Maushake

Please post the following information: Your In-Game Name: JG1_Maushake FIF Discord Name: JG1_Maushake [if applicable] Squadron affiliation: JG1 Your time zone: Newfoundland Your certainty of attending: Dry Run Test (Saturday, 17 May 2025) Yes Week A1 (Saturday, 24 May 2025) Yes Week A2 (Saturday, 31 May 2025) Yes Week A3 (Saturday, 7 June 2025) Yes Week A4 (Saturday, 14 June 2025) Yes

[Edited because it now looks like I won't be able to make it on 2 Nov.] Please post the following information: Your In-Game Name: JG1_Maushake FIF Discord Name: JG1_Maushake [if applicable] Squadron affiliation: JG1 Your time zone: Newfoundland (Eastern +1.5 hrs) Your certainty of attending: Dry Run Test (Saturday, 12 October 2024): Yes Week A1 (Saturday, 19 October 2024): Yes Week A2 (Saturday, 26 October 2024): Yes Week A3 (Saturday, 2 November 2024): No Week A4 (Saturday, 9 November 2024): Uncertain (possibly only first half)

Since today's the 80th anniversary of the battle of Verrières Ridge (see my separate post today in this forum), I'll recommend this one: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43801584-seven-days-in-hell

There was naturally a lot of attention paid to the recent 80th anniversary of D-Day, but in the days since then, perhaps not so much to the battles which unfolded after the invasion. Today's the 80th anniversary of a battle which has particular personal resonance for me, so I thought I'd post about it ... The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada was commanded at various times by my great-grandfather George Cantlie, my grandfather Stephen Cantlie, and various other family members also served in it. On 25 July 1944, when it was under the command of my grandfather's cousin Stuart Cantlie, it attacked Verrières Ridge south of Caen as part of Operation Spring, and suffered very heavy losses; it was the worst single day for any Canadian regiment since Dieppe, resulting in only 50 men left out of the regiment's 750 (figures which eerily echo those for another battle which looms large in the history of the province where I currently live: in the battle of Beaumont-Hamel on the first day of the Somme, 780 members of the Newfoundland Regiment went 'over the top', and only 68 attended roll call the following day). Stuart Cantlie was killed at the very beginning of the battle, and all of the senior commanders of the regiment suffered a similar fate, eventually leaving the survivors under the command of Capt. Ronnie Bennett, who with his band of 50 'odds and sods' managed to stagger back to the village of St-Martin-de-Fontenay and, cut off and nearly surrounded, managed to hold it against repeated attacks by elements of the 9th SS Panzer Division. Although Operation Spring resulted in terrible losses for the Canadian forces involved, it did (along with Operations Atlantic and Goodwood) draw German forces away from the American operational area, thus contributing to the success of Operation Cobra, and Verrières Ridge was eventually taken just a couple of weeks later, as part of Operation Totalize. There was a good discussion today on the YouTube WW2TV channel, featuring some excellent Canadian military historians who have written about this battle and its context:

Loved this game back in the day! And I was reminded of it some years ago when I played Sid Meier's Ace Patrol -- similar mechanics, in that for each aircraft you choose a manoeuvre (some planes are better than others at certain turns, etc.), then click 'end turn' and watch the results play out ...

A military historian friend posted this on Facebook ... three squares already checked off in the first episode! (Plus another if you count 'Stay with me, goddamn it!' as equivalent to 'Don't you die on me!'. And it's not clear whether the wound was caused by cannon or MG fire, so I'll leave that square blank for now )

Just as Masters of the Air makes its début ... coincidence?

aces over crimea announcement.odt

The star of Aces High, Malcolm McDowell, has been here in town the last few summers filming a TV series which I've been trying (so far without success) to get a role on! I've been hoping to get the chance to meet him and be (probably) the first fan to mention that deep cut from his oeuvre, something other than A Clockwork Orange, If ..., or even Caligula

I was just telling a friend about this book the other day! (I was reminded of it because she also has Sagittarius rising in her horoscope.) And that was a nice review; I'd forgotten about the guy always tinkering with his machine, clearly the inspiration behind the David Wood character in the film Aces High, who rigs up an intricate contraption for dropping grenades and proclaims 'Confidence in Mechanical Detail' to be the highest virtue! I actually met the author once, at a college dinner in Oxford in 1993. He was of course 95 years old at the time, and a guest of someone else much more important than I was, so I didn't get much chance to talk to him, but it was great just to be in his presence.

Hope all goes well in your area!

Saw this on Facebook, and thought it might amuse! https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02Pbq8BoYru9NX3JUiVFSRqm63Gq4gv7kmRmnvPTd1vobJ9r6aKtDhcYxPtsAF62wNl&id=100066554380124&mibextid=Nif5oz

I thought the group might be interested in a new Canadian $1 coin that's just been issued, honouring the world's first female aeronautical engineer: https://canadiancoinnews.com/queen-of-the-hurricanes-elsie-macgill-on-new-commemorative-1/ S! Maus

Congratulations Vonrd! Very nice work.

Thanks Vonrd! Those look great S! Maus

Very sorry to hear this. I also didn't know him very well, but remember he attended many events and tournaments. S! Maus

Good to hear from you, Vik! Very sorry to hear about your vision problems, and I do hope a solution will be found. S! Maus

Always loved those games, and still play them! Haven't tried the modern one yet, but the WWII ones are brilliant evocations of small unit actions, creeping through the Normandy hedgerows, fighting house to house in Arnhem, trying to move your tanks along the narrow, muddy roads in the Ardennes ...

... or pawsrep? I saw this on Facebook the other day ... S! Maus

Great photos! One of my former academic colleagues was a specialist on Thera and its connections to the Atlantis myth (or supposed connections; she didn't really buy the hypothesis that it was the origin of the story) and wrote a couple of well-received books on the subject.

Thanks Vonrd! Looks great S! Maus

I'm late to the party here, but yes, I'd like to have a skin! Maybe the night lozenge pattern, with my usual Maus emblem and black & yellow bits on wing & tail? S! Maus

Sorry I missed it! I've been pretty busy the last week or so, and next Saturday I may not be able to fly either, or if I am, I'll probably arrive late. Apologies! S! Maus

JG1_Maushake JG1 Newfoundland time (GMT -3.5) Week A1 (Saturday, 5 March 2022): Yes Week A2 (Saturday, 12 March 2022: Yes Week A3 (Saturday, 19 March 2022): Week A4 (Saturday, 26 March 2022): Yes