THIS was a helluva lot more interesting than CHESS! 
During a training exercise in Ruhleben (the British CIC range in Berlin) my platoon was trapped on the roof of a two story building. We didn't want to get captured so the Lt. yells, "Follow ME!" and lept for some Birch tree limbs about 10-13 feet away. He landed flat on his face and stomach (broke a rib and his jaw) and was laying perfectly still on the ground. The rest of us all turned around and did a suicide charge down the stairs. We all went down fighting.
There was another time we collected all the crap from the porta-potties while building up our defensive and put it into these heavy duty trash bags and ended up fighting off an entire battalion from our defensive position with only eight men! "Bombs AWAAAAAY!!!"
At the AAR (After Action Review) we thought we'd get commended. Hardly...
The Joint Allied Command added that little tactic as a "no no" to the rules of engagement shortly thereafter. Seems that, although the judges saw it our way, the Command didn't.
We later came up with a couple of more additions to the "nono" list during my four years there. One of which was defending breached windows with barrier boards that still had nails sticking out the ends. I developed a pretty good swing in close quarters till that one was outlawed. They also stopped us from using heavy furniture as dead-falls in the stairwells.
I mean...Come ON!...it wasn't like anyone actually ever DIED!
Heck! Some of those guys...and ours...even looked "normal" after a few months.
They DID let us keep using frozen apples, pears and oranges in the winter instead of practice grenades, though. We'd stick live grenade fuses into the fruit, pull the pin and throw THOSE at the "enemy." Couldn't exactly say you didn't get nailed when there was obvious applesauce running down your helmet and body armor!
I truly loved training with the Brits both in Ruhleben and in Doughboy City (the US CIC - Combat In Cities - Range). They always were hard chargers and looked at duty in Berlin as a "vacation" since all the units that rotated there were coming straight from "The Troubles" in Belfast, N. Ireland.
Training with the Frogs, though, was ALWAYS a disaster!
One day, I'll tell y'all about the time we won a battalion on battalion battle scheduled for 5 days duration that my squad ended in the first HOUR by capturing the enemy TOC (Tactical Operations Command)! It had to do with spending 2 days & nights in the sewers PRIOR to the war game!
The four years I spent in the Berlin Brigade were the most fun and enjoyment I had during my entire military experience. The comraderie and skills learned there were invaluable. I also spent all my spare time learning more about that great city and it's people. It was all the better since I had my family with me as well when I wasn't in the field.
RUHLEBEN - Note the "nearby" trees!
[attachment 13445 RhulebenCityBerlin.jpg]
Here...You can see spent 7.62mm casings and links from the M-60 machine gun firing from behind a screen defense as we tried to repel the Brits.
[attachment 13446 RuhlebenCityBerlin.jpg]
These are assorted pics from Doughboy City in the American Sector. You can even see the train station, the Rathaus (City Hall), Kirche (Church) and debris left that was used both by defensive and offensive forces for screens and cover.
[attachment 13447 DoughboyCity2.jpg]
[attachment 13448 DoughboyCity2.jpg]
[attachment 13449 DoughboyCityTrain.jpg]
[attachment 13450 DoughboyCity.jpg]
During a training exercise in Ruhleben (the British CIC range in Berlin) my platoon was trapped on the roof of a two story building. We didn't want to get captured so the Lt. yells, "Follow ME!" and lept for some Birch tree limbs about 10-13 feet away. He landed flat on his face and stomach (broke a rib and his jaw) and was laying perfectly still on the ground. The rest of us all turned around and did a suicide charge down the stairs. We all went down fighting.
There was another time we collected all the crap from the porta-potties while building up our defensive and put it into these heavy duty trash bags and ended up fighting off an entire battalion from our defensive position with only eight men! "Bombs AWAAAAAY!!!"
At the AAR (After Action Review) we thought we'd get commended. Hardly...
The Joint Allied Command added that little tactic as a "no no" to the rules of engagement shortly thereafter. Seems that, although the judges saw it our way, the Command didn't.
We later came up with a couple of more additions to the "nono" list during my four years there. One of which was defending breached windows with barrier boards that still had nails sticking out the ends. I developed a pretty good swing in close quarters till that one was outlawed. They also stopped us from using heavy furniture as dead-falls in the stairwells.
I mean...Come ON!...it wasn't like anyone actually ever DIED!
Heck! Some of those guys...and ours...even looked "normal" after a few months.
They DID let us keep using frozen apples, pears and oranges in the winter instead of practice grenades, though. We'd stick live grenade fuses into the fruit, pull the pin and throw THOSE at the "enemy." Couldn't exactly say you didn't get nailed when there was obvious applesauce running down your helmet and body armor!
I truly loved training with the Brits both in Ruhleben and in Doughboy City (the US CIC - Combat In Cities - Range). They always were hard chargers and looked at duty in Berlin as a "vacation" since all the units that rotated there were coming straight from "The Troubles" in Belfast, N. Ireland.
Training with the Frogs, though, was ALWAYS a disaster!
One day, I'll tell y'all about the time we won a battalion on battalion battle scheduled for 5 days duration that my squad ended in the first HOUR by capturing the enemy TOC (Tactical Operations Command)! It had to do with spending 2 days & nights in the sewers PRIOR to the war game!
The four years I spent in the Berlin Brigade were the most fun and enjoyment I had during my entire military experience. The comraderie and skills learned there were invaluable. I also spent all my spare time learning more about that great city and it's people. It was all the better since I had my family with me as well when I wasn't in the field.
RUHLEBEN - Note the "nearby" trees!
[attachment 13445 RhulebenCityBerlin.jpg]
Here...You can see spent 7.62mm casings and links from the M-60 machine gun firing from behind a screen defense as we tried to repel the Brits.
[attachment 13446 RuhlebenCityBerlin.jpg]
These are assorted pics from Doughboy City in the American Sector. You can even see the train station, the Rathaus (City Hall), Kirche (Church) and debris left that was used both by defensive and offensive forces for screens and cover.
[attachment 13447 DoughboyCity2.jpg]
[attachment 13448 DoughboyCity2.jpg]
[attachment 13449 DoughboyCityTrain.jpg]
[attachment 13450 DoughboyCity.jpg]
