In Africa, the Germans had Beobachtungsabteilung 11 doing this (probably under Arko 104 - more on this in the future), and a battery of 15th Panzer, Beobachtungsbatterie (Pz) 33 (326), which was under Panzerartillerieregiment 33.

For the British, this work was done by 4th (Durham) Survey Regiment R.A. You can download their history here.

Below is a map of the observation posts of 33 (326) outside Tobruk, taken from Froben's book "Aufklärende Artillerie".  This system observed the western edge of the siege lines.  The 'Flugplatz' is the Gambut airfield.  The 'Achsenstrasse' is the Axis bypass road constructed by the Italians to ensure that supply could continue to run even though Tobruk had not been taken, and the Via Balbia continued to be blocked. 'Panzergraben' is the tank ditch.

The Federal Monument in Mount Olivet Cemetery is noteworthy.

The two field pieces flanking the monument are actually replicas. Their form and appearance are in line with similar replicas cast for the Gettysburg battlefield. While looking like 3-inch Ordnance rifles from a distance, these have rough exteriors, a visible lateral casting seam, not to mention a lack of standard markings.

However, in the town square are two authentic Civil War era pieces. Two 2.9 inch Parrott Rifles. One of which is touted as "No. 1." Both carry the letters "C. P." over the trunnions.

While I've read and heard several sources state this particular piece above (No 1) was the "very first Parrott rifle ever made," the claim does not match with the records. Robert Parrott had experimented with the design prior to 1861, but the first batch accepted by the government was a set of ten 2.9-inch, 10-pounder rifles in May 1861. However, pre-dating the government delivery considerably, one Parrott rifle was delivered to the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1860. Just after the outbreak of the war, the states of New York and Pennsylvania ordered examples of the Parrott 10-pounders. The New York examples are stamped "S.N.Y." over the trunnions. The Pennsylvania order received the initials "C.P." for Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. (For a full discussion, please refer to Field Artillery Weapons of the Civil War, by James C. Hazlett, Edwin Olmstead, and M. Hume Parks, page 109-110). In addition to the twins at Hanover, two more examples of this batch are displayed on the Gettysburg battlefield.

The markers at Hanover add to a growing collection of the Gettysburg Campaign. Most of the Civil War trails markers for the Gettysburg Campaign are in the database now. As time permits, I'll dress up groupings as done with Antietam.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — American air and artillery strikes killed 11 Pakistani paramilitary soldiers during a clash with insurgents on the Afghan border on Tuesday night, a development that raised concerns about the already strained American relationship with Pakistan.

The strikes underscored the often faulty communications involving American, Pakistani and Afghan forces along the border, and the ability of Taliban fighters and other insurgents to use havens in Pakistan to carry out attacks into neighboring Afghanistan.

The attack comes at a time of rising tension between the United States and the new government in Pakistan, which has granted wide latitude to militants in its border areas under a new series of peace deals, drawing criticism from the United States.

NATO and American commanders say cross-border attacks in Afghanistan by insurgents have risen sharply since talks for those peace deals began in March.

Although Pakistani government officials softened their response through the day on Wednesday, the Pakistani military released an early statement calling the airstrikes “unprovoked and cowardly.”

Shaken by the initial Pakistani reaction, administration officials braced for at least a short-term rough patch in relations with Islamabad.

“It won’t be good,” said a Pentagon official who followed developments closely throughout the day. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

The precise circumstances surrounding the reported deaths remained unclear, and American officials said an American-Pakistani investigation was expected to begin immediately.

But according to accounts from American officials, the incident started when Taliban fighters from Pakistan crossed about 200 yards into Kunar Province, on the Afghan side of the border, and attacked American-led forces with small-caliber weapons and rocket-propelled grenade fire.

After coalition forces returned fire, driving the insurgents back into Pakistan, two United States Air Force F-15E fighter-bombers and one B-1 bomber dropped about a dozen bombs — mostly 500-pound munitions — on the attackers. An Air Force statement said the militants were struck “in the open and in buildings in the vicinity of Asadabad.”

