Military Despatches Vol 43, Jan 2021
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Military Despatches Vol 43 January 2021 Not a military genius Ten of Hitler’s biggest mistakes Feared and respected Three World War II British legends You are what you eat Military ration packs from around the world Operation Babylon Iraq’s nuclear reactor - now you see it, now you don’t For the military enthusiast CONTENTS January 2021 Page 12 Click on any video below to view How much do you know about movie theme songs? Take our quiz and find out. Hipe’s Wouter de The old South African Goede interviews former Defence Force used 28’s gang boss David a mixture of English, Williams. Afrikaans, slang and techno-speak that few Special Forces - Irish Special Forces outside the military could hope to under- 32 stand. Some of the terms Features were humorous, some You want how much? were clever, while others 6 When pirates kidnapped Julius were downright crude. Ten of Hitler’s biggest mis- Caesar he laughed at their ran- som demands and told them to takes ask for a lot more. We look at 10 reasons why Hit- Part of Hipe’s “On the ler was not a military genius. 34 couch” series, this is an 18 Survival interview with one of We take a look a making fire. Sign of the times author Herman Charles 37 Helmet graffiti during the Viet- Bosman’s most famous nam War. Ranks characters, Oom Schalk 20 Ranks of the Irish Defence Forc- Lourens. es. A taxi driver was shot Hipe spent time in The perils of being a German Hanover Park, an area 28 dead in an ongoing General Quiz war between rival taxi plagued with gang Being one of Hitler’s general Surviving the Arctic convoys organisations. violence, to view first- was hazardous. 84 of them were The second part of this incred- 31 hand how Project executed during World War II. ible story. Modern assault rifles Ceasefire is dealing with We show you 15 modern assault 24 30 the situation. Feared and Respected rifles. You name them, tell us Members of the British military RIP Ian Yule who produced them, and what Hipe TV brings you videos ranging from actuality to humour and every- country they are from. thing in between. Interviews, mini-documentaries and much more. that were both feared and re- Soldier, veteran and actor, Ian spected by their enemies during Yule did it all. Check out Hipe TV and remember to like, comment, share and subscribe. World War II. 00 3 CONTENTS Page 70 Editor’s PUBLISHER Sitrep Hipe Media EDITOR Matt Tennyson PHOTO EDITOR irst of all, may I take this al ribbons that he wears Regine Lord opportunity to wish all of And in the winter city, the our readers a peaceful, pros- rain cries a little pity CONTRIBUTORS F Raymond Fletcher, Regine January in military history perous, and safe New Year. May For one more forgotten hero, 2021 be a damn side better than and a World that doesn’t care.” Lord, Ryan Murphy, Matt 2020. Personally I think that it’s O’Brien, Matt Tennyson. Head-to-Head Forged in Battle Book Review Like many of you, I lost far too a crime that so many military Military Despatches is pub- 69 many friends and fellow military veterans are not treated with the 42 56 veterans this past year. Many of lished on-line every month. The Fighting Doc dignity and respect that they de- Military ration packs WW II Code Talkers them to Covid-19. And with a The articles used in Military The story of John Alan Coey, an serve. I know of many of them, second wave arriving and a new Despatches are copyrighted It has been said that you are Using a language that few could American in the Rhodesian War. some of them among the few strain of the virus, it doesn’t look and may not be used without what you eat. With this in mind, speak, Native Americans devel- remaining veterans of World as if we’re going to be in the clear prior permission from the edi- we look at military rations oped their own code. War II, that cannot afford medi- for a while yet. tor. packs around the world. cal treatment or cannot afford Battlefield Front Cover So, with this in mind, please re- The views stated in this maga- to eat a decent meal once a day. member to wear a mask, sanitise zine do not necessary reflect the Famous Figures 62 Brendan O’Carroll, who stars and maintain social distancing. We need to do more than just views of Military Despatches, as Agnes Brown in the hit TV 2020 was a challenging year for pay them lip service. Many of Operation Babylon the editor, the