Friar

Salute Operation Blackcock was an operation to clear German troops from the Roer Triangle, formed by the towns of Roermond and Sittard in the Netherlands and Heinsberg in Germany during the fighting on the Western Front in the Second World War. It was conducted by the British Second Army between 13 and 26 January 1945. The objective was to drive the German 15th Army back across the rivers Roer and Wurm and move the front-line further into Germany. The operation was carried out by Lieutenant-General Neil Ritchie's XII Corps by three divisions: the 7th Armoured Division (Major-General Lewis Lyne), the 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division (Major-General Ivor Thomas) and the 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division (Major-General Edmund Hakewill-Smith). The operation, named after the Scottish black male grouse, is relatively unknown despite the sometimes fierce battles that were fought for each and every village and hamlet within the Roer Triangle. I am currently working on bringing a representation of the above scenario to GBS. It will primarily be an Allied tank (M4A2) operation (we will be playing the role of the 7th Armored Division "Desert Rats" ). There will also be 2 or 3 flown missions (Typhoons) on a Tuesday night when I am hosting which will play a role of supporting the tank operations at key stages in the campaign. I have Sid already looking into producing a 7th Armored Sherman skin for us to use for this event. Stay tuned for more information... Friar

Funnily enough Crash I was looking at those only yesterday and thinking the same...

Salute Guys, Due to on going birthday celebrations I will have to rule my self out this Saturday due to family coming round. Hopefully, I can get back to normal duties as soon as possible. Friar

Advance and secure?

Salute With Painless, Sid and Parts attending my "bash" this Saturday I will not be hosting the usual Tank session. Not sure if @FoolTrottel will do anything in my absence? Cheers Friar

Take it easy Tom, hope you get mobile again soon (especially before the 13th )

... fire a missile from 25 miles away at the blip on the radar screen?

What I learned today on my walk listening to the second half of the above podcast... Russian engines had fitted to them a part not dissimilar to that fitted to F1 engines today... The Germans turned up for work one day at a Luftwaffe engine testing facility to find no engineering staff, they had all been conscripted to the army... German plane numbers were found to be over quoted. It turned out to keep the high command happy with production numbers if a plane came in for a refit or paint job they gave it a new serial number...

So you play the podcast from the link and it stops playing? I must admit I have only listened to it via the podcast app on my phone. I will try and play an episode via the link to see what happens.

As you were - found the cause - I had forgotten that I had an extension lead for the speakers and that had become slightly disconnected.

Salute, H E L P! So are you sitting comfortably? then I will begin... Up until Saturday morning my computer speakers have been fine. I switch them on, silence until I play something through them. Why Saturday, well , I tried to play around with my configuration and experimented using the HMDI output from my graphics card as a sound card (apparently you can?) and plugged my speakers into the headphone socket of my monitor. Well, the sound was crap so I put things back to how they were. I now get a hum from the speakers. I have tried the properties settings and am sure they are back to how they should be. I have tried disabling and uninstalling the Realtek sound device, then switching the computer off and back on, still the hum. I have even tried turning off the main fuse to the upstairs lights (because I fitted a new bathroom light on Saturday as well) still the hum. My configuration is (located on the back of the pc) Pink Jack: ---- to headphone microphone Green Jack: ----- Y Splitter#1 (branch 1) - Speakers Y Splitter (branch 2) - Y Splitter #2 (branch 1) - to headphone speakers - Y Splitter #2 (branch 2) - to Butt Kicker I have tried all sorts of combinations of plugs in holes. I have removed all the splitters and plugged the speakers direct into the green jack. I have tried the speakers into the front green hole. Still the hum. I have tried a different set of speakers. They also hum, but not to the same level. There is no "hum" in the headphones, they are as clear as always. Does anyone have any thoughts? Yours in desperation Friar

I am listening on my morning "power walks". @BluBear - I too have scrolled back in time and working my way through. The readings of the book about the Spitfire pilot in Malta are also very enjoyable. In the last episode I listened to the planes were getting ready to leave the Carrier. They had their engines started BELOW DECKS and were pushed back on to the left to be taken up to the flight deck for a quick despatch. Unfortunately, someone did not give enough clearance to the blades.....

Just wanted to suggest another excellent podcast from the chaps over at "We Have Ways of Making You Talk" https://wehavewayspod.com/ep-355-the-secret-horsepower-race/ You don't have to be a piston head to enjoy this one, very interesting discussion on the approach that both sides took to engine developments during the war.

Sorry it was not as sustained as I would have hoped. Perhaps different start points would have helped. My vision was for a hide and seek mission around the town, perhaps next time... Thanks to those that took part, APHill, Bob, FT, Artie, Painless and Parts.

The brief for tonight: Scenario: You are part of the 45th Panzer III-M Division based in Charleroi. Allied forces are mounting a concerted effort to reach the factory complex located to the east of Bridge 4. Along the way they plan to roll up the two fuel depots and Western Factory complex shutting down our war production. Objective: Stop the enemy advance. If, as a last resort you can blow up Bridge 4 by parking in front of the two trucks that have installed the explosives. If they reach the Eastern complex Hitler himself will want an explanation as to why you failed!

What do you mean "I've got to practice driving..." its me that gets us into the trouble

Excellent Post Pvt-Parts. Much appreciated. The mission tomorrow (Sat 23/10) will be the reverse of last weeks. We will be manning Panzer III-M's. Our job will be to defend the town from advancing Allied forces. I will structure the brief similar to your outline above but will leave tactics out.

Salute, You may find the image below useful for the mission tonight It is of the town Charleroi - Rhineland map 2606 / 2607 Also, if you do not have them, please download the Sherman numbered skins

Salute, I would like to suggest another pod caast from the excellent "We Have Ways of Making You Talk" podcast series about all things World War II This one is about the Dutch being punished by the Germans with food shortages. https://wehavewayspod.com/ep-354-hunger-winter/ I have always had a soft spot for FT (and no, its not at the bottom of my garden), but love him and his fellow countrymen more now after listening to this.

Very clever Sir, some dam fine skills there.

Salute Mainz You have picked an interesting plane to start with, but at least a lot of the engine management is automated. At the DangerDogz we do fly with complex engine management enabled you you will need to have mapped all the controls such as radiators, cowl flaps, rpm and mixture etc. Our published flying schedule is based on UK times but we do have a great North American contingent that fly in their times as well so perhaps one of them will be along to provide some more details. The main times for IL2 are Tuesdays and Sundays from 19:30 UK time. We use TeamSpeak as our communication tool. We have many excellent pilots and many who can not hit a barn door from 50 paces (including me!) that I am sure will be willing to help you improve. We do not have mandatory training sessions or ranks, we are also laid back about attending, we understand real life gets in the way. The format of our sessions is that we start with a dogfight map which is an excellent opportunity to practice or get some tuition and then after about an hour we will go to co ops. These tend to be a mixed bag of planes so you will get experience on a wide range of rides. Do you have any interest in Tank Crew as we play that on a Saturday evening (UK time)

Its a LONG way off from being ready but this looks interesting, even if it kicks the Tank Crew team to release some information about their plans.. https://www.steelgearsimulator.com/ https://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/52774-tank-crew-got-competition/

Salute Please find below a link to a document I have uploaded to our vault. It is an official manual from 1943 relating to armoured combat and includes an explanation of the Sherman gunsight.