I am proud of my Scottish Brothers Today
 

Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
"Forward, the Light Brigade!
"Charge for the guns!" he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.



http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2004223179,00.html

Sun 16 May 2004

Argylls fight hand to hand in Iraq

BRIAN BRADY
WESTMINSTER EDITOR


SCOTTISH troops fixed bayonets and fought hand to hand with a Shi’ite militia in southern Iraq in one of their fiercest clashes since the war was declared more than a year ago, it was reported last night.

Soldiers from the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders mounted what were described as "classic infantry assaults" on firing and mortar positions held by more than 100 fighters loyal to the outlawed cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, according to military sources.

At least 20 men from al-Sadr’s army were believed killed in more than three hours of fighting - the highest toll reported in any single incident involving British forces in the past 12 months.

Nine fighters were captured and three British soldiers injured, none seriously.

"It was very bloody and it was difficult to count all their dead," one source was quoted as saying. "There were bodies floating in the river."

The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders were drawn into the fighting when soldiers in two Land-Rovers were ambushed on Friday afternoon about 15 miles east of the city of Amara. The soldiers escaped, only to be ambushed a second time by a larger group of militia, armed with machine-guns, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars.

Reinforcements were summoned from the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment at a base nearby. "There was some pretty fierce hand-to-hand fighting with bayonets fixed," the source added. "There were some classic assaults on mortar positions held by the al-Sadr forces."

Official spokesman Major Ian Clooney confirmed the Mehdi army "took a pretty heavy knocking", but refused to specify tactics. "This was certainly an intense engagement," he added.

Details of the bloody clashes emerged amid reports that defence chiefs were privately discussing "strategic failure" in the conflict - and that MPs were trying to force a new Commons vote on the situation in Iraq.

Labour MPs, including Robin Cook, were said to be pressing Tony Blair to allow a new vote if he goes ahead with plans to send more troops to Iraq to replace the Spanish forces which are set to be pulled out. They claim no more troops should be sent until the government has won a new mandate for action via another vote in Parliament.

The Prime Minister is believed to be resisting the claims, fearing a repeat of the gruelling battle over the vote last year which endorsed the plan to attack Saddam Hussein, but only after a bitter argument which cost him the votes of 139 MPs.

News of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders action comes as military top brass struggling to maintain the huge Coalition operation in Iraq have been confronted with a disturbing fall in public support for the armed forces.

Might have to switch to Talisker or something for a night after that . . .

"It was very bloody and it was difficult to count all their dead,"



Sounds like the lads did quite a job on them.

TS

Sort of makes the battle more "personal" when it's hand to hand as opposed to shooting from a distance.

Well done Scots

Hoepoe

Salute
 

Bold, tenacious, and violent..... Quite impressive.

A bayonette charge on those assholes is the shit! I hope that they STABBED the fuck out of those losers. Booyah!

Thanks for posting that NDD. Need to know which Highland Scotch whiskey to look for.

Bill:

Springbank is my favorite, Nancy collects single malt, and probably has 150-200 bottles.

Terry

Thanks Sir, Will look for Springbank next time I get close to a big town, will then toast the Scots!

Bill:

It is rare and hard to find, we bought 2 bottles (all they had) the last time we passed through Heathrow's duty free section.

Terry

During the Falklands war, 3rd Para was taking Mount Longdon. Sergeant Ian McKay was awarded the VC when battling enemy MG nests in close quarters with rifle fire and a fixed bayonet.

Thanks for the heads up Terry, I'll try another one. Good thing you don't live near logging country with that collection, I'm afraid it might be endangered. Talk about fighting spirit, I didn't know anyone still trained a group bayonet charge.

The Power of the Blade Mr. Harsey, the Power of the Blade. Mmmm, a Smatchet with bayonet lugs mounted on a .50 BMG - JIHAD!

I'm partial to a taste of the Macallen every now and then. 12 year old if I'm buying, 30 if somebody else is.

LOL! Uh oh, quit laughing, he serious, about the fifty BMG too.!

Ok, Just looked up Macallen on the net. No price listed for the thirty year old bottle but it comes in it's own traveling vault with bodyguard.

From the Scottish Highlands...

