The Night Mail

[pH]

3 hours ago, TheQ said:

I've got the book of the real events, the actual Body of Glyndwr Michael was used to deceive the Nazis …

There is another suggestion for where the body used came from - the sinking of this carrier in the Clyde in March 1943, just before Operation Mincemeat;
 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Dasher_(D37)

 

If you think about it, if you’re trying to create a believable scenario, the body of a Royal Navy officer (or perhaps even a real Royal Marine officer) who had died by drowning would be more appropriate to represent a Royal Marine officer who had drowned than that of a tramp who had died by poisoning.

 

Incidentally, the loss of HMS Dasher was the second most deadly Royal Navy sinking in home waters in WW2. (More lives were lost in the sinking of HMS Royal Oak.) Despite growing up on Clydeside, I was in my 50s before I first heard of it - it certainly was not publicized.

Edited June 30, 2022 by pH

[J. S. Bach]

51 minutes ago, pH said:

 ...snip... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Dasher_(D37) ...snip...

From the linked site:

"The government of the time, eager to avoid damage to morale and anxious to avoid any suggestion of faulty US construction, tried to cover up the sinking."

Considering that they were converted un-armored merchant hulls; I am surprised that any of them survived the operational environment*. That they did says a lot about the real quality of construction.

 

* I am not referring to enemy action here.

[Happy Hippo]

1 hour ago, Winslow Boy said:

 

If memory serves me correctly wasn't it all down to the Germans putting an extra cog into the works.

 

I'll leave it up to rest of you to come up with the punch line for that.

I can hear all the erudite brains groaning and creaking as they move up a gear trying to work up with the punch line.

[Oldddudders]

6 hours ago, br2975 said:

.

A (highly recommended) visit to "Station X" at Bletchley Park correctly puts the Hollywood version of U571 into perspective, or rather 'into the shade' 

In late 1998, my new employer, Silverlink Trains, instructed me to undertake some admin office construction works at Bletchley station. To put it mildly it wasn't my cup of tea, but it was done, and sadly I was expected to occupy one of the offices, which was about 100 miles from my home in deep Kent. Since the available space in the building didn't easily allow a full 'team meeting' we would, on several occasions, make use of Bletchley Park. So I have been part of meetings in the library and one or two other rooms there. This was before the commercial emphasis I believe is now on the place, and the café was very village-hall in nature, for example, but we coped, and the people running it were clearly and charmingly dedicated. Yes, there was an Enigma machine or two, suitably enclosed in glass. No, we didn't visit the huts.

[PhilJ W]

2 hours ago, Winslow Boy said:

 

If memory serves me correctly wasn't it all down to the Germans putting an extra cog into the works.

 

I'll leave it up to rest of you to come up with the punch line for that.

Not a cog but a rotor, initially they had three rotors but later versions had up to eight. Each additional rotor made cracking the code harder as it increased the number of possibilities expotentionally. One feature of the machine was that the letter of the alphabet entered would not be the one encoded so if an A was entered it would become any letter except A. This came in useful when cracking the Luftwaffe codes. The Luftwaffe was notoriously lackadaisical about communications security and one of their radio operators got bored and just kept tapping out the letter L. This was picked up by Bletchley where one of the code breakers spotted that the letter L was absent and from that the code was cracked.

[Tony_S]

I haven't been to Bletchley Park but would happily do so. It got a very good recommendation from one of Aditi's younger cousins who visited before Covid. She also liked the NPL open day she went to.

Edited June 30, 2022 by Tony_S

[Northmoor]

1 hour ago, PhilJ W said:

Not a cog but a rotor, initially they had three rotors but later versions had up to eight. Each additional rotor made cracking the code harder as it increased the number of possibilities expotentionally. One feature of the machine was that the letter of the alphabet entered would not be the one encoded so if an A was entered it would become any letter except A. This came in useful when cracking the Luftwaffe codes. The Luftwaffe was notoriously lackadaisical about communications security and one of their radio operators got bored and just kept tapping out the letter L. This was picked up by Bletchley where one of the code breakers spotted that the letter L was absent and from that the code was cracked.

There were obviously multiple incidents which contributed to cracking the "code", but wasn't one of them when it was suggested, "I'll bet they always sign off with Heil Hitler".  Which unfortunately for the Germans, one soldier submitting daily weather reports, always did......

