Good morning!!!!

[RoyJackson]

2016-05-17, 0318

35 right now...heading to a nice 65 today.

 

[Eric Salop]

{As told by Eric's Dad}

Good morning. During the war you mostly did what you had to do to survive and the enemy did the same. When it was all over, I never held any grudge against the ordinary people of Germany. Their country has come a long way since those days of pointless fighting. Angela Merkel is a tough lady, but she seems to have a good heart and be genuinely compassionate about people from other races. A pity there wasn't someone like her in charge back then.

Shortly after the war I had a little girl called Angela. Her mother and me separated soon after she was born and I never saw her again. I never talked to my son about her, I couldn't.



It's all right dad, I know about Angela, in fact we were talking together on the phone last night. She found me through the wonders of the internet a few years ago. She is lovely, a very kind person.

 

[Buppies]

53 high of 63 and rain today and tomorrow but not huge amounts upwards of one half inch possible more rain tomorrow

 

[Eric Salop]

{As told by Eric's Dad}

1942
"Our next country was across the Sinai Desert in Egypt. Our role as an armoured unit was very much in the balance. First we had to learn how to drive the lorries. Some of the lads who could drive helped to teach those who could not. It was a piece of cake, learning to drive, you couldn't collide with anything, we were on the edge of the desert near the pyramids. After a few lessons with the lads, instructors from the RASC (Royal Army Service Corps) gave us a test. The test was more or less like today except that there wasn't a highway code to contend with. I did my hill start on Mena Hill quite close to the pyramids and my emergency stop outside King Farouk's palace in Cairo.

Our job was to place dummy tanks in various locations to confuse the enemy. From the air they looked quite real and were bombed quite a lot. Later, camouflage experts working in Cairo disguised lorries as tanks, tubing was used as dummy guns, wood for rivets and canvas with tracks painted on them. From 50ft away they looked like the real thing, but a giveaway was if the wind got up the tracks looked as if they were waving."

...

"After four months or so we were told that we would be attached to the 1st Armoured division as a motorised infantry unit. No tanks were available as a huge convoy of American tanks had been sunk by enemy U boats on route across the Atlantic. Those that were available were needed by the regular tank corps to train on. To make matters worse in June 300 tanks were lost in one huge battle, most were destroyed in an enemy ambush of concealed anti-tank guns. Tobruk fell and 25,000 troops were captured. The German advance was only halted at Alamein. Churchill, the Prime Minister pleaded with the Americans for more tanks, which they did send. These were the Sherman tanks and they turned out to be the best tanks of the war. Instead of rivets holding the plates together, the armour plates were welded together. Tank crews were grateful as a lot of them were killed or badly injured by flying rivets when they were hit by a shell. The rivets just ricocheted around the inside of the tank. The Sherman tank was also more streamlined so that shell fire glanced off them, well some of the time!"



"As motorised infantry it was our job to help protect tanks from enemy action, such as anti-tank weapons and their infantry by weeding out pockets of resistance. At night very little tank activity took place and tanks form up into a square or circle formation, our division formed a square. As I was a Vickers machine gunner, it was my duty to place my gun on one of the four corners, the other 3 blokes put their guns on the other corners. This gave the tanks a cordon of fire should the position be attacked by infantry"

...


"Cleaning one's best friend. As a machine gunner I had a colt 45 revolver"

 

[ronjhall]

Coffee is done brewing. 47° with partly cloudy skies this morning. Heading to 61° with partly cloudy skies. Got a couple of motorhome projects to complete before storing it for the summer. Should be a good week to get some outdoor projects done. No more cold like we had the last weekend.
Good Morning All.

 

[Ed of all trades]

Good morning all. 52 here this morning going to 57. We have had about .02 of rain last night and 90% today expecting between 1/4 and 1/2 inch. Going to the grocery store today, don't know what else, likely not much.

Eric Thanks for the story. I remember my dad showing me a paper, liked like a diploma to me. He was very proud of it, it said that he was needed for the war effort on the farm and that he was to serve his country farming. I don't know the exact words. I was small and I never saw it again. Ed

 

[Thomas]

36F cloudy now mid 60's for high.
After 4 day weekend time to go back to work and rest up for another 4 day weekend.

Enjoy the day all.

 

[wngsprd]

53 going to 61 and should raining soon. May get an inch out of this one. Ground still to wet to till the garden.

Like you, RS, we had a perfect weather day here yesterday, but I didn't accomplish as much as you.

Don, glad you slayed the creature. Hope you heal quickly. I have never seen a brown recluse here, although they are in the area. We have killed dozens of black widows out in the yard over the years, however.

 

[Larro Darro]

Eric Thanks for the story. I remember my dad showing me a paper, liked like a diploma to me. He was very proud of it, it said that he was needed for the war effort on the farm and that he was to serve his country farming. I don't know the exact words. I was small and I never saw it again. Ed

Daddy used two year's worth of the Farm Deferments. But all his brothers were in the war, so he went too. He went ashore in France a couple of months after D-day. Ended up getting shot twice and spent the rest of the war in a German POW camp.