Thanks Team Sergeant! I'll have to look that one up too. I just found the results of a 1998 auction where a 25 year old Decanter of Macallen sold for 480 dollars US. Cool, wait until my wife sees the expenses for visiting NDD.

Kind of like a Harsey Skean Dhu or a Smatchet in CPM S-30V?

TR

That would be for the bodyguard, Harsey Skean Dhu, neat idea. I'll have to negotiate the price of S-30V with Crucible Steel for a smatchet. I read the first written record of whisky was in 1494. The first recorded export of whisky to Ireland was in 1590. We all know what happened after that...Check this out www.scotchwhisky.net

Why'd God invent Whisky?
So the Irish would never rule the world...

We never wanted to rule the world, just a good fight once in a while.

Crowd: "William Wallace is seven feet tall! "

Wallace:" Yes, I've heard! Kills men by the hundreds! And if he were here, he'd consume the English with fireballs from his eyes...and bolts of lightning from his arse! (laughter) I AM William Wallace! And I see, a whole army of my countrymen, here in defiance of tyranny. You've come to fight as free men, and free men you are. What will you do with that freedom? Will you fight?"

Scotsman: "Fight? Against that? No, we will run, and we will live. "


Wallace:"Aye, fight and you may die. Run, and you'll live. At least a while. And dying in your beds, many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that...for one chance...just ONE CHANCE to come back here to tell our enemy that they may take out lives, but they will never take OUR FREEDOM !!!""

Oops, wrong location. Let's go folks...move along...nothing to see here...move along. :)

The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Home Page
 

One of their Home pages:


http://www.army.mod.uk/Argyll_Suther...ders/index.htm

I'm your huckleberry, if you ever get NOTB or I somehow get South.

Springbank is easy to get in LA. If Nancy needs help, let me know.

The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders recruit from a region stretching from the Western Isles to the Firth of Forth (above Edinburgh). Argyllshire and Sutherland are only parts of that area. Due to all the amalgamations over the years of Scottish regiments, the regiments that are still around recruit over a larger area.

Talisker comes from the Isle of Skye, which is in their recruiting area. Terry's recommendation, Springbank, comes from Campbeltown, though, which is actually in Argyllshire proper. Glen Scotia also comes from there. Laphroaig comes from the Isle of Islay, part of Argyllshire. While Argyllshire has a number of distilleries, Clynelish is the only one in Sutherland.

Glenfiddich and Macallan come from Banffshire, which is Gordon Highlanders recruiting area. The Gordons are now part of The Highlanders Regiment, formed from the amalgamation of the Seaforth, Gordon and Cameron Highlanders. So don't toast the A&SH with Glenfiddich or Macallan.

Right battle, wrong poem. Defending the approach to the British supply base at Balaklava , 500 men of the 93rd (Sutherland) Highlanders, forming a long line rather than a square in the face of a Russian cavalry brigade numbering several thousand, held off and routed the enemy. London Times correspondent W.H. Russell wrote that nothing stood between the Russian cavalry and the supply base but "the thin red streak tipped with a line of steel". This became the "Thin Red Line," the regiment's nickname, that Kipling referred to in Tommy, probably the greatest poem ever on the soldier's lot:

I went into a public-'ouse to get a pint o' beer,
The publican 'e up an' sez, "We serve no red-coats here."
The girls be'ind the bar they laughed an' giggled fit to die,
I outs into the street again an' to myself sez I:
O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, go away";
But it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play,
The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,
O it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play.

I went into a theatre as sober as could be,
They gave a drunk civilian room, but 'adn't none for me;
They sent me to the gallery or round the music-'alls,
But when it comes to fightin', Lord! they'll shove me in the stalls!
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, wait outside";
But it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide,
The troopship's on the tide, my boys, the troopship's on the tide,
O it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide.

Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap;
An' hustlin' drunken soldiers when they're goin' large a bit
Is five times better business than paradin' in full kit.
Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, 'ow's yer soul?"
But it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll,
The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
O it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll.

We aren't no thin red 'eroes, nor we aren't no blackguards too,
But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
An' if sometimes our conduck isn't all your fancy paints,
Why, single men in barricks don't grow into plaster saints;
While it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, fall be'ind",
But it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind,
There's trouble in the wind, my boys, there's trouble in the wind,
O it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind.