[Happy Hippo]

A bit of progress was made on the railway today, but every time I moved it outside into the sunlight, it decided to rain.  It was definitely a push pull sevice.

 

I did manage to dig holes into the baseboard for the stall motors and the signal bases.

 

The point switches have been wired up and so have the signals.  It just remains for the crossover to be test wired to ensure that when the switch is moved the opposing points move in concert with each other and that the polarity is in synch.

 

I learned some time ago that trying to wire switches directly to a control panel was not a good idea so all the wires come into a central distribution board.  (long chocolate box connecter).

 

A nice surprise saw finding that the Dapol signals do have lamps that light up when power is applied.  When Dave and I were looking at them they appeared to be dummies..... Now we know who the dummies really are!

[SM42]

9 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

That's why whenever I pass through Clapham Junction I always make sure I know where my towel is (with apologies to those unfamiliar with The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy).

 

Dave

 

What a hoopy frood you are

 

Andy

[laurenceb]

The most scathing review of Enigma I read was in Fine Scale Modeler,part of the Kalambach(sp) empire

[Dave Hunt]

I've spent this evening working on the eulogy and other things I have to do for Dad's funeral and it's finally hit me that he's gone. Until now I think I've been so busy sorting out the legal and financial stuff and dealing with solicitors and such that it hasn't really sunk in - it's just been like an extension of what I was doing for him anyway and even when I've been doing other things for myself it hasn't been too different from my normal life. But as I began to write about his life the realisation was suddenly there that I won't see him again and it was like a big black cloud. Fortunately we are off at the weekend to see two of our grandchildren in a concert followed by a great friend's birthday celebration so there are distractions. 

 

Dave

[AndyID]

1 hour ago, Dave Hunt said:

I've spent this evening working on the eulogy and other things I have to do for Dad's funeral and it's finally hit me that he's gone. Until now I think I've been so busy sorting out the legal and financial stuff and dealing with solicitors and such that it hasn't really sunk in - it's just been like an extension of what I was doing for him anyway and even when I've been doing other things for myself it hasn't been too different from my normal life. But as I began to write about his life the realisation was suddenly there that I won't see him again and it was like a big black cloud. Fortunately we are off at the weekend to see two of our grandchildren in a concert followed by a great friend's birthday celebration so there are distractions. 

 

Dave

 

Dave,

 

If and when you feel up to it do please tell us a bit more about your dad.

 

Andy

[Florence Locomotive Works]

Right well a lot has happened in the last 48 hours.

 

 

Majorly, I got my first car.

 

 

This 2003 Land Rover Discovery SE, which thankfully has nothing major wrong with it. I’m very pleased with it, I’ve wanted a Land Rover since I was nine and never expected one to be my first car. 

 

 

 

I was also gifted this today as an early birthday gift by my aunt and grandfather, a Georgian writing lap desk to accompany the drawing set. As they live in NZ it was more convenient to buy something here than in NZ and have it shipped here. It’s a very nice thing, and a I spent several hours making it look presentable again. The only big missing bit is the diamond shaped mother of pearl inset around the lock which I will either replace with brass or ivory. 
 

 

Here it is folded up.

 

 

Douglas

[iL Dottore]

1 hour ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

 

 

Here it is folded up.

 

 

Douglas

Some nice toys, there Douglas.

 

But some would claim that the Landrover Defender is the one and only “true“ Land Rover.

LandRoverJaguar, in its infinite wisdom, stopped building the Defender back in 2016. Leaving a big hole in the market for a no nonsense, rugged, basic workhorse, so an English billionaire, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, decides he is going to build the replacement (and not a “poncy SUV“) which will go into production this year: https://ineosgrenadier.com/en/us/. So far, Ratcliffe has sunk $250 million into the project. When it does get going, I wonder if Jeremy Clarkson will approve?
 

Your other “early birthday present“ is a very nice desk indeed and there is something about these old items, made with eminently recyclable materials (wood, metal, cloth) that has an enduring appeal. I really wonder how many of  the modern plastic-based objects will be treasured and sought after in 50 or 100 years. Of course, there will be always modern design classics – like the Eames chair or the Artemide Tizio lamp - but  I don’t see much being produced nowadays that, in the future at auction, would go for the sort of silly money a quality piece of Chippendale furniture goes for.

