Issue 37 - D-Day Anniversary Special Edition by Airsoft Action

THE Airsoft Magazine

D-Day 70th Anniversary Special Edition

07 9 772047 348032

JULY 2014 - ÂŁ4.50

THE Airsoft Magazine

D-Day 70th Anniversary Special Edition

32 07 9 772047 348032

JULY 2014 - £4.50

Editor: Nigel Streeter Assistant editor: Gareth “Gadge” Harvey Graphic design: Havoc Design Ad design: Havoc Design Publisher: Nigel Streeter Cover Photograph: Matt Limb Photography (www.mlimages.co.uk)

UK 12 - issue subscription rate: £43 UK 6 - issue subscription rate: £24 For overseas prices visit: www.airsoft-action.co.uk

Wyche Innovation Centre, Walwyn Road, Upper Colwall, Malvern, Worcestershire, WE13 6PL Tel: 01684 878 003 Web: www.airsoft-action.co.uk ©Calibre Publishing Limited 2014 Distribution: Distributed to the newstrade by Comag Magazine Marketing, West Drayton, Middlesex UB7 7QE T: 01895 433 800 Copyright © Calibre Publishing Limited 2014. All rights are reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the express permission of the publisher in writing. The opinion of the writers do not necessarily reﬂect those of the publisher. The editor reserves the right to edit submissions prior to print.

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Letter, idea or question? Got something to say? A question for our experts? An article or article idea? Drop us a line and let us know. Either email the editor (nige@airsoft-action.co.uk), write to us at the Calibre Publishing address above, or talk to us on Twitter or Facebook.

MARCH 2014

IF YOU ARE READING THIS ON THE DAY it is due to go on sale, you are probably well aware of the signiﬁcance of today’s date, the 5th June. 70 years ago today, the World’s largest ever armada was due to set sail for France on what it was hoped would be the beginning of the end of the Second World War but, as so often happens in this Country, the weather closed in and the invasion was postponed. The following day General Dwight D. Eisenhower gave an order with three, short words: “OK, let’s go!” and, with that launched Operation Overlord - D-Day had arrived. This year sees the 70th Anniversary of that most momentous of events and I cannot help but wonder what our lives might be like today if it had not been successful. One thing is indisputable though; Europe would be totally different to how it is now and we may well be living under the heel of a jack-booted Dictator. However, the invasion succeeded and eventually the Nazis were pushed back and defeated, along with their allies. It is entirely possible this will be the last time that many Governments commemorate D-Day and certainly, for many D-Day veterans, it will be the last time they have the chance to remember their fallen comrades, colleagues and friends. As airsofters we recreate many of the battles these old soldiers fought and, in many ways, I consider it to be a mark of respect and of gratitude that we have the freedom to do so. It is, therefore, with great pleasure and huge thanks that I dedicate this issue of Airsoft Action to all the men and women, both military and civilian, who fought so courageously and for so long against (what must have seemed like) insurmountable odds – and won. Whatever happens, we will remember you. Nige.

CONTENTS MARCH JULY 2014

CONTENTS

AIRSOFT ACTION – JULY 2014 6

Airsoft News

The latest developments in the world of airsoft 8 + 10

Readers’ Gallery

Cool photos taken by Airsoft Action readers 12 D-Day: Weapons Scott Allan looks at the airsoft versions of weapons used by the main protagonists on and after D-Day 20 D-Day: Load Outs Gareth “Gadge” Harvey takes a break from his very popular Cold War Warrior series and looks at the load outs worn by British, American and German soldiers on D-Day 27 D-Day: The Longest Day Normandy Specialist, Matt Limb OBE, asks the question “Was D-Day well-planned, or was our victory down to German weaknesses?” 32 Event Report: Firefight at Longmoor Les Lee gets to fulfil an ambition as he reports from Firefight Combat Simulation’s recent game at Longmoor Camp. 37 Feature: A Beginner’s Guide With over sixteen years of airsoft under his belt, Kris Roberts passes on a load of useful hints and tips to help new players get the most out of their games 42 Event Report: Stirling Airsoft – Op: Altair James Phillips once again finds himself embedded with forces hunting rebel militia in the Central African Republic, as Stirling Airsoft gets airborne 47 D-Day: D-Day Luck Military Historian, Will Fowler MA TD, looks back at the events of D-Day and ponders whether luck had more to with our victory, than planning? 51 Event Report: Gunman Combat Missions Oscar P reports from Eversley, where Gunman Airsoft run a game for those who fancy trying MilSim but don’t want to go the whole hog

58 D-Day: UKAP BUNKER While Les Lee was reporting from UCAP’s Bunker, he discovered it played a vital role on the 6th June 1944 62 Debate: A Minor Issue Are under-18 year-old players the lifeblood of our game, or do they ruin your day? Gareth “Gadge” Harvey asked the question and here are some of your answers 67 Airsoft Skills: Cover and Concealment Pro-Tact Training’s Andy Nightingale explains the difference between the two and how we can make use of both in-game 71 WW2 Snipers: Silent Ivan Sniper One, Dan Mills, writes about the Soviet Union’s most successful WW2 sniper, Ivan Mihailovich Sidorenko 74 The Art of War: No Laughing Matter Military Illustrator and Author, Rupert Godesen, takes a look at how cartoons played a vital role in keeping spirits up and how they were used for more than just humour 79 Team Profile: Team Rhino They play for two things: Fun and to win! Airsoft Action meets the guys from Team Rhino 80 World War I: Gallipoli Dan Mills continues his journey through the keystone events of WWI with a look at a major Allied defeat 84 Bookshop Special Offer for Airsoft Action readers from Military Pocket Books 85 Book Review: War Junkie by Jon Steele Kris Roberts on the incredible story of an ITN Cameraman who filmed some of the most horrific and dangerous conflicts of recent times 86 Site Directory If you’re looking for somewhere to play, you’re sure to find it here

54 A Squadron: Bob Podesta – Behind the Shadows In this Airsoft Action Exclusive interview, A Squadron MD, Faith Cowling, talks to SAS legend Bob Podesta about his background, what lead him to become one of 22 SAS’s most well-known ex-soldiers and how he got involved with airsoft

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NEWS

This month there hasn’t been much going on for UKAPU sadly as we are still desperately seeking volunteers to continue the good work started by a small group of players 4 years ago. With all that’s happened over the years since the VCRA and all the associations, players organisations and various other schemes that have sprung up UKAPU is the only one that’s run purely by airsofters with no commercial interests or ulterior motives. We had nothing to gain personally and did it because we have always believed in the UK Airsoft scene and those that take part in it. The fact we have people joining every month and have helped many of our members when things have gone decidedly pear shaped always makes us proud and convinced a player led organisation is the best way forward and vital to ensure a players perspective is presented to the powers that be if and when required. So, after that heartfelt plea maybe you feel you could offer something to UKAPU and your fellow airsofters. Maybe you have some ideas in where Airsoft could go and how to get it there. If so; please please please get in touch and see where you could ﬁt into the committee if that’s what you fancy or just help promote UKAPU at your local sites. Phil Bucknall Chairman, UKAPU www.ukapu.org.uk

Disclaimer regarding the review of airsoft guns by Specna Arms An error has occurred in the review of a Specna Arms airsoft gun titled “Perfekcja z Polski” published in the June issue. The reviewed gun was a model named SA-A03, and not as stated in the article, SA-A003. The review also includes information which may suggest that the brand Specna Arms comes from Poland, which is not true. We would like to clarify that the brand Specna Arms comes from Hong Kong. Similarly, the article introduces wording which may erroneously suggest that the SA airsoft guns are produced in Poland.

july 2014

Airsoft Action – Cover Pic Airsoft Action would like to thanks the guys from GI 44-45 re-enactment group for their help in creating our explosive WWII cover. GI 44-45 are a group of dedicated WWII enthusiasts who represent the US combat infantryman from Operation Overlord through to the fall of Nazi Germany. With members based all around the UK the group regularly meet up to take part in WWII living history events in the UK and abroad - including visiting historic battlegrounds in France and Germany. The guys are all mad keen for portraying the WWII GI and chose the unit they will represent to best suit the scenario and have been known to represent Rangers, Airborne and of course the good old ‘leg infantry’. This month’s cover shot represents a platoon of the ‘Cross of Lorraine’ 79th Infantry Division making a shore landing as part of the 1945 Rhine Crossing (in case any of you history buffs noticed some of the ‘late war’ equipment) but we think you’ll agree there are few sights as cool as a WWII assault boat ﬁlled with a combat unit racing ashore whether it’s a beach or the banks of the Rhine. Airsoft Action are indebted Paul Costin and his group for helping us ﬁll a WWII landing craft with a whole platoon of grizzled looking GI’ complete with 30 cal machine guns and 60mm mortars for this month’s cover. If you’d like to know more about GI 44-45 or get in touch with them their website is simply ’44-45.co.uk’!

Green Zone Military Simulation After months of hard planning and negotiating, Green Zone Military Simulation are pleased to be able to announce the date for their debut event; Op UNIFIED AGGRESSOR The event will take place on Salisbury Plain Training Area, on the 12th & 13th of July 2014 at a secret location never before used for Airsoft. A brand new event and a brand new gaming area!! Check out their Facebook page (www.facebook. com/greenzonemilsim) or website www. greenzoneairsoft.co.uk for further details.

RedWolf Airsoft “Operation: Blue Fox” RedWolf Airsoft recently announced “Operation: Blue Fox”, which takes place over the Bank Holiday weekend at the end of August (Friday 22nd - Sunday 24th). The event is being held at the Lydd Training Camp in Kent, so if you’ve ever fancied playing on an actual MoD Training Ground then make sure you don’t miss this one! The scenario is based in Somalia and involves US Rangers up against Somali militia and you can bet there will be plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing right up to end-ex! Airsoft Action are pleased to be supporting the event and a full report will be in the September issue of the magazine. For more information, visit the RWUK August Weekender page on Facebook: https://www. facebook.com/pages/RWUK-August-Weekender-Op-Blue-Fox/633306330087655 , RedWolf Airsoft’s site to book: http://uk.redwolfairsoft.com/redwolf/airsoft/Collectibles_Event_Ticketing_RedWolf_ August_Weekender.htm or contact RedWolf Airsoft on 01684 273070

Gunman Big Game The Gunman International weekend is now conﬁrmed for August 23-24th at their awesome events site just off Junction 20 of the M25 at the 400 acre site at Westwood. Full event details will be published in all the advertising media over the next month. It will be a 3 way scenario with 3 HQs for the teams to work out from and massive piles of objectives dotted all over the site for units to get their teeth into. Price wise, the ﬁrst 200 tickets will be only £50, the next 100 will be £60, the last 300 tickets will be £70 and it will be £85 on the gate. There will a number of Quality retailers onsite and also a bar and catering. Airsoft Action are pleased to be supporting the event and a full report will be in the September issue of the magazine. For more information, visit the Gunman GI Airsoft Weekender page on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/events/1408914759389629/), the Grange’s website (http://shop.suspensionofdisbelief.co.uk/gi-airsoftweekender) or contact Gunman on either: 01676 534178 or 07854 277264.

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SpyPoint Xcel HD New to the Airsoft Market from Thomas Jacks, the SpyPoint Xcel HD camera is a go-anywhere, ﬁlm anything camera that has been designed to withstand the rigours of outdoor use. Originally designed for outdoor sports and hunting enthusiasts, the Xcel HD is also perfect for making action videos whether in-game, or just chilling in the Safe Zone and can be both helmet and weapon-mounted. Unlike some other cameras, it comes complete with a huge range of accessories, including a camo waterproof housing, a variety of mounts including both Scope and Head Strap, case, battery, cables and lens protector. It also comes with a wireless remote control that can be worn on your wrist – so no more fumbling about trying to ﬁnd a small switch on the back of a camera mounted on your helmet! The SpyPoint Xcel HD is available through airsoft shops as well as hunting and outdoor retailers, priced at just £199.99. If you are a Trade Customer interested in stocking the SpyPoint range, contact Mark Davies at Thomas Jacks, on 01789 264100 or 07980 720705

24,500 sq ft of

Airsoft See the Leading Suppliers Demonstrations and Scenario Area Airsoft Range

The Body Farm – Opening Soon! The Body Farm is a Purpose Built CQB Airsoft facility that makes up just one part of what will soon become - The Herefordshire Shooting Centre operated by Tenbury Guns Ltd. Our specially designed game-zone, incorporating different sections and challenging environments - ALL of which are adaptable - will give players the ULTIMATE in combat sports entertainment. Games held regularly. Team Building Exercises, Corporate Events and Tournaments will be rolled out shortly, but you can expect to see Alien and Zombie games coming SOON!!! We look forward to seeing you there! “Arriving is the easy part..........but will you ever leave?” For more information, contact Tenbury Guns on 01885 410689 and keep an eye on the website: www.bodyfarmairsoft.com

NOW! S ET K IC T W O H S R U O GET Y Ticket Adult Child (8-14 yrs)

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Tickets available in advance on the website. Tickets also available on the day.

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BAWTRY PF AND FRONTIER AIRSOFT

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INFORMATION Fancy seeing yourself in Airsoft Action? Send in your photos via email (nige@airsoft-action.co.uk) or share on our Facebook page (/AirsoftAction), plus a few words describing what’s going on in the image.

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“WELL, IT SEEMS TO ME, SIR, THAT GOD GAVE ME A SPECIAL GIFT, MADE ME A FINE INSTRUMENT OF WARFARE.” PRIVATE JACKSON IN SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, 1998

WEAPONS OF WAR

IN THIS SIX-PAGE AIRSOFT ACTION SPECIAL FEATURE, SCOTT ALLAN TAKES A LOOK AT THE AIRSOFT VERSIONS OF WEAPONRY USED BY D-DAY SOLDIERS

ADMITTEDLY THIS IS NOT MY USUAL SUBJECT matter, quite far from it. While I do enthuse just about everything WWII, from the games to the films, I find it odd that such pleasure and money should be made from such a dark period in our modern history. Like many readers, I too had family who served in this terrible conflict and I am proud that they served and fought for our way of life today. I do not know what it is specifically that means I never really find myself drawn to play WWII themed Airsoft. That said, I am a massive fan of all the weaponry developed during this era and the first rifle I ever skirmished with was a Tokyo Marui Thompson, an absolute beast churning out a mind-boggling 260fps – back in the day when a player wouldn’t kick up merry hell for having a sub 300 rifle. During several trips to the Shot Show I have been lucky enough to fire a lot of these fantastic milestones in history. The thing with this era was the marvellous transition, not only the way we thought as a nation but the way we fought war and developed industry. Much of what we know today and take for granted was, in part, developed throughout the war. In some small way we can at least thank those who made the ultimate

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sacriﬁce for our way of life and the peace in which it brought after the war years, albeit a difﬁcult time for those who had to rebuild what had been lost the best they could.

Russian Forces It is easy to not even consider the Russian contribution to the D-Day effort. The USSR really had a mind-boggling loss of life and not since the Golden Horde of the 13th Century had the loss of Russian life occurred on this scale. Nearly 100 times more Russian died than Americans yet little of our WWII Airsoft seems to reﬂect this. Without the Russians efforts on the Eastern Front the Allied invasion on D-Day most likely would not have been anywhere near as ultimately successful.

PPSH 41 Hexagon £300 There are two versions of this riﬂe, the initial version did have a host of issues. Make sure any version you choose is the second generation or you could be inviting problems. The Hexagon riﬂe

THE ARMOURY D-DAY | AIRSOFT WEAPONS

German Forces The German Forces did vary and their popularity in Airsoft cannot be denied. Their cool-looking weaponry is the main draw for some players and others for more nefarious reasons. The uniforms did always look exceptional (even by today’s standards) and they have since inspired just about every classic bad guy look in movies since then. Mind you, when you have Hugo Boss designing your uniforms you are in with a good chance of looking good. Yes that is right, the popular fashion brand was actually founded by a Nazi – how times change…. I think!

MP40

was full steel and real wood and performed around 340fps which is great. Although it is a drum magazine it does only hold around 120 rounds and spare magazines were a little tough to ﬁnd.

Marushin Gas Blow Back 8mm £300 Marushin are based in Japan and have always fallen into that “gimmick column” box for me. The gas blow back function does add something quite nice but the 8mm, while sounding good on paper, generally doesn’t add anything. Unless you want a showpiece that offers function over performance I would avoid this.

S&T £250 The Smart Team version of the PPSH offers a few nice features over the Hexagon. The magazine for a start is 2,000 rounds which is great for the heavy trigger iron ﬁst player. Also this version sports an electric blow back that is a perfect feature to make you smile charging around the game site. Best of all the S&T is the cheapest PPSH on the market. It is still real wood and full metal so it’ll be robust enough.

Mosin-Nagant

SRC £270 Star Rainbow Company has always been an unusual company. From Taiwan, which is a powerhouse for Airsoft at the moment, SRC have just kind of lurked in the background with their Airsoft riﬂes. Their MP40 is much like the rest of their catalogue – its okay. They look and feel good but they always seem to be loaded with niggles.

Zeta Labs £375 ZL is a smaller manufacturer with a handful of replicas to their name. The quality of the product is high, although a heavy cocking system and a low number of rounds mean it might not be the best skirmish weapon, however the power is around 330fps so you won’t have the sniper rules to worry about on your game site. Material-wise the high quality real wood and solid metal does the real version justice but the 10-round magazines are a pain and not a great deal of use for a busy day’s shooting. That said spring is easier than filling up a rifle with gas all the time. Upgrade parts are likely to be difficult to find. S&T £320 Smart Team’s rifle does share some staggering similarities to the ZL version, such as the magazine capacity and the way it works, although this version has a gas bolt rather than spring. This means you have around 420fps, almost 100fps more but you do have to contend with gas. If that bothers you then the reloading every 10 rounds will undoubtedly drive you insane. Again like the ZL version this has real wood and metal and the weight is great. There is a slight price difference, which may be enough to sway some people. Given the choices here (and as much as I do love the Mosin-Nagant in real life), I would almost certainly go for the S&T PPSH. The Mosin-Nagant is a proper beast of a rifle, I fired the carbine version in Eastern Europe a couple of years back. The kick was colossal yet the action was smooth and the accuracy good but the fiddly reloading of 10 rounds just is not for me and that is a real shame. 30 rounds I could have lived with and that being the case I would probably have gone for the Zeta Labs. But for me I have to choose the PPSH by S&T. Its price, coupled with the larger magazine means you will only ever need one and the electric blow back gives a great package. Best of all it is the cheapest of the Russian rifles available.

AGM/ASG £150 The AGM MP40 is probably the most popular of all the German riﬂes. While it isn’t perfect and the construction is a bit on the cheap side, this is the biggest selling MP40 you’ll see. Fitting the battery is a bit of a pain and they would beneﬁt from upgrades but this is probably the best of all the MP40s regardless of only having standard magazines available.

MP44 Shoei £1300 This is an absolutely stunning replica and looks nearly identical to the real version. The drawback is that it runs external air, this means you will have to have a big gas bottle strapped to your person to enable this beast to run. The big plus is that it has a fantastic blow back system which looks and feels brilliant.

AGM £220 AGM have again come out with a brilliant, cost-effective offering for the WWII camp. Coming as standard with a huge high capacity magazine and a slightly better construction than their MP40, it is a good all round riﬂe. It is pretty big and the

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THE ARMOURY D-DAY | AIRSOFT WEAPONS

full metal and real wood construction means it is quite heavy. Given the costs this looks like the best MP44 available all round.

with some work this has the opportunity to be great. It is the ﬁrst “cheap” version of the MG42 although with the snail magazine it isn’t technically correct, which will arouse rage from rivet counters. For £500 is it a bargain? Well no, you could have a perfectly good working AEG for less than half of that price. If you do want an authentic WWII heavy machine gun though your options are quite limited.

Kar 98 G&G £310 G&G in recent years has always spelled fair price and quality. Their G980 rifle is full wood and beautifully marked, showing great external quality. Unfortunately I think they blew it massively by opting for the 8g CO2 bulbs in the magazine. It is an awkward-sized bulb, not readily available and it is unnecessarily complicated. If they had opted for spring this would have been a perfect option. That aside, a scope is also available for around £100 and it looks lovely. The performance is varied as you can use high or low powered magazines with the rifle, so you can swing from 350 to 500 fps with the quick swap of a magazine. Tanaka £660 This is a stunning offering but I always liken Tanaka to a Swiss watch. They seem stunningly made but fragile. Taking this into consideration the Tanaka is a well thought off replica that works well in a range of conditions. Yet for me the drawback is still that they run on gas. This is another fiddle that invites a variation in performance. Dboys £150 This was an unusual replica that came in gas and spring. The drawback was that it was a shell-ejecting version that takes 5 cartridges. There were other issues from this being a low cost Chinese clone, so performance could vary from good to not functioning at all. The real wood and metal work do make it a nice looking replica that is always worth considering. Marushin £450 This is the rifle that Dboys copied, which means it is stuck with the same 5-shell system. The Kar 98 is powered by gassing the bolt that is my least favourite gas system. The finish of real wood and metal cannot be questioned and it is stunning - it just isn’t the most skirmish-worthy, much like the Dboys.