You talk o' better food for us, an' schools, an' fires, an' all:
We'll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.
Don't mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face
The Widow's Uniform is not the soldier-man's disgrace.
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!"
But it's "Saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot;
An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;
An' Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool -- you bet that Tommy sees!

Is it only me...... or does Airborne Lawyer make anyone else feel really ignorant with his brilliant/well researched posts?

I can just picture some junior associate that works under AL ranting right now...

"That a-hole(AL) wants me to research "scottish whiskey and summarize its similarities with certain Scottish military units from these two specific regions with the country???" ..."WTF?".... "I went to Harvard Law school to do THIS???" then he later hands AL the info and says... "Here Sir, glad to do it. " LOL
Thanks AL, that was good info.:cool:

Just you, the rest of are mature enough to understand that there things in this world we've yet to learn. ;)

I've yet to feel ignorant for that very reason, I'm still willing to learn.

TS

He is one smart dude.

Let's be clear: I proposed Talisker because it's good stuff, not because I knew it was in their recruiting area. LOL

The Scots all look the same to me. LMAO

Team Sergeant-

Ignorance is not a word with a necessarily "negative" connotation.

All it means is "lacking information or knowledge".... that is not a bad thing. We are ALL ignorant in many ways in life. "STUPID� is the word that I use to describe the people that you seemed to picture when I originally said ignorant. I did not say that I was stupid. Trust me, I realize the value of a life long learning process.

If you did not already know the info that AL wrote in his post, then you were in fact "ignorant" of it - Just like me. Don't feel bad, in this matter, that puts you in good company(RL, me, all the other members of Aprof) IMO!! :p LOL

AL just tends to make me feel ignorant at a higher frequency than most, and I was complementing him on it. Upon advice from my one of my stable counselors, I will reword my original post to clarify my intent by using his exact words.

"He is one smart dude." LOL

Boy, taking on TR and TS in the same week? Let no one question your gumption, Doctor! LOL

The term "ignorant" actually does has a negative connotation:

http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionar...ry&va=ignorant

It comes from "ignore," and when you use it you are suggesting that the person is not just devoid of knowledge, but devoid of knowledge due to lack of effort or due care. Just my opinion.

Well well counselor... I believe you are trying to paint me into a corner while sucking up to TR and TS.

Your opinion is yours to keep but it is wrong.
Did you read your own posted definition? See definition #1a 0R #2. Take your pick. I did not use the word's meaning as an attempt to imply a negative tone. It was used properly in the context of my post.

On another note, you agreed with my post that TR took exception too earlier this week, BTW! Then you conveniently let it go and slithered away. LOL Am I wrong?

BTW- I am not "taking on" TR and/or TS. I am defending my post from misinterpretation and more than capable of handling it without you playing the midget/instigator kid who tries to get all his "big" friends to get into a fight for him. I am sure they can both handle themselves without your help.

I would rather voice my opinion, get blasted, maybe learn from it if I find the "correction" to be enlightening, and move on .... than to live as an eternal kiss ass. LOL :p
(your turn) haha

Now someone please give more testimony on Scotch whiskey? I am interested to learn about all the brands and their quality.

OK, RL and Tooth Grinder go to your corners and sit down. Airborne, Sir, Thankyou for posting the incredible information on the fine Scottish drink. Now I want to learn as much about Scotch as I've tried to learn about steels. That said, I'm going to toast the sunsabitches with Oregon beer tonight anyway.

Yes, you are wrong. I did comment that it is good to be sure you are comparing apples to apples, and I did endorse a correction you made, but that's really it IIRC. TR took exception not just with your math, but with remarks you made.

I have disagreed with TR and TS on many occasions and will allow the record to speak for itself. Now, let's get back to scotch as you proposed. Have you identified your favorite yet?

Sorry Bill. I will do as suggested and drink a few fizzy beverages myself tonight. First... a little PT for messing up your forum.


Let's hear more personal recommendations on Scotch. :cool: Can use a knife to cut the lid off so that it fits into the edged weapons forum. LOL

corners...

Yes, Sir.