"Sounds of modern warfare" Topic

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"Every period has its own sound, all the way back to the Roman period, when you would hear the clash of shields in battle," argues Maj Charles Heyman, editor of Armed Forces of the United Kingdom.

"The key WWI sounds were artillery barrages. There were thousands of guns on each side, and the bombardment in France could be heard in Dover, and even sometimes in London.

"WWII was sirens, the Blitz and bombs, and the Spitfire. For me, helicopters have been the sound of the past 30 years, and this age is definitely marked by the sound of buzzing drones," he says.

Although I have officially been retired for almost 10 years now my experience is the crack of an AK very distictive. The bombs going off were for the most part singleton events that broke the calm. From 83 to 2003 and every hole in between when someone opening up with an AK it would signal that the crap was on. Helos were surprisingly comforting when riding into a target or objective. The sounds of mini guns from little birds, and MC-130 and A-10 were very welcome when we had them but it was not that often. I have no idea how many IEDs and mines went off in or around us but unless it was followed by small arms fire it was just in the catagory of " happens"

VR
James Mattes

The clacking sound of the TTS, the whoop of the M8 alarm.

The tapping of a keyboard.

For me, what I remember most is the whooping sound of the UH-1 blades and that distinctive, low, chugging, grunting noise the M-60 always made when it fired. One of the several reasons it was called "the pig".

The clacking sound of the TTS, the whoop of the M8 alarm.

Ahhh…the TTS sound…always sounded so loud at night….

For me it's the rumbling sound that an M60A3 tank heater makes; the kiddie car track sound an M113 made coming down a road…The collage of the M85 firing about a dozen rounds and then hearing "$&%*! Stoppage!!!".. The sound of the AN-VF47 radio and that familiar whine sound it makes when you key the mic…the sound of a 105mm shell casing plopping out the breech and hitting the floor…and the loud whine of the turret accumulator keeping pressure built up in the turret, and the sound of an A-10 passing over you and doing a live fire…that chain saw ripping sound…
Somehwere in all of my stuff, I have a cassette tape, (yeah I know), of my company at Grafenwohr. It's the recordings of the crews over the radio/intercom doing a night fire qualifications. It's interested to hear and what can be heard in the background.

Interesting stuff. I spent a part of 1993 in Belfast right after the first cease fire broke down. There were two sounds that stayed with me from that trip…the constant drone of helicopters overhead (always at high altitude out of sniper range) and the daily explosion you could hear somewhere in the city followed by sirens.

It was a memorable and at the same time haunting trip.

As part of my 17 year Law Enforcement Career I have been on both the recieving end and the giving end of hostile fire. I know which sound I prefer ;-)

Oh, and the profound foulness that was the C ration!!

History PhD wrote:

Oh, and the profound foulness that was the C ration!!

Middle C, presumably?

All the best,

John.

Crying, the sound of grown men crying because their friends were dead thats sticks with me. A Fluttering sound thats always been my impression of a mortar round coming in a flutter sound. But smells get me more I can't smell burned meat without getting sick.

I understand veterans sense memories. My father hated the sound and smell of flamethrowers. He was a medic.

I would like to interject something absurd here:

The sound of a Davy Crockett cook=off….yeah, I'm a sick puppy….

I also remember my first realization that people were shooting at me. Not in my general direction, but DIRECTLY AT ME SPECIFICALLY!! Wow

I intended more to highlight all the different sound clips available on that link, but this has been a fascinating thread.

Reminds me of a rather sad story my dad told me of a WW1 veteran who lived in the area where he grew up. Some delightful children in the area entertained themselves by running sticks along iron railings when they saw the man as it had the effect of making him dive for cover. This would have been around 40 years after he'd been in the trenches.

My wife's great grandfather used to run up and down the double stairs in his house at night, shouting " their coming, their fu**ing coming! Poor sod had been gassed.

The sound of a V1, on the TV, would cause my mother to start to cry, and a close family relative used to feel physically sick when he heard helicopters, after his experiences in various Russian breakaway states. A Lebanese friend at college hated Guy Fawkes night, as she said a certain rocket sounded just like an RPG in flight, used to curl up with a book and her headphones on.

Not a sound, but I get the memories from the smell of diesel fuel…

My grandfather had been a combat engineer in WWII from North Africa through Italy, Normandy, and was shot in the Ardennes. I remember that every 4th of July, we would all go to the park together, and just before the fireworks started, he always went back to the car and turned the radio on. I guess it sounded too much like being shelled.

Senses – different ones from different places. But I agree with Irish Marine, something about smells just set you off. You cannot stop that link occuring.

I've never really got over the sound of a heavy door shutting. The push of air along with the sound hits something subliminal and makes me feel I'm back in Basra.

But if one sound makes it for each war then it'd be the Chinook for most of the recent ones.

For me it's the smell of amine (Every time I find a piece of uniform stashed someplace, there's that eau du boat…)

Sounds? Most people look at me really funny when I admit this, but a ventilation fan abruptly stopping (say, when the thermostat kicks it off) will bring me out of a dead sleep instantly. You see, the first indication of a fire back aft is usually the circuit breakers tripping and stopping all ventilation fans. About 5 seconds after the fans stop, "Fire! Fire! Fire in the engineroom…" general alarm gongs, "Fire in the Engineroom!"

A friend of mine found a ringtone of the general alarm, he could play that across a room full of card gamers and my head would snap up and be looking around by the third ring.

The whoop of the diving alarm isn't as bad, unless it's a whoop-whoop-whoop. That's an emergency surface, hold on to something solid.