From here to...well...it SEEMS like an eternity

[Moondawggie]

addadictomy? [:D]

Thank Gawd they don't offer those operations up here in Northern California! [:-]

[Cap Mandrake]

I sent this to stalker girl today by email. We will see if she falls for it.

I also asked my department chair to fill one out at work. She bought it hook line and sinker and started going off on Bush for bringing back the draft....called him "Bushwhacker" [:D]

[bradfordkay]

She could have just checked "yes" on question two and marked you for life!

[Moondawggie]

Yow, Mandrake! You got your department chair to buy off on this?

I'm impressed!

Why certain persons of the "lefty-persuation" are so impressed by routine US military paperwork always amazes me.

(Of course, since they never served, who knows what goes through their minds? They were really impressed by John Kerry "reporting for duty" in 2004!)

Actually, I think that photo of "Admiral Eadie Adams" would have inspired all the dudes in my batallion on Okinawa back in 1980 to give it all for our country...[&o]

[Cap Mandrake]

**********HQ 1st ML-KNIL Support Bn., Cooktown, December 21, 1942*******


Lt. Col. Block: Lt., I wanted to congratulate you on your deception operation at Rossel. You attracted the attention of the entire Jap 36th Dvision! The enemy had a least 3 transports sunk or heavily damaged by his own mines!

Lt. Van Dyke:Thank you sir.

Lt. Col. Block:Well deserved. In fact, it worked so well SWPac wants to try again.

Lt. Van Dyke: Oh?

Lt. Col. Block:<stands and points to a map on the wall> Kiriwina! That's your target. We believe it is unoccupied on the basis of aerial and submarine recon..plus, it has one of those fluoresecent green dots on the map. Take your company with the necessary support equipment and three days rations. You can draw replacements for what ever equipment was lost from 119th, US Navy. You leave this afternoon aboard the PBY's of GVT-1, 7 aircraft plus one reserve. As before, the RAF Wellingtons will arrive 2 hrs after your first touchdown with air drop supplies. Set your orange smoke on the windward side of the lagoon. You will lose some crates on the coral but we have allocated reserves and you will have the entire 113 Squadron RAAF on standby for future drops. Upon receipt of your "go" signal, the Catalinas of No. 33 RAAF will fly in tomorrow. It should be several days before they discover your presence. In the meantime, the Catalinas will drive them crazy.

Lt. Van Dyke: Understood.

Lt. Col. Block: Splendid! It might be nice to take someone with local knowledge of lagoon depth, fresh water supplies, native poeples, aviation hazzard from shore birds...that kind of thing. Do you know anyone?

Lt. Van Dyke: <smiles> Yes sir, I think I do.

[BrucePowers]

Uh-oh......

[Cap Mandrake]

*********South Seas Detachment HQ, Rabaul, 07:15, December 22, 1942*****

The Duty Officer glances casually at the large map of the Coral Sea, New Guinea and New Britain. A flash of pigment draws the attention of the hunter's part of his brain. He draws near the map. Over the Western Louisiades there is now an irregular fluorescent green "X". He says a really bad curseword in Japanese.

[saj42]

ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

*********South Seas Detachment HQ, Rabaul, 07:15, December 22, 1942*****

The Duty Officer glances casually at the large map of the Coral Sea, New Guinea and New Britain. A flash of pigment draws the attention of the hunter's part of his brain. He draws near the map. Over the Western Louisiades there is now an irregular fluorescent green "X". He says a really bad curseword in Japanese.

[:D] this just cracked me up - one of your best posts yet Cap [&o]
Do you think the Jap Duty Officer might be colorblind? 'cos last week he didn't see the little red '*' on Rossel Island which cost the IJN 3 damaged ships. Perhaps we could hope he is - the possibilities are endless......

[Cap Mandrake]

Back to Yossarian

[Cap Mandrake]

..

[rtrapasso]

ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

Back to Yossarian

Deja vu!! This bears an amazing similarity to this post above:

fb.asp?m=1761110

EDIT: Ah, i now see it was just a recap of events![8D]

[Cap Mandrake]

..