MG34 RWL £1,350 The limited edition rifle built by Red Wolf HK has one heavy price tag. It is an unusual rifle because RedWolf builds them themselves and the overall package is simply stunning in finish and quality. Sadly I found during testing it did sound a little bit sad as it has the most awkwardly small battery compartment. I am sure with a little magic they could be quite special. It is safe to say that the Germans really do have a lot more options on the Airsoft front than the Russian or British enthusiast. These weapons, that mean more fun for you, can easily cover a variety of roles. Personally I would be torn between the AGM MP40 and the AGM MP44 but I would avoid all of the Kar 98s due to the fiddly loading or gas systems. I have no idea why companies still insist on gas systems that are difficult to use during games and really less reliable than a conventional spring system. Give me a 30 round magazine and a spring rifle and I would be happy all day long. The BAR 10 and Well Warrior L96 managed it for a budget price so a major manufacturer should be able to.

British Forces Our weapons during WWII were quite out-dated and we did seem to be very slow in the updating of both our weapons and ways of war. The bravery of our troops gave us our successes not the tools they were given. Sadly not a lot of options exist for our Airsoft friend to re-enact their countrymen.

Sten Gun

MG42 Shoei £1,500 This is like the MP44 by Shoei and powered by an external air system. While it runs like a train crashing through a steel factory that is abruptly where the fun ends! They just don’t work well enough to be considered skirmish worthy. AGM £500 While I have yet to see this in the ﬂesh I believe it is the usual Chinese standard of cheap parts slapped together. That said, 14

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ASG/AGM £200 This is up there with all the usual AGM rifle quality. Largely good with a few rough niggles. The magazines are compatible with the AGM MP40 that is good for those who switch sides (insert French joke here). The ASG version seems to be of a little higher quality, this could be because ASG insist on QA with AGM – who knows? Like the MP40 it would benefit from some internal tidying up and upgrades but you are always stuck with 50 round magazines. While the British forces did occasionally use some of the American weapons which gives you more options there is sadly still no mass-produced Lee Enfield which is a big shame. When

you look at some of the really odd things those companies like G&G have built, the Lee Enﬁeld is a classic that screams out for a decent spring version.

US Forces The good guys! Admittedly the easiest load out to do for many years, as Tokyo Marui made the Thompson. A popular army as it often was viewed with much bravado and power, most of which is entirely true. Big budget movies and cool actors have truly immortalised the US footprint on D-Day. Unfortunately this sometimes does eclipse the efforts by the other nations who took part.

Thompson Snow Wolf £150 I have not been overly disappointed by Snow Wolf, their quality always seem to be pretty good although still rough Chinese copying. As a clone of the original Tokyo Marui version they have copied it faithfully. Really you can’t go wrong with this version. Tokyo Marui £300 The M1A1 by Marui is one of the true original great performers from Japan. It doesn’t offer as much power as the other version but this is the type of riﬂe that would run for 10 years. While expensive due to manufacturing price in Japan, it does offer an unsurpassable level of quality. King Arms £250 This is the coolest-looking and feeling version, full metal and real wood kit sets this apart. Again though it is a copy of the Marui version, which means all of the magazine brands will ﬁt between them all. King Arms are based in Hong Kong so they have a good build quality and access to spare parts. Cyma £175 Cyma make two versions of the M1A1; the classic copy of the Tokyo Marui and the Chicago-style with a drum magazine and a forward grip. While the Chicago version isn’t 100% correct, it does offer something fresh to the design. Cyma being a Chinese clone brand can be a little hit and miss but a largely good value means you can’t really go wrong with them.

AY £350 AY? Who..? Exactly! Another Chinese brand which clones riﬂes and, you guessed it, this time the VFC was copied. The AY is full metal but has plastic imitation wood, which actually looks pretty darn good. The performance out of the box isn’t Earthshattering but it isn’t grim. The price still seems a little on the high side when you look at some of the other clone riﬂes out there but if you want a BAR you are a little stuck.

Grease Gun ICS £200 The ICS Grease Gun is a full-metal, true to real life, replica and by “true” I mean it is just as ugly! Thankfully the performance is much better than its looks. Like all of the WWII “mass produced” SMGs the battery storage becomes a fiddle but not undoable with the ICS. Being an ICS you can always expect the standard and high capacity magazines to be readily available all across the world. Ares £300 Quite possibly one of the most bizarre rifles Ares have ever produced. Each magazine holds the battery to power the rifle. If you run 5 magazines, you need 5 batteries. The build quality and performance is very good with full metal construction. It does sport electric blow back mechanism that looks pretty good but the battery situation really puts people off. Snow Wolf £200 Again Snow Wolf have brought out a good and affordable offering. Like all the Chinese manufacturers the reliability and performance may be a bit hit and miss. The full metal construction is well finished and overall it is a nice looking replica.

M1 Garand

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BAR

ICS £385 ICS has made a nice effort here. Real wood and full metal construction means it looks big and mean. The magazine system is, admittedly, quite poor. A plastic clip in which just doesn’t stay very well at all. That said there aren’t any more options on the electric front until G&G maybe get around to releasing their version.

VFC £1,200 VFC released this under the “guns of our fathers” range although, when I say “range”, it was the only WWII riﬂe they did. It was, in short, an expensive let down. The inner barrel wasn’t long enough, it was underpowered and very expensive. The real wood and a full metal construction meant it at least looked nice. With a bit time and money they were usable but for £1,200 you would kind of expect this to be done at the manufacturer’s end.

Marushin £500 Like most of Marushin’s rifles this is a gas blow back 8mm rifle. It sports a clip which ejects when the rounds are empty just like the real version. That said, this is more of a collector’s item than a trigger-happy gamers version. The price, gas usage, calibre and overall performance make this awkward to game with. The finish, annoyingly is utterly amazing and you’ll find yourself just standing holding it and enjoying the sensation.

THE ARMOURY D-DAY | AIRSOFT WEAPONS

M1 Carbine ASG £250 This is a CO2 gas blow back version. The CO2 is housed in the magazine which while isn’t ideal for heavy gaming, does offer a better and more consistent performance. The action is quick and firm, which definitely raised a smile. Once it is all set up it is an enjoyable rifle to fire and game with a high power around the 370fps mark. Marushin £340-£400 Marushin made this in 6mm and 8mm, although I generally write off 8mm for gaming as it is harder work to deal with. The finish and the action are always nice but you pay the higher price as Marushin are an expensive manufacturer. Gas powered magazines give you a steady gas blow back but not the recoil you will see from a CO2 version.

M1919 30 Cal Viva Arms £950 This is a steel beast, accurately replicated by Viva Arms but at a high price. The low production runs of these kept the prices high. The package includes a tripod and a 2,500-round box magazine, which is pretty unique, but with a premium price tag it isn’t a major surprise. You probably won’t see these on many game sites and while the electric system should offer a good performance, the combined weight of 11 kilos is likely to kill anyone trying to carry it around. Next to the Germans, the Americans have the best offering of weaponry. If I had to choose one out of the list I would be tempted by one of the Thompsons, probably the full metal and real wood King Arms Thompson. I would maybe, just maybe, consider the ICS M1 but only to do a look rather than having a good riﬂe.

In conclusion There is a lot of WWII stuff out there, a lot of custom small outfits who make specific models but there is only so much I can cover. I haven’t even touched on the pistols that is an equal shame with new great offerings like the KWC CO2 Luger just out. The overall impression I have is the same manufacturers have made a variety of gas blow back rifles purely for toying around with, rather than for gaming. A few companies made electric rifles that are much better all round and then some manufacturers have went for the easy option and just copied them. Personally I think a few spring powered Kars, Enfields, Mosin Nagant and Springfields would set the offerings off just nicely. I really hope they don’t keep making these gas and CO2 versions though.

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ARMALITE® M15A4 R.I.S Carbine A great entry level Airsoft gun for players who wish to increase their gaming experience by using tactical equipment like grips, lasers or lights. As well as quad front rail and removable carry handle. Use battery ref. 17206 (not included)

Réf. 17490

Velocity: 312fps

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ARMALITE® M15A4 Carbine Sportline ArmaLite M15A4 valuepack. This M15 Airsoft carbine has an ideal size for all sorts of Airsoft use CQB or open-ﬁeld. A Hi-cap magazine with 300 BB’s provides plenty of shots. The receiver features a top 21mm rail for mounting optical sights, a detachable carry handle with adjustable rear sights is included. Battery and charger included in the pack.

Réf. 17356

Velocity: 312fps

FFind ind more more information information on on actionsportgames.com. actionsportgames.com. ActionSportGames A ctionSportGames® iiss a w worldwide orldwide lleader eader in in tthe he bbusiness usiness ooff rreplica eplica fifirearms rearms aand nd aaccessories ccessories m manufacturing anufacturing – including including Airsoft Airsoft guns, guns, Airguns, Airguns, CO2 gguns uns aand nd firearms firearms replicas. replicas.

Join u Join uss on on Facebook Facebook – “Team “Team ASG” ASG” http://www.facebook.com/actionsportgames h ttp://w w w.facebook.com/actionsportgames

GARETH ‘GADGE’ HARVEY

Gadge is our resident history buff and FilmSim fanatic. He has a passion for WWII, Nam-soft and Cold War gaming – but still ﬁnds time to ﬁt in an open-day skirmish

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WHILE COLD WAR WARRIORS IS AN EVER-POPULAR FEATURE IN AIRSOFT ACTION, WE FELT THAT SEEING IT’S OUR D-DAY ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL, WE’D TAKE A LOOK INSTEAD AT SOME OF THE CLASSIC KIT WORN BY THE BELLIGERENTS IN WWII.

D-DAY WARRIOR D-DAY SPECIAL

LONG-TERM READERS OF THIS COLUMN will be familiar with seeing elements of WWII equipment in service with “Cold War Warriors” well into the 1980s. Occasionally this will have been merely an expedient measure with some nations retaining the look of their WWII soldiery for traditional reasons as much as anything. The Russian rifleman of the 1960s, or the East German staff officer of the 70s looked surprisingly similar to their 40s counterparts. For the most part, however, after WWII most major nations moved away from bulky, sweaty and itchy wool battledress and tunics and adopted the late war American “layered” system. One could still see however, WWII uniform being worn by the many “client states” of the super-powers, as “hand-me-down” combat gear was used in the small wars of the 20th century. While the “Cold War” was quite stable in Europe, it was certainly more “hot” for those nations fighting the “3rd world war” by proxy in the jungles of South East Asia, or the plains of Africa. As aforementioned, nearly every nation began WWII with uniforms quite similar to those they had fought the last war with. Development of combat dress and equipment continued with almost unnatural speed during the war and by the end of the conflict most nations had special uniforms for tropical, arctic, summer or Special Forces use. Of important note are the US M42 paratrooper uniform and the later M43 US Uniform. Both of these dispensed with a heavy woollen suit and a cold weather greatcoat in favour of a “layered” system, which allowed a soldier to regulate his own body heat by removing sweaters, windproof layers, t-shirts and the like. Not only does nearly all modern combat dress now follow this pattern but equally, nearly all combat trousers and smocks are based on the US M42 paratrooper suit… cotton, baggy and with large capacious pockets on thighs, chest and arms to facilitate carrying extra ammo and rations. This month we’ll be looking at three classic impressions that could be seen during the post D-Day battles that raged across France, Germany and the Low Countries. While our examples are British, American and German combat clothing, it’s worth bearing in mind that nearly every allied force in Europe wore either UK or US dress and equipment (sometimes a mixture of both) and that while Germany’s allies often had their own uniforms, many (such as Spanish Volunteers) would wear largely standard German army uniform. Before we crack on into looking at the clothing and equipment of our D-Day warriors, I feel it’s only fair to add a fairly important historical footnote. Our example of German equipment is of a Waffen SS noncommissioned officer and unfortunately, despite what Stephen Spielberg would like you to believe in Saving Private Ryan, there were no SS units of any significant size around the D-Day beaches, or in fact in any strength in Normandy for some time. Hitler had not believed the invasion would happen (and certainly not that it would happen in Normandy, despite the advice of his best officers such as Rommel) and had kept back his elite Waffen SS units to try and stem the Soviet tide on the eastern front. Once it was clear that the allies were landing in force in Normandy, SS units were rushed at great speed towards the French coast. In one notorious case, “Das Reich”, the 2nd SS division committed terrible atrocities as “reprisals” for sabotage acts by the French resistance that had slowed their advance. The author’s German uniform is currently badged up as an NCO of the 9th SS “Hohenstaufen”, a division with a combat record thankfully free of war crimes and comprised from a largely conscript-based and slightly less fanatical division, specifically trained as an “anti-invasion” force. Regrettably this uniform was needed as SS for an event and we were unable to re-badge the uniform in time for our D-Day special back to its original (and more appropriate) “heer” or army markings. Despite this, it is worth remembering that the regular army and the Waffen SS differed little in their arms and equipment other than in terms of insignia and camouflage patterns.

THE BRITISH TOMMY Our first D-day warrior is representative of the classic British “Tommy” (so called from an example in an ancient paybook of a typical solider called Thomas Atkins). Our soldier here has only just got off the Normandy beachhead as can be ascertained by his inflatable life belt worn over his battledress and under his webbing; these were almost always discarded as soon as the soldier was safely ashore. As an interesting historical footnote, the British belt was worn high under the armpits so when inflated could keep a soldier laden with his equipment buoyant; the US belt was often worn by GIs around the waist and many men who found themselves overboard drowned as the weight of their equipment filliped them up and about the waist and forced them underwater! Over a collarless wool shirt (concealing his compressed fibre identity discs on a string around his neck) our Private wears serge 37 pattern battledress. At the time this short-waisted, two-piece combat uniform was quite revolutionary and incredibly stylish - being based on skiing and outdoor sports outfits that were popular in the late 30s; whereas in contrast most of the equipment worn by the other nations was of World War One or even 19th century design. Made for the army in a neutral khaki brown shade of course serge wool, battledress would be continually revised and streamlined during WWII with economy measures in place that would make production simpler and cheaper. Initial “37 pattern” battledress is notable by its concealed buttons and adjusting tabs at the ankle, in later versions the cloth “fly” over buttons and the pleating of pockets was deleted (as were the ankle tabs) to save cloth. WWW.AIRSOFT-ACTION.CO.UK

the wearer’s head and shortly before D-Day stocks of the new, deeper “turtle back” helmet began to be issued to assault troops. Also intended to combine with the scrim to camouflage the head and shoulders, is our soldier’s two-tone camo face veil; it is, however, shown here worn as neck scarf which, in period photos, seems to have been its most common use. One final item of protection is carried on a shoulder strap and hangs at our man’s back - the “lightweight assault respirator”. This compact gas mask replaced the earlier bulky “box respirator” of the 30s but saw little use as all sides refrained from any serious use of poison gas. Our Tommy goes to war with his trusty Lee Enfield No4 rifle. While the days of the bolt action rifle were beginning to come to a close, the No4 was perhaps the best bolt action in service at the time with its capacious ten round magazine, relatively quick to cycle bolt and incredibly accuracy. While it was removed from general service in the 1950s it would continue to soldier on with snipers in the British army up to the 80s and as the “L42” served in the Falklands War of 1982. While our Tommy represents any one of dozens of British divisions (a 1943 “invasion order” stating that all unit insignia should be removed from combat clothing was generally ignored) it is worth remembering that apart from some minor variations, the clothing and equipment worn here would be largely the same within Polish or Canadian (and some French) allied units.

US ARMY OFFICER

Revised again in 1949, battledress would serve the British soldier until the adoption of the 1950 and 1960 pattern field uniform based loosely on the US M43 system and could still be seen in some reserve and cadet units up until the 1970s. Of similar ‘modern’ origin was the British 37 pattern webbing. Contrary to popular belief, the British Army of the 1930s was entirely mechanised (in contrast to the Germans who were 85% horse drawn up until the end of the war) and a new set of webbing was devised for the “mechanised” soldier, in which a minimum of equipment would hang below the waist. Here our soldier wears “fighting order webbing” containing ammunition for the squad Bren light machine gun and his own rifle, a water bottle, bayonet, entrenching tool and his “small pack” with his rations and washing and cleaning equipment. As can be seen, the initial idea of no items being situated below the waist has not kept up with the reality of modern soldiering and items like the water bottle now hang off the belt, as there is simply not enough room for it anymore in his small pack. Constructed from a similar sturdy cotton weave to the webbing and equally camouflaged with “blanco” (olive green water-based paste) are the soldier’s anklets, which prevent stones and debris entering the tops of his hobnailed “ammo boots” and also prevent his trouser legs snagging on low bushes and brambles. Protecting our Tommie’s head is a MKII steel helmet covered with a camouflage net and scrim strips Based on the WWI “Brodie” design, the MKII was proving itself inadequate to modern warfare as its design was intended to protect an entrenched man from shell bursts from above… in mobile battles it did little to protect the sides and back of 22

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Our American officer typifies a junior officer from an infantry unit who has just fought his way ashore. While US webbing of the time was of WWI “1910 pattern” and somewhat awkward, US combat uniforms were far more comfortable than those of their commonwealth allies. Once again though, the core uniform here is the early war wool “mustard” trousers and collared wool shirt (usually worn with a tie but often dispensed with in combat), over which is worn an M41 field jacket of water repellent and windproof cloth with a soft wool lining. While the M41 jacket was eminently suitable for home service in the United States, by the time US troops had seen European winters it was becoming apparent a warmer combat jacket would be needed. Luckily the US army had a warmer “winter combat” uniform available in limited stocks (often known as the “tankers” uniform) and many soldiers tried their best to beg, borrow or steal one of these. Over the top of dark brown service shoes are worn high leg canvas gaiters to protect the lower leg and also (as with UK anklets) to deny ingress of debris to the shoe.

other allied helmet, with perhaps the exception of late war Russian models. Unlike commonwealth helmets, which had the liner screwed to the shell, the M1 could have its liner quickly removed and many men used the steel shell as a wash bowl or even a cooking pot; although the latter was frowned upon as it was believed the heat could damage its protective qualities. While our ofﬁcer is intended to represent an American junior ofﬁcer, his clothing and equipment, with subtle differences is largely the same as that worn by many Free French units, who were equipped and trained by the US.

SS NCO Our last D-Day warrior is a combat-hardened veteran of the Eastern Front, rushed to France to try and throw the allies back into the sea. Much of our soldier’s uniform and equipment is of older manufacture that would not have been out of place in the early stages of the war and was, by this time becoming scarce except amongst veteran soldiers. As with our other examples, wool forms the basis of his fighting uniform. His SS pattern M40 field grey (or “feldgrau”) suit is cut in the traditional German style that would still be seen in a mutated form in the East German army of the 1980s. A long-skirted, high-necked tunic is paired with loose fitting trousers. While his smock covers most of his tunic’s detail and the four pockets on breast and hips, you can see the collar of his jacket, on which are the “sig”, or victory runes of the SS and the pips marking him out as a “Oberscharfuhrer” or “Senior Squad Leader” and the silver braid that edged the collars of all German NCOs. The field grey “kielhosen” trousers are tucked into calf high “marching boots” but by this time, critical leather shortages in Germany (which lead some non-load bearing belts to be made of compressed cardboard!) had made the ankle boot and gaiter setup similar to our British solider far more common.

While in theory a good idea, the gaiters were unpopular with US troops as they take some time to take on and off. Some combat veterans dispensed with them entirely whenever they could and many Ranger units cut them down to a five inch length rather than full calf. Later in the war the US army would issue a sturdy combat boot with an integral leather anklet that was not only popular but formed the template for the combat boots for dozens of nations after WWII. Our officer wears the “improved” M1910 webbing. Here a pistol belt is worn from which hang a compass pouch, first aid “carlisle dressing” pouch, water bottle and pistol holster for his privately purchased Smith and Wesson revolver. To help support the weight of his equipment suspenders are worn to spread the load to the shoulders; these were less necessary with a pistol belt than they were for, for example, a BAR automatic rifle gunner but many officers wore them regardless. One major flaw with US webbing of WWII is that each weapon in an infantry company had its own belt designed to carry ammunition for *only* that rifle and so a separate belt was made for riflemen, BAR gunners and those armed with pistols or SMGS. In this case our man is armed with a Thompson sub machine gun (which by this time was proving quite a venerable and serviceable, if expensive, option and would later be replaced with the cheaper and disliked M3 “grease gun”) and carries his 30 round magazines in a side bag. Nearly all the items are clearly stamped “US” and “GI” (purportedly “Government Issue”) earning the US soldier the nickname GI to many civilians. For personal protection our captain wears a US M1 steel helmet with its separate compressed fibre liner. The M1 was an excellent design offering far better protection than any 24

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Our NCO’s webbing is of almost 19th century design and beginning to show its failings by this stage of the war. Its leather construction could cause it to crack and dry out and the multitude of metal-upon-metal fittings and its tendency to fall apart if not fastened up tightly, made it somewhat unsuitable to modern war. Our Oberscharfuhrer’s webbing consists of twin ammunition pouches for his much prized and effective MP40 sub machine gun (many allied soldiers would “acquire” these whenever they could, as they were reliable, reasonably accurate and ammunition was easy to source), a K98 rifle bayonet to use as a general purpose combat knife and a “bread bag” for his rations and personal equipment. Clipped to the back of his bread bag is his water bottle with its small steel cup. Our soldier is lightly equipped and would have more substantial equipment stored on unit transport, left there before going on a fighting patrol. Tucked into his leather belt is a soft “overseas” cap and into his boot is an “offensive” stick grenade with a fairly small blast radius compared to allied grenades. Its design however did allow it to be thrown for considerable distances and it relied more on explosive blast than fragmentation, allowing it to be safely thrown on the assault. Slung over our man’s shoulder is a bulky corrugated steel respirator tin. By the time of the D-Day landings few German soldiers still carried their gas masks but the tin itself made a useful waterproof and “bash proof” container in which to keep food (or perhaps a bottle of spirits!). The German armed forces of WWII are credited with revolutionising many aspects of warfare and perhaps the most important of those is camouflage. Our NCO here wears a camouflage smock in “oakleaf” pattern (five or six different variants of the smock exist) and this was one of the first times in which camouflage clothing was issued on a large scale. As the war progressed many more items like caps, trousers, parkas, helmet covers and tent parts would be constructed in camouflage by the Germans, whereas camouflage clothing was somewhat rare with the allies. Of particular note is that our man’s smock is reversible, shown here with the green “Spring” side out and the inner, more brown shaded “Autumn” side concealed. Perhaps the most successful item worn about our soldier’s person is his M35 pattern “stalhelm” steel helmet. This design had been proved time and time again to offer the best protection of all the helmets of WWII and it’s interesting to note that many modern Kevlar helmets have adopted the “fritz” shape; the design serving in dozens of nations armies today. Shown here with a “Normandy” pattern overspray of sand and dark green it was commonly camouflaged with cloth covers, netting or wire.

