Hi Stefan, Skipper,

Stefan-true-we are seperated by a common language-you guys are always misspelling words like: Color (colour) and valor (Valour) etc etc etc :-D Just kidding ;-))

Skipper, I hear you guys over there even have powdered Wine? I can bet that it does not taste very good? However, you make up for it with your excellent Cognac

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Lost are only those, who abandon themselves) Hans-Ulrich Rudel.

Can you send booze over? I thought our lads over there were dry (in theory of course).

Carl, not our fault you chaps can't handle our complicated spelling Actually I heard somewhere that American English is closer in many respects to English of the 17th century than that which we speak over here.

Skipper, didn't know about the French troops, that said, I doubt most of the US does. Maybe if they did there would be less criticism. Reminds me of what I was saying about KFOR and IFOR in the EU thread.

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There's no honorable way to kill, no gentle way to destroy. There is nothing good in war. Except its ending.

Hi Stefan, I think i'd have to send Rum to your guys-or maybe some Tequila ;-))

Heh heh, I guess your right in that we here are not as "refined" as you guys are.

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Lost are only those, who abandon themselves) Hans-Ulrich Rudel.

Stefan: the first French troops were sent to Afghanistan over six years ago, they have been fighting the talibans under U.S. command ever since. They've had some casulaties too, including recently when a convoy was booby trapped. There are 1900 men there currently and 1000 more are likely to join in. They have daily combat operations in the mountains with infantry and/or Rafale aircrafts flying from Dushambe. Prince William gave target instructions to our pilots when he was there. French troops are also in other warzones, in Darfour (still waiting for the EU which promised to relief them) , Kosovo (they had 20 WIA two days ago in Riots at Mitrovica), they have 3000 troops in Libanon , in Tchad etc... All these are UN Mandates.

Carl: yes, I confirm powder wine. It is the same principle of powder milk. It is very useful for diffrent reasons: firstly it is difficult to get proper alcohol there, secondly it's very light to carry along, thirdly it's a moral booster (not that it would get you drunk, but it's like the cookies and other stuff) .

The bad news is that I could not find any related address to send a parcel. The only answer I got is "secret"...

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Skip the sounds of it ....arg sound gross with no taste but we are in a different world now anything is possible. would luv to send some goodies to relatives and friends in the east but with no forwarding addys due to security reasons I must wait till they ship home

It is gross, but what do you expect from powder and that's how you make soda too . Btw it's an Amercian invention. It is about a century old. Grape powder was sold during prohibition with the mention "Do not put yeast" of course everybody added some

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try powdered milk Skipper, but you probably already have. we've used that terrible stuff in the field since the beginings of time...............that should of been thrown out with the early mre's, though they have gotten better with their cutsey little oven warmers installed, I find them barely tolerable to eat

Schöne avatar Erich!

No powdered milk for me

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I quite like powdered milk, keep it in my flat to have on cereal in emergencies.

Skipper, I knew there were French troops out there, didn't realise the number had gone up. Powdered wine sounds erm, interesting. I imagine it's better than our Screech (orange powder, add one sachet to a litre of water to produce paint thinners, add two sachets of sugar and it is guaranteed to keep the most tired soldier up all night).

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There's no honorable way to kill, no gentle way to destroy. There is nothing good in war. Except its ending.

I agree Stefan, powdered wine sounds....interesting at best!

Stefan, everything I have read about the US guys in Iraq says they are dry there too. I am not supposed to send booze of any type! But necessity is the mother of invention, so I'm betting they have something to keep them warm on a cold desert night!

Skipper, I had no idea that the French had so many troops over there! I am searching for a sight to support French troops this morning, I'll let you know if I find anything!

Erich, I hope you can get an address soon to help you friends!

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This is a pair of Dutch resistance crystal radios, built into a small metal can, and a matchbox. The image is from a postcard bought at a Dutch Resistance Museum in Amsterdam. The matchbox is marked in Swedish, but Swedish matches were sold in Holland for many years..
Scott