A spokesman for the Taliban said their forces had attacked an American and Afghan position near the border, and said eight of their fighters had been killed and nine wounded in the fighting.

Before the airstrike, a Pentagon official said, American forces alerted a Pakistani military liaison officer, trying to ensure that friendly troops were out of harm’s way.

But the Pakistani officer was either unaware that Pakistani paramilitary forces had moved into the area near the insurgents, or the Pakistani forces never got the word to get out of the way, American officials said.

“They got caught in the wrong place at the wrong time,” the Pentagon official said.

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani of Pakistan denounced the attack in Parliament and said he had instructed the Foreign Ministry to make a formal protest to the American ambassador, Anne Patterson.

But the Pentagon press secretary, Geoff Morrell, told reporters in Washington that “every indication we have at this stage is that it was a legitimate strike in self-defense.” American rules of engagement bar American forces from crossing or firing into Pakistan except to protect themselves.

By Wednesday afternoon, Pakistan’s new ambassador to Washington, Husain Haqqani, had softened his government’s reaction, telling Reuters, “We do look upon it as not an act that should cause us to reconsider our partnership but rather to find ways of improving that partnership.”

Seth Jones, an analyst with the RAND Corporation who was conducting research in Kunar Province last week, said: “It’s almost surprising more of this hasn’t happened given the vast amount of traffic across the border. This creates a real serious impetus for the U.S. to coordinate more closely with Pakistan forces.”

American officials in Pakistan and in Washington, while expressing regret for the Pakistani deaths, said the episode underscored the need to improve the equipping of and coordination with Pakistani security forces operating near the border, including the Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force of about 85,000 members recruited from ethnic groups on the border.

American and Pakistani officials say the Frontier Corps, which is drawn from Pashtun tribesmen who know the language and culture of the tribal areas, is the most suitable force to combat an insurgency over the long term in the border region, where the regular Pakistani military often is not welcomed.

It was unclear whether the Pakistan liaison officer involved in the airstrike on Tuesday was from the Pakistani Army or the Frontier Corps, an important distinction because the two security forces have not always worked together smoothly, American officials said.

Gonzalo Gallegos, a State Department spokesman in Washington, said, “This is a reminder that better cross-border communications between forces is vital.”

The Pentagon has spent about $25 million so far to equip the Frontier Corps with new body armor, vehicles, radios and surveillance equipment, and plans to spend $75 million more in the next year.

Over all, administration officials have said the United States could spend more than $400 million in the next several years to enhance the Frontier Corps, including building a training base near Peshawar.

Until recently, the Frontier Corps had not received American military financing because the corps technically falls under the Pakistani Interior Ministry, a nonmilitary agency that the Pentagon ordinarily does not deal with.

Gen. David D. McKiernan, the new NATO commander in Afghanistan, said last week that one of his first trips as commander would be to meet with the Pakistani Army’s chief of staff, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, to try to resurrect a commission created by NATO and the Afghan and Pakistani militaries to address border issues. In recent months, Pakistan has not taken part in the commission.

The United States, which has about 34,000 military personnel in Afghanistan, part of an international presence totaling about 60,000, is also in the midst of building six border coordination posts that will be operated by Pakistani, American and other allied forces.

At the Pentagon, Mr. Morrell said, “It is incumbent upon both of us not to let an incident like this or any other interfere with that fundamental shared goal of making sure the F.A.T.A. is not a refuge for terrorists.” He was referring to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, the contested border area.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was expected to discuss the event with her Pakistani counterpart on Thursday at the Afghan donors conference in Paris, American officials said.

There have been several American strikes recently on insurgents inside Pakistani territory. In March, three bombs, apparently dropped by an American aircraft, killed nine people and wounded nine others in the tribal area of South Waziristan that officials say provides sanctuary to Al Qaeda and the Taliban.

In late January, one of Osama bin Laden’s top lieutenants, Abu Laith al-Libi, was killed by two Hellfire missiles launched from a Predator surveillance aircraft.

