Funny Military & History Stuff

https://youtube.com/shorts/TSfWAlVBG74?si=5n4d2CzhQEbvVSgv

After its pilot headed her out to sea and ejected, his Hawker Hunter fighter jet had other ideas!

Crashing neatly between houses in Tintagel, Cornwall, with no injuries to those on the ground.

The house is now called 'Hunters Rest'.

This happened on Coronado Island (San Diego) in the spring of 1941. No injuries to the two crew and the occupant of the house,
This aircraft (BuNo 1629) was built at the Douglas plant in El Segundo in late 1940. This aircraft was assigned to the Marine Corps and has squadron markings for the Marine’s Red Devil Squadron (VMB-2) – the first Marine squadron assigned the new Dauntless in early 1941.
Although skillfully repaired and returned to service, this Dauntless was never to find glory at Guadalcanal like its squadron mates and was lost in a mid-air collision with an Army P-40 fighter in July 1942 in Hawaii. (from Martin Craig, FB)

@rico 

I though The King was a good film but despaired at the need to just make major events up. Ok. it's a drama based on history, we get that, but killing the Dauphin at Agincourt!? Come on!

While I'm on the topic, if you drew a horse representing the evolution of napoleonic films, the Ridley Scott one's head would just be a piece of shit.

This might not be very ''funny'' but I think it is interesting regardless. And that is the Universal Carrier which is used for as the name suggest, anything. They were used for normal purposes like mounting a mortar launcher or a quarter pounder anti tank gun, or a 20mm flak 38 as the Germans did. But some of the ''prototypes'' or ''suggested modifications'' are absolutely crazy

Or this prototype which was made to allow a soldier lying prone lift itself over obstacles to fire from safety, not sure how that will work but you can judge for yourself 🤣

Get this wrong... immediate disqualification from FGM membership. 🤣 

Wasn't it the Battle of Hill 70?

I thought it was Gettysburg. 😛 

Australian submariner of the HMAS Onslow chucking some sausages on the barbie on the deck at sea... probably 70's or 80's.

What could possibly go wrong… aside from becoming part of the recoil system. ☕🪖

That Time Two Luxurious Ocean Liners Fought an Intense Naval Battle

World War I had just begun when the German navy cruiser SMS Cap Trafalgar was repainted and remodeled to resemble the British armed merchant ship HMS Carmania. The idea was to trick Allied ships into thinking it was one of their own and then, with their defenses down, blast them out of the water. But on 14 September 1914, near Trindade Island, the German cruiser’s subterfuge was sussed out by a British ship—and it was sunk. The British ship that did the honors was the actual HMS Carmania. 😄

(Colorized) Two British soldiers getting accustomed to shooting while wearing gas masks. March 1936.

When the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, some gas stations in Toronto refused to gas Ladas. 1980s 🙄 

A little then & now. I've always been fascinated by everything related to the sinking of the great ocean liner.

By the summer of 1945, the U.S. submarine USS Barb had already built an impressive combat record under Commander Eugene Fluckey. But during her final war patrol, the crew decided to try something no submarine had ever done before.

After spotting a railway line running close to the coast of Japanese-held Sakhalin Island, Fluckey selected eight volunteers and landed them ashore under cover of darkness. The sailors planted an improvised demolition charge on the tracks and hurried back to their rubber boats.

A short time later, a Japanese train struck the charge. The locomotive and several cars were derailed in a spectacular explosion.

The raid was so unusual that USS Barb's battle flag later included a locomotive symbol among its combat achievements. To this day, Barb is credited with the only known submarine attack that successfully destroyed a train.

As if that weren't enough, the same patrol also saw USS Barb become the first submarine to launch rockets against targets on Japanese territory. Commander Fluckey would earn the Medal of Honor, while USS Barb became one of the most celebrated submarines of World War II. 🚂⚓

The Merchant Ship That Wasn't

One of the stranger naval stories of the Great War.

Imagine being the captain of a German U-boat in 1916.

For months you've stalked merchant ships almost at will. Then, through the mist, you spot another victim—a rusty, slow-moving tramp steamer plodding across the North Atlantic.

Easy prey.

Why waste a valuable torpedo?

You surface. The merchant crew appears to panic. Lifeboats are lowered. Men scramble over the side. Everything looks exactly as it should.

Then the sides of the ship suddenly drop away.

Naval guns appear where cargo crates stood moments before.

The White Ensign is hoisted.

The harmless merchantman transforms into a warship.

Before your crew can react, shells are already splashing around the submarine.

 

Welcome to the world of the Royal Navy's Q-ships.

Named after the Irish port of Queenstown, these disguised vessels were designed to lure German submarines into attacking on the surface. Hidden guns, concealed crews, fake cargoes, and elaborate deception were all part of the game.

Most Q-ships achieved little, but for a time they created genuine fear among U-boat commanders. Every old tramp steamer on the horizon might be a trap.

The hunter had suddenly become the hunted.

In many ways, Q-ships were the naval equivalent of a spider sitting quietly in its web, waiting for prey to come within reach.

A clever idea, a dangerous mission, and one of the more fascinating cat-and-mouse stories of World War I.