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THE LONGEST DAY IN THE FIRST OF TWO VIEWS BY TWO DIFFERENT WRITERS, NORMANDY SPECIALIST MATT LIMB OBE ASKS: “WAS D-DAY WELL-PLANNED, OR WERE THE ALLIES JUST PLAIN LUCKY?” MUCH HAS BEEN WRITTEN ABOUT THAT EPIC DAY in World War Two, the 6th June 1944 (better and more famously known as “D-Day”), as military scholars and historians have studied the day plus the ensuing Normandy Campaign for almost seven decades. It has been the subject of some of our greatest war films, ‘The Longest Day’ which I would regard as a documentary and less of a film, even with its factual errors; ‘Saving Private Ryan’ the opening sequence of which is without doubt as accurate as you will find in any film; and finally, and maybe one of my favorites, ‘The Band of Brothers’ following Easy Company from the US 101 Airborne Division. Whilst their story of D-Day is only one of the many episodes (appropriately called ‘A Day of Days’) it is also a documentary but this time at the very tactical level.

By and large the majority of popular books, films and other media give D-Day the big thumbs up as a great success; and in truth, it was. By night fall the allies had five beachheads established - but not all as secure as planned and a division of troops were on the wrong beach! Within hours four of the beaches had linked up to expand the beach area - but the troops were now stretched and exposed. Very few films show the fact that it did not go according to plan. At this point I stress and fully accept that very few military plans survive first contact with the enemy and yes, it must have been a daunting task knowing that the Germans had over fifty divisions stationed in France and the Allies could only deploy about eight divisions to assault on D-Day; and that was after crossing the English Channel having been delayed for over 24 hours and all done in some of the worst weather in the previous 40 odd years… To quote Wellington after The Battle of Waterloo some 129 years earlier; “It was a damn close-run thing” but whether it was victory from the brink of failure or (if you read the journals and biographies of the Generals) the intended plan, we should never forget that D-Day and the Normandy campaign did what was

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intended; open a second front on mainland Europe. Which in turn bought the Second World War in Europe to an end in less than a year. But how did we succeed on that day now seventy years ago? What was the secret tactic against such overwhelming odds that allowed the allies to eventually breakout of the compressed Normandy beachhead and push onto Paris and into the Low Countries? We cannot dispute that in terms of troops on the ground we were outnumbered and in terms of equipment the Germans also had the advantage. So what was it that gave the allies the edge? I have come to the conclusion that the allied strength on D-Day and in the early days to establish the beachhead, was in fact due (in part) to the Germanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s weaknesses. Firstly the German command and control system; this was divided and ineffective resulting in a lack of control and the ability to move forces at the very time it needed to do so. The overall commander in the west (of the German army) was Field Marshall von Rundstedt. He was a highly professional ofďŹ cer of the old tradition coming from a respected family, his father having fought in the Franco Prussian war as a cavalry ofďŹ cer. Under him and commanding the Atlantic Wall was Field Marshal Erwin Rommel but Rommel had direct access to Adolf Hitler, so risked undermining his superior. Rundstedt and Rommel both disagreed on the way troops should be deployed in the event of an invasion. Rommel believed that they must attack and destroy the enemy as they were embarking onto the beaches, the moment they set foot on mainland Europe and to not let them establish a foothold. Whereas Rundstedt believed that by allowing the invasion to happen and then attacking, the allies could not pull back and they would be totally destroyed, plus there was no risk withdrawing and preparing for another day. Both plans can be regarded as feasible but both required fast movement (and freedom of movement) by the German forces to engage the allies. Due to this bickering the control of all the Panzer divisions and eventually the reserves, was taken by Hitler and nothing could move without his personal

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feature D-DAY ANNIVERSARY | LUCK OR JUDGMENT?

approval. The result? On D-Day a Panzer division was sat waiting to move in Normandy. It was more than capable of stalling, if not stopping, the allied invasion but Rundstedt could not order them to move as he did not have the authority. The Panzers sat most of the day waiting for the order to move and that order did not come as no one wanted to wake Hitler and ask him. By the time they did the allies were ashore! Another classic advantage the allies had over the Germans in the summer of 1944 was the effective use of accurate intelligence gathering, especially that great factor that has won and lost so many battles; the weather. The allies spent great time and effort in generating accurate and reliable Met Reports and, despite the 24 hours delay in initiating D-Day, it was a Met Briefing, at four in the morning on 5 June 1944, that convinced Eisenhower the Channel crossing could be done and he said “OK, let’s go”. At the same time, Rommel looked at the weather and decided as it was so bad, there was no threat of invasion and traveled home to Bavaria for his wife’s birthday. If Rommel had received a more accurate met briefing and been in Normandy on D-Day, with command of the Panzer division, given his strength, courage and leadership, the outcome on the day may have been very different. Another area where the Germans showed weakness was in the reliance of fixed defenses - that is the use of concrete-built defensive positions, rather than mobile units with the ability to counter any enemy’s movement. Fixed defensive positions may be well and good but once the enemy have pushed past, which they will eventually - even if the cost is high - the enemy have the advantage and freedom of movement. This can be seen clearly on Omaha beach, known as “bloody Omaha” for the high level of casualties. The first wave of Americans landing at 06:30 struggled to even wade ashore; which is so well portrayed in the opening

sequence of Saving Private Ryan. Much of the first wave became casualties from the German fixed defenses on the back of the beach. But by the time the third and fourth wave came ashore a weakness in that fixed defense had been found. After this it did not take long for the Americans to simply get round the back of the German defensive line then destroy it, allowing wave after wave to come ashore almost unopposed. So much for the allies taking advantages of German weaknesses. If we want to look at a successful allied plan on D-Day, then look no further than the use of airborne troops to shatter the German’s cohesion. On the very dawn of D-Day three allied Airborne Divisions (two American and one British) parachuted and dropped by gliders into Normandy. Between them lay some sixty miles of Normandy Coastline that in a few hours would see landing craft assault the beaches. The British airborne role was to prevent any German advance from the east with a tank screen (which proved very effective in the late afternoon of D-Day), so protecting the exposed flank of the troops assaulting the beaches. Plus the famous action in taking and securing the bridges over the River Orne and the Caen Canal, now better known as “Pegasus Bridge”. The American’s task was somewhat different, they had to secure the roads that came away from Utah Beach, effectively the exit roads off the beach, in what could have been a flooded area and secure a main north-south road linking Normandy and the port of Cherbourg. It was during this parachute drop that the very first American soldier died on D-Day; he was in the 82nd Airborne Division and just twenty-eight years old. Lieutenant Robert Mathias stood in the door of the aircraft, about to jump, when he sustained a shrapnel wound in the chest. Without hesitation he ordered his sixteen men to follow him as he jumped from the plane and died mid-air. One final great strength the allies used was surprise. Surprise is fundamental in any military action and a massive effort was put into it for D-Day; to the extent that Hitler was reluctant to release any additional reserves to Normandy as he was convinced it was a feint and that the true invasion would come from The Straits of Dover to Calais in the next few days! The great deception plan was called “Operation Fortitude”, with dummy or inflatable tanks and aircraft sat on dummy airfields plus dummy landing craft in the Thames estuary. Add to this radio traffic reporting to a ‘false’ army headquarters, The British Fourth Army, based in Edinburgh Castle. If we add to this the use of many double agents feeding information and the controlled leaking of messages via the diplomatic services into neutral countries, knowing it would get back to Berlin. Then finally in late May 1944 in the final preparations for D-Day more bombing was carried out in the Calais area then in Normandy, to further strength the deception plan. A plan that is impossible to quantify or measure in how many hours, or days, it gained the allies in getting ashore on 6th June. But did we, the allies, get it right all the time on D-Day? If we are to read the accounts of the Generals they tend to paint a different picture of the day’s events from the factual account; often with the phrase “but that was my intent”. For D-Day we are lucky to have a great account of the day’s events from a highly respected radio broadcaster, Chester Wilmot, who wrote ‘The Struggle for Europe’ in the 1950s. To put this into context; Chester Wilmot landed in Normandy in the early hours of D-Day by glider with the British 6th Airborne Division. On that morning, as a War Correspondent, he was given the famous Red Beret to wear and soon became one of the best-known and famous of all the correspondents reporting from Europe. He was trusted by many of the generals and continued covering many of the major British operations; including recording the ceremony at Lüneberg on 4th May 1945, in which German forces surrendered to Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery. But if we read his book and chapters covering D-Day, he is very critical of the tactics and action of the British. First in losing the moment when coming off Sword beach and, as many reported,

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feature D-DAY ANNIVERSARY | LUCK OR JUDGMENT?

crossing the beach was not so great a problem, casualties were taken but not the great numbers expected. But once off the beach and into the assembly areas, many troops simply paused, at the very moment when they had the initiative to press forward and take the city of Caen, which was their objective for D-Day. Chester Wilmot is very clear that the lack of forward momentum resulted in a delay on clearing the beaches and a near stalling of the whole beach operation. The end result being Caen was not taken on D-Day and not taken for several weeks, which in turn caused a rift between the Americans and British forces; with the Americans accusing the British of being over-cautious, and not putting their all into it. But maybe the most telling in all of Chester Wilmot’s book is a simple sentence “The Cross Channel assault of 1944 would certainly have been defeated if the Germans had not been ﬁghting with the Russians on their backs.” But for now, on the 70th anniversary of D-Day, as we remember and honor the men who gave so much, in a very short campaign that cost so many lives, we should not beat ourselves with a big stick. Whatever the politics and events of D-Day and the Normandy Campaign, in that ‘fog of war’ we should remember the success: A second front was opened in Europe. To achieve that, over two million service personnel were to be part of Operation Overlord which, for the maritime phase involved almost 7,000 Naval ships with over 195,000 sailors. D-Day bought the US into the Battle for Europe and it is worth remembering that the only nation Germany declared war on was America. Finally, remember from 6th June 1944 to May 1945, in Europe, the Allies lost 200,000 dead and 550,000 wounded. I urge you all to pause… Think and remember the many who fought and paid the ultimate price in the summer of 1944 in Normandy.

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FIREFIGHT AT LONGMOOR LES LEE FINALLY GETS HIS CHANCE TO SAMPLE THE DELIGHTS OF THIS GREAT SITE AS HE REPORTS FROM FIREFIGHT COMBAT SIMULATION’S RECENT EVENT HELD AT LONGMOOR CAMP. FOR THOSE OF YOU THAT DON’T KNOW OUR EDITOR NIGE, he is a bit of a joker, so when he called and asked me if I would like to go along to report on Firefight Combat Simulations (FCS) at Longmoor Camp, I thought he was once again pulling my leg.... but he wasn’t, so my reply was a bit of a two word no brainer… HELL YEAH!!! I had been waiting forever to get my grubby mitts on this place to carry out a review and experience for myself what was, up until now, just a warming mix of hearsay and fantasy which stirred within and an ever increasing desire to go exploring into the real world of military training in a genuine MOD facility. A rare opportunity to actually feel what our British troops have to endure as just a part of their basic training and indeed the ongoing re-training to keep their professional skills honed and their reflexes sharp for when their lives and those around them need these skills to be flawless in every way, as repetition is critical to mission success. You only have to see and remember how the US Navy Seal Team Six rehearsed over and over and over again for their assignment to capture the world’s number one most wanted terrorist not so long ago and it was undoubtedly down to practice, practice, practice that they stayed safe and all lived happily ever, unlike their target who wasn’t quite so lucky. Anyway, I digress somewhat. For those new to our world, a little history lesson. Longmoor Military Camp is a British Army training camp and training area on the A3 between Liss and Liphook in Hampshire, England. The village of Greatham lies to the south. The camp includes Nissen huts, a school house, messing facilities, cinema and theatre. The main street of the camp is built on an ancient Roman road, the Chichester to Silchester Way. The training areas consist of 1783 hectares of wooded areas, heath, wetlands and hard standings. The majority of the area is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest and forms part of the European designated Wealden Heaths Special Protection Area and Special Area of Conservation.

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Event REPORT FCS AT LONGMOOR

“When the game commenced I was like a rabid dog let loose and I soon found that aforementioned adrenaline coming under control after hearing those satisfying twin ‘thwacks’ of a double-tap ﬁnding a torso”

The camp was formerly home to 79 Railway Squadron (United Kingdom) and other elements of the Royal Engineers and Longmoor Military Railway formerly connected the camp to the mainline rail network, but was closed in 1969. For our needs with Airsoft, the skirmish area available to us is restricted to UTC or Urban Training Centre which has a large village for F.I.B.U.A (Fighting In Built Up Areas), D.I.B.U.A. (Defence In Built Up Area) or C.Q.B (Close Quarter Battles) offering street to street, door to door battles and hard standings and providing you with the ultimate military simulation experience. Whether it’s breaching a building or a covert patrol through the woods to steal the enemy objectives, Longmoor provides the ultimate training facility. Upon arrival, we were greeted at the gate by the FCS guys who booked us in against the pre-booking list and I felt that I was indeed in a fortified MOD facility. Andy Jansen and his crew that make FCS so damn good are Pros. They have been doing this for a very long time now and have their fingers in many tactical pies, so it was somewhat comforting to know that our entry into this commissioned military training establishment was being scrutinised. So in effect, our Longmoor military day really did start at the gate where we were escorted to our designated safe zone and briefing room via a winding road, past barracks and those we try to emulate...yes, real Soldiers! This was indeed a humbling moment for me as I looked over at these men and women who fight for our country and do so with such courage and honour and it really put a lot of things in perspective for me in relation to our own mediocre lives. At least we can go home after work each day and are not likely to have a 7.62 x 39 piece of lead find its way into our life where it could so easily switch off the lights for a person indefinitely. Back to the briefing; as is usual with FCS, the teams were split into black and camo. of equal numbers (oh the beauty of pre-booking) and in the designated briefing room the rules and the games for the day were thoroughly explained with Andy’s charismatic briefing delivery system which always raised a chuckle and thus creating a warm, friendly atmosphere which was nice to see. Some briefings that I have seen in my travels and experienced over the years actually seem to demoralise some Airsoft troopers before the game starts, due to the (fortunately) rare few that believe they are a real life RSM on duty on the day. I have to say that this is one of FCS’s strengths as it is such a super friendly club which extends out into the arena.

The players were escorted to the combat zone past a tank, helicopter, armoured car, compounds of varying objectives and purpose and down into what was effectively a small town known as The Village. Emmerdale this was not as burnt out cars festooned the streets and ‘twas pretty clear that this was not the kind of place that felt anything like a cozy little hamlet! It was more like a scene from Northern Ireland back in the ‘70s. The teams were simultaneously released for the multi-objective morning game....and all hell broke loose! As the marksmen positioned themselves in strategic positions and slowly but surely started making their opponents raise their hands in silent surrender and commence the walk of shame back to regen, the more athletic team members could be seen scurrying in one side of a building like rats. A couple of pops rang out and then they hot-footed it into the house next door, clearing room by room. I was soon to discover that there are so many dark corners, even us non-combatants were anything but safe from close hits. And so the game went on and I was excited to see that as the players warmed up, so did the intensity of the game play. At one point it was taken up onto the train track (yes there is a train on a track, didn’t I mention that?) which gave a tactical advantage to some and let’s face it, what Ticket Collector is going to challenge a man in combats with a gun (albeit a RIF)? There was most certainly no shortage of BFGs being used in the houses and many a bell was rung courtesy of the structural acoustics of real brick houses. Midday came all too quick as this game play was fast and furious and doesn’t time fly when you’re having fun! Irrespective of the frequent downpours (which simply encouraged the fighting to continue inside the buildings so this only served to enhance the CQB experience for all), many smiling faces returned to the briefing/rest area where the guys from Badgertac 2 were displaying their wares, and a very good selection it was too. I would certainly recommend a visit to see B’TAC 2 if you are anywhere near Essex as they carry an extensive and varied range at what were equally very competitive prices and, as is often the case, if they haven’t got it they can almost certainly get it. Now for me I found myself in a place where FCS had taken me before. On a previous visit to REHAB, I will never forget the sheer quantity of adrenaline flowing through my veins and I had to drive home feeling stoked but at a loss on how to relinquish this overwhelming urge to shoot someone! So with this in mind, it was time to put my camera away and grab my two favourite pistols.

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Once kitted up I joined the PM briefing and the camo. team. I was so excited that I actually missed Andy clarifying the points of the stages of the afternoon game as I just wanted to shoot anyone not wearing camo. So in that respect I was irresponsible, however when the game commenced I was like a rabid dog let loose and I soon found that aforementioned adrenaline coming under control after hearing those satisfying twin ‘thwacks’ of a double-tap finding a torso. Equally, my trips to the regen were a-plenty; guess I was a little rusty but I have to say that this was seriously intense fighting, my favourite kind as it takes you to a higher place and keeps you there. Yes I just love CQB! I would like to make an observation about one of the players who quite literally stood out in this urban complex of similar sized structures. His name is Pete, or “Big Pete” as he is known. If you have seen this guy then you will know exactly why he is called Big Pete as he makes Mr T look like an anorexic gnome on a diet in comparison, complete with a Mohican haircut. He was the kind of guy that you want on your team as not only was he a dynamic and highly motivated player with a grenade launching SCAR in one hand and a Dessert Eagle in the other, he could provide cover for half a team from incoming fire, a scenario often seen when troops follow in the shadow of a tank thus avoiding rounds! But don’t let his 22inch guns (biceps and triceps) fool you or scare you, he is one of the nicest guys you could meet. I can only imagine that he must take a heck of a lot of hits as there isn’t much that he can do in the way of taking cover - he is bigger than most of the surrounding buildings already! I would, in the strongest possible terms, urge anyone that has an opportunity to play at Longmoor to do so because this is one place that everyone should skirmish in their Airsofting lifetime. It doesn’t get any better or realistic than this and if it’s good enough for our military, then I fail to see how anyone could be left wanting. I cannot see how anyone could not have one of the most exhilarating tactical Airsoft experiences ever in The Village.

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eVENT RePORT FCS AT LONGMOOR

One final note, make sure that you pack a hearty lunch and plenty of fluids and more importantly, load up on carbohydrates before you leave home, as this is one very physically demanding game day and you will want your energy levels at their peak as you will need to be firing on all cylinders both physically and mentally throughout. And if at any point you think that you are seeing a brick out-house moving, don’t think that you have had your energy drink spiked with some type of hallucinogenic substance, it’s probably just Big Pete changing his shooting stance… Les OUT!

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SUPPRESS, FLANK, DESTROY! KRIS ROBERTS OFFERS ADVICE TO NEW PLAYERS THAT WILL HELP THEM GET THE BEST OUT OF EVERY GAME It was a bad spot to be in, pinned down behind a small hut with at least half a dozen guns trained on my position. I was playing as a medic for the game and trying my best to get to two of my fellow team mates who were standing just a short distance away with their hands in the air. Short distance...Pah! With the amount of rounds that were slamming into the woodwork just inches from my head, it may as well have been a hundred yards! I looked around for help, for someone to lay down support ﬁre but there was no one. Moments ago my entire team was here, at least ten players and I had only heard a couple of them get hit. Where were they? I couldn’t see a thing from this angle, so I shufﬂed to peer around the other side of the hut. I edged my way to

the corner and Wham! Three shots smacked into my forehead and knocked me out of the game. As I was making my way back to the respawn point I passed by some of the other huts that we were tasked to defend and there, huddled together far from the ﬁghting, were seven of my team mates. Seven! Hiding behind cover that was barely big enough for two! It seemed that as soon as the opposing team had launched their attack this group had fallen back to the rear and taken cover and, as such, allowed the attackers to roll over those of us at the front in a matter of minutes. A quick look and I could tell that all of these players were new to the sport and I’ll admit that it wound me up when I could see the multitude of options that they had open to them if they just spread out, pushed the ﬂanks, used all of the available cover to create a defensive line, etc. Anything, other than just hiding behind one small hut and waiting to get hit. But I quickly realised that I was being unfair. I’ve been playing for sixteen years and like many other long-term players these options seem obvious. It’s an ability to read the terrain and the situation that has come from countless victories and defeats on the

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playing ﬁeld. Years ago games were smaller and less intense when you considered the number of players and guns on the ﬁeld at any one time. Because of this we’ve had time to grow our skills as the game evolved into what it is today. Nowadays, new players are given a gun and dropped in the deep end with the expectation to keep up and think like those who’ve been playing for years. That’s not fair in any sport, and as Airsoft seems to be growing and attracting more and more players each year, I think we should take a little time to properly welcome the new guys with a little basic training. So, to get the ball rolling, here are a few ideas that I think should be in every player’s box of tricks.