The clash on Tuesday occurred at a border post called Chopara on the frontier with the Afghan province of Kunar, where American and Afghan forces have battled insurgents for several years. The insurgents have been using Mohmand and the adjacent area of Bajaur as a base for attacks into Afghanistan.

Fighting has been reported on the Afghan side of the border between insurgents and Afghan and American forces. According to one news report, one militant was killed and three wounded in a firefight on Monday.

The dead on the Pakistani side included a major and were all from the Mohmand Rifles, a paramilitary detachment of the Frontier Corps, the force deployed in Pakistan’s tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, a security official said, speaking in return for customary anonymity.

Officers in the Frontier Corps are generally assigned from the Pakistani Army. The bodies of the dead were being flown to Peshawar on Wednesday morning, the government official said. Among five wounded were three civilians, he said.

Local tribesmen with rocket launchers and Kalashnikov rifles gathered Wednesday near the checkpoint to show their outrage after the attack, Agence France-Presse reported.

Earlier this month, the American commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan said that Taliban forces in southern Afghanistan were fleeing to the Pakistani border after being routed in recent operations by the United States Marines.

Gen. Dan K. McNeill, who stepped down last week as NATO commander in Afghanistan, seemed to warn Pakistan to contain the threat emanating from its land, and said the Taliban and drug traffickers had long used refugee camps across the border as a sanctuary from American firepower.

He said that if the Taliban and foreign insurgents continued to enjoy free sanctuary outside Afghanistan, their numbers would continue to grow.

The new Pakistani government sought peace deals with the militants after many Pakistanis saw a drastic increase in suicide bombings in Pakistan as being in retaliation for American strikes.

Carlotta Gall reported from Islamabad, Pakistan, and Eric Schmitt from Washington. Ismail Khan contributed reporting from Peshawar, Pakistan.

Am 13. Juni ist dann für mich der ganze Spuk vorbei und ich werde dann auf meine Ergebnisse warten. Alles weitere natürlich hier! Nachm 13.Juni wird DesignFusion, die Briefmarkengeschichte, Spreadshirt (Contest) und unser eigener SpreadShirtShop bearbeitet und abgearbeitet - also fetter StyleSommer!!!

OK, genug geredet schaut euch den nächsten Step an. Wir versuchen jetzt wieder ein wenig Ordnung in unser Chaos zu bekommen: Also nächster FIX-Termin für :mad ist dann der 13.Juni!!!

<click the pic>

euer TeMo

The ‘Taroona’ would roll on a wet towel and we’d had a very rough crossing on the way over from Melbourne. This may also have influenced my parents decision to fly back instead.

To say that I was gob-smacked by my first flight would be an understatement. I was 10 years old and I can remember to this day every detail of that flight right down to a rivet popping out of the overhead air trunking and landing in my mother's lap. The trip was made all the more memorable when my kid sister sprayed the forward end of the cabin with projectile vomit just as we landed at Essendon - Melbourne Aerodrome (they weren’t called airports then). The stewardess was not impressed!

My next flight was 10 years later and whilst I was at sea. During the ships' call at Sydney I had the opportunity to drive to Wagga Wagga stopping in Canberra for lunch and seeing some really impressive scenery along the way. The return was with Airlines of New South Wales in a Fokker F27 Friendship. The most memorable part of that flight was arriving over Sydney Harbour. Many years later I was able to revisit the memory in a Piper Cherokee from Bankstown Airfield. The intervening years had not diminished the experience in any way.

Sydney harbour - breathtaking! (photo courtesy Airliners.net)

I next flew in 1973 on Playboy Club business with BEA to Belfast, out in a Trident and back in a Britannia. The most memorable part of that trip, apart from escorting the Bunny of the Year, was spending a night at the Maze Prison as a guest of the British Army.

In 1976 I moved to live and work in Saudi Arabia arriving on a BA VC10 and I seem to have spent a considerable portion of my life sitting in aeroplanes ever since.

The first of many memorable flights was my first return on Christmas leave from Dhahran along with 180 or so other wine, women and song starved oilmen fresh from several months in the desert. In those days aircraft were lined up nose to tail in two rows across the front of the terminal. Our aircraft was in the outside line waiting to depart when another aircraft from the inside line tried to cut between us and the aircraft parked in front. There wasn’t room and a collision was narrowly averted.