Here is a pretty good explanation of Farm Deferments.

Farm Deferments During World War II : Daviess County Historical Society : Gallatin Area Revitalization Alliance

 

[Trails End]

Daugen, you might want to be a little cautious when shopping for trees at your
local nursery or box store.

Copperhead Snake Bites Worker at Home Improvement Store - ABC News

Buppies - no new bear pictures here yet. They've been spotted about 1/4 mile down the road several
times, but nothing here yet. For some reason, they usually make their first appearance between the
middle of May and the first week in June. I'm keeping my eyes open and camera ready.

Eric - I'm also enjoying your dad's stories. As many have noted, it's a great insight into a period in
our history that many didn't want to talk about.

 

[farmer2009]

50 this morning and headed to 59 today with rain.

As wet as we now are looks to be an inside day.

Eric nice stories.

Have a good one.

 

[txdon]

Don, are they aggessive? Have you seen others in the house prior?

They are not shy. We occasionally see one in the house.

Good morning! Foggy 68˚

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Good Morning! 66F @ 7:00AM. Sunny. High 93F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph.

Good hunting, Don! According to this wikipedia article, you've little chance of reprisal, but there are things that can be done to limit the chances of it happening again.

Had my own little pest control event yesterday morning when I came around the corner in the garage and found a deer mouse on the floor, sitting still. Nothing was readily to hand, so I just used my foot to make it flatter than a pancake. Usually they run like lightening, so this one may have been ill? Maybe it found the mouse poison I keep around? Either way, one less chance of leaving Hantavirus turds around.

Thanks for sharing your Dad's stories, Eric. The war in North Africa doesn't get much mention, though here in the US there was a TV series called The Rat Patrol that predictably over dramatized one small group's adventures.

RS, I take it your efforts to winterize the boiler in the commercial building were successful? :thumbsup:

Well I wasn't quite done drilling spot welds, as with very careful probing and close examination I found several that were holding onto the roof around the B and C pillars. And now that I'm working on the rear most portions, there is another row of them to deal with. Only trouble is both my spot weld cutters broke within minutes of each other, the part holding the cutter shearing off the driving body when the saw became jammed into the work. Good thing I kept my Harbor Freight receipt, but I'll be using a pair of drill bits to hopefully finish up with the roof today.

 

[mkr7734]

I always told the guys at work that I liked my wife more than I liked them and would rather spend my days with her. We have been doing that for 7 years and I still like spending my days with her more than a bunch of guys. Ed

ED,
I am sure we will be fine. It is just that I retired in 2009 and have got used to just hanging out with the cat. :laughing:

Cloudy and 55, won't hit the low 60s. And this is May????? I think we have been below normal everyday this month so far.

 

[rswyan]

53F and cloudy ... showers in the area ...

Fellow bought a couple of parcels a few lots over ... all wooded. Said he plans to clear cut it ... had my neighbor upset ... he likes the woods ... but it ain't his ... was concerned that the guy didn't have the property lines right. And how the guy was going to get equipment in there to log it.

I hear equipment back there now ... probably should head over that way and see what's up.

 

[toppop52]

Back to cloudy cool weather, only 3 days in May at or above normal temps. Had some small flowers die from lack of sun and too much rain.

 

[rswyan]

One guy with a chainsaw and another with a large yellow skidder.

Called next door neighbor's wife and alerted her and got some more details. All her men are at work, so I told her if she wants to come back and check it out I'd accompany her.

According to her, this guy apparently pulled their (neighbor's) survey stakes/pins and then had his property surveyed and staked. Later, after they called him on it, he pulled the new stakes as well.

Too cute by half ...

Also found out that at some point, the new guy had crossed mine and the next door neighbor's property to get to his ... with what exactly, I don't know. According to the neighbor's wife I was not home at the time.

Apparently because there is a gas line right-of-way that crosses all the properties, he figured that it was somehow "public" ... and he could just use it to get the logging equipment in and out to the rear of his property.

Looks like he's staying entirely on his own property at this point though.

Bears keeping an eye on.

 

[rswyan]

RNG,

So far as I know.

 

[rswyan]

... Like you, RS, we had a perfect weather day here yesterday, but I didn't accomplish as much as you. ...

There's always tomorrow ...

 

[sodamo]

66°F and .44 inches rain last 24 hours.

Had to take my boxer girl, Pele, to vet yesterday. Drain off some fluid buildup.

Enjoying Eric's Dad's writing
My own Dad and my aunts and uncles spoke very little about their WWII times. My Dad was Army Air Corps and stayed Stateside and would speak about places. My uncles were navy and Army and were overseas. I suspect being at my grandparents houses was something of a damper on such conversations.

Be safe
Have a great day