Aggressive, Defensive and Passive Play. At any game, these are the three styles of play that you will see players adopt. Aggressive play is when you see a player taking the fight to the opposition. They will push forward, seize objectives, drive the enemy back and overwhelm them with firepower. An aggressive team will work to keep their target suppressed and ineffective while they close in for the kill. Defensive play is when a player is in a static location and is denying the position to the enemy. They will find the most effective use of cover and set up fields of fire which overlap with those of their team mates. These will provide kill zones and block the path of any attackers. Defenders will also ensure that they position themselves so that they protect their team mates, creating an all-round defence to ward off flanking attacks. Passive play is when a player is being neither aggressive nor defensive. They place themselves out of the line of fire and therefore are unable to contribute to the action. They don’t fire their weapon, nor do they deter the opposition with their presence. Unlike the others, a passive player will not be working to achieve an individual task or team objective and, as such, becomes a lost asset to the their team. When engaged in a fire fight, ask yourself what are your

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feature A BEGINNER’S GUIDE

objectives and what style of play should you adopt to meet your goals? If you and the team mates around you understand this simple idea then you can think and act effectively. Most importantly, do not ﬁnd yourself in the passive role whenever possible. Look at the opening example; I was pinned down and unable to move, but I was actively looking for a way to medic my team mates. I was in no way being passive. The opposing team knew this, which was why I had attracted so much attention and had drawn so much ﬁre. The passive play came from my own team mates who didn’t take advantage of the situation by either supporting me as a medic, or launching a counter attack on the enemy as they were focused on me.

Effective Use of Covering Fire. When used correctly, covering fire can be the deciding factor in either attacking or defending games. You do not have to score a direct hit on a player to render them ineffective. By pinning an opposing player down they are unable to return accurate fire against you or your team mates, allowing members of your team to move into a position where they can get the final hit on target. Flanking is probably the most beneficial way of maximising the effect of suppressive fire. When an opposing playing is pinned down they naturally lose sight of the battle. Seize advantage of this and move around the enemy’s position to attack from a new angle. By opening a second front you force the enemy to split their defensive fire over a wider arc, therefore diluting its effect. You also reduce the amount of cover available to them. “Bounding” (or “Leapfrogging” as it is often called) can be a very effective way of moving over open patches of ground. While one player provides a burst of suppressive fire towards the enemy position, another will run forward a short way before taking cover and laying down their own support fire for their team mate to move forward. It’s simply a case of repeating the action as many times as needed to get to where you want to be. These basic ideas of fire and manoeuvre are simple as chips, but they get the job done. You’ll be surprised by how much they aren’t used on the skirmish field, but when they are, the effect is fantastic.

The Needs of Your Team Mates. Working as a team is vital in Airsoft and, as such, you must work with the mindset to protect your teammates - and for them to protect you. Take the opening of this article as an example again. If those seven players had spread themselves over a wider distance, using all of the various cover that was available, they would have created a strong defensive line in which they could have protected each other and stopped the attackers advance. The medics would have had a much greater freedom of movement, supported in their efforts by the larger area of covering fire that had been created. Think of this; if you see two players behind the same piece of cover and engaging the same target, then one of those players is completely redundant. If they were to separate, even if only by a matter of metres, then they would have two separate angles of fire on the target and the target’s area of cover is reduced. Bear in mind also that two players standing side by side is a very juicy and easy target for the enemy to take out. Don’t give them that opportunity. Be aware of the location you’re in and how it is vulnerable to attack. Imagine yourself as one of the attackers and look for the weak points in your defence. Don’t allow your team to become focused on one area where the action is currently taking place, watch your flanks and be prepared for the surprise attack. You must use whatever assets are available, be they solid cover or a naturally defensive line in the terrain and use them as part of your armoury. Force the opposing team to take risks and cover open ground. Done properly, there is no reason why ten players couldn’t hold off fifty, it all depends on team cooperation.

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feature A BEGINNER’S GUIDE

INFORMATION ARE YOU A NEW PLAYER THAT FEELS A LITTLE OUT OF THEIR DEPTH? DO YOU FEEL THAT YOU WOULD BENEFIT FROM A LITTLE BASIC TRAINING? WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE TRAINING SESSIONS IMPLEMENTED AT YOUR LOCAL SITE, OR EVEN LARGER TRAINING DAYS MADE AVAILABLE NATIONALLY? VISIT OUR FACEBOOK PAGE AND SHARE YOUR VIEWS, WE’D LOVE TO HEAR WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY. WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/AIRSOFTACTION

The Whites of Their Eyes. It’s a sad truth that most players suffer from premature trigger pull in their early days. Hunkered down and in the perfect ambush position, nerves and excitement often overrule judgement and the player will open fire before the opposition is fully in range. Lobbing rounds and walking the stream of BBs onto target is more a sign of desperation than that of a skilled and capable player. In an ambush situation your first rounds must hit their mark, especially if there is more than one player to target. Surprise is the key to any ambush and you should only fire when you can catch the opposition at their most vulnerable. Draw them in as close as you dare and you stand more chance of success. A great way to prepare for this is to spend time on the range and get to know the capabilities of your gun. Its range, its rate of fire, how quickly the rounds travel through the air, all of these things can help you make decisions in the field. Without this information you’re simply guessing.

Don’t be Obvious This really is the simplest thing but it amazes me how much it is overlooked. Try always to think tactically and don’t behave in a manner which is obvious to the other team. Stay off the beaten track; don’t attack along the line of least resistance. If there is a clear path through an area of thick thorny bush then be aware that any opposing player with his head screwed on would have seen it too, as a means of ambushing you! Finding another way, a harder way, may often seem tedious and unnecessary but they are often the quickest path to victory. Be willing to face a few hardships if you want to get that all important hit on target. Remember also to maintain a state of self protection. Don’t stand in the open when there’s a tree to provide you cover. Don’t stand when you can crouch, don’t crouch when you can lay prone. When your magazine is out of ammo you’re defenceless while you change it out; duck down out of the line of ﬁre and don’t shout out your predicament at the top of your voice like your Ross Kemp, it’s just inviting trouble. 40

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Again, simple and primitive ideas. But these make up the basic foundations and to master these will see a deﬁnitive improvement in your skills, much to the annoyance of the opposing team.

Always the Student This article is about me sharing my own personal observations from my time in Airsoft, but it is far from being complete. It doesn’t matter how long a player has been involved in the sport, there is always something else to learn. A new idea or a skill to be honed, this is part of the joy that comes from playing Airsoft. Speak to the veteran players at your site and see what pearls of wisdom they have to offer and who knows, they may learn something new from you too. You may be a new player, but you are still a player none the less. From the moment you step onto the ﬁeld with gun in hand you are an Airsofter, one that is at the start of a long and addictive journey. With all the shiny distractions that come in the form of the guns you ﬁre and the kit you wear, don’t lose focus of what is at the core of our sport and the experience you have with it. The day you have depends entirely on the effort you put in and no amount of gear will ever substitute for a strong mindset and a willingness to learn. Victory is yours if you want it.

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THE NET CLOSES ONCE AGAIN JAMES PHILLIPS FINDS HIMSELF EMBEDDED AS STIRLING AIRSOFT OPERATIONS CONTINUE IN THE CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC THE CHOPPER CAME IN FAST AND LOW… Very fast and very low! Almost skidding across the sky the pilot fought to keep the craft in the air, ﬁghting against both the buffeting winds and torrential downpour. With its tail high in the air as it dipped below the ridge line and was lost from view. More than one heart missed a beat as the seconds passed, until it burst back into view and settled on the edge of a small plateau, balanced precariously both against the wind and sloping ground beneath its skids. Although there had been no obvious sign of life, ﬁgures emerged from hiding and made their way cautiously but with as much speed as possible toward the waiting craft, weapons at the ready in case of attack. One man, surrounded by four others, shepherded into the open

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side and strapped firmly into place between two guards; a third sat in the front next to the pilot. They had been looking for this individual for a long, long time and now they had him, they were making certain he would not get away again. As the craft lifted off and headed back to the FOB (Forward Operating Base) down in the valley below, I took a few moments to think back over the frantic events of the last couple of days. Nearly three years earlier I had been inserted into a Task Force as they attempted to clear fighters in the Bousso Region of Chad. I narrowly missed being killed by an IED and had been taken for interrogation by the rebel forces. Fearing that my sympathies were becoming a bit “confused” I had been quietly side-lined and, until a few days ago, believed I had been forgotten. Then the phone rang… Forty-eight hours later I was in the Central African Republic, being shaken around in an old Jeep as the 4x4 bounced and pounded its way up a slope to the FOB. Nestled in a small dip, with a steep slope to the rear and a large open area to the front, the FOB was in a good defensive position and well-hidden from the surrounding peaks and ridges. I instantly recognised the figure standing beside a well-armed Land Rover. It was the same Base Commander from Busso and when we met a few minutes later, he was quick to say there would be no “midnight solo walkabouts” for me tonight! The sun was warming the ground but this area had seen substantial rain over the last few weeks and, looking down the valley I could see an ominous wall of cloud and rain creeping slowly towards us. Grabbing a much-needed coffee I made my way into the Ops Tent to listen-in on the first briefing of the day. Operation: Altair was to be a “Capture or Kill” mission with the prime objective being to capture two of the most sought-after terrorists; Hasan Brahim (Bravo 1) and Oli Farook Kaboom (Bravo 2). Hasam Brahim was one nasty piece of work – he made Uday Hussein, Sadam’s eldest son, seem positively angelic and when he was known to be in the same vicinity as Farook Kaboom, it could only mean one thing - big trouble. However, it also meant

Event Review STIRLING AIRSOFT – OPERATION: ALTAIR

INFORMATION

“Landing at the top of a steep slope, the assault troops demounted and fanned out into an all-round defensive position as the aircraft quickly departed, before moving up onto a plateau overlooking the camp.”

an opportunity to grab them both together. On a personal note, I would be glad the see the back of Farook Kaboom as it was widely believed that he was responsible for the IED in Busso that so nearly did for me. However, the terrain surrounding their suspected location, in the vicinity of Vakaga, was made up of valleys and high plateau and almost impossible to assault on foot, which meant the whole operation would be conducted from armoured vehicles supported by two helicopter-borne teams. The heli teams would head out first, on a full Reconnaissance Patrol of the area from the air, to locate any camps and training areas, whilst gathering intelligence on potential opposition strength and disposition. On successful identification of confirmed targets a full assault would immediately be launched on the location. I don’t know if it was luck, timing or just over-confidence on the part of the terrorists that no one would find them this deep in the country but it wasn’t long before the choppers were back and the news that the target’s camp had been spotted spread round the FOB. TL’s were briefed, weapons were checked and double-checked and an air of quiet expectation seemed to permeate the Base as men readied themselves for the mission, knowing their opposition would prefer to be martyred rather than stop fighting. The heli-troops would lead the assault by securing an area immediately adjacent to the camp and supporting the ground troops as they moved in. With final checks complete, men and weapons were loaded into the vehicles and aircraft. Engines were started and the final signal given to launch the operation – just as a storm struck with such ferocity that, at first, it seemed as though the mission might have to be aborted. Then the wind eased just enough and the helicopters lifted from the ground and flew off into the driving rain. Landing at the top of a steep slope, the assault troops demounted and fanned out into an all-round defensive position as the aircraft quickly departed, before moving up onto a plateau overlooking the camp. I was with the first ground troops to arrive and we rapidly followed them upwards. It may have been a plateau but it was certainly not flat! Probably as the result of a previous bombardment, the whole area was pitted with craters, now filled with foliage and providing excellent hiding places for both men - and IEDs! I could see a group of assault troops on the far side, surrounding a figure that I recognised from the morning’s briefing; Hasan Brahim – Bravo 1!

STIRLING AIRSOFT RUN A NUMBER OF WEEKEND MILSIM EVENTS THROUGH THE YEAR, AS WELL AS TRAINING COURSES AND A SCALED-DOWN VERSION OF THE FAMOUS SAS “SELECTION”. OPERATION: ALTAIR WAS PART OF AN ONWARD-DEVELOPING STORY LINE THAT DEPENDS ON THE OUTCOME OF PREVIOUS EVENTS AND WILL CONTINUE. THE WHOLE EVENT WAS FILMED BY FILM MAKER STEVE REYNOLDS AND WILL BE MADE INTO A DVD. FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT UPCOMING EVENTS IN BOTH THE UK AND SPAIN, VISIT WWW.STIRLINGAIRSOFT.COM

The mission’s prime target had been captured! Before there was any chance of a counter-attack a chopper was called in and he was evacuated back to the FOB, where he would undergo initial questioning before being ﬂown out for full interrogation. With this phase of the mission complete the troops were airlifted off the plateau, to re-arm and grab a few minutes rest before setting continuing the search for Bravo 2. Captured intelligence suggested that at least two other militia leaders, Abakar Habre and Kassius Kurze (designated Bravo 3 and 4) were also in the area, so the hunt would be widened and intensiﬁed.

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Back at the FOB, I made my way to the Ops Room just as the news came through that the troops had located and captured Oli Farook Kaboom - Bravo 2 was now also in custody. So far the mission had been a resounding success but it wasn’t over yet and the Base Commander was certain the FOB was bound to come under attack, probably later, during the night. Intel came in that the terrorists had moved their base into the bottom of a valley. It would be attacked on two fronts with a co-ordinated ground and airborne assault. The only space I could find was standing on the back step of a WMIK, as its young driver took it up and down slopes that even a mountain goat would have thought twice about! We spotted the aircraft down in the valley, their troops pinned down by a determined enemy and tore down the slope with rapid fire pouring from both guns. The enemy pulled back but not before taking out a number of soldiers as they dismounted. Three were killed instantly when an enemy managed to get behind and raked them with an AK on full chat, others could be seen lying dead in the terrorist’s camp and cries of “Medic!” could be heard across the area. It was carnage but slowly the assault troops gained the upper hand and the militia fighters again melted away. We made our way back to the FOB, checking every gate and potential IED site along the way. It was slow but necessary work that tied up resources and gave the terrorists ample time to make good their escape. With light fading fast and fuel running low, the helicopters had to return to their base and now it would be down to just vehicle and foot patrols. Night arrives fast in these parts and with the darkness comes added danger. Both sound and light travel far and any militia remaining in the area would be able to hear and see any patrols coming their way and be well-prepared to take them on. Although now in custody, Farook Kaboom had not been given the name for nothing, he was an IED magician and could make a bomb from just about anything. The patrols could be sure there were still plenty of his “little presents” waiting for them.

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eVENT Review STIRLING AIRSOFT – OPERATION: ALTAIR

With the likelihood of an attack and the need for complete Base security, I too evac’d back a few miles, returning to the FOB at first light – and the news that both Bravo 3 and 4 had been taken in the early hours of the morning! With their leaders now either killed or captured, the remaining militia had disappeared. I found the Base Commander and he briefed me that there had been signs of vehicle movement and, based on both intel and previous experience, he fully expected probing raids to be launched against the FOB at any time. To counter this a large force had been assembled that would sweep through the entire area, to flush out any remaining fighters. With all vehicles fully loaded and backed up by foot patrols, we moved out and climbed up into the hills, sure we were being observed every step of the way. Occasionally we’d glimpse a white pick-up moving across a far slope, or down in a valley and knowing that there had been a similar vehicle previously spotted in the terrorist’s camp, everyone was in a heightened state of alert. Each time, a patrol would be sent to investigate and each time they would return to report “Nothing found.” We knew they had to be out here but the question was “Where?” They were making excellent use of their local knowledge and for hours kept us guessing - but then the harassing attacks started. We would be moving across a slope and they would suddenly appear above and rain rounds down onto us, or pop up over a crest and open fire with a roof-mounted AK, before rapidly withdrawing to attack somewhere completely different. Classic guerrilla tactics used perfectly by a well-trained opposition! Reports of possible movement towards the FOB brought all patrols back to Base, where it was confirmed that intel had been received indicating that the enemy were massing and an attack was imminent. Vehicles were moved into position and the perimeter was set. Scopes and binoculars were trained constantly on the slopes, looking for any sign of movement. For nearly an hour everything stayed quiet, apart from one or two very distant sightings of what might have been the white pickup – and then all hell broke loose!

The white pickup was screaming towards the FOB, with guns blazing and grenades flying in all directions. Soldiers were going down like flies and it looked like it might punch right through. Only a timely response from some Dutch troops averted a complete disaster and turned it away. Through the noise of the fight I could hear someone shouting “To the rear! To the rear!” I turned and watched in horror as fighters burst from cover out of a small culvert close to the FOB, behind a wall of automatic fire and rifle-launched grenades. They tore across the ground, almost taking the defenders by surprise but were quickly mown down by accurate fire in the open space. One defender had a lucky escape as I watched a grenade bounce off the protective screen at the top of the Snatch Land Rover from where he was firing. Within minutes it was over. The white pickup stood motionless and peace one again returned to this little part of Africa – for now….

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feature D-DAY ANNIVERSARY | LUCK OR JUDGEMENT?

GOOD LUCK OR GOOD PLANNING? IN THE SECOND OF OUR ARTICLES ABOUT D-DAY, MILITARY HISTORIAN WILL FOWLER MA TD POSES THE SAME QUESTION: “WAS IT GOOD LUCK OR GOOD PLANNING?” TO THE QUESTION “WAS THE SUCCESS OF THE D-DAY LANDINGS on June 6th 1944 due to good luck or good planning?” the simple answer is - it was both! Detailed planning for a return in strength to North West Europe had begun in the summer of 1943. What began as a concept would eventually grow into a massive undertaking, involving 6,000 ships, 12,000 aircraft, some 133,000 troops transported by sea and 23,000 delivered by air. Intense training and planning as well as the development of new weapons and equipment supported the men who would be committed to breaching the Atlantic Wall. Once Normandy had been chosen for the landings a complex deception plan was set in motion and, in part, it must be said that luck played a part in convincing the Germans that though there would be landings on the northern French coast, they would be north of the Seine closer to Calais, or in Norway or western France. Fortune also favoured the Allies in the conﬂicting approach to defeating a landing. Field Marshal Erwin Rommel commanding Army Group B, the force that covered northern France favoured stopping the Allies on the beaches. His superior Field Marshal Karl Rudolf Gerd von Rundstedt, Commanding forces in Western Europe, favoured defeating the Allies in a conventional manoeuvre battle once they were ashore. Consequently (and against Rommel’s wishes) the German armour was not positioned close to the coast but held in reserve. Its eventual journey to the beaches following D-Day would be a nightmare as Allied bombers and ﬁghter ground attack aircraft pummeled the slow-moving convoys. The Allied planners had decided to land in Normandy on a rising half tide. The Germans had assumed that landings would be at high tide that would mean that there would be less of an open beach to cross - however a half tide meant that beach obstacles would be visible, but within a short time the tide would be high and by then with the beach secured, engineers would have removed the obstacles, giving landing craft carrying subsequent waves of soldiers a free run

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â&#x20AC;&#x153;This vast operation is undoubtedly the most complicated and GLIĂ&#x20AC; FXOW WKDW KDV HYHU WDNHQ SODFH ,W LQYROYHV WLGHV ZLQG ZDYHV YLVLELOLW\ ERWK IURP WKH DLU DQG WKH VHD VWDQGSRLQW DQG WKH FRPELQHG HPSOR\PHQW RI ODQG DLU DQG VHD IRUFHV LQ WKH KLJKHVW GHJUHH RI LQWLPDF\ DQG LQ FRQWDFW ZLWK FRQGLWLRQV ZKLFK FRXOG QRW DQG FDQQRW EH IXOO\ IRUHVHHQ Âľ 3ULPH 0LQLVWHU :LQVWRQ &KXUFKLOO Statement to the House of Commons -XQH into the coast. Finally there had to be a full moon to give illumination for men and vehicles moving at night. The planners also realised that the ďŹ&#x201A;anks of the landings would be vulnerable and here the massive Allied air superiority would be signiďŹ cant, allowing two US airborne divisions (82nd and 101st) to be delivered to the right ďŹ&#x201A;ank and the British 6th Airborne Division to the left ďŹ&#x201A;ank. These men would capture or destroy key bridges as well as artillery positions. The paratroopers and glider riders would be among the ďŹ rst men to land on D-Day and had a vital role. All these plans was ďŹ ne in theory but there is a muchquoted military maxim attributed to Helmuth von Moltke the Elder â&#x20AC;&#x153;No plan survives contact with the enemyâ&#x20AC;? and that enemy could be the elements, wind, tides and rain as well as the Germans manning the coastal defences. What the Allies did not know, was that the Germans had discovered that In preparation for Operation Overlord, as Radio Londres, the BBC French service would transmit a â&#x20AC;&#x153;personal messageâ&#x20AC;? - the opening lines of the 1866 Verlaine poem â&#x20AC;&#x153;Chanson dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Automneâ&#x20AC;? - to indicate the start of D-Day operations. The ďŹ rst three lines of the poem, broadcast on June 1st 1944, meant that Overlord was to start within two weeks. The next set meant that it would start within 48 hours and that the Resistance should begin sabotage operations, especially against the French telephone and railway network. They ďŹ nal lines were broadcast on June 5 at 23:15. German radio monitors picked up the transmissions but due to an oversight the warning was not transmitted to the troops manning the defences in Normandy. Luck was running in the Alliesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; favour. The weather would be lucky on D-Day. On June 5th 1944 (the day that had originally been slated for the invasion) both Britain and Europe were lashed with wind and heavy rain. For the Germans it seemed obvious that no landings would take place in these conditions. Rommel took leave to visit his wife in Germany. Senior commanders in the

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theatre left their HQs to assemble in Rennes for a map war game, testing out drills to combat (among other things) a major attack by airborne forces. On the left ďŹ&#x201A;ank the British with Canadian paratroopers achieved their objectives. The coup de main capture of the bridges at Benouville across the Caen canal and river Orne stand out as a major triumph. However terrible bad luck beset the men of 9 Para tasked with neutralisng the guns of Merville battery covering Sword beach. The drop was badly scattered and the RAF heavy bombers that were to precede the ground assault by the paras missed the battery. As H-Hour for the assault approached Lt Colonel Terence Otway, the youthful Commanding OfďŹ cer, realised that he would have to lead a mere 150 against the objective. That the tiny force temporarily neutralised the battery is a tribute to the dash and courage of a battalion that had suffered a serious dose of bad luck.

feature D-DAY ANNIVERSARY | LUCK OR JUDGEMENT?

