FAT Fast 17 pounder recovery

tankbarrell · #1 23-08-15, 09:16

Tanks didn't carry blanks. There is a book about 9 RTR who needed blanks for their Churchills at the end of the war to carry out a celebratory shoot, they made their own with very mixed results!

rnixartillery · #2 26-08-15, 10:52

Here is my stack of boxes and there are a couple more buried that I cant get out just now, I am pretty sure these are from the same source as the ebay ones as they also came from the London area a couple of years ago.
Nice ammo boxes are getting harder to find and 17 pounder ones even more so.....

Rob................rnixartillery

Tim Bell · #3 26-08-15, 17:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by tankbarrell

Tanks didn't carry blanks. There is a book about 9 RTR who needed blanks for their Churchills at the end of the war to carry out a celebratory shoot, they made their own with very mixed results!

Probably not... but... I doubt I will be allowed to have a licence to shoot anything else!

Cheers

Tim

tankbarrell · #4 26-08-15, 18:29

I'm sure you're right!

Rob Fast · #5 30-08-15, 00:48

always nice to find originals. Now looking for 3/AT/RCA flashes for my battledress tunic. Cheers Rob

Tim Bell · #6 09-09-15, 16:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by tankbarrell

Tanks didn't carry blanks. There is a book about 9 RTR who needed blanks for their Churchills at the end of the war to carry out a celebratory shoot, they made their own with very mixed results!

Have decided that I'll stick with the ammo lockers inside the Sherman... got to use them for something other than beer and wine... and I have enough clutter in the garage as it is... so wont worry about an ammo case for blanks.

Rob Fast · #7 07-10-15, 16:59

Can someone tell me when/what era, and on what battledress these were sewn onto top of sleeve above chevrons? Googling Canadian battledress insignia there are very few pics of these on the sleeve. Doing a bunch of sewing on my 3rd AT battledress. Cheers Rob

maple_leaf_eh · #8 07-10-15, 20:33

Isn't that the Master Gunner symbol? The unique badge for completing the Army Technical Warrant Officer Programme.

http://www.rmc.ca/en/applied-militar...litary-science

http://canadiansoldiers.com/ranks/ta...pointments.htm

Rob Fast · #9 08-10-15, 01:51

Many years ago a RCA veteran gave me these, he was a Sergeant RCA on 3.7's on the West Coast. Cheers Rob

Dan Martel · #10 17-10-15, 00:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rob Fast

Can someone tell me when / what era, and on what battledress these were sewn onto top of sleeve above chevrons?

Rob,

In the Artillery, a cannon above the three chevrons indicated whether or not the NCO was a lance or a substantive Sergeant. Three chevrons without a cannon was the insignia for a Lance-Sergeant. With a cannon was a substantive Sergeant. It took the place of the crimson sash which indicated the same in the Infantry.

The Lance-Sergeant was an Army appointment which disappeared on unification (or integration, I get them confused). The use of the cannon with chevrons stopped on the introduction of the new CF uniforms with the integrated rank insignia. All promotions to Sergeant were considered substantive.

Cheers,
Dan.

Rob Fast · #11 19-10-15, 00:06

I think I got this right. Thanks for the input Dan. Can anyone enlighten me on the lanyards in the pic? RCA? Brown and black...tan...and purple. Cheers Rob

Dan Martel · #12 19-10-15, 01:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rob Fast

Can anyone enlighten me on the lanyards in the pic? RCA? Brown and black...tan...and purple.

The light coloured one, which I think you're referring to as tan, is actually white, or was at one time. A white lanyard was a part of the RCA uniform.

The other two lanyards, one brown and black and one purple, were more than likely just for utility sake. For example using one for the knife and one for the whistle. The lanyard for the knife would be looped around a belt or belt loop as the knife was usually kept in your pocket. There were different ways to wear a whistle lanyard, which was usually left to regimental idiosyncrasies. Why the brown and black one is shown over the right shoulder with the white lanyard I have no idea as two lanyards on one shoulder just wasn't done.

I would think that, and this is just a guess, if it was a regimental practice of the 3rd Anti-Tank for senior NCO's and officers to wear a whistle lanyard with their battledress, then it would be worn on the shoulder opposite the one with the white lanyard and would be of a dark hue so as to blend in with the colour of the battledress and not contrast with the white.

On the other hand, if the whistle was connected to the white lanyard then there would be no need for a second one to be worn. It looks like you have some research to do into the regiment.

Cheers,
Dan.

Rob Fast · #13 02-11-15, 00:54

Good turn out, we all ate well. It was Gord's Dingo coming out party. Congrats Gord, your Dingo is a work of art.