[Nemo121]

LOL! Reminds me of the time I got the government here in Ireland to actually send a REAL form to a friend who is sensitive about her height. Basically she is 5 foot 2 and the legal definition of a midget&nbsp; is 4 foot 11 inches. So, if you are a midget you get a government stipend towards modifying your car but as with all governments you have forms to fill in.
&nbsp;
Anyways as a joke I did a search for Irish government stipends for "the vertically challenged" and came across this stipend for modifying your car if you were too short to see over the steering wheel etc. Hey presto, a little emailing while pretending to be someone else ( highly illegal I'm sure ) and we got the form delivered to her from the government, at work.
&nbsp;
You could literally SEE the steam coming out of her ears when she opened the mail. Ah, practical jokes

[Cap Mandrake]

..

[Cap Mandrake]

..

[Cap Mandrake]

ORIGINAL: Nemo121

LOL! Reminds me of the time I got the government here in Ireland to actually send a REAL form to a friend who is sensitive about her height. Basically she is 5 foot 2 and the legal definition of a midget is 4 foot 11 inches. So, if you are a midget you get a government stipend towards modifying your car but as with all governments you have forms to fill in.

Anyways as a joke I did a search for Irish government stipends for "the vertically challenged" and came across this stipend for modifying your car if you were too short to see over the steering wheel etc. Hey presto, a little emailing while pretending to be someone else ( highly illegal I'm sure ) and we got the form delivered to her from the government, at work.

You could literally SEE the steam coming out of her ears when she opened the mail. Ah, practical jokes

The Nanny State. [:)] That's what old phone books are for.

[Cap Mandrake]

OK..so Kaga is spotted gamboling about near the Komodo dragons on Dec 19. She was likely in the Southern Indian Ocean looking to intercept some helpless merchies or make trouble for my naval forces beginning to aggregate in Darwin (and transiting from Perth or from Ceylon). At one point I had plans to escort a big convoy from Ceylon to Oz using the RN carriers. Good thing that didn't happen, eh?

Assuming that it IS Kaga, and assuming his carriers are together, this does explain why no carriers showed up to spoil the Suva or Canton ops.

[Cap Mandrake]

..

[Cap Mandrake]

*********With 2nd Bn/128th, US 32nd ID, Perth perimeter, December 22, 1942********

A squad of soldiers occupy of Japanese trench system which has just been captured. A new replacement watches in amazement as the vets sit smoking in the trench. There is nobody on lookout.

Green guy: Shouldn't we be on the lookout? What if the Japs come back?

Vet 1: Oh, they will. <looks at watch> We have time to finish our smokes. This was Cpt. Honda's company position. He usually yells at his men for 10 minutes or so before they counterattack.

Green guy: You mean you guys know his name?

Vet 2: Honda, Ishiro, 1911, Yamagata Prefecture, film buff, strcitly a company guy, a real SOB.

Green guy That is amazing.

Vet 1: Hey, we've been up against the Imperial Guards for 3 months now. We attack 4 or 5 out of 7. We have taken this trench 7 times already. Don't go round that corner, whatever you do.

Green guy Booby traps? Snipers?

Vet 1: Nah, I took a huge dump there yesterday..nasty one too. <vets all laugh>

Green guy: <a sound of an inbound artillery shell can be heard..there is a surreal whistle> INCOMING! <he throws himself face down into the mud at the bottom of the trench...none of the vets even move..instead they laugh hard >

Vet 1: Man, now you got yourself all covered in mud and Imperial Guard piss. That is B-battery. That first one is Piccolo Peat. The rifling is worn so the round makes that whistle sound.

Green guy: Oh, sorry. Guess Im a little jumpy.

Vet 2: Don't apologize man, just don't get our asses killed too.

Green guy: OK, sorry. <he stands up and peers over the trench top. A sound of another incoming round is heard. He begins to crouch but sees the vets are still smoking>

Vet 2: That's long man. <shell explodes 300 yds past the trenchline..the Green guy stands back up and looks out toward Jap lines convinced there are enemy everywhere..a third round can be heard sreaming toward them>

Green guy: I think it's long. <remains standing in the trench...a muddy hand grabs his tunic and pulls him forcefully to the ground.......>

[Cap Mandrake]

Most of the Australian and Brit units at Perth are at 95-99 experience as well. Even with 6-1 attack ratios the casualty ratios generally favor the Nipponese. Naval bombardment and air attacks offset this. It is a
serious grind to kill 100,000 Jap combat troops. It's more like building the Panama Canal than a battle. I am sending in two more tank Regts. I could use some BB's but it is too dangerous to send them through the Indian Ocean.

Not sure what is the problem keeping the 37mm AT guns serviced.