On the right flank, the men of the 82nd and 101st Airborne divisions suffered from what appeared to be bad luck when they were badly scattered and, while this meant that it was hard to assemble cohesive formations in the confusion of that summer night, it also meant that the Germans were confused as well. Unable to establish where the men had landed or what their objectives were, some German commanders actually sent patrols inland and away from the beaches, searching for US paratroopers. However of all the good luck/bad luck events on D-Day, the two American landings at beaches code named Utah and Omaha stand out as the most dramatic. As the landing craft carrying men of US 4th Division started their run into Utah beach, the tide from west to east up the Channel had pushed the landing craft further south and away from the designated beaches - beaches that were within artillery range and also covered by W5, a German defensive position. Realising what had happened, the most senior American commander on the beach, 54 year-old Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt, told his men that; “We’ll start the war from here!” and urged them off the beach and along the roads leading inland through flooded fields behind the beaches. At the end of the day and at the cost of 200 casualties, some 23,250 troops had safely landed, along with 1,700 vehicles. Omaha beach, to the east of Utah, was not an obvious choice. It was overlooked by steep bluffs through which there were only four exits. These were covered by a series of Resistance Nests and the whole frontage garrisoned by 7,800 infantry, with 8 artillery bunkers, 35 infantry bunkers, 4 artillery pieces, 6 mortar pits, 18 anti-tank guns, 45 rocket launcher sites, 85 machine gun sites and 6 tank turrets. Allied intelligence underestimated the calibre of the men manning these positions. The men of the veteran US 1st Infantry (Big Red One) and untested 29th Infantry Division had been told that they would face an under-strength, battleweary enemy. In fact they were the 916th Grenadier Regiment, part of the 352nd Infantry Division, a formation that was at full strength and had a mixture of veterans and young soldiers. They had recently deployed to the front at Normandy and were highly rated. Though the Allies had plotted many of the bunkers and positions along Omaha beach, the 916th had recently dug new field fortifications and sited machine guns to cover the beaches.

At H-Hour on D-Day the American forces were beset with bad luck. The USAAF bomber crews fearful of hitting the shipping offshore dropped their payloads too late, bombing open country. The naval bombardment, though heavy did not significantly damage or neutralse the bunkers. On British infantry landing craft the officer led the three sections of his platoon off the craft with the Sergeant at the rear, meaning that if the officer became a casualty the Sergeant could take command. On US Army landing craft all the command elements were at the front, along with the radio operator. In an ideal amphibious assault, a wave of landing craft should have hit the beach simultaneously but, in reality, they came in at intervals and this gave German machine gunners a succession of targets. Once the officer and radio operator were down the platoon became leaderless and unable to communicate. The amphibious Duplex Drive (DD) Sherman tanks that could have given direct fire support with their 75 mm guns were launched too far out and, unlike at Utah where all made land safely, all the tanks at Omaha were swamped and sank. Smoke from burning scrub obscured the beach and with no reports reaching his command ship General Omar Bradley, commanding the US 1st Army, began to consider diverting US troops away from Omaha to land on Gold, the neighbouring British beach. It was only as a result of outstanding low level leadership that by the end of D-Day, the US forces achieved a lodgement and pushed a short distance inland. The landing had cost them around 3,000 casualties, while the Germans had lost only 1,200 men. Among the men who made the breakout possible were the soldiers of the 5th Ranger Battalion. When during the day in the chaos of the beach, Norman “Dutch” Cota (Assistant Commander 29th Infantry Division) encountered the men at the western end of the beach, he shouted “What outfit is this?” and received the reply “5th Rangers!” “Well, God damn it then,” he shouted back “Rangers, lead the way!” “Rangers lead the way!” stands as the motto of the US Rangers. Planning and luck were joined by a third and vital element on D-Day - raw courage - and it was these three elements combined that brought success on the 6th June 1944… D-Day.

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event report GUNMAN MILSIM

COMBAT MISSIONS IF YOU FANCY MILSIM BUT DON’T WANT TO GO THE WHOLE HOG, THEN MAYBE GUNMAN’S COMBAT MISSIONS ARE WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR. OSCAR P HEADED OFF TO EVERSLEY TO SEE FOR HIMSELF. I’VE NOT HAD MUCH OPPORTUNITY TO SKIRMISH so far this year. Quite apart from the wonderful, wonderful British weather, unremitting DIY shenanigans and y’know… stuff! I’d also been looking for something a bit more than your average skirmish. Don’t get me wrong, whilst I like a good ol’ blat at a walk-on day, I had a hankering for some MilSim goodness. But I didn’t have the time (or enough matrimonial brownie points in the bank) to commit to a whole weekend. Luckily for me then, I heard about Gunman Airsoft’s Combat Missions: Story-based walk-ons with some balanced loadout rules and an emphasis on organic, tactical mission-based events, played out over two days – but with scope for players to turn up for all, or part of it. Not being one to look a gift horse in the gob, I bunged a rig in the back of the car and toddled of to their Eversley site, just off of junction 4a of the M3. Eversley’s a good choice for this sort of event; it’s big enough to feel you’re out in the boonies, but not so much so that you feel like you have to tote full marching order and there’s plenty of variety of terrain. It’s also been in operation for a while, so the layout is well bedded-in, with plenty of features and props, so the

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missions can be tailored to the number of players who rock up. The Combat Mission setup is in many ways a “MiniMilSim”. There’re no limitations on your type of loadout, so you can play in any kit you want and either as a team or on your tod. On the day I played a guy in 90’s Blackhawk Down US Marine rig was gleefully trading rounds with an 80’s era Soviet conscript! The rules, though, set you up with limited ammo, bangs and medic bandages, as well as ﬂexible regen points deployed by teams as they play, so there’s a deﬁnite tactical edge. The real MilSim element though, is in the way the game is played. There are no conventional 30-mins-then-back-to-safe games, teams are sent out with broad objectives to achieve across the day’s play, with only a short break for lunch.

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Objectives which aren’t achieved by the end of the Saturday are rolled over to the next day, with players who choose to camp over picking up the threads where they left off and with Sunday’s new batch of players fitting into the mix. The scenario I played revolved around a revolt brewing in Kazakhstan; a US spy jet had been downed, with pilots and apparently some specialised tech on the ground. US SF were dropped in on a Black Op to locate the downed fliers and (hopefully) the scientific goodies although, unbeknownst to them, a British undercover team were also in-situ and monitoring the situation on the ground. The “Special Relationship” was about to go a little sour… Safety and game briefings were straightforward and to the point; we were given our marching orders and allocated a couple of player-marshals who would accompany us throughout the day. There were about 30 players on site so the team broke us up into smaller squads, with each side given supplementary orders out of earshot of the opposition. I’d sided with the Brits, so for us it was a case of get out on site, find out what had crashed and investigate rumours of new forces dropping into the area. The key thing for me over the day’s play was the fluid, unpredictable and organic feel of play. The first hour or so was contact-free. We patrolled the site (the players I was with were definitely switched on – no noisy bimbling to be had) trying to get a fix on the situation and navigating according to orders passed on from player-marshals. We soon twigged that the OPFOR were searching for a downed plane and moved on to search for them and their objectives. Unsurprisingly enough, things soon got a bit feisty; once we bumped into the US forces, the BBs began to fly, as did time! The run up to lunch was a series of short, sharp contacts; both sides moved in small squads, circling and manoeuvring to get in position for the kill. I didn’t witness a stalemate all day; it was all about lining ourselves up for the perfect ambush, then fading away to find the next prey – a great balance of stealth and assault. As we discovered that the US were securing downed tech and returning

event report GUNMAN MILSIM

“The games had really hit the nail on the head for me. I’d been looking for something more tactical than a usual skirmish and I’d gotten exactly what I was after.”

it to the LZ, the game evolved in line with opportunities to try and find, encircle and assault their extraction points. After a short break for lunch, new orders were handed down. The US had secured and extracted two of three objectives. Our afternoon objective was to try and prevent their finding the final objective, but also to search and gather up a number of smaller flight recorders hidden around the site. Both teams were on the hunt for these and then had to cache their finds until the end of the day. That added a new flavour to the afternoon and if anything there was more movement, as the need to look through the World’s own supply of rhododendron bushes lead to frequent contacts! Again, the name of the game was small groups patrolling, engaging where sensible and covering a lot of ground. By the end of the day the Brits had a greater number of the flight recorders in their grasp but the US had extracted the last objective. At close of play, I left a number of players setting up camp – Eversley’s got a good camping area if you want to stay over – and thought through the day’s play on the drive home. The games had really hit the nail on the head for me. I’d been looking for something more tactical than a usual skirmish and I’d gotten exactly what I was after. Tonnes of movement, great teamwork, and great friendly sportsmanship across all the players all day long. The site is really nice for this sort of thing and the player-marshals kept things moving very nicely. The restrictions on kit were perfect – not so much that I had had to spend hours planning and prepping, but enough that I’d had to think carefully about what I wanted and, though I’d only shot my way through half a dozen mids all day, I felt like I’d seen plenty of action. All in all, if you’re looking for something a tad tactical but can’t get to a full-blown MilSim, Gunman’s Combat Missions are well worth a look!

INFORMATION GUNMAN AIRSOFT HAVE A SELECTION OF SITES WHICH OFFER VARIED A AND CHALLENGING PLAY. FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT ALL GUNMAN EVENTS, VISIT THEIR WEBSITE AT: WWW.GUNMANAIRSOFT.CO.UK O TEL: 07854 277264 www.airsoft-action.co.uk

A SQUADRON DIRECTORS FAITH COWLING & BOB PODESTA MID IN WWII SAS JEEP COPYRIGHT A SQUADRON LTD

BEHIND THE SHADOWS AS MD OF ‘A’ SQUADRON LIMITED, NOBODY IS BETTER PLACED TO INTERVIEW EX-SAS HERO BOB PODESTA THAN FAITH COWLING. A PASSION FOR THE PAST... Family WWII tales of tragedy and triumph... A little known battle in a secret war... Sean Bean... Airsoft... All are curious catalysts which transpired to take this business woman on a career-changing journey down a path that led to an introduction to a man who spent 25 years with the world’s elite regiment; a hero who become my friend and mentor. With a shared vision to teach, train and inspire, together we created ‘A’ Squadron. Before heading out to our next event at Old Sarum Airfield, in support of the Parachute Regiment, I sat down to interview my business partner and co-director Bob Podesta MID, exclusively for Airsoft Action magazine. FC: Bob, how did your army career come about? BP: My father was in the Royal Air Force during the War. After demobilisation he spent about six months in civvie street before deciding to join the Forces again but this time he chose the Army. He served with 14/20th King’s Hussars which was a tank regiment at the time. I was brought up in the army, so to speak. My family travelled quite a lot and as a young child I liked what I saw of the army and decided I would make it my career also. While my father was stationed in Libya back in 1964-65 I made the decision that when I left school I would join up as soon as we arrived back in England. Dad was posted to a place called Tidworth where he stayed for a couple of years and while we were there I came of age, I was nearly 17 and I went to Salisbury which was my nearest army recruiting office. I actually intended to join the Parachute Regiment. Back in 1966 there was a lot of trouble in Aden, the Yemenis wanted us out of Aden in favour of the Communists. I saw the Paras on the news every night and that there was lots of fighting and shooting going on and I thought “right that’s the Regiment for me”. So, as I said, I went to the recruiting office; it wasn’t far from Lark Hill Army camp which was a big Royal Artillery area and so inevitably they wanted to recruit me for RA instead. Having argued about it we came to a compromise and they put me in for 7RHA, the artillery regiment that supported the Parachute Regiment. BOB TEACHING SURVIVAL IN THE JUNGLE DURING HIS 25 YEAR SAS CAREER - COPYRIGHT ROBERT PODESTA

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AA EXCLUSIVE BOB PODESTA MID

“My ﬁrst year was spent with ‘G’ Squadron and I went to Boat Troop because of my Marine background. My dream of being a parachutist and free-faller ﬁnally came true when after about a year I transferred over to ‘A’ Squadron Freefall Troop”

When I got to the RA training depot, which was 17 Training Regiment, Oswestry I saw green-bereted Commandos flying around for the first time - in real life just like my comic books! So I decided to change regiments to a commando artillery regiment instead. I enjoyed the All Arms Commando course, we practised assaults from the sea, helicopters and landing crafts. It was tough but exciting and I had prepared myself well. The tougher the course the more exciting I find it. I was proud to earn my own green beret and then went to 95 Commando Regiment. FC: We all know you as a former member of the SAS. How did you first hear about the SAS? BP: During my time in 95 Commando I was posted to Singapore with 42 Commando and while I was there stories began to come in about the SAS in Malaya and Borneo and I decided instantly that would be my next step. I immediately put in for the SAS Pre-Selection course which had been instigated at the time to weed out time-wasters who had started using the regular selection course as a means to get back to UK on leave, with no intention of actually passing the course. I was invited to join a group of 22SAS who were posted to the Cameron Highlands up in North Malaya; they were carrying out operations at the time but while they were there they also held their pre-selections. About 20 of us went up there and I was the only one that passed. The course involved loads of map reading and fitness training and the final exercise was to join an active patrol going into the jungle with live ammunition, grenades and everything. I’d never been issued anything like this before for real, so it was extremely exciting for me. FC: From there you were obviously sent to Hereford. Can you tell us about Selection? BP: As the only person to pass my pre-selection I was posted back to England for the real thing. I was the first to arrive at Bradbury Lines along with a Geordie guy and because we were the only ones there we decided to go out together for the weekend and practise round the hills. I’d never been on the Brecon Beacons before. The Royal Marines did most of their training at Sennybridge or the Dartmoor hills and I thought it wise to at least have a quick look at the Beacons before Selection started and luckily I did because it gave me an insight into what the course had in store. I found Selection very exciting and very challenging, but before I left Malaya I did lots of map reading exercises, walking through the jungle etc. and that training came into its own on Selection.

The normal soldier never sees a map, it’s usually the senior ranks and that’s it. I’d never done any compass work or map reading work except what I taught myself in my own time before PreSelection; my prior preparation and planning... paid off with dividends. I really did enjoy the course. If anything I probably started off too fit and my recommendation to anyone trying for Selection is not to be too fit before starting as they gradually get you fitter as you progress through the course, at least they did back then. FC: So you passed Selection on your first attempt. What Squadron did you join and can you tell our readers something about your time with the Regiment? BP: I eventually became a Sergeant. My first year was spent with ‘G’ Squadron and I went to Boat Troop because of my Marine background. My dream of being a parachutist and free-faller finally came true when after about a year I transferred over to ‘A’ Squadron Freefall Troop, where I stayed for the remainder of my British Army career. I enjoyed every minute of it. There’s too much to go into here so you’ll have to wait to read about it all in my book; which is a work in progress. I was obviously fortunate to handle and use a vast array of weapons throughout my career and especially my last three years which was spent in the armoury. I had something like 2,000-3,000 weapons on my signature. My job involved making sure that all the weapons were serviceable and if anyone was going abroad it was my responsibility to make sure they were trained up and familiar with the relevant [foreign] weapons. Another task was to run combat survival training and so when recruits went to the jungle I was posted to the jungle as an SQMS and trainer. FC: Do you have a favourite weapon? BP: My favourite weapon is the GPMG (General Purpose Machine Gun). For some reason I always ended up being nominated to carry it, I like to think it was because I was so fit and strong but really no one else wanted it and it usually fell to me. After being lumbered with it a few times I grew to love it. Best of all if anyone attacked me I could put their heads down very quickly. In addition to the weapon I had to carry a lot of bullets. On an average patrol I would carry on my person about 600 rounds. I’d have something like a 100 round belt on the gun, maybe 200 rounds with the belt wrapped around my shoulder. In my Bergan I’d fold the side pockets inwards and carry other 200 rounds in each pocket so if I needed them quickly I could pull them out of

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BOB WITH HIS FAVOURITE WEAPON THE GPMG COPYRIGHT A SQUADRON LTD

AA exclusive BOB PODESTA MID

the pockets and over my shoulder and feed them straight onto the gun. In terms of a pistol; in my time the 9mm Browning was the pistol that the Regiment used. I loved it. Still do. It’s very reliable. Then we switched to the Sig 226, a great weapon in its own right, but as you know the old solider always prefers what they had then, rather than what they have now. The Browning is a single action pistol with safety catch and the 226 has a double action with a lever on it to put it into the half-cock; but no safety. It is just as good a pistol, fires the same round, similar magazine count etc, but the Browning will always feel more a part of me. FC: Turning to airsoft now. How did you first hear about airsoft? BP: It was through my son. He became a member of an airsoft club, all his friends were airsofting. I was very interested to see the various weapons coming in the house. When he and his friends walked in I actually thought they were real soldiers. They were so tall and smart in their uniforms they looked just like the real thing. FC: What did you think about it all? These guys going round dressed up as soldiers and shooting at each other with airsoft weapons for fun? BP: In all honesty I thought it was a little weird to start with. But then I realised that it was almost like being in the TA. The players are very serious about their sport. The boys started to ask me how to use the weapons and what the tactics were and so I began to get more and more interested in it and thought I could use this when I left the army. It was another way really of getting young men and women away from their TV and computer screens, outdoors and active. Something which I’m very passionate about. FC: Have you ever been involved in a live airsoft game? BP: I’ve not been involved in an organised skirmish at a site but I have been training various airsoft groups around the country. I’ve been asked to come in and teach real military tactics to the guys and we’ve always ended up using these tactics in a final exercise/ airsoft game. The first one was an eye-opener it has to be said. I ended up with a split lip and soon learned the value of a full face mask! FC: What are your thoughts on the weapons? BP: The weapons are very realistic. Some of them are the exact same weight as their real counterparts and real externals can be interchanged and swapped in. The weapons can be stripped down, cocked and used just like a real weapon; this realism has enabled me to use them as a superb training aid and allowed me to go ahead and train people up exactly as I would with the real thing. As I’m sure your readers will know most of the arms manufacturers are licensing out their weapon designs so you can’t really ask for more realism than that. I’ve even been back with the British Army training their young men and women in pistol skills (using full metal airsoft); this was their first introduction to weapons and I think it could well be something that happens more and more in the future. FC: Can you tell everyone a bit about our company? BP: Our company is called ‘A’ Squadron and we’ve been operating full time for about two years now. I was at a talk one day at the National Army Museum where I was introduced to (you) Faith Cowling and you ask me if I would be interested in developing some weapons training and survival courses. We’re developing our courses all the time and are available for private bookings, corporate team building, parties and military historical talks. We have our next pistol course coming up on Saturday 5th July 2014 in Hereford. I teach everything as per the real weapon and Certificates of Completion are issued at the end. Contact us at trainingwing@a-sqn.com for more info or give Faith a call 07762 507 146 and don’t forget to join us on Facebook at www. facebook.com/asquadron FC: Thanks for your time Bob. Thanks also to Nige at Airsoft Action for inviting us to contribute to the magazine. We’ll be back next month with something new for you. If you have any topics that you’d specifically like us to cover, or if you have questions for Bob then feel free to drop us a line. We’d also like to take this opportunity to thank our sponsors Armex Ltd and Redwolf Airsoft for their kind support. Until next time this is ‘A’ Squadron signing out.

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SECRET D-DAY BUNKER

UCAP’S BUNKER PLAYED A VITAL ROLE IN THE NORMANDY INVASION. LES LEE LOOKS AT THE HISTORY OF THIS AMAZING AIRSOFT SITE. IN THE LAST ISSUE OF AIRSOFT ACTION I reported from UCAP’s site under Portsdown Hill, The Bunker and while talking to Andy Stevens, discovered that the tunnels played a vital role in the greatest ever armada ever assembled – the one that sailed to France on 6th June 1944, D-Day. The Bunker can be found underneath Fort Southwick on the top of Portsdown Hill, overlooking Portsmouth where the entrance (just 100 yards west of the Fort) road and car park give access to the original steel gate in the hillside, almost secreted from view due to its former commissioning as a top secret NATO communications centre and the former WWII UGHQ.