A call was put out for the only pushback vehicle at Dhahran but it’s regular driver had taken it home! It was three hours before the offending aircraft could be pushed back and we could be on our way.

We couldn’t be disembarked – there was no room inside the terminal so, in order to quell a rising tide of dissent, the crew took the brave decision to close the doors, shut the blinds and open the bar. The result, three hours later as we took off, was a Tristar full of happily inebriated oilmen. The party continued flat out until we reached Athens where we had to stop to pick up more fuel (and more beer - we were in danger of drinking the plane dry) then on to Heathrow where it continued in the bar at Terminal 1 whilst we all waited for our connecting flights.

If the Saudi’s had found out we could all have spent Christmas in jail.

Other memorable flights in no particular order:-

• Arriving and departing the Maldives (the short runway) – flight deck jump seat Air Lanka B737
• My first seaplane flight, again in the Maldives (see picture below)
• The snow covered Alps on a crystal clear moonlit winters night – flight deck visit Air France (Airbus A310 I think)
• Flying low level along a desert runway to scare sleeping camels off it so we could land – Saudi Aramco Fokker F27 1976
• Hong Kong Kai Tak – sadly not the ‘chequer board’ approach to runway 13 that I’d hoped for but the almost as impressive approach to 31 – Cathay Pacific B747 jump seat.
• Legging it across the tarmac between connecting flights as artillery shells started dropping on the airport boundary – Middle East Airlines Beirut 1979
• A Hajj flight to Jeddah in an ancient Saudi B707 in 1977 – open sided luggage racks - it was that old
• Arriving in Baghdad from Amman in 1980 as one of only 12 passengers on a B747 – seemed odd at the time
• Trying to get out of Baghdad to go back to Amman and realizing why there were only 12 passengers on the 747 coming in – 5,000+ in the departure lounge with only 1,500 aircraft seats available that night (Iran Iraq war)

The Afghan highlands. Not quite as good as the moonlit Alps but still impressive

Sun Express Twin Otter on floats - Maldives

But my most memorable flight of all has to be my first solo when I was learning to fly - December 12, 1977 .

Over the years since, the magic, the excitement and the pleasure of flying with the airlines has faded. The 'pack 'em in - screw as much as you can outa them' business model has done that for me. Indeed, I view my next trip to London with so much trepidation that I've decided to fork out for Premium Economy.

The best bits, as always, will be take-off and landing when the pilot in me listens to every sound, feels every movement and knows exactly what is happening.

But now, thanks to American inspired 'terrism' paranoia, airline Captains are no longer allowed to invite passengers onto their flight decks thereby giving up a major aspect of their authority to lesser people (i.e. politicians and sundry erks) to the detriment of enthusiasts like me.

And that's really sad.

The artillery helps with "terrain denial" -- driving insurgents away from potential safe havens, he explained. But the strikes are also aimed at persuading the local civilian population, and their leaders.

The rounds have a "profound... psychological impact," Col. Lehr said. "They quickly get your attention, get you to start asking questions" about why the cannons are blasting.

"Six separate times" such strikes "brought tribal leaders to the table," Col. Lehr noted.

There's a word for inflicting terror on civilian populations to scare them into acquiescing to your political demands, isn't there? I could swear there is. It's right on the tip of my tongue...

Washington and his men had fought the Battle of White Marsh, the last battle of 1777 before camping at Valley Forge. It wasn't until February of 1778 that relief came. Nearby Hessian solders who had defected from their German regiments gave relief to the American army in the form of bratwursts.

Upon the arrival of the extra food, General Henry Knox, Washington's Chief of Artillery, contributed to the food supply with his famous potato salad and sauerkraut - both were served chilled. The Mustard Tax of 1776 forced General Knox to toss the potato salad with just mayonnaise and seasonings without the popular, more common condiment.

