JLF said:John, have you ever been to Change Alley in Singapore? Peaceful alliance? Among sailors on liberty? :lol: :) :P :D
And to our beloved allies, Yank and Brit alike, may our alliance endure in peace forever...
Ross Mansell said:Don't make me get out my Swiss Army Knife... ;)
As if the Swiss could stop the Panzers.... .
Stagg’ring and weaving their way,
'Twixt portside and Raffles, no doubt,
Purse to be emptied, skins to be filled…
John Le Forestier said:So, you have been there?
Stagg'ring and weaving their way, 'Twixt portside and Raffles, no doubt, Purse to be emptied, skins to be filled...
Did you know that some iconoclast has destroyed Raffles? The Tiger Bar is gone. The Long Bar remains, but resembles nothing I know.
The first time I stayed at Raffles, I had an air conditioned room. The Bell Boy came by on the half hour and blew through the key hole. I paid extra for that service, too.
It is all plastic, now.
Sad.
John Le Forestier said:
I once read a short story called "Swiss Movement", (Author unremembered, but well-known in his day) whose premise was that every Swiss citizen was trained in methods of assassination. The story is basically just a conversation about hypothetically beating the system. At the end he is presented with a small gift. It may have been a fancy watch, can't exactly remember, anyway, when he opens it there's a note inside which says' "Bang! You're dead."The idea is that nobody can take over a country where every free citizen could kill you ast any time… I’ve always wondered if there were any basis in fact behind that premise about all Swiss Citizens.
Yes Virginia, errrrr I mean John …
47 years later I can assure you that all those who were good on the shooting range (yours truly included, now isn’t that a surprise 
:P) got special sniper training. Enough said other than, at that time one also got to take home the assault rifle, ammo and the “finest of dress”. :lol: I have no idea (and I’m not in the least interested) how that works today.
tac said:
I have been shooting in Switzerland since the late 1970’s, and staying with the same Swiss family, too. Although every male member of that family - even the great-grand-children of my original host - has served in the Swiss military, I’ve never heard of this premise that each and every one of them is an assassin. It is true, though, that regardless of their arm of service, each and every one of them is also a rifleman, about that there is no argument, but this story of civilian assassins is a new one on me. The ‘hidden’ gun emplacements and roadside firing points is anything but secret, and indeed, are very well-known to everybody in the local neighbourhood, as indeed they should be. Their existence is neither myth nor legend, but simple fact. As Steve points out, many of them are now open to the public as museums and curios, but there was never any doubt that IF anybody had been ill-advised enough to invade a country that is for the most part inclined at 45 degrees, and accessed mainly through a multiplicity of tunnels by road and rail, they were going to pay a horrendous price to do it. Alleged conversation between the German head of the military [GHOM] and his Swiss counterpart SHOM], sometime in the years before WW1, at the location of a border crossing point between Germany and Switzerland. the German, was watching the Swiss militiamen going through the motions of defending a small village against ‘an agressor’. GHOM - Tell me, Mein General, how large is the Swiss militia? SHOM - It comprises some 300,000 trained men. GHOM - So small? Why, my command alone has 600,000 men in it! Tell me, what would you do if we were, hypothetically, you understand, to invade you tomorrow? SHOM - Well, General, we would all have to shoot twice. tac, ig & The Boys from Bern
:lol: :lol: Now apart from that 
about the only ones who “invaded” Switzerland were the Americans. Even way back then reading a map was a strange hobby to have and as a consequence - after all there was no big fat white line in the Rhine - a few places got bombed. But to get back to trains
(http:///F-PIX/LSC/B17G.jpg)
At least on one occasion one of the bombers took a bath in Lake Zug - quite a distance from the border. In 1952 the bomber was retrieve and went on an exhibition tour around Switzerland. Amongst other places to St.Moritz -through all those tunnels along the RhB Albula line. Remember we’re talking Meter gauge with close clearances and catenary. The population along the line was truly impressed. In my opinion it could be considered a bit of practice for the transport of the over size turbines, transformers and other goodies for the water powered generating stations in the Grisons. 
Steve Featherkile said:HeheheJLF said:John, have you ever been to Change Alley in Singapore? Peaceful alliance? Among sailors on liberty? :lol: :) :P :D
And to our beloved allies, Yank and Brit alike, may our alliance endure in peace forever...
And then there was Oversexed, overpaid and over here
For a detailed explanation see http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/oversexed-overpaid-and-over-here.html
Sorry to “derail” a little further but speaking of the Swiss Military…My favorite video ever. Seeing the Blue Angels this weekend, a good warm up…
If you are not into Evanescence turn down the volume…Or crank it like I do!
That must be a lot of fun, flying through the crevasses.
Leave it to the Frogs to take a F-106, stick a horizontal stabilizer on the air intakes, give it a coat of paint and call it a new airplane. 
"Leave it to the Frogs to take a F-106, stick a horizontal stabilizer on the air intakes, give it a coat of paint and call it a new airplane.
Aw Steve;
Now you’re just being a “ribbit” counter! :lol:
Best,
David Meashey
Mark V said:
Sorry to "derail" a little further but speaking of the Swiss Military...My favorite video ever. Seeing the Blue Angels this weekend, a good warm up...If you are not into Evanescence turn down the volume…Or crank it like I do!
‘This video contains sexually explicit and pornographic imagery as well as scenes of extreme violence that have been judged to be of a highly offensive nature and has therefore been blocked in accordance with your country’s decency laws’.
Hmmmmmmm.
Airplanes?
Maybe not, eh?
tac, ig & The Willamette River Boys
My Dad went ashore on D-day at Normandy.
He was one of the lucky ones.
I thank every German soldier who missed their target.
Now this thread has been corrupted into other WWII blather.
Bob?
tac I dont know what you clicked, but the link worked fine for me.
Mark nice vid, love to see F5s, always thought the F5 was a great underrated little fighter.
Tac;
Just watched the video. No extreme violence or pornographic imagery. Must be a confused censorship program at the blame.
I have a train DVD of heavy N&W steam power during the mid-1950s that would probably set off the censorship programs due to its title. The title is derived from the “hooty” whistles used on the class A and Y locomotives. The DVD jacket proudly proclaims “Hooters on Blue Ridge.”
Ah well,
David Meashey
John Bouck said:Yea, probably gone on long enough.. :)
My Dad went ashore on D-day at Normandy. He was one of the lucky ones. I thank every German soldier who missed their target. Now this thread has been corrupted into other WWII blather. Bob?