Overview and History Fort Southwick Along the top of Portsdown are ﬁve Victorian Forts, known as the Palmerston Forts, Fort Southwick (pronounced Suth-ik) is one of these. Up until 2002 it formed part of an Admiralty Research Establishment and was used by the DCSA (Defence Communications Services Agency) as a communications fort for the Royal Navy. The Ministry of Defence National Asset Register of 1998 listed the building as HMS Fort Southwick. All operational use of the Fort ceased in 2002 and during July 2003 it was sold by the MoD to the “Fort Southwick Company Limited”. Under the Fort: AKA THE BUNKER. During WWII an Underground Headquarters - UGHQ (for Operation Overlord) was built beneath Fort Southwick. This provided a bombproof, comprehensive 58

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Naval, Army and Air Force Operation Control and Communication Centre - call sign ‘MIN’. The headquarters’ main role on D-Day was gathering information and coordinating the Allied naval forces. Reports from radar stations were crossedreferenced with messages from shipping to provide an accurate picture of what was happening in the English Channel. This information was then plotted on a large table map at the Fort, and was passed to the Allied commanders nearby at Southwick House. On the 6th June 1944 there were 700 staff working underground. As well as the UGHQ, over 1,000 people were based above ground around the fort, at various headquarters associated with the planning for D-Day. These included the Army and Navy Headquarters for the British/Canadian D-Day beaches, Second British Army and the Naval Commander Eastern Task Force respectively. An access ramp was built down into the east ditch (which still exists), where many of these personnel were billeted. From the very ﬁrst conference of the AngloAmerican Allies, held on the 31 December 1941 in

D-DAY HISTORY UCAP BUNKER

located in the village of Southwick a mile north from the Fort, was used as the headquarters for SHAEF (Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force) although the actual HQ on (and for some time after) D-Day was a tent in nearby woods! Combined Operations Headquarters - COHQ Combined Headquarters - CHQ

Washington DC, the US committed itself to prepare for landings on the European mainland. The Americans feared a Russian collapse and began planning Operation Round-Up to invade northern France by April 1943 at the latest, however the British resisted being hasty - especially after the disastrous raid on Dieppe in August 1942. At an Anglo-American strategy conference in Quebec in August 1943 the Allies again agreed to the seaborne invasion of France, now codenamed Operation Overlord and the Americans insisted that a provisional date of 1st May 1944 be set. The underground workings at Fort Southwick were excavated by 172 Tunnelling Company Royal Engineers. Work was started on 16th February 1942 (probably as a direct result of the Washington Conference mentioned above) and the complex completed during December 1942. The operational tunnels were about 100 feet beneath the surface and additional galley facilities were provided in the Central Caponier of Fort Southwick proper. Air conditioning and gas ﬁltration was installed as well as fresh water storage. Access was via 3 notorious staircases from within Fort Southwick - there was no lift. Because of its D-Day connection, its existence was a very closely guarded secret (which still seems to persist even today). Southwick House,

COHQ or CHQ should refer to the staff that manned the place, not to the actual location itself. However the “Combined Operations” part of COHQ is misleading because this was a separate military entity which dealt with offensive raids against occupied Europe. CHQ was a generic term used to describe tri-service stafﬁng. The correct term for the command and control centre under Fort Southwick is “Underground Headquarters”, which has been abbreviated to UGHQ. As part of the Fort Southwick UGHQ construction project, a secure underground radio station was also built in the Paulsgrove Chalk Pit. It was once thought that a tunnel was also constructed linking the UGHQ to the Oil Fuel Reservoir which lies to the west but there is no evidence of this. Two other back-up UGHQs were built, in case Fort Southwick was put out of action. Some accounts state that the primary one was under Wentworth Golf Course but it was, in fact, at HMS Forward Newhaven. It has been suggested that some functions of the UGHQ were duplicated at Western Heights Dover, although this may just be speculation. Two other forts on Portsdown were also held in reserve, Forts Widley

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A Poem written by Sarah “Skippy” Wilson, a WREN working in the Tunnel at the time of the Normandy Invasion. TEN MINUTE STAND DOWN OF A WREN It’s night time here On Portsdown Hill And everywhere, is dark and still There are stars in the sky All shining and bright But down in the town No sign of a light to be seen, It’s so restful and peaceful Up here on the hill. I wish it could always be so But it’s not what it seems Away from dreams It’s bustling with life down below. Below in the Hill, all is not still For working like bees in a hive Are Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen And ATS, and WAAFS and WRN Passing signals and codes CHQ. With T/Ps radio, and switchboard All very much alive. Up here on the Hill, where all is so still And inside a busy beehive. I sit, and I dream, and I sigh And I wonder, just wonder Oh Why?!!

and Purbrook and some of the telephone poles which connected the 3 forts can still be seen today. The UGHQ complex was partly re-used during the Cold War as a Communication Centre. In 1974 a replacement COMMCEN was constructed on the Parade Ground. Outside the Fort Below the fort, on the southern slope of Portsdown are 3 portals which were used as the Emergency Exit/ventilation adits for the underground control centre. Two of these (Nos 1 and 2, when counting from West to East) have been sealed-up and covered over but No 3 (the Eastern most) still exists and was renovated sometime in the mid-1990s. A purpose-built access road with gated access leads from the main road to the west of Fort Southwick, down to a fenced enclosure which contains the three escape tunnels. Just before the enclosure gate on the left is a ruined brick-built structure, possibly a guard post, about 20 feet square. The spoil from the underground workings appears to have been tipped straight down the south side of the hill, but this is not the case. This prominent Portsmouth landmark is in fact composed of waste chalk generated during the construction of all the Portsdown Forts during the 1860s. The future In the late 1990s the underground complex was strengthened and stripped bare. Hampshire County Council expressed interest in purchasing this property from the MOD when it became available, because of its uniqueness and importance during WWII. However 60

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because of budget cuts they did not bid for the property when it came up for sale in 2003. Around ten bids for the Fort were received and it was eventually sold to the “Fort Southwick Company Limited”. Fort Southwick Company Limited The new owners are full of enthusiasm and there is no doubt that they have the Fort’s (and the UGHQ’s) best interests at heart. Obviously as a business they have to make a bit from their considerable investment and this is to be achieved by letting existing post-war buildings to other companies and by converting the Barrack Block to luxury apartments. They have many plans for the future including some much needed renovations and public guided tours lead by UCAP Airsoft. During the latter part of 2006 UCAP Airsoft leased the UGHQ, installed lighting and removed all the rubbish. They then opened an airsoft facility in January 2007. The guy running the show is Andy Stevens who clearly feels privileged just to be in the UGHQ, given the world-changing events that took place there and no changes will be made, other than for Health and Safety reasons. His ambition is to restore the main operations room back to the WWII setting and he will be given as much assistance as possible with this. He is also opening the UGHQ for public tours by appointment. See the UCAP Airsoft website for details. (HMS) Fort Southwick sits on top of a mile of tunnel complex. England expected a lot out of her in the past and the new owners intend to put a lot back in. The future for the Old Lady looks promising.

A MINOR ISSUE

WITH THE NUMBER OF YOUNGER AIRSOFTERS ON THE INCREASE, GARETH “GADGE” HARVEY ADDRESSES THE ISSUE OF HOW WE FEEL ABOUT PLAYING WITH UNDER-18 YEAR OLDS.

GARETH ‘GADGE’ HARVEY

Gadge is our resident history buff and FilmSim fanatic. He has a passion for WWII, Nam-soft and Cold War gaming – but still ﬁnds time to ﬁt in an open-day skirmish

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HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT YOUNGER players on the skirmish field? Do you welcome 14 year old skirmishers as the “new blood” of the hobby or do children on site ruin your immersion in the scenario? Are you a parent who finds a Sunday skirmish a great way to spend time with your kids or, on the flip side, are you a player who feels guilty every time you take a shot at a youngster? Possibly you’re a younger airsofter sick of being patronised by the older players or perhaps you can’t even get a game in due to your local sites ages restrictions? We asked our readership for their views on this subject and got a surprising response… From the start it seems that my own personal experience of the “frustrations” of older players with “young guns” seem to be an exception rather than the rule. While personally none of us in the Airsoft Action office has ever had a day marred by under 18 players, I have seen age become an issue on a few occasions. In the first instance it’s almost comical and quite sweet really. At a favoured local site the head marshal’s young boy had recently become obsessed with his dad’s hobby and was desperate to take part. Now being part of the organising body, his father had arranged for him to play in some games and nobody really minded – the problem was though that he was *very* young (pre-teen to be generous) and despite wearing padded body armour, a Darth Vader-esque full face mask, gloves and a plastic helmet, nobody really had the heart to shoot at him in case we hurt him. This “young gun” had a great time every weekend racking up hits but for the majority of the regulars he was a travelling speed bump, best avoided rather than shot out. It wasn’t

really anything that upset the game, it was more akin to patrolling along, coming over a rise and finding yourself in a moral minefield, as shooting the hell out of a kid just felt bad - but the alternative was to find a new route to the enemy base! My second personal entanglement with the complications of younger players came when I myself was the member of a group who organised WWII “MilSims” (for want of a better description). At the time the WWII scene was really taking off and our events were considered by many to be “the ones to go to”. Naturally we attracted a large under-18 following on our forums once Call of Duty had made WWII “cool” again (after a period of about ten years where most teenagers thought Hitler was a popstar) and the booking threads were abound with requests to attend by minors. Regrettably no-one in our team really felt comfortable about both being legally responsible for the safety of teenagers on 48 hour “combat missions”, or particularly happy with underage players being around the alcohol-laden pre or post battle “socials” and our events were restricted to over 18s.

debate A MINOR ISSUE

But it would seem that among you, our readers, it’s a pretty open and shut case and that far from objecting to younger players most of you find the presence of young guns on the field both invigorating and challenging. Not only do you find the younger player more keen to get stuck in but also often hard to keep up with as they relentlessly (and tirelessly) charge the objective! A few readers, however, expressed concern that some younger players, understandably unhappy with the UK rulings on RIF ownership, had attempted to surreptitiously purchase RIF’s illegally on UK airsoft forums and potentially endangered other people’s “right to buy” by not waiting until they were legally able to have a realistic looking AEG themselves. Most of you though generally felt that as long as an “adult attitude” to RIF handling and the game’s rules were brought along, the age of the player was irrelevant. Perhaps the only criticism was that directing younger players, especially those with a “first-person shooter” mind-set was a little like herding cats. One thing was for sure though, everyone agreed that today’s young gun was tomorrow’s veteran and that a day on the skirmish field was far better than a day in front of the Xbox!

HAVE YOUR SAY: Matthew Mcmahon: “I started when I was 15 and now, 4 years later, I can safely say I was treated well by the older players. They looked out for me, gave no ground to me and treated me like an adult which, for a young lad is a pretty big deal. If they ﬁght with integrity, call their hits and don’t act all one-man-army then I have absolutely no problem.” Art Steventon: “Nothing wrong with younger players as long as they get stuck in! The issue arises if they think they’re still playing COD and are l33t snipers who can sit back and take pot shots to win - that doesn’t win the game...” Dominic Thatmanthereintheputtees: “I was marshalling once and a group of young guns who’s airsoft experience was no more than 30 mins apiece manage to capture and hold an objective for the best part of 45mins against regular players....” Tim Cleverly: “The young guns at my local are pretty numerous. We treat them like adults, answer any questions they might have but we show no quarter! I’ve found it incredibly hard to try and get some of them organised but on the whole, I have no problem shooting with or against younger players.”

Amber Cain: “I’m 14 and it doesn’t actually bother me. No one patronises me or try’s going easy on me because they know they will get owned if people go easy and if it bothers anyone it shouldn’t really be a problem because no matter what someone says, if you enjoy doing something then do it. To me airsoft is an escape from school, exams, stress, expectations and reality and it just becomes something I do for fun and to let myself be myself. I know I’m not a bad player and I take my hits and am always up front in combat so no one says anything to me.” Billy Gumbrell: “It all depends on the individual. At our site we have some great youngsters and some awful adults. It’s not about age; it is about attitude to the game.” Megan Walker: “I think there’s nothing wrong with it so long as they stick to the rules and understand the health and safety aspects and come with the right attitude. Some kids I know are far more willing to get stuck in than some adults!” Suzi Hudson: “I am all for playing with younger members as they are the future of Airsoft. RIFT Airsoft, which is my local site, have “mentor days” where experienced members mentor young players and this has proved to be very successful so far with another day planned soon. Most youngsters want to play and with the right encouragement turn into very good players.” Scott Scorch Chambers: “I don’t mind the young’uns playing if they’ve a good attitude. What I really despise is disrespectful kids who don’t listen to the brief, whose parents think an airsoft site is a babysitting service.”

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Jez Armstrong: “Take your hits and leave the Call of Duty crap at home. I don’t care what age you are.” Swat Joe: “Kids and airsoft don’t bother me to the extent of “ruining the immersion”, as skirmishing is meant to be fun. I do take exception to the attitude of “They’re the lifeblood of the sport”. They are no more the “lifeblood” than any adult airsofter. Should we have kids smoking, drinking and driving (not necessarily together), as they’ll need fresh blood when we’re all dead? I also detest how kids try to blag people to get RIFs from them. Joining forums and Facebook groups with fake profiles to con sellers etc. Yes, they can be gifted an IF/RIF but they’re impatient and immature. Good things come to those who wait!” Phil Taylor: “As long as they take their hits and have the right attitude towards the hobby... game on! They also serve as handy sacrifices, sorry did I say sacrifices? I meant decoys... Lol.” Matt Houghton: “Better to have them out playing than sat in their rooms! Many make good players and, let’s be honest, here child soldiers are nothing new. Bring on the young blood and teach them the right way to play before they pick up bad habits.” Phil HK Bucknall: “Where I play it’s over 18’s only and, to be perfectly honest, I like it that way. I’m not ageist or anti-kids, I just choose to spend my free time how I want and that’s not with a bunch of kids running around. I never bought into the “lifeblood” of the hobby crap either. They quite simply; aren’t.” Dave Renniks: “Some of the best, most honourable players I’ve met in the sport have been “young guns”. Some of the most immature, childish, juvenile wastes of oxygen I’ve met have been middle aged, fully-grown “adults”. While I don’t think kids should get any special privileges over anyone else, I have no issue with them. I’ve even been 64

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to MilSims where there have been young guys there keeping up for the full 36 hours. Maturity, skill and sportsmanship aren’t at all linked to age - I think more adults could do with learning that.” Chris Sinclair: “I think I could play in a team of younger ones. But it would have to be family, like cousins and siblings. If I was 18 it would be easier to be with non-related kids but I think the older you get the more you have to start thinking what do their parents think? I am a responsible person and the advantage of playing with younger family members is your parents know you, your Uncles etc. know you. But for a parent, possibly a few years older than you could see the obvious risk.” James Caddy: “I’m fed up of under 18s trying to buy guns. Period!” Scott Allan: “If people are good eggs then age doesn’t matter. What better a way to learn to work as a team from a young age than Airsoft, which offers young lads and lassies the chance to work as equals with adults?” Paul Daniell: “I would rather send my son out to a game then have him sat playing on a console on a Sunday.” Alex Higgins: “As under 18, I kinda prefer playing under 18s, because I always feel outclassed with my guns, hopefully that’ll change soon. But I don’t mind playing with adults and I’ll happily run straight into anything ﬂailing a rubber knife only because I didn’t bring enough ammo.” Darren Tory Penson: “As a player and marshal at my local site I have no problem with young guns. They will be the next breed of airsofter. My only issue is: “Marshal can we play Deathmatch?” or “What map are we playing?” This is not CoD - it’s way, way better!”

Tel: 01753 800009

With thanks to Black Lagoon

GM01.14/107/r

103 HIGH ST, ETON, Nr WINDSOR SL4 6AF

COVER AND CONCEALMENT PRO-TACT’S ANDY NIGHTINGALE ON THE VERY IMPORTANT, YET OFTEN OVERLOOKED SKILL OF USING COVER TO STAY HIDDEN FROM VIEW THE BEST PLACE TO STAND DURING A GUN FIGHT is where the bullets can’t hit you – and it doesn’t take Einstein to work that one out! So those two little words “Cover” and “Concealment” pop up into your mind but which is best? Cover or Concealment? That one depends on you, your surroundings, and the situation that you may find yourself in during the fight. Cover and Concealment are two different things and, if you are not familiar with them, can be a little confusing. Cover affords protection of the highest degree. It should, if it is of quality, protect you from incoming rounds. However in the world of real steel rounds, some types of cover are better than others. You may feel somewhat safe behind a block wall being shot at with .22 calibre rounds but then fear the worst when you hear the enemy call for the .50 cal.! So long as the cover can stop or deflect the incoming rounds, real or Airsoft, with your name on it then it is good cover. I once witnessed a chap at an airsoft skirmish site advance down a hallway hiding behind a thin sheet of plywood. At first the rounds just bounced off but then he found he was being engaged by a couple of M249s. Eventually the BBs began to punch a large hole in the plywood and the poor chap was sent packing to the regen point. Was this cover? Well, yes… and no. At first the plywood did afford some cover as the rounds were just bouncing off the sheet, but as the chap got closer to the enemy position the fire power increased and the rounds were hitting the cover with more force. This led to the cover failing by being destroyed or eaten away by the rounds. Although this was cover at first it was only short term cover. Cover can also afford concealment. If you are taking refuge behind cover and cannot be seen by your enemies then you are also concealed. If your enemy cannot see you, or shoot you then we can presume that we are relatively safe. One of the biggest concerns with cover is that it can be sought out as a last resort and hasty decision-making can play against us. The problem lays in “boxing”.

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“YOU MAY FEEL SOMEWHAT SAFE BEHIND A BLOCK WALL BEING SHOT AT WITH .22 CALIBRE ROUNDS BUT THEN FEAR THE WORST WHEN YOU HEAR THE ENEMY CALL FOR THE .50 CAL.!” Boxing is a term we use when we are in a position where we have no means of safe escape. For example, you take cover in a room that has no windows and only one way in and out. You feel safe as the walls and the rest of the structure are strong enough to stop any incoming rounds. Then the enemy concentrates suppressive fire on the doorway, your only means of escape, as the foot soldiers start to close in on you. Soon the cover you chose will be come your tomb. So chose your cover with care! Many advocate that as soon as an attack happens you should find cover immediately. This depends on the situation at hand. As part of a squad, if the attack is coming in your direction or at distance, then finding cover might be the best plan, however if you are on your own or with a partner, or small security detail and are hit at close quarters or surprised then it may be wiser to fight your way through than find cover. You may not have a choice. No one training drill can cover all possibilities. You must train for them all. In some cases the best form of defence is offence. Lay down maximum fire power towards your adversary and force them into cover if you haven’t already shot them to the ground. Work on it. Concealment is exactly what it says. To conceal or, to hide away. Concealment is just that, it conceals you from your enemy but in no way does it protect you from incoming rounds. Remember the chap with the plywood? It began as cover but then turned into concealment. The poor chap could not be seen behind the plywood but the rounds found their way through it and into him. Although concealment can’t stop incoming rounds from reaching you it may stop your enemies from shooting at you if they can’t see you (or hear you). Concealment can be gained by hiding in the shadows, in a darkened room or behind objects such as bushes and other foliage to name but a few. All afford concealment but not cover. The use of concealment is usually a pre-planned affair. You will usually have time to locate and prepare for concealment to either evade or attack. Concealment can also be used as a base for attack such as an ambush site. During concealment you must make

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SKILLS AIRSOFT SKILLS | COVER AND CONCEALMENT

sure that your position is not given away. When hiding in the shadows for example pay particular attention to the surrounding light. Remember that the sun moves across the sky during the day. You may not cast a shadow when you ďŹ rst take up residence in the shadows but may do so later on if you intend to stay in one position for any length of time. Noise and movement also contribute to concealment. It is no good hiding when you are making a noise or moving around. These will give your position away with ease. Both Cover and Concealment require personal discipline to be effective. It is up to you to make them both work in your favour. When practicing work with a partner and try to outsmart each other. Find out what works and what fails. Time and effort in getting cover and concealment right will pay dividends when you next ďŹ nd yourself in a tight spot during a skirmish. Have fun stay safe and happy shooting.

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ww2 snipers IVAN MIHAILOVICH SIDORENKO

SILENT IVAN SNIPER ONE, DAN MILLS, WRITES ABOUT IVAN SIDORENKO, THE SOVIET UNION’S MOST SUCCESSFUL SNIPER OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR. IVAN MIHAILOVICH SIDORENKO was born the son of a peasant at Chantsovo, a small village in the region of Smolensk on September the 12th 1919 just as the echoes of the Great War were fading. Though born a peasant he would go on to become the most successful Soviet sniper ever, with over five hundred confirmed kills and he was completely self-taught. Sidorenko attended schooling and then went on to study art at a college near Moscow and it was whilst here, during his studies, that war broke out. In 1939 he dropped out of college and was conscripted into the Red Army for training, like many other conscripts he soon found himself going through his training for war at the Military Infantry School, at Simferopol in Crimea. Sidorenko found himself in a mortar company during his early days in the army and, whilst taking part in the Battle for Moscow in 1941, now a young Junior Lieutenant, he spent his time between fighting and teaching himself how to snipe. He soon took matters into his own hands and would leave the mortar line where he was supposed to be commanding, to go out hunting for the German enemy. He would go out stalking with a Mosin Nagant rifle and scope, a favourite amongst soviet snipers, with which he had taught himself how to shoot, strip and assemble.