staff, or Hipe 50 comedy “Mrs Brown’s Boys”, many of us, especially on the fi- them did not choose to become Iraqi President Saddam Husse- Media. Adrian Carton de Wiart is making a TV pilot about Irish nancial front. I know of many vet- soldiers. Yet when the call went in was determined to become a He fought in no fewer than six peacekeepers in Lebanon dur- erans that are in serious financial out to serve their country, they wars and was probably one of nuclear power. Israel, however, situations because they have lost Hipe! ing the 1980s. answered that call. the British army’s most deco- had other ideas. the jobs they had or have not been P.O. Box 31216, Tokai, 7966 In closing off my editorial I South Africa. rated and wounded soldiers. Yet paid. would like to thank all the read- I am often reminded of a verse nothing could keep this man out Gaming ers that give me feedback on the from the song “Streets Of Lon- email of the fight. 66 don”. It is a haunting song that magazine. I really appreciate it. [email protected] was originally written and record- And a special thanks to two U-Boat ed by Ralph McTell in 1969. It special stars - Robbie Roberts Back Issues Can you manage a U-Boat and was not released as a single until and Regine Lord. Thank you To view any back issues of survive? 1974 and since then has been cov- for all that you do, and just for Military Despatches, go to Movie Review ered by over 200 artists. being who you are. www.militarydespatches.co.za The verse that always gets me or click here. goes: Until next time. 68 “Have you seen the old man Downfall outside the seaman’s mission The last days of Adolf Hitler Memory fading with the med- Matt and the Third Reich. 4 5 Top Ten Top Ten match for superior numbers and by forcing his troops to hold a 10 of Hitler’s biggest mistakes firepower. helpless line against the Rus- Hitler was often living in a sians on the Order River rather While many still regard Adolf Hitler as a military genius, the facts show that while he may have fantasy world where he tru- than pulling them back and us- been a charismatic leader and great orator, when it came to military matters he was a bumbling ly believed that his will alone ing them to tighten the defences amateur. could overcome any odds and of Berlin itself. that German troops would nev- When the Russians reached orn in Austria on 20 of Germany thought that he Mkb 42, the world’s first as- er allow themselves to be de- the city mere days later there April 1889, Adolf Hit- was a good thing for Germany. sault rifle. feated. were only about 80,000 Ger- ler moved to Germany Time Magazine even voted him Early tests in the field showed He was still sprouting this mans left to defend it, half of B propaganda while Russian forc- which were civilians. in 1913 and fought as a mem- as ‘Time Person of the Year’ in that it was a devastating weap- ber of the German Army during 1938. on with vast potential. es were smashing Germany. This wasn’t good news for World War I. Yet on 1 September 1939 he Then, during a political fight He first issued his ‘no retreat’ Hitler as there were 1.6 mil- During the war he rose to the would order an invasion of Po- in Berlin, Hitler lost his temper order at Stalingrad when he de- lion Russians troops outside rank of Gefreiter (Corporal) land that would go on to start (something which happened of- nied General Friedrich Paulus the city. And they were not in a and was decorated twice for World War II. ten) and cancelled production permission to fight his way out good mood. bravery, winning the Iron Cross While a lot of people treat Ad- of the weapon. of a Soviet encirclement while 2nd class and 1st class. olf Hitler as if he was a military Army commanders were so Russian lines were still rela- 7. The German army was In 1919, he joined the Ger- genius who was only done in by impressed with the weapon Adolf Hitler tively weak. unprepared for winter war man Workers’ Party (DAP), his own visions of unattainable that they renamed it the MP 43 There was, however, one small The result was the loss of the in Russia the precursor of the Nazi Party, excess, this is not the case. (Maschinenpistole 43) and con- problem. The plane had been entire German 6th Army, as During winter, Russia is not and was appointed leader of the He made many mistakes and tinued to produce it behind Hit- designed and designated as an well as any hopes of a German the best place to fight a war.