Afghanistan

Arkady said:
More arrivals:

From Arclight - Dougie - thanks - the 'Turning Pro' booklet is going to be tonight's bedtime reading...lol




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Cheers Rob,
A few more mags are in transit and some things for the ladies went yesterday.
Package was a little over 2kg but PO woman wrote 2kg on it.
Good on her for that.

Dougie
 
Anyone wishing to send anything during the 'postal difficulties' can rest assured that the Royal Mail and BFPO have a plan in place.

The Lt Col in charge of BFPO was on BFBS (our forces radio) today explaining.

As long as you go into a Post Office, hand your letter/ parcel/ packet to the person behind the counter and reinforce the fact that it is going to a BFPO address then it will be accepted and put in a special service to BFPO at Northolt.

OUR mail will get through! (cynical me thinks RM dont want to face the public when squaddies get no Xmas pressies in Afghan!)
And rob, I really will get round to that ext lead- just been ECI'd ,very emotional
 
so what did you get SK617... Amber or green..?????

but good to know that the BFPO are trying to sort it but not holding my breath
 
We got green- with a hint of yellow, and thats the official line, we now have hints of colours.
I can now stop flapping and crack on with getting ready for posting!
 
well that is a good thing.. look forward tothe posting and if you are maried give my best to your good lady coz she is the one that has had to put with you being put throught this..:D
 
SK617 said:
Anyone wishing to send anything during the 'postal difficulties' can rest assured that the Royal Mail and BFPO have a plan in place.

The Lt Col in charge of BFPO was on BFBS (our forces radio) today explaining.

As long as you go into a Post Office, hand your letter/ parcel/ packet to the person behind the counter and reinforce the fact that it is going to a BFPO address then it will be accepted and put in a special service to BFPO at Northolt.

OUR mail will get through! (cynical me thinks RM dont want to face the public when squaddies get no Xmas pressies in Afghan!)
And rob, I really will get round to that ext lead- just been ECI'd ,very emotional
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Local postmistress explained there is a system set up for BFPO mail during the strike. She did not need asking.
 
ladysue said:
Hope you are keeping safe Rob and getting lots of good pictures.
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Not been on for a few days as far as I can see. Perhaps away on assignment.
 
gumbo-67 said:
well that is a good thing.. look forward tothe posting and if you are maried give my best to your good lady coz she is the one that has had to put with you being put throught this..:D
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She was stressing with her own dept's LSI!!
both posted, her to Pirbright, me to Bordon
 
gumbo-67 said:
poor things...don't know Pirbrightbut bordon i do enjoy it aand not too many Kebabs..
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Hmmm dodgy kebabs from he car park.
Bordons a dump though, lets be honest!!
as for the delights of VT, can't wait:tumbleweed:
 
Back now...10 days 'out' on the ground...living the dream...well living in dusty poo mostly - came back to about 20 parcels - quite a few without notes, so thanks for all those of you whoi have 'given' and wish to remain anonymous...
Thanks to:
Dougie (Arclight) for all the toiletries and magazines - liked the Military Illustrated - just read the German Sniper article - he was finally sent home from a Russian POW camp in 1971!!!

Natalie (MagicMynx) for the smarties and girlie -stuff - I took a load out with me this time and it was like being Santa Claus! Thankfully I have a GF or I'd have been well 'taken care' of...!
Yvonne (Yv) - Scrubs!!! Woot! We Love Scrubs! Colonel 'W' says "Ta V Much!"

Keith W - thanks for the rankin - like those Rebus novels...many thanks...

Nod - thanks mate - just in the nick of time...

Whoever sent the Top Gear Book and Clarkson book - Legend!
 
Keith W said:
Good to see you are safe and well and back posting gain Rob
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I'm bloody threaders - deffo not 21 any more...jeez...
Another can of Fanta then it's shower-time for me - I smell like a dead goat - these under-armour shirts are great but they stink awful after a few hours...

On the plus side - lots of pretty pix :D
only done basic edits for the Press releases so far, so it'll be a few days before I get any up...
 
welcome back
glad to hear all parts are intact :thinking:
 
We thought you had gone awol, deserting us for the delights of downtown Kandahar. Good to see you back.
 
Also got parcels from Pete and Ellen (Dangermouse and Baby Tiger) and Paul Young...
Ta muchly...:)
 
Arkady said:
Also got parcels from Pete and Ellen (Dangermouse and Baby Tiger) and Paul Young...
Ta muchly...:)
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thanks for letting me know , apologies they were canon mags :LOL: , got some books i have read that i will post soon (y)
 
pleased you've arrived back safely and in one piece( unlike your lens ) :LOL:
and good to hear parcel got there safely too
 
Arkady said:
Back now...10 days 'out' on the ground...living the dream...well living in dusty poo mostly - came back to about 20 parcels - quite a few without notes, so thanks for all those of you whoi have 'given' and wish to remain anonymous...
Thanks to:
Dougie (Arclight) for all the toiletries and magazines - liked the Military Illustrated - just read the German Sniper article - he was finally sent home from a Russian POW camp in 1971!!!

I thought that one would catch your eye, Rob.

Dougie

Natalie (MagicMynx) for the smarties and girlie -stuff - I took a load out with me this time and it was like being Santa Claus! Thankfully I have a GF or I'd have been well 'taken care' of...!
Yvonne (Yv) - Scrubs!!! Woot! We Love Scrubs! Colonel 'W' says "Ta V Much!"

Keith W - thanks for the rankin - like those Rebus novels...many thanks...