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The 1891/30 Mosin-Nagant bolt action rifle had become Russia’s standard sniper rifle. Made pre-war and during hostilities in various forms, it weighed approx nine pounds, fired a 7.62x 54R round accurately out to a distance of 600 yards, was fitted with a magazine and fed with a five-round clip. Initially the Germans issued Russia with German mounts and telescopic sights, as these were the days when there was a pact held between the two countries not to attack one another. However, once Germany had turned on Russia and thus breaking the pact, Russia made its own domestic sights. As time went on and he came back alive after each stalk, word of Sidorenko’s shooting prowess spread. He had become so successful that he was then ordered by his commanders to teach others, as clearly he had the knack to do it! He selected

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snipers who had shown the right aptitude, good eyesight, knowledge and weapon-handling skills for his training, regularly taking a student out with him for real-time training and combat, after several hours of theory training. After extensive theory and practical application his students would have to pass an exam and, on successful completion, they were issued with binoculars and a Mosin-Nagant riﬂe and were then paired up and deployed on the Velizha defensive area of the front. Ivan Sidorenko was himself wounded several times in the region, each time returning to ﬁght on the front and beyond and sometimes not leaving the combat area for several months at a time. It was not long before former students of Sidorenko were being awarded medals and honours themselves; a tribute to his prowess and teaching ability. The German forces soon became aware that a new threat had emerged in the area and deployed their own snipers to counter this growing threat. He would put the newly trained snipers through their paces under combat conditions and then pair them up before sending them off to work out in the area of operations, normally around Velizh, west of Moscow. Much of the town of Velizh and the surrounding area was destroyed during the war. It had been occupied by the Germans after taking it in mid-July 1942, shortly after which most of the town’s Jewish community were butchered by the occupying forces. The town was recaptured by the Russians late in September 1943. After time he was promoted, becoming assistant commander at the HQ of the 1122nd Infantry Regiment, 334th 4th Shock Army on the Baltic Front. Whilst there he organised, trained and led sniper training and not being content being safe at the rear, he regularly kept up his competency and remained aware of current

ww2 snipers IVAN MIHAILOVICH SIDORENKO

“Through 1941 until 1944 Sidorenko eliminated about 500 enemy soldiers, many practises by himself deploying out in the area of operations frequently, often with a trainee in tow so he could watch his progression. Through 1941 until 1944 Sidorenko eliminated about 500 enemy soldiers, many of whom were snipers and had trained in excess of 250 snipers and sent them to the front. The impact this one young peasant boy had on the war effort was amazing. On one particular occasion his name became famous because, using incendiary bullets, he crawled out and destroyed one tank and three enemy tractors. The Tractors listed were armoured vehicles, possibly half tracks that towed equipment, for example tank recovery vehicles, artillery tractors, and amphibious cargo haulers. They could transport store, personnel and equipment in relative safety on the battlefield, some were amphibious. Some of his luck eventually ran out and when fighting in Estonia he was injured for the third time in battle, this time seriously. Now a Captain, he was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union whilst recovering from his wounds in his hospital bed on June the 4th 1944. The propaganda war was very important to all sides during the war, with all participants using it as a weapon, so he was ordered never to return to the front lines and action again. The Russians would no longer risk him being killed or captured and used against them. By the end of the war Sidorenko was ranked a Major and had been credited with over five hundred confirmed kills. After being ordered never to return to the front he spent the last period of the war in and out of hospital and, when fit, teaching in the Military Academy. His wounds though continued to plague him and after they reopened he was again bedded down to recuperate. When news of the end of hostilities spread he was still hospitalised. After the war he was allowed to retire from military service, partly due to his wounds and he settled and worked as a Foreman in the coal mines in the Urals, in the Chelyabinsk region, until his final move to the Republic of Dagestan in the Caucasus. He died on February the 19th 1994.

of whom were snipers and had trained in excess of 250 snipers and sent them to the front. The impact this one young peasant boy had on the war effort was amazing.”

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NO LAUGHING MATTER WITH CURRENT EVENTS IN CERTAIN PARTS OF THE WORLD MIRRORING HISTORY, MILITARY ILLUSTRATOR AND AUTHOR, RUPERT GODESEN TAKES A LOOK BACK AT THE CARTOONS OF THE GREAT WAR DEAR READERS, AS I SIT STARING forlornly at a blank Word.doc on the screen, thinking how to start this third article about the subject of Art in War, Prince Charles has come to my rescue by putting his foot in it (a trait I guess he’s acquired from his father, who is known affectionately for his unintentional gaffs around the world), by comparing President Putin to Hitler. Hey, he’s the future King and all that, so in my opinion he can say what he wants (within reason). Our future Monarch’s comments sent me right back (in my imagination you understand, I wasn’t there) to the early days of 1914, when Germany were getting ready to wage war on Great Britain and Europe and grab their own version of our Empire that they so coveted and how the Press in England (and by association, the artists who provided much of the visual content in place of photographs, this was the time before readily available cameras you remember) depicted it all and how the population of Britain gamely shrugged off the Kaisers war-mongering and roundly took the mick out of him and Germans.

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There are some striking similarities in the biased nature of today’s media and that of the media that operated in 1914-18, although for “biased” you could read “patriotic”. Russian media for example, controlled by the Kremlin, has helped portray the Ukrainian Government in Kiev as fascist bullies in league with a vehemently anti-Russian Europe and it has used every weapon in its arsenal to whip the people up into a patriotic frenzy - with not a word of balanced reporting to give the Russian people both sides of the story. Well that’s what I read anyway. Back in London’s Fleet Street in 1914 where our artists were scribbling, drawing and painting away with a wealth of new and fun subject matter at their disposal, the attitude to the Kaiser and to Germans in general was less than reverential. This can be seen in a sketch in the Bystander in 1914 by artist Alick Ritchie called “Before the War: German soldiers engaging in target practice”, with the Kaiser’s men shooting at images of toddlers surrendering, old men and churches. Britain in those days (unlike today) had a very sportsman-like attitude to warfare and valued the attitude of amateur ﬁghting spirit, fair play and good old fashioned “pluck” (shame we don’t use that word more nowadays).

Many of the illustrations that appeared in papers and magazines of the day depicted football matches in the rear trenches between companies, helping not only to maintain spirits in the trenches but also at home. It must have been comforting for the families to see that their boys were at least having some fun, when they were not at the front. And then of course, there were the famous football matches in No Man’s Land on Christmas day. Witnessed by Captain Bruce Bairnsfather, he wrote later that after one of the matches a German soldier had dashed back to his trench for a camera and both teams had posed for a photo together. He wrote that he deeply regretted not making some arrangements to get the soldier’s address and some way of getting a copy of the photograph. An almost unthinkable situation when the following day they would no longer see one another as brothers but would be trying to blow one another to bits again. While the British relied on sporting anecdotes to ward off fears of the coming catastrophe (cartoons depicting golﬁng soldiers in bunkers talking about golf as shells whistle overhead, rugby players catching shells etc..) on the other side of the sea the Germans took a very different tack. Their attitude was to do everything and anything to achieve victory, harnessing technology, science and in fact anything they could harness for the war effort. This of course led to derision epitomised by caricatures of the Kaiser massaging his rather sorry looking war beast in a cartoon by George Studdy, called “Half time” while the opponents take time to have a bit of Christmas pudding. The young Kaiser was clearly obsessed with uniforms and the military and despite the strong ties between our Royal Family and that of Germany (which you would have thought would have made the likelihood of war remote), the Kaiser had fallen under the spell of his mentor Bismarck and as the eve of war approached he became more and more obsessed with conquest. The Kaiser had a couple of features that made him an absolute gift for the cartoonists; due to an accident during his birth he had a withered arm (which he went to great pains to cover up) and of course his ridiculous moustache. This in conjunction with his

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ART OF WAR NO LAUGHING MATTER

obsession with the military, conquest and War led to a host of cartoons, pictures and graphics which as you can imagine must have pleased him no end eh? When the Great War did eventually kick off, and sleepy summertime England spilt it’s tea, swapped cricket whites for khaki fatigues, webbing and riﬂe and prepared for the great adventure to come (that was to obliterate innocence and almost half a generation of young men), the artists who could not make it over to France were ready to do their bit and the Kaiser’s advancing troops who swept through Belgium did not disappoint them with material. German troops, as they advanced through Belgium were ordered to carry out a policy of “Shrecklichkeit” or frightfulness, to deter resistance springing up when the main forces had passed on and also to crush morale of the locals. Innocents were rounded up, escaping civilians shot on sight and houses torched. To watchers from history this would prove to be a hideous precursor to what the Nazis were to carry out later during WW2. An employee of the Illustrated London News, who was a regular at the front gathering material and eye witness accounts, was a character by the name of Frederic Villiers. Villiers worked in partnership with another Frederic, an artist back in London called de Haenen, who would work up the material of the so called “specials”; the intrepid correspondents who would travel through France and gather material for the artists back home. The images of ghastly treatment meted out to the poor old

Belgians fanned the flames in England and did the recruiting Sergeant’s job for him. Thousands flocked to enlist, ably assisted by other depictions of brave upstanding men with a swagger and confidence going to fight, while the cowardly and unpatriotic turned up with sick notes and feigned injuries to profit while the brave perished in France. There was no smoke without fire though and the actions of the Germans were only the raw material from which the artists derived inspiration. One such incident, which shocked the world, was the execution of Edith Cavell in 1915 after interrogation and Court Martial by the Germans. Cavell at the time was running a pioneering nursing school in Brussels, who treated injured men regardless of their nationality. Being from Norfolk and in her 50s however, she obviously wanted to assist her British charges as much as she could and through her contacts in Belgium she managed to get over 200 wounded men safely out and back to the UK. For her trouble she was executed and A Forestier produced a painting called “She Died Like A Heroine”, depicting an angel lifting her soul from her body lying on a cold dungeon floor and bearing her away to Valhalla or wherever she was destined to go. (As a footnote, it probably says a lot about our society that if you search for “she died like a heroine” on Google, all you get is stories about Peaches Geldorf.) More next month when we properly get dug in, in the trenches. Until then, move fast and stay low…

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world exclusive first review

08/12/2013 22:55

team proﬁle RHINO

TEAM RHINO TEAM RHINO WERE FORMED during the winter of 2012, the four founding members being Angelo Di Vito, Robert Stock, Andy Roberts and Shaun Keane. The reason the team was set up was because we were getting increasingly fed up with the playing the same site every two weeks with very limited numbers. We found that airsoft was growing very rapidly and new sites were opening up all over the country, so we decided to split from our club and go it alone.

As we are an independent team, we can play at any site we wish and are not tied to any particular club, although having said that, Cerberus Airsoft are the club that we all have memberships with. I would like to add the staff at Cerberus have been very good to the team, with special mention to Andy Knox, Sean Dooley and Julian McGoun. Julian is actually a member of the team when he can get away from running Cerberus Games.

Since then we have grown in numbers to our current team which comprises of nine members, who all have their different skills and qualities. We have possibly one of the best snipers in the business, in Shaun Keane and pyro experts Lance Gilbert and Kevin “Daisy” Durrant. The rest of the team know what is expected of them and know their various roles in each game. As we try not to take the game too seriously, we like to play a mixture of a good old scrap at a skirmish and the very structured MilSim games. The highlights being a cracking Milsim at Copehill Down last year with Brit Tac airsoft and also another great weekend with Stirling Airsoft at Catterick, playing the England v Scotland game.

All in all we work hard and we play hard - ask anybody that knows us and they will tell you. We’ve bloodied and few noses and had ours bloodied but then that’s what the game is all about. We take no prisoners but we don’t apologise for that. TEAM MEMBERS Angelo Di Vito Stocky Andy Roberts Kevin “Daisy” Durrant Stephen “Soap” Varley Lance Gilbert Liam Crosby Shaun “Irish” Keane

Rich Stephenson Julian McGoun

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DAN MILLS CONTINUES HIS JOURNEY THROUGH THE EVENTS OF THE GREAT WAR WITH A MAJOR ALLIED DEFEAT. THE GALLIPOLI CAMPAIGN WAS A SERIES OF BATTLES to capture the peninsula that is the bank of land overlooking the Dardanelles Strait. This stretch of sea lead to the Russian Empire, an ally and for various reasons had to be secured. After a disastrous few years Turkey (Ottoman) had entered the war with the intention of expanding its faltering empire, it came out on the side of the Germans. What followed was a resounding victory for the Ottoman’s and a devastating defeat for the Allies whose best maneuver during the whole campaign was the one which evacuated the defeated allies off the peninsula in early January 1916! Early moves saw the Greek Isle of Lemnos occupied by the allies to use as a base from which to deploy on operations on the peninsula, the ﬁrst deployment was a party of Marines sent ashore on the tip to destroy or capture a line of Turkish guns and this was achieved without loss. Naval bombardments of inner positions followed, as did trawler sweeps to clear mines from the waterways. At this stage it was decided that the stretch of water could not be forced by naval assets alone and as a result the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, camped in Egypt, was dispatched to land and secure the peninsular. A massive logistics mess up from the start caused not only lengthy delays but allowed the enemy to call in reinforcements, since the naval bombardments had alerted the Turks and Germans to the likelihood of an allied attack. At Lemnos it was discovered that vital stores which would be required immediately on a hostile landing had been placed in the ship’s holds ﬁrst and therefore everything would have to unpacked and repacked aboard, ready for operations. This caused delays of at least a month and gave the defending forces plenty of time to reinforce their garrison. Also, no serious planning for the invasion had taken place. No reconnaissance, no in-depth look at Turkish dispositions, beach head, surrounding areas, strong points (the list goes on…) was ever carried out. It seems the whole landings were designed around a tourist map of the area! The landings went ahead starting on the 25th of April. The British landed on the southern tip of the peninsular at Cape Helles, the French made a diversionary 80

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FEATURE WORLD WAR 1 | GALLIPOLI CAMPAIGN

The ofﬁcers walked two miles inland and up the dominating feature of Achi Baba, overlooking the landing area - but then failed to call up troops to hold the position. They simply left and walked back to their commands because they had not received orders to take it!

attack on the opposite side of the strait at Kum Kale and the Australians and New Zealanders landed at Gaba Tepe. Amazingly, any chance of quickly taking and holding the ground quickly dissipated because of a lack of initiative on the part of many officers during those first crucial hours. The British had landed virtually unmolested, the officers walked two miles inland and up the dominating feature of Achi Baba, overlooking the landing area - but then failed to call up troops to hold the position. They simply left and walked back to their commands because they had not received orders to take it! An opportunity to gain a quick victory had been thrown away and this blunder would cost thousands of lives as the next time they approached the feature, the Turks had moved in. The Anzacs too failed to exploit a situation that could have seen them gain considerable advantage. During the landings 1500 men of the first assault wave had been blown off course, landing on an almost unopposed beach they scaled the surrounding heights, namely the approaches to Chanuk Bair. Before they had chance to realize the strategic importance of the location, due to the lack of planning, the Turks again quickly positioned their forces to block the move and the advance was halted. Again this lack of organisation and coordination on behalf of the allies would lead to thousands of lives being lost attempting to take ground that was, for one moment, a gift and in their grasp. These massive failings to grasp opportunity and gain the upper hand caused the whole campaign to flounder and without forward movement the armies began to dig in. Yet another stalemate which soon mirrored the situation in France. For three months trench warfare ensued with both sides causing casualties on the other. The Turks had the dominating positions and overlooked the allied positions, any movement down below was quickly spotted and artillery brought to bear. The attackers held on by

their ﬁnger nails from being thrown back into the sea, disease was rife and swept through the squalid positions. An ambitious plan was made to sever the peninsular. First, further divisions were landed to bolster the ailing allies but the enemy simply did the same and by increasing their own forces the Turks stayed one move ahead. Just sitting tight they were winning the campaign by attrition. Next (and out of desperation to break the deadlock) a further landing was made up North at Sulva Bay. It was designed to attack the Turks from two sides but from the start incompetence ruled the day.

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FEATURE WORLD WAR 1 | GALLIPOLI CAMPAIGN

The commander, one Lieutenant General Stopford, had never even had a field command before; he was simply the next senior commander on the list. Troops and supplies were landed and stockpiled but again, a complete failure and lack of drive by the commanders failed to grasp the situation. No urgency, orders or leadership was issued or displayed, the result was predictable and for all to see. The commander was removed from his post, so too at the head of the Army, Hamilton was recalled and a new one installed, Lieutenant General Charles Monro. However he did not even get off the ship and, deciding evacuation was the better idea, simply ordered it! What followed was a set piece example of how to maintain secrecy and carry out orders to the letter and thousands of casualties were expected during this phase but the Turks had no idea what was going on. In the event, not a single man was lost and by careful withdrawal of units during the hours of darkness unit after unit was replaced. Shells and rifle shots were still fired at the enemy to portray normal activity but gaps were fed into the bombardment so the Turks had no suspicion when firing stopped and then restarted. Ship batteries also began

bombarding the enemy to help the effort and keep the enemy’s heads down. From 480,000 troops, not including any casualties, the allied soldiers were whittled down night after night to a small garrison of 10,000. These men had the task of appearing as though nothing had changed. They manned the guns, ran from firing position to firing position and regularly changed places in order to deceive the watching enemy defenders - and it worked! The evacuation, ordered early November, started on the night of 18th December 1915 for the troops at Sulva Bay and Anzac Beach and then on 8th January 1916 at Helles for the remainder. For the exhausted and war weary troops the evacuation could not come quick enough. They had landed fresh and full of confidence nine months earlier, had endured disease and bombardment, incompetent leadership, misery and death. The disastrous Gallipoli Campaign cost the Allies 252,000 casualties and near enough the same for the Turks. The one benefit gained from the whole experience was the destruction of the best of the Turkish units which, later in the war when the two sides met once again, would be an advantage.

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BOOK REVIEW WAR JUNKIE

WAR JUNKIE: BY JON STEELE

KRIS ROBERTS ON THE INCREDIBLE STORY OF AN ITN CAMERAMAN WHO FILMED SOME OF THE MOST HORRIFIC AND DANGEROUS CONFLICTS OF RECENT TIMES

ACROSS THE TARMAC... RUNNING TOWARDS THE CONTROL TOWER and me crouching and turning to the family and pointing to the control-tower bunker. “Come on this way!” Two shells smashed down on to the runway. I fell and rolled into a ball. Vibrations rumbling through the concrete. On my knees looking through the dark. The woman running away towards the burning terminal, dragging her screaming sons behind her. “No! Goddammit no!” Whoosh... KACRASH! KACRASH! Fire and light and the dark once more. I scraped myself off the ground and focused through the dark. Gone. They were gone. “War Junkie” is the incredible story of ITN Cameraman Jon Steele. Opening with his own emotional breakdown in August 1994 at Heathrow airport, the book rewinds to the previous year and follows him as he moves from one major conﬂict to the other in search of his next adrenaline ﬁx.

In Georgia, under constant shellfire, Steele sat trapped inside a passenger jet waiting for takeoff as other planes were being shot from the sky. In Moscow, he placed himself between the rebels and the militia in order to capture the chaos of the hand to hand street fighting. In Rwanda, he filmed the aftermath of the genocide while death squads still roamed the streets. In Zaire, he bore witness to thousands of refugees dying of starvation and cholera. Then finally, in Sarajevo, a sniper’s bullet cuts down a little girl and Steele reaches tipping point. War Junkie is harsh. It is a book filled with the worst of humanity and it is delivered by the author in such a way that it is truly gut-wrenching and heart-breaking to read. Steele writes in a simple and matter of fact manner that makes for a very accessible read and his ability to convey in words the images that he sees, allows the reader to paint a very vivid and three dimensional picture. In some ways you wish that he didn’t, the images that he describes are not for the faint-hearted but Steele is refreshing in that he doesn’t shy away from the details, or his feelings on the matter. This is not just a book about war, but of how one particular man views it. Through the pages we learn more and more about Steele’s character, about his personal life and of his shortcomings as a father, a husband and, in many respects, as a man. But it is his honesty in the portrayal of himself that makes him so endearing and it helps to create a better understanding of his reactions and opinions of the brutality he surrounds himself with. He is a damaged man, one who thrives on the thrill of danger but is also well aware of the fragility of the facade he has created for himself. As a cameraman, Steele has an eye for the beautiful and surreal. He looks

for the angle, the shot that expresses the moment and could be suitable for broadcast. It is quite something to read of a man stepping into a pit of corpses to find the shot, one which will inform the people back home, but not offend their sensitive western ideals. Steele uses his camera as an emotional barrier to protect himself from the suffering around him, but the illusion inevitably crumbles. Despite his techniques, despite his bitterness and rage and the emotional numbness he presents to others, Steele is a regular man living through the worst that our species is capable of, time and time again. Yet the book manages to find moments of lightness and humour and, quite remarkably, there are the wonderful people that emerge from the darkest moments, those who cling on to hope and work selflessly to help those in need. There are true heroes here, ones who aren’t marked with medals and awards, who to call just “inspiring” would be a huge understatement. To recommend this book isn’t enough. Personally, I would like to see it as required reading for every adult in the country. This book is a heavy dose of perspective, delivered like a sledgehammer to the skull.

