Posted on 08/23/2006 6:45:57 PM PDT by blam
The Desert Rats are back...
Didn't Monty win just one battle without Patton running interference for him?
But it is good not to be a fixed target any more
The British had their butts kicked by Rommel for 2 years or so. They finally won at 2nd Alamein by having overwhelming superiority in men and material (including a few hundred Sherman tanks courtesy of the US). The Long Range Desert Group was just a fly annoying Rommel. Special forces never win major conflicts- they just assist.
Let's see: El Alamein....
Hang on, I'm thinking....
These guys, quite simply--rock. Godspeed and good hunting lads. Stay safe.
Rat Patrol?
Excellent, go get 'em limeys! Stop Iran and you stop al Fat Boy Sadsack.
At least 281 mortars and rockets have hit the camp since the Hussars arrived in April.
That's about 56 hits a month
At Dong Ha in 68 we were receiving at least 250 a month.
God only knows what Khe Sahn was getting.
No kidding. They're hunting rats...
ping
'Rat Patrol'
Christopher George .... Sgt. Sam Troy
Gary Raymond .... Sgt. Jack Moffitt
Eric Braeden .... Capt. Hauptman Hans Dietrich (as Hans Gudegast)
Lawrence P. Casey .... Pvt. Mark Hitchcock (as Lawrence Casey)
Justin Tarr .... Pvt. Tully Pettigrew
If the old base was coming under such extremely-heavy barrages from that nemesis militia...
....then why didn't our British brethren have some heavy counter fire [MC-130 "Spectre" gunship, 105 howitzers, etc.] ???
If you count the Normandy landing, It would make 3. Montgomery was commander of ground forces. Patton was doing some minor "1st Army Group" decoy work.
The British proposed a night landing, to be well ashore before the defense began. The US preferred an afternoon landing, so US naval firepower could weaken the defense before the landing. They compromised on dawn, so there would be only momentary surprise, and no chance for firepower to take effect before the first wave. Gerow, Commander of US V Corps had a plan to rush masses of troops through the draws where the German fire was concentrated. It may have worked in the afternoon, but was no good at all in the morning.
Omaha nearly failed, until a destroyer parked off shore, and shelled the German defenses at point blank range. The remaining US forces learned by doing, to avoid the draws, and to go up the sheer sides, and then attack down from the hillsides to the flanks and rear of the German positions.
The current moved all the forces to the left, so all attacks had to be improvised. Teddy Roosevelt Jr was the only General to land in the first wave, and saw the problem immediately. His message "We start the war from here." cut out a lot of confusion.
Two victories in North Africa, both located at El Alemain. One in defense, one on the attack.
And Montgomery's name is now "Lord Montgomery, Vicount of El Alamein."
Bear in mind, while the Brits were getting their buttes kicked, Rommel had been gaining inteligence from the American Embassy radio codes. Semper Fi,
Yep.
I don't think they're going to scrape up 800 field guns and 900 tanks like they did at El Alamein.
THE RAT PATROL followed the adventures of an elite team of commandos of 111th Armor Recon, attached to the Long Range Desert Group, as they wreaked havoc with Rommel's Afrika Korps during WW II.Led by the charismatic Sergeant Sam Troy, our heroes often found themselves pitted against their German nemesis DAK Hauptmann Dietrich.
The Rat Patrol-ran for two seasons, a total of 56 color episodes, on ABC from September 12, 1966 to September 16, 1968.
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