With the combination of a lieutenant's exceptional skill at spit-grilling and General Knox's potato salad and sauerkraut, the following weeks were enjoyable, although the Hessians gave the soldiers bratwursts in packs of six and buns in packs of eight. Because several bratwursts were incorrectly prepared in each batch, General Washington's army suffered from diarrhea for the remainder of the months at Valley Forge.

The war raged on for five more years, but at Valley Forge, Washington and his men won a victory not of weapons but of will^[2] and potato salad.

Sources:

[1] ushistory.org

[2] text incorporated from www.nps.gov/vafo which is in the public domain

For the Civil War artillery enthusiast, one lure to the fort is to examine these two 49,000 pound monsters.   After all you don't find 15-inch Rodman Guns laying about just anywhere.

Fort Foote was built between 1863 and 1865 primarily to defend the river approaches to Washington, D.C.  This section of the system included nearby Fort Washington, downstream on the Maryland side of the Potomac, and Fort Hunt and Battery Rogers on the Virginia side of the river.   Fort Foote, unlike most other forts defending Washington, continued to be used after the war including active service through 1878, and a brief period of administrative use during World War I.

During the Civil War, the fort's armament consisted of the two 15-inch Rodmans, between two and four 8-inch Parrott Rifles, and six 30-pounder Parrott Rifles (facing the land side approaches to the fort).  After the war, Fort Foote became somewhat of a demonstration area, with a wider assortment of guns.  When de-activated in 1878, the armament included, in addition to the original guns,  six 12-pounder Napoleons, one 6-pounder field gun,  two 4.5-in rifles, four 3-inch rifled guns, six 10-inch siege mortars, two 8-inch siege mortars, five 24-pounder Coehorn mortars, and two different types of Gatling guns.

Due in part to its proximity to the capital, Fort Foote was often visited by the President and other distinguished guests.  Apparently the favorite activity during these "dog and pony shows" was the firing of the Rodman guns.  During the post war era, at least one of the Rodmans was mounted on a modified carriage, which was an evolutionary step towards the disappearing guns that became an important component for the American seacoast defenses until World War II.  After the fort was discontinued, the big guns remained on site, neglected and forgotten.   Only in the 1980s when the National Park Service took over the site were the guns remounted and restored.

The two guns on site are both products of Cyrus Alger & Co.   The first weapon of this type cast by Alger, from 1863 is the western most of the two.  Stamped with the initials "TJR" and a weight of 49,392 lbs., No 1 was inspected by Thomas Rodman himself.  The other, registry number 30, was inspected by Clifton Comly (C.C.) in 1864, and weighs 49,618 pounds.  Here's the "business end" of the two showing the markings:

These large Rodmans also feature the distinctive "mushroom" knob at the breech end:

This shape replaced the traditional ball shaped knob.  With such tremendous weights involved, the traditional ball/knob and neck type cascabel was structurally a weak point.  Used mostly as a purchase for ropes associated with lifting tackle, the neck tended to break when stressed.  Rodman's solution was simply to flatten the neck and knob, forming what we'd probably call today a more streamlined design.  The groove around the "knob" provided a strong and durable anchor point for the lifting ropes.  Also seen from this view are the sockets used for the elevating mechanism, another Rodman innovation. 

Overall a good walk in the woods to see the two iron monsters still faithfully guarding the Potomac. 

-------------------

References consulted:

 Olmstead, Edwin, Wayne E. Stark, and Spencer C. Tucker. The Big Guns: Civil War Siege, Seacoast and Naval Cannon. Alexandria Bay, NY: Museum Restoration Service, 1997.

Coolin, Benjamin Franklin III and Walton H. Owen II. Mr. Lincoln’s Forts: A Guide to the Civil War Defenses of Washington. Shippensburg, PA: White Mane Publishing Co, Inc., 1988.

We have been fortunate to meet and converse with several great Americans who started their military service in the horse cavalry.  One of these gentlemen was still on active duty and living in Saigon during the Vietnam War.  When he met my Vietnamese born bride he was already over 90 years of age.  He was sharp as a tack and recalled many details of his Saigon neighborhood -- an area we all knew and fondly recalled.

