Search results

The way we pronounced Solihull, (discussed earlier), was "Sowlyull". I live in South Cheshire now and they have a language all their own !

Has anybody noticed the new presenter, who does the Traffic Reports on Radio 2 ? When he first started he had the usual BBC accent but then, after a while, I noticed the telltale flattening of his vowels. Now the bloke's Brummy accent is really coming to the fore and it's great to hear it. If...

There were bungalows, maybe four of them, at the bottom of Glenavon rd, just before it started to climb again. There was a footpath there that used to come out in Sladepool Farm Rd, we called it The Gulley.

I was at Wheelers Lane Sec Mod in the mid - 50s. We had to "do" sport on the Common, you have my sympathy Sir !

I spent time in Nissen and Quonset huts in Germany. Living in one one on windy Billesley common must've been murder !

I wonder if those buildings were left standing after the Ack Ack units were stood down ?

Blimey, I'd forgotten Tip Cat. Wasted on me, never could get the hang of it ! While I think about it, I don't think there's been a mention of Jackstones.

I remember seeing a typical morale-boosting photo of a Volkssturm parade in Berlin once. In amongst all the men carrying the usual Panzerfausts, etc., was a man with a Lewis gun on his shoulder. I wonder how much ammo he had for it ?

Hear, hear !

A (very dim) light bulb just came on in my head. I don't know why I never thought of this before. Morturn, could your Dad have originally joined the Army as a Boy Soldier ? I'm kicking myself because, when I joined up as a Junior Soldier, in '57, I wore Service Dress too. There was a Boy's...

I think I'd better put things straight on the badges worn in the photo. As I said earlier, this is a photo of a Gunner in the RA. The collar badges are called "Grenades" and are worn by all ranks of the RA. His cap badge is of the Royal Artillery and his shoulder titles confirm it. The belt is...

Are you sure this photo was taken in '44 -'45, Morturn ? That gentleman is wearing Service Dress, he is a Gunner in the Royal Artillery. (He is wearing spurs so he could be a Driver). The thing is, by 1944 the British Army were wearing Battledress and were pretty much mechanised. This photo must...

Don't try too hard mate. Teachers nowadays don't teach that sort of stuff. I'm going to be excluded now, aren't, I comrades ?

I remember those big sledges just after the war. They were called Nansen Sleds and were held together with some sort of rawhide. Probably government surplus, I can imagine troops like the Marines woild use them.

I've told people about this very thing and got funny looks. We used to make them too, but I can't recall what we called them. Of course, I had to go and get a Parental Ban. I thought it was a great idea to fix a dart head on the end of the cane.(and it was !).

Cheers Bob. I had a feeling the shop was around that area.

Back in the 70s, when we were going on leave from Germany, Brummies in my regiment would ask us to bring back Thornton's treacle toffee for them. I can't, for the life of me, remember where the shop was but the toffee was gorgeous. I've got the fillings to prove it !

I had my first flight when I was stationed in Germany, in the 60s. I saved up all my pfennigs and flew from Duesseldorf to Elmdon in a BAC 111. It was strange to board the plane, through a door at the rear, between the engines.

The Gunners wore their lanyard on the right shoulder when I was in.

Oh, I missed you. How did you like our nice, new "smart motorway" ?