"WWII armour to blow up Portsmouth fort" Topic

link

All over now…

Suggested caption: "The house-holder's cries of "fetch a priest" backfired horribly…."

Pity they didn't get a pic of the tank that was used – anything with tracks is a tank to the media.

Doug

Did you read the article, Doug?

A World War II Sexton self-propelled gun was used to demolish a building at a Victorian fort near Portsmouth.

The picture used appears to be the genuine article, too. The word "tank" does not appear anywhere in the story.

I wonder if they've updated it – the picture's changed, and in all fairness to Doug, I could've sworn the headline *did* say tank….

The BBC article has been updated and edited since I originally posted (the new timestamp on the BBC site is at the time of writing 40 minutes later than my original post above; it changed one minute after Doug posted here), and originally used the word tank. I know the media :-) and substituted the word "armour" above.

The article originally had just a still of armour at Fort Nelson, and now has a video of the Sexton in action.

The BBC website constantly updates as news changes or more information becomes available. It is not safe from Google's cache, though: picture

Of course, it is very easy to get snotty about someone's inaccuracies.

Ian

The first blow has been struck for freedom for the Isle Of Wight!

POWER TO THE CAULKHEADS!!!!!!

Did you read the article, Doug?

Yes sir, I did……but fell foul of some Ministry of Truth re-writes…

Doug

I take it that being built in the 1930s did not qualify the bungalow for preservation. Pity it was deemed necessary to demolish it as a publicity stunt. Are there not still British servicemen who cannot obtan quarters for their families while they are deployed?

But then I know colleagues in the British Army who are still using unheated huts from a WWI quarantine hospital as offices…

Allen

I think some additional pyrotechnics were added for visual effect.

I think they're building a bypass. Was there a guy standing there in his bathrobe?

"I take it that being built in the 1930s did not qualify the bungalow for preservation. Pity it was deemed necessary to demolish it as a publicity stunt."

Why would being nearly 80 years old qualify a building for preservation?
I don't think it's even that old – it was built during the WWII hostilities, so unless it went up quick in late 1939, it'll be a 40's building.

This is a fantastic museum and I'm looking forward to the improvements and expansion, even if it means the removal of a bungalow.

If the publicity stunt attracts more attention and more improvements then it would be well worthwhile in my opinion.

"Are there not still British servicemen who cannot obtan quarters for their families while they are deployed?"

Where did you get information like that?

SI

I have to agree with Si. Fort nelson is a class museum run by the royal armouries (and its totally free to boot). The family and I go about twice a year I can't wait to see the improvements.

Actually the MOD has a substantial excess of property, including homes, on its books. A competent maintenance system remains elusive in areas, though, unfortunately…. Any further elaboration would probably count as politics, so I won't go there, but a 1930s house unless of particular historical or architectural merit, certainly isn't something I'd go out of my way to preserve, while blowing it up with an SP gun is a great way of getting lots of free publicity for the museum. Win all-round in my book. :-)

Maybe I'm being cynical, but everytime I see an English program involving explosives the people involved have to go to a MOD range, with MOD personnel, and jump through all sorts of safety hoops that we don't care about in the US. I'm just guessing, but it appears they used a blank round and a demo charge in the video.

Still good idea for PR though.

"Where did you get information like that?"

Serving members.

"Where did you get information like that?"

I married in August during the early 80's, and we moved into our first MSQ immediately. It was a mid terrace house on an ex airfield – RAF Debden of WWII fame. The quarters had been refurbished since the RAF last used them.

That first winter together, when I came downstairs one morning, I was greeted by a small snow drift inside the house by the back door. There was a gap of about one inch under the door and so the fit was extremely poor, allowing fine particals of snow to blow in and settle. The drift was about 18 inches long and about one inch high.

Having said that, I think that I was lucky with the quarters I was allocated.

The only other real problem, was the semi (again newly refurbished) in Bovington. The entrance hall was the front right corner of the house, with a window on he right external wall. The stairs were also on that wall.

Black mould was a constant problem. Moist warm air would travel down the stairs, hit the cold walll by the window and condense, allowing the mould to grow. Just could not get rid of it.

From the reports I read, things have not changed much.

There is a lot of correspondance about this sort of thing on arrse.