Nod - thanks mate - just in the nick of time...

Whoever sent the Top Gear Book and Clarkson book - Legend!
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Good to hear you're getting all the supplies you need arkady.
Just out of interest, are you anywhere near combat zones? any pictures of the action?
 
mercedes said:
Good to hear you're getting all the supplies you need arkady.
Just out of interest, are you anywhere near combat zones? any pictures of the action?
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Yep - right in the middle of it - most of the drama is being caused by IEDs (mines and booby-traps) so you'll not be seeing any of those photos...sorry...
I do take them but they're used for internal briefings and such - eventually they'll be forwarded to the IWM as part of the national Archive, but not for public view until such time has passed that the images are acceptable - not fair to the families showing pix of UK casualties while the conflict is still being fought.
 
Arkady said:
Yep - right in the middle of it - most of the drama is being caused by IEDs (mines and booby-traps) so you'll not be seeing any of those photos...sorry...
I do take them but they're used for internal briefings and such - eventually they'll be forwarded to the IWM as part of the national Archive, but not for public view until such time has passed that the images are acceptable - not fair to the families showing pix of UK casualties while the conflict is still being fought.
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Tell me this, please Rob.
Apart from the enemy do you folks face danger from anything else out there, e.g. poisonous insects, reptiles etc.
I don't know about the natural history of that country.

Dougie
 
Arkady said:
Back now...10 days 'out' on the ground...living the dream...well living in dusty poo mostly - came back to about 20 parcels - quite a few without notes, so thanks for all those of you whoi have 'given' and wish to remain anonymous...
Thanks to:
Dougie (Arclight) for all the toiletries and magazines - liked the Military Illustrated - just read the German Sniper article - he was finally sent home from a Russian POW camp in 1971!!!
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That makes me suspect the Russians never knew he was a sniper. Doubt if he would have lasted very long once that was discovered.

Dougie
 
Dougie - of the 70 or so snakes indigenous to Afghanistan 68 of them are poisonous. So we just kill 'em all on sight if they creep into our billets.
Biggest threat is mice and rats eating your kit and scampering over you in the night - we have tent-like individual mosquito nets that clip onto our camp-beds, but these buggers will chew through those in a second.
Wasps and hornets - I got stung by a hornet last Sunday on the third finger of my left hand and my arm went numb halfway to my elbow. Two hours later my hand was itching so bad I had to keep it wrapped in a wet cloth to stop from scratching it... needess to say it was like being stabbed with red-hot poker when it happened.
...and yes, I yelled like a 'fudder-mucker'...

Mosquitos - we're still taking anti-malaria prophylaxis - two a day until next month when the season is deemed to be 'over'...
Feral cats and dogs - all dogs are deemed to be rabid and are shot on sight within the various camp boundaries.
However, cats are cool and get to live as long as they get checked out by the vets that look after the Military Dog sections...

Pretty much everything else bites, scratches and spits...we disinfect, spray and de-louse everything regularly.
 
Depends on the titles - we have a kind of permanantly shifting library here:
everyone who brings books out leaves them in the welfare tent, so there are loads...
I'm partial to military histories dealing with the Peninsular War, WW2, the Crimea and the Boer War...also sci-fi - Heinlein, Aldiss...
Been trying to find a copy of H.E Bates' "Fair Stood the Wind For France" to no avail...
Just discovered almost all of Neville Shute's books down in Musa Q'aleh when I popped in last week - all but the one I was looking for - "In The Wet"...

Magazines are good - I'm getting loads of Photography mags and as soon as I'm done with them they go in the 'pool' for everyone else to read - so it's not just me you're sending to - I'm just the conduit...

Whatever you think...anything is good and everything helps...
 
Arkady said:
Yep - right in the middle of it - most of the drama is being caused by IEDs (mines and booby-traps) so you'll not be seeing any of those photos...sorry...
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No combat with taliban shots? No phil mitchell in action :) lol?
 
mercedes said:
No combat with taliban shots? No phil mitchell in action :) lol?
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hahah...
wait til the elections - it'll kick off again...then again we've taken out most of the local Taleban head-shed - they're a bit disorganised at the moment - this time of year, they usually re-group into Pakistan and train-up for next year's offensive...
'cept the Pakistani Army are ripping them up as well right now...

Nowhere to Run to Baby, nowhere to Hide...
 
Arkady said:
Depends on the titles - we have a kind of permanantly shifting library here:
everyone who brings books out leaves them in the welfare tent, so there are loads...
I'm partial to military histories dealing with the Peninsular War, WW2, the Crimea and the Boer War...also sci-fi - Heinlein, Aldiss...
Been trying to find a copy of H.E Bates' "Fair Stood the Wind For France" to no avail...
Just discovered almost all of Neville Shute's books down in Musa Q'aleh when I popped in last week - all but the one I was looking for - "In The Wet"...

Magazines are good - I'm getting loads of Photography mags and as soon as I'm done with them they go in the 'pool' for everyone else to read - so it's not just me you're sending to - I'm just the conduit...

Whatever you think...anything is good and everything helps...
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It would be a mixed bag really. . . I suppose more to add to your library than necessarily all titles that you'd enjoy.

A friend of mine's involved in a project to get more people reading, based around the idea of sharing and passing along books when people have finished with them. I'm sure that they'd be happy to donate some, but I really couldn't guarantee titles.

If it's of any interest I'll ask the question. If not I'll look out specifically for some military history stuff for you.
 
New Photos in the Photos for Pleasure section...
 
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