 

And on a final note, as I am somewhat of an idiosyncratic type I have always wanted to have four items for my office: a human skull, a old fashioned globe of the Earth, a Tantalus and an Orrery. So far I have managed to acquire the skull (don’t ask! 😆) but a reasonably priced old-fashioned wood and brass globe, a reasonably price wood and brass orrery and a classic Tantalus have so far eluded me (they are definitely out there, but most of them go for prices I do not wish to pay – so it is a question of “hurry up and wait” and be ready to pounce when the opportunity arises).

[AndyID]

Oddly enough the original Land Rover was pretty much derived from the Jeep. MrsID had '97 Jeep Wrangler which was not much different from the original. The only glass was in the windscreen. Four cylinders, four-wheel drive and a heater. That was about it 😀

[Northmoor]

3 hours ago, Florence Locomotive Works said:

Right well a lot has happened in the last 48 hours.

 

 

Majorly, I got my first car.

 

 

This 2003 Land Rover Discovery SE, which thankfully has nothing major wrong with it. I’m very pleased with it, I’ve wanted a Land Rover since I was nine and never expected one to be my first car. 

 

 

 

I was also gifted this today as an early birthday gift by my aunt and grandfather, a Georgian writing lap desk to accompany the drawing set. As they live in NZ it was more convenient to buy something here than in NZ and have it shipped here. It’s a very nice thing, and a I spent several hours making it look presentable again. The only big missing bit is the diamond shaped mother of pearl inset around the lock which I will either replace with brass or ivory. 
 

 

Here it is folded up.

 

 

Douglas

A Disco 2 is an excellent choice Douglas.  It's what I'm looking for next.  Keep an eye on the chassis as they do rust, but the boot floors don't rot through like on the Series 1s.

@iL Dottorethat's not a Defender, it's a Series 2 (a very nice one too).  I believe JLR dropped the Defender as it couldn't practically be adapted to meet crash or emissions regulations.  The continual demand for Defenders makes them unbelievably expensive; you can spend £6K on one with sufficient chassis corrosion to fail an MOT.  In my childhood, every other farm had a Series 2 abandoned somewhere around the yard.

[Mike Bellamy]

8 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

I've spent this evening working on the eulogy

 

My mum was so organised that she had already written out the life history for herself, my dad and my sister - and they all had funeral plans organised and paid for. Although the funeral director was a family friend, it made it so much easier as I had three to arrange in three years . . . . . . . . I've done nothing for myself yet !

.

[br2975]

To all  members residing in our Dominion beyond ther seas..........

.

Happy Canada Day !

.

.

.

PS

Please excuse the chicken legs and porn star moustache !

[Happy Hippo]

Power outage at the hippodrome today so we are enjoying a day out at the Cheshire Oaks outlet.  I bought socks, Nyda bought a coat.... so far

 

Edited July 1, 2022 by Happy Hippo

[J. S. Bach]

5 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

Power outage at the hippodrome today so we are enjoying a day out at the Cheshire Oaks outlet.  I bought socks, Nyda bought a coat.... so fat

 

Fat??????? I suspect you meant "far"!

[Tony_S]

6 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

Nyda bought a coat.... so fat

 

Unfortunate typo, r and t being so close on the keypad!

[jamie92208]

11 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

Unfortunate typo, r and t being so close on the keypad!

Been there and got the tshirt in XXXL.

 

Jamie

[Happy Hippo]

43 minutes ago, J. S. Bach said:

Fat??????? I suspect you meant "far"!

Duly amended thank you.

 

Add a handbag to my last.....

 Now in the Bodyshop, although I don't think a new body is forthcoming!

[simontaylor484]

Looks like @Happy Hippo has sausage fingers like myself. Although the ungentlemanly would have read the original post as that But Nyda had bought a new coat due to putting weight on.

 

 

Currently Pebbles the dachshund is picking on things far bigger than herself eg my trainers

 

[J. S. Bach]

7 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

But some would claim that the Landrover Defender is the one and only “true“ Land Rover.

 ...snip...

Now, THAT is a Land Rover!!