next to the vip building....Yes I thought it strange too..For a cigarette...I dont smoke but Hitler at that time was a 20 a day goat. With tea of course...Nato standard...White....2 sugars...We saw the Dominie landing at the end of the runway...And watched as it taxied up the pan....It was belting down with rain at the time. And the visibility was not too good. I could see the RAF honour guard standing with the Central band of the RAF in the distance. Some sort of sailor..who I later found out to be the Duke husband of Lizzie the second, was standing with a funny hat on. Anyway I digress...I Being air trained in all things. and air aware...thought the Dominie pilot would have trouble taxying down to that far off group. Who I could hear were now playing the RAF Marchpast..Stirring stuff...hairs were up on the back of Hitlers neck...Funny how that tune always makes him air force keen...Anyway, as the Dominie taxied past I thought I better lend a hand..The pilot, looking out of his window gave me a thumbs up...I returned the sentiment in my rain sodden uniform and pumps...Excused boots...And inadvertantly let go of goat mark 1 Hitler name of RAF for the use of...And found myself waving both hands in the air...The pilot obviously mistaking my gestures for air traffic control followed me down the main runway again, as I tried to capture Hitler...A thing many an RAF airman has had to do before me...As we ran along the runway I could see the Duke in the corner of my eye getting closer and closer..The Dominie following on behind...Noisy and faster as I ran faster after Hitler...It was the Dukes hat you see...Suffice to say, one wrecked Dominie...One Duke minus hat, one not so hungry Hitler goat, One RAF central band scattered to the wind...One Costa Mendez Foreign minister of Argentina sitting in rain on runway bruised and battered...the band struck up those magnificent men in their flying machines and the Duke was heared to say...Marvellous...Bloody Marvelous...I mingled...Grabbed goat and stood in queue for flight to Aberdeen...The international recriminations were to be seen shortly afterwards and I myself was to find myself and Hitler standing alone on Goat Ridge Falkland Islands 3 weeks before any British troops were to land...Interesting story that...I'll come back after tea...Chin chin...Per Ardua Ad Astra and all that...

 

AFAIK, 617 never got anyone's goat...........

 

Just been emailed a pic from the official Falklands War British historian. This is the only pic apparantly of me and goat on goat ridge in that war. I think I was lying down somewhere in the rear. The goat was at one time the only RAF presence on the islands. He went in by submarine with the SBS Hms Onyx I believe. I as his handler had to bring up the rear and his kit and landed with 2 para on the first day. I well remember the ramp going down...Troops out came the order...Paras stood still in the early morning wet mist...Tension rising...Marine coxwain again shouted....troops out...No movement..I thought..My god the famous paras have bottled it....We are going to lose this one...Until some little guy at the back shouted..red on green on go...And I nearly got my sandwiches soaked in the rush as they ran past hitting the beach shouting geonimooooo.... They later went off on their merry way leaving me and goat with the marines...Who dug us a nice hole at the far end of their beach positions...We did think on day one we had won the war...a shout came up the line...repeated to each fox hole until it arrived at our goat hole...Me and goat installed, goat and handler for the use of...I heard it first as it echoed down the line...Until at last after 600 odd foxholes it arrived..I cheered...tear in eye..Galtieries dead....me and goat danced out the hole...Arm in hoof..Danced up and down beach we did..it was over...We had won...Then I noticed the mirages at 100 feet and realised we were only ones celebrating...the marines were shooting wildly...We were still dancing me and the goat...Apparantly the message started out as air raid red...but with all the noise on that beach by the time it got to me and the goat we heard it as galtieries dead...We did laugh as the mirage pilots waved at us. We must have been some sight to them as they whizzed past...Me and goat dancing on that beach...The Argies must have known then they could not win....

 

OK. We gotta straighten out these ridiculous rumors about US Army goats. Goats belong to the NAVY! The Army uses MULES. I know because my MOS included feeding "Buckshot" at USMA in 1975... was also assigned to cleaning the discharge, the more fragrant of which I shipped off to Amsterdam for a tidy sum. (Those Dutch will smoke anything!) Futhermore, goats don't lean up against a fence and die... so long as they are aboard an aircraft carrier. They just fall overboard. Navy once engaged in attempting to use them as depth charges, but the damned things kept floating away.

Am so proud of your gleeful celebration with Hitler on the beach. I taught Buckshot to tap dance... he was very good at it... until they made him the Math instructor at a USMC base in Yuma AZ. Seems them jarheads could NOT get enough of "1, 2, 3, 4" despite how many times they failed to repeat it correctly.

Pic is of my great-uncle (as opposed to my less than illustrious one) introducing the Nationalist Chinese to one of our US Army mules in the 40s. <---This is a WW2 thread, yes? hahaha

 

The French Alps is a great WW2 area, I can name countless sites going from the 1940 combats with the Italians in the South, the Germans attacking on the Northern part. Thne I have other sites with the Maquis and SOE , inclding the massive Vercors sites. Then the Gnrand Bornan battlefields with Germans and Milice Vs the MAquis , the exection of about 60 captured Milicians by the FFI . There is also the 1944-1945 Alps front. Those places are widely unknown and sometimes unexplored , so anyhting could be found. I recently found an account about combats in Megeve with Germans taking hostages , so even Ski resorts are great places to find history. Go to Menton and you'll find Italian relics. Anyway sorry about getting off track .

 

The goat is the Navy's mascot and the Mule the Army's but you are incorrect in stating that the US Army does not use goats. They are used as simulated patients in the Special Forces Med Lab portion of Phase II of the Special Forces Q Course, that's why that portion of the course is almost always referred to as "Goat Lab".

I have no doubt that this is factual and correct. It also explains why a stoner will hold up a joint and proclaim, "Man this is some good sheet!"

Oh, here you are very wrong. I'm no goat expert, but when I was attending "Goat Lab" quite a few apparently healthy goats just leaned against the fence and died. I don't know why other than they're vile, disgusting creatures. I personally think they might have been Soviet spies, sent to ruin the budding carrer of many an unfortunate SF Medic!

 

First off, I said the amount of meat on the goat was about the same as a medium sized dog. However, I didn't see this until now, but many of our First Americans here in Montana ate dog regularly. I remember as a kid riding in the back of our DeSoto when Dad and I went through a reservation back road going to a remote lake. We saw this young lady chasing a puppy, and Dad (I thought) in jest said she's chasing down supper. Imagine my surprise when she caught the puppy, and bashed its head on a wall.

I myself actually ate some dog on the Southern Piegan (Blackfeet) reservation with a friend of mine, and believe it or not I wasn't repulsed in the least. I am pretty sure it was a dog he himself owned. He explained to me the reason dog was such a staple meat in his culture, first they follow you around and are always "fresh" meat, and you don't have to hunt them down to fill the pot.

 

So, what breed of dog is the best tasting? Does goat taste better or worse, on average? How about monkeys? And People? Are people tasty, too? Which does the Army promote more: vegetarianism or cannabalism?

 

Tam,
If it's any consolation, a prophet is never recognised in his own country.