INFORMATION WAR JUNKIE IS PUBLISHED BY CORGI AND AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK AND KINDLE EDITIONS (FROM AMAZON). PRICES: £9.00 (PAPERBACK) £4.68 (KINDLE)

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Email nige@airsoft-action.co.uk to add or change a site listing

ATROOP AIRSOFT

AIRBORNE 101 AIRSOFT CLUB

ALL ARMS AIRSOFT

APOCALYPSE AIRSOFT

Clocaenog Forest, LL16 4SP 07967 394976 www.atroop.co.uk

Downpatrick, Co. Down, BT30 07718 032541 robinsonm24@btinternet.com

Near Trawden, BB8 8SN 07909 683464 www.allarmsairsoft.co.uk

Sittingbourne, Kent, ME9 7QP 07872 348 576 www.apocalypseairsoft.com

ABER AIRSOFT – THE BUNKER

AIRSOFT ASYLUM

ALPHA 55

ARENA AIRSOFT

Allt-lywd Wood Farm, outside Llanrhystud, nr. Aberystwyth, Wales. 07511554740 www.aberairsoft.co.uk

North Lanarksire, ML7 5 www.airsoftasylum.webs.com

Halkyn wood, North Wales CH8 8DF 0845 257 6937 www.alpha55.co.uk

Grimsby, DN31 3JD 07752 404060 www.arenaairsoft.com

AIRSOFT COMMANDOS ABSOLUTE AIRSOFT Maidenhead, SL6 3SS 07871 314951 www.absolute-airsoft.co.uk

Sutton, near Ferrybridge 07723 061386 andyace@ntlworld.com

ALPHA ELITE GAMING Le Mont de Rozel, Jersey, JE3 5 01534 733697 www.aegairsoft.je

AIRSOFT KGB ACE AIRSOFT WAR GAMES Holbrook Coppice, Buidwas Bank (A4169), Buildwas, Telford, Shropshire, TF8 07786 192832 www.aceairsoft.co.uk

ACE COMBAT Kent, TN12 7DG 01303 814803 www.acecombat.co.uk

Porkellis Moor near Helston, Cornwall, TR13 0 Chef1322@hotmail.com www.kgbairsoft.com

AIRSOFT SKIRMISH Stoulton, WR7 4QW 07764 587410 www.airsoftskirmish.co.uk

AMAZON EVENTS Hellingly, East Sussex, BN27 4HL 0844 2570433 www.amazonoutdoorevents.co.uk

AMBUSH ADVENTURES – CHOBHAM Chobham, Surrey, GU24 8SL 01252 315225 www.ambushadventures.co.uk

AIRSOFT SKIRMISH CQB Studley, B80 7LY 07764 587410 www.airsoftskirmish.co.uk

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Sawbridgeworth, Herts, CM23 4BJ 07732 184957 www.awaherts.com

BARNSLEY AIRSOFT Shafton, Barnsley, S72 8RE 07779 236166 www.barnsleypaintball.co.uk

BATTLETEC AIRSOFT La Couture, Guernsey, GY1 2 07781 104068 www.battletec.co.uk

BETTER BATTLES AMBUSH ADVENTURES – SOUTHAMPTON New Forest National Park, SP5 2DW 01252 315225 www.ambushadventures.co.uk

AWA HERTS

Ravenshead, Notts, NG15 9DH 07967 940043 www.better-battles.com

SITE DIRECTORY

Huge thanks to our friends at Airbana (www.airsoftmap.net) for supplying data

FIND SOMEWHERE TO BE THIS WEEKEND…

BLACKDAGGER AIRSOFT Grasscroft Wood, Barlow Lees Lane, Dronﬁeld, S18 7UR www.blackdagger-airsoft.co.uk

BLUESTREAK AIRSOFT

CERBERUS AIRSOFT SHEFFIELD WOODLAND Shefﬁeld, S6 6JE 07891 469492 www.cerberusairsoft.co.uk

Westcott Venture Park, Westcott, Aylesbury, HP18 0XB 01296 658600 www.bluestreak-airsoft.co.uk

CHESTERFIELD IMPERIAL AIRSOFT

BRAVO 2-2 AIRSOFT

CLOSE ACTION AIRSOFT

Leisure Lakes, Mere Brow, Southport. PR46JX 07790 715059 www.bravo22airsoft.com

Corby, NN17 3BB 07740 165787 www.close-action.co.uk

BRISTOL AIRSOFT Bristol, BS1 2HQ 07776 288826 www.bristolairsoft.com

BRIT-TAC AIRSOFT Shefﬁeld, S2 5TR 07795 631331 www.brittacairsoft.com

BUNKER 51 Charlton, SE7 8NJ 0870 7549653 www.wolfarmouries.co.uk

C3 TACTICAL Longhope, Gloucestershire, GL17 0PH 07597 938011 www.c3tactical.co.uk

Brimington, Chesterﬁeld, S43 1DQ www.cia-airsoft.co.uk

COMBAT ACTION GAMES Maryland, Norfolk, NR10 4 01328 711867 www.combatactiongames.co.uk

COMBAT SOUTH URBAN Portsmouth, PO6 3LS 02392 655636 www.combatsouth.co.uk

COMBAT SOUTH WOODLAND Fareham, PO17 5ND 02392 655636 www.combatsouth.co.uk

CONTACT! FIGHT SCHOOL Kelvedon Hatch, Essex, CM14 5 01438 368177 www.theﬁghtschool.demon.co.uk

COOL UNDER FIRE CERBERUS AIRSOFT - THE COMPLEX Horsforth, Leeds LS18 4RP 07891 469492 www.cerberusairsoft.co.uk

CERBERUS AIRSOFT - THE SANDPIT Bradford, BD2 1BQ 07891 469492 www.cerberusairsoft.co.uk

CERBERUS AIRSOFT - RIVOCK EDGE Keighley, BD20 0LS 07891 469492 www.cerberusairsoft.co.uk

Doddington, Kent, ME9 0JS 07960 532613 www.coolunderﬁre.co.uk

CORNWALL AIRSOFT ASSAULT Truro, Cornwall, TR2 07837 475012 www.cornwallairsoftassault.co.uk

CUMBRIA AIRSOFT Dumfries, DG12 cumbria.airsoft@virgin.net www.cumbria-airsoft.com

DELTA TEAM 3 Skelmersdale, Lancs WN8 8UT 07986 053076 www.deltateam3.co.uk

DOGS OF WAR

FIFE WARGAMES

Houston, Renfrewshire, PA6 7BP 07853 195290 www.dow-airsoft.co.uk

St Andrews, KY10 3XL info@ﬁfewargames.co.uk www.ﬁfewargames.com

DRAGON’S LAIR

FINMERE AIRSOFT

Brentwood, Essex, CM15 0LA 07703 530189 www.dragonslairairsoft.co.uk

Buckingham, MK18 4JT 07976 184897 www.ﬁnmereairsoft.com

DRAGON VALLEY AIRSOFT

FIREBALL SQUADRON

Caerwent Training Area, South Wales, NP26 5XL 07921 336360 www.dragonvalley.co.uk

Sutton Coldﬁeld, B75 5SA 07582 684533 www.ﬁreballsquadron.com

ELITE ACTION GAMES – GATWICK Holmbush Farm, Crawley Road, Faygate, Nr. Horsham, W. Sussex, RH12 4SE 07882 686242 www.eliteactiongames.com

ELITE ACTION GAMES – DORKING Dorking, Surrey, RH5 5AB 01784 433023 www.eliteactiongames.com

ELITE ACTION GAMES – EPSOM Epsom, Surrey, KT18 01784 433023 www.eliteactiongames.com

ELITE ACTION GAMES – WORTHING Worthing, BN13 01784 433023 www.eliteactiongames.com

ELITE BATTLEZONE Bexley, Greater London, DA5 1NX 07968 448475 www.elitebattlezone.co.uk

EXPERIENCE AIRSOFT Swindon, Wiltshire, SN5 0AN 01380 728982 www.experienceairsoft.co.uk

FIREFIGHT COMBAT SIMULATIONS Lewisham, SE13 5SU 07973 240177 www.ﬁreﬁght.co.uk

FIRST AND ONLY – ANZIO CAMP Leek, ST13 8 07862 288359 www.ﬁrstandonlyairsoft.com

FIRST AND ONLY – BUNKER WOOD Kidderminster, Worcs, DY11 5SA 07862 288359 www.ﬁrstandonlyairsoft.com

FIRST AND ONLY – KHE SANH WOODS Otley, West Yorkshire LS21 2NA 07862 288359 www.ﬁrstandonlyairsoft.com

FIRST AND ONLY – MANCHESTER WOODLAND Bolton, BL7 9TS 07862 288359 www.ﬁrstandonlyairsoft.com

FIRST AND ONLY – ASYLUM Kidderminster, DY10 3PT 07862 288359 www.ﬁrstandonlyairsoft.com

FIRST & ONLY: THE HIVE Middleton, Manchester, M24 1AZ0161 727 8863

FIRST & ONLY: THE ARMOURY Wrexham, Denbighshire, LL13 9RG 07554 800040

FIRST & ONLY: THE ACADEMY Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, CV32 6QF 07779 157440

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ISLAND RECON AIRSOFT COMBAT Near Shorwell, Isle of Wight, PO30 07964 751047 www.islandrecon.co.uk

FIRST & ONLY: THE ASYLUM

GREENZONE COMBAT

Kidderminster, DY10 3PT 07779 157440

Co. Armagh, BT60 1NE 07772 919974 www.greenzonecombat.com

FIRST & ONLY: THE OUTPOST Kidderminster, DY11 5SA 07779 157440

FIRST & ONLY: SLEEPY HOLLOW Bridgnorth, Shropshire, WV16 5LS 07880 316716

FIRST & ONLY: THE DEPOT Glasgow, G45 9SB 0161 727 8863

GROUND ZERO WOODLAND Ringwood, Hampshire, BH24 2DF www.groundzerowoodland.com

RAF Honiley/The Grange Frogmore Grange, Frog Lane, Balsall Common, West Mids CV7 7FP Tel: 01676 532 384 info@suspensionofdisbelief.co.uk www.shop. suspensionofdisbelief.co.uk

GUNMAN AIRSOFT – NORWICH Norwich, Norfolk, NR10 07854 277264 www.gunmanairsoft.co.uk

FRV AIRSOFT Annacloy, Downpatrick, BT30 8JJ 07730 586926 www.frvairsoft.com

HILTON PARK AIRSOFT Wolverhampton, WV10 7HU 08000 354490 www.paintballuk.com

GASS AIRSOFT – PENN Penn Bottom, Bucks, HP10 07907 788970 www.gassairsoft.co.uk

HOMELAND TACTICAL AIRSOFT Spanby, Lincs, NG34 0AT 07971 560249 facebook.com/HomelandTacticalAirsoft

GASS AIRSOFT – PIDDINGTON Piddington, Oxfordshire, OX25 1 07907 788970 www.gassairsoft.co.uk

HUMBER AIRSOFT North Lincolnshire, DN21 www.humberairsoft.co.uk 07792 680297

GRANGE FARM AIRSOFT Leicester, LE9 9FP www.gingerliberationfront.com

INVICTA AIRSOFT – RAINDEN WOODS Folkestone, Kent, CT18 7AY 01227 763335 www.invictaairsoft.co.uz

February 2014

JULY 2014

Edinburgh, EH14 4 nick@ncis-airsoft.co.uk www.ncis-airsoft.co.uk

LAC SITE 1

NOMAD AIRSOFT

Gainsborough, North Lincs, DN21 4JH 07775 877057 www.lincolnshireairsoftclub.co.uk

Fenwick, Ayrshire, KA3 6AY 07904 998250 www.nomadairsoft.com

LAC SITE 2 Gainsborough, North Lincs, DN21 4JH 07775 877057 www.lincolnshireairsoftclub.co.uk

NORTHERN ALLIANCE AIRSOFT Thirsk, North Yorkshire, YO7 3LQ 01845 565465 www.northernallianceairsoft.co.uk

NORTHFLEET CQB LAC SITE 3 Saxillby, LN1 2JW 07775 877057 www.lincolnshireairsoftclub.co.uk

Northﬂeet, Kent, DA11 9AA 07968 448475 www.elitebattlezone.co.uk

NSC AIRSOFT

GUNMAN AIRSOFT – MIDLANDS

FREE FIRE ZONE Farcet, Peterborough, PE7 3DH 01733 247171 www.freeﬁrezone.co.uk

NCIS AIRSOFT

Gorebridge, Midlothian, EH23 4LG 0131 654 2452 www.airsoftedinburgh.co.uk

GUNMAN AIRSOFT – CAMBRIDGE Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP28 07854 277264 www.gunmanairsoft.co.uk

Checkley, Staffordshire, ST10 4NS 07523 916607 www.milsimuk.co.uk

LAND WARRIOR AIRSOFT

GUN HO AIRSOFT Guisborough, TS7 0PG 07525 435696 www.gunhoairsoft.co.uk

MILSIM UK

LAC SITE 5 Kirton Rd, North Lincs, DN16 www.lincolnshireairsoftclub.co.uk

LINDSEY AIRSOFT Manby, Lincolnshire, LN11 8HE 07955 487983 www.lindsey-airsoft.co.uk

MATLOCK COMBAT GAMES Matlock, Derbyshire, DE4 5FW 07974 507166 www.matlockcombatgames.com

MAW Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, LE14 07562 479966 maw.airsoft@hotmail.com

MIA Cornwall, EX23 9JL 01288 331748 www.airsoftsouthwest.co.uk

MILITARY OUTDOOR ADVENTURES Wrightington, WN6 9PL 01942 514724 www.militaryoutdooradventure.co.uk

Hetton, Sunderland, DH5 0 07983 333521 www.nscairsoft.co.uk

NTAC Durham, DL4 2ER 01642 281220 www.ntac.co.uk

OBAN AIRSOFT – HILL ARGYLL Argyll and Bute, PA37 1 07967 710185 www.argyllsurplus.com

OP-TACTICAL UK – TEAN-OPS Tean, Staffordshire, ST10 4JT 07964 990831 www.op-tac.co.uk

OVER THE TOP AIRSOFT CLUB Anglesey, LL71 www.ottairsoft.co.uk 07731 744471

PATHFINDER GROUP AIRSOFT MILITARY SIMULATION Former RAF Camp Sopley/ Merryﬁeld Park, Hants, BH23 02380 899369

Huge thanks to our friends at Airbana (www.airsoftmap.net) for supplying data

SITE DIRECTORY FIND SOMEWHERE TO BE THIS WEEKEND…

PHOENIX AIRSOFT

SKIRMISH AIRSOFT BILLERICAY

TACTICAL WARFARE AIRSOFT

UCAP SANDPIT

Welbeck Airsoft, Academy, Budby Road, Notts NG20 9JX 07956 587213/01623 812483 www.phoenix-airsoft.co.uk

Billericay, Essex, CM11 2TX 01277 657777 www.airsoft-billericay.co.uk

Warlingham, Surrey, CR6 9PL 020 8665 1299 www.tacticalwarfare.co.uk

Bean, Kent, DA2 8 07590 818881 www.ucap.co.uk

SKIRMISH EXETER

TECH BRIGADE

Exeter, Devon, EX4 5 01548 580025 www.airsoftexeter.co.uk

Newgate Street, Hertfordshire. SG13 8NH 07841 713356 www.techbrigade.org

PLATOON 1HQ Rochester, Kent, ME1 1 HQ 01634 829063 www.ptt-1hq.co.uk

PLAYERS OF WAR High Bonnybridge, FK1 3AD 07767 203979 www.playersofwar.co.uk

SOUTHDOWN AIRSOFT Petworth, West Sussex, GU28 0LR 07766 770830 www.southdownairsoft.com

TASK FORCE SKIRMISH Cowbridge, S Glamorgan, CF71 02920 593900 www.taskforcepaintball.co.uk

PREDATOR COMBAT GAMES

SPEC OPS AIRSOFT – BLOXWORTH

THE BUNKER

Ballynahinch, BT24 8NF 02897565651 / 07825169631 www.predatorcombat.com

Wareham, Dorset, BH20 7EU 07984 656947 www.specopsairsoft.co.uk

Aberystwyth, www.aberairsoft.co.uk 07841 462806

RAVEN’S NEST

SPEC OPS AIRSOFT – THE ROCK

THE DESERTERS AIRSOFT

Suffolk, IP8 4 01473 831563 www.ravensairsoft.co.uk

Portland, Dorset, DT5 2EG 07984 656947 www.specopsairsoft.co.uk

Redford, DD11 07751 878175 www.thedeserters.co.uk

RAW WAR AIRSOFT CUMBRIA

STIRLING AIRSOFT

THE EX SITE

Wigton, Cumbria CA7 3SZ 01900 85645 www.airsoftcumbria.co.uk

Coventry, CV3 6NX 07831 429407 www.stirlingairsoft.com

Mold, CH7 4 07840 001975 www.theexsitewales.co.uk

RIFT AIRSOFT COM’S SITE 3

STORMFORCE AIRSOFT

THE WARGAMES CENTRE

Chipping Warden, OX17 1LZ 07751 586781 www.riftairsoft.com

Rugeley, Staffordshire, WS15 4LD 07515 937633 www.stormforcepaintball.co.uk

Stevenston, Ayrshire, KA20 3LN 08456 434326 www.scottishadventurecentre.co.uk

ULTIMATE WARGAMES – FAWKHAM Fawkham, Kent, DA3 8NY 01268 796130 www.ultimatewargames.co.uk

ULTIMATE WARGAMES – LIMPSFIELD Oxted, Surrey, RH8 0RH www.ultimatewargames.co.uk

URBAN6AIRSOFT – ZONE 13 Stone, Staffordshire ST15 0QN 07432 291729 www.urban6airsoft.com

URBAN6AIRSOFT – THE BLOCK Wood Street, Butron-Upon-Trent, Staffordshire, DE14 £AB www.urban6airsoft.com

URBAN ASSAULT Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, PE26 1 01733 247171 www.urbanassault.org.uk

VIKING AIRSOFT Welwyn, Hertfordshire, AL6 0UN www.vikingairsoft.co.uk

WARMINSTER AIRSOFT RIFT AIRSOFT (COTTENHAM)

SUSSEX AIRSOFT

TROJAN AIRSOFT

Cambridge, CB24 8RL 07751 586781 www.riftairsoft.com

Slinfold, RH12 020 8150 9284 www.sussexairsoft.co.uk

Macclesﬁeld, SK10 4SZ 07428 024874 www.trojan-airsoft.com

SECTION 8 AIRSOFT

S.W.A.T. AIRSOFT

Shotts, N Lanarkshire, ML7 5AB 07974 026517 www.s8airsoft.com

Boathouse lane, South Wirral, Cheshire, CH64 3TB www.swatairsoft.eu 07703 177756

SECTION 8 AIRSOFT Shotts, North Lanarkshire, ML7 5AB 07974 026517 www.s8airsoft.com

SG1 COMBAT GAMES Co. Londonderry, BT45 8NA 07713 273102 www.sg1combatgames.co.uk

TROJAN AIRSOFT – OLYMPUS CQB Weir Mill, Viaduct Street, Chestergate, Stockport, Cheshire, SK5 7JP

TA EVENTS

UCAP AIRSOFT

Hemel Hemstead, Herts, HP2 7QB 07894 059794 www.ta-events.co.uk

Portsmouth, Hants, PO17 6AR 07590 818881 www.ucap.co.uk

TACTICAL WALES AIRSOFT

UCAP GREEN OPS

Reynoldston, Swansea SA3 1AS 01792 473336 www.tacticalwales.co.uk

Linch, West Sussex, GU30 7 07590 818881 www.ucap.co.uk

Warminster, BA12 7RZ www.warminsterairsoft.co.uk

XSITE AIRSOFT OUTPOST Dunstable, LU6 2EE 01494 881430 www.xsiteairsoft.co.uk

XSITE AIRSOFT – LANE END High Wycombe, HP14 3NP 01494 881430

www.airsoft-action.co.uk

DEALER LISTINGS

ADVERTISERS INDEX Land Warrior AirsoftAirsoft Land Warrior

RedWolf Airsoft RedWolf Airsoft

Airsoft Zone Wolf Armouries

9 11

ActionSportGames

JD Airsoft Enola Gaye

15 + 57

ActionSportGames

Military 1st

BadgerTac JD Airsoft

Epic Militaria

28 + 68

AirsoftTrading Armoury E-W

37 26

Military 1st BadgerTac

42 31

Leeds Airsoft Wolf Armouries

44 36

Just SWAT BB Guns

41 51

Leeds Armex Airsoft

58 +46 59

Enola Gaye BadgerTac 2

50 60

BadgerTac 2 EW Trading

61 60

Gunman Airsoft

Eton Guns

Crawley Surplus Store

Crawley Surplus Store NoVAT

Dragon Valley

MAY 2014

3+ 3 +75 79

Airsoft Expo Airsoft Zone Airsoft Armoury

090

64 64

SWAT

NoVAT

Military Outdoor

Epic Militaria Dragon Valley

77 70

Gunman Outdoor Military

77 70

Airsoft World Airsoft World

91 91

Pro Airsoft Supplies Pro Airsoft Supplies

92 92