Below is the newspaper announcement of the passing of one of these fine gentlemen.  May God Bless and Keep him and all those passing....

Ret Brigadier General Watson C. Stoner, Jr., 95, of 102 Myrtle Avenue, Waynesboro, PA, died Thursday, April 24, 2008 in his home.

He was born on March 17, 1913 in Waynesboro; he was the son of Watson C. and Edith (Cole) Stoner. He lived most of his life in the Waynesboro area.

Mr. Stoner was educated at home and in local Sunday Schools and he graduated from Waynesboro High School with the class of 1931. While in high school he was the sports editor of the Blue and Gold; was active in athletics and a member of the famous Mile Relay Team that brought home medals from the Penn Relays. He further educated himself in mechanical engineering at Penn State University and continued taking courses throughout his life at such colleges as Penn State Mont Alto Campus and Hagerstown Community College.

He was married to his first wife, Catherine S. (Stoner) Stoner in June 1937 in Waynesboro. She died November 1950. He married his second wife, Marian E. (Selser) Stoner on October 25, 1952 in Winchester, VA. She died July 25, 1995.

His military career included schooling in Horse Cavalry, Field Artillery, Chemical Warfare, Intelligence and Nuclear Defense, completed the Command and General Staff College and the Army Management School. He also completed numerous correspondence courses to qualify for promotion until resident courses were available.

General Stoner enlisted as a Private with the Waynesboro Troop F, 104th Cavalry (Horse) of the Pennsylvania National Guards in 1937. He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in 1940, retired as a Colonel in the United States Army in 1967 and was promoted to Brigadier General on the retired list of the Pennsylvania National Guard.

He served during World War II in various artillery units, was a Military Police Officer in North Africa and later Artillery inspector with the Chinese Army. He was security officer at Headquarters, SOS China Theater and participated in the liberation of Shanghai. He completed U.S. Air Force flight training and was rated a pilot and later an Army Aviator. He served on the staff and faculty of the United States Army Artillery School in Fort Sill, OK, where he developed a complete training program for National Guards and Army Reserve Aviators nationwide.

He was a Registered Professional Engineer and a Registered Land Surveyor, active in the National, Pennsylvania, and Maryland Societies of Professional Engineers, where he held local, state, and national offices. He was a member of Acacia Lodge #586 F. &A.M., Waynesboro. He was also a member of Scottish Rite of the Valley of Harrisburg, Pen Mar Chapter of the National Sojourners, B.P.O. Elks Lodge #731, Waynesboro, a life member of William Max McLaughlin V.F.W. Post #695 and Joe Stickell American Legion Post #15, both of Waynesboro. He was a member of the Waynesboro Fish and Game Association, the Antietam Humane Society, where he served as President and Director; the Waynesboro Country Club, Burns Hill Cemetery Board of Directors. He was a life member in the Reserve Officers Association of the United States and of Pennsylvania, the National Guard Associations of the United States and Pennsylvania and the National Rifle Association and its Golden Eagles.

Mr. Stoner was an avid railroad fan and a member of the Hagerstown Roundhouse Museum, Hagerstown Model Railroad Club, Friends of the Railway Museum of Pennsylvania, National Railway Historical Society's Baltimore and Hagerstown, MD chapters, Welsh Highland Railway Society of the United Kingdom.

He also served as vice-president of the York Frederick Railway, Inc. and the Secretary/Treasurer of the Maryland Rail, Inc.

He is survived by one daughter, Ann S. Spottswood of Waynesboro; one son Michael W. Stoner of Hagerstown; five grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.

9th U.S. Cavalry, May, 1941.

A photo in the NK AAA article I recently blogged about show AKs mounted on artillery barrels. The theories on MilitaryPhotos.net are that they could be:

• Crude Sights
• Used to fire tracers
• Used to fire bullets during training instead of artillery rounds to save cost.

The only other explanation I can think of is that they are just stowed away up there. Although I don’t see how the operators could climb up a hot barrel to fetch it during combat.

Anyone know what they are really there for?