RAC gunnery meaning 'Rypas'

Discussion in 'RAC & RTR' started by Topfmine, Nov 17, 2019.

  1. Tolbooth

    Tolbooth Patron Patron

    "The Black Beret" by Charles Graves (1943), a ficitionalised account of a group of recruits to the RAC early in the war, includes a description of the Rypa and its use.

    "At last they found themselves in the Rypa - the mock-up fighting-chamber of a tank which has a rolling,yawing, pitching action (hence the word Rypa). The principle was exactly the same as at Winborough and Cowfield (fictional RAC training camps - think Cowfield is meant to be Lulworth), but the panoramas and sand-tables, and the moving targets, were more elaborate. For Bill and Jack it was a pleasant relaxation. There was eye training, which was Whitehill's name for judging distances; there was examination of ground, which involved the pick-up of targets and the search for natural features. Once again, Jack White's experiences in Libya were useful. Just as he had told them during the wireless course that only continual adjustment of the set can make certain of keeping in touch, and that silence on the air is golden, so he advised them in gunnery to conserve their ammunition, wait until they could hit hard, never to forget the possibilities of smoke, fire their Besa when on the move, and their 2-pounder and 6-pounder when halted."

    A section on wireless training bears out Don J's comments about the code names used;

    "they ...learnt that "ant" meant anti-tank gun, "Maggie" was synonymous with a machine-gun, that "bandits" were enemy aircraft, and that a "hornet" was an enemy tank"

    The photo of the Rypa was not quite what I expected though.
    Rypa.jpg
     
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  2. Sheldrake

    Sheldrake All over the place....

    Did you read the RYPA article? Replace the words "model ship" with "model tank" and you have exactly the kind of trainer for shooting on the move. Of course the "user interrface would be different - a tank gunner station rather than a tripod director firing system. (like the image in the preceding post)

    Post WW2 tanks used a sub calibre device fitted to the tank, but the RYPA was not needed as shooting on the move was no longer practiced to the same extent.(if at all)
     
    Last edited: Nov 19, 2019
  3. Vintage Wargaming

    Vintage Wargaming Well-Known Member

    I thought I had a picture of this somewhere.

    It's from the Wonder Book of Soldiers Ninth Edition - undated but it seems to be from 1940 after Dunkirk, so the picture could be from between c 1935-40

    img004 (2).jpg
     
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  4. MarkN

    MarkN Banned

    On the contrary, firing on the move was very much the done thing - at least it was up to and during 1942. After then, l can't say as l haven't read the appropriate documentation.
     
  5. Robert-w

    Robert-w Banned

    Can you provide the evidence please?
     
  6. MarkN

    MarkN Banned

    Yes l can.

    Can you provide the evidence to support your initial claim?
     
  7. Robert-w

    Robert-w Banned

    cop out
     
  8. AB64

    AB64 Senior Member

    I recently read "Tank Men" by Kershaw and on several occasions mentioned the German approach of stop and fire against the British tendency to fire on the move, this seemed to have been a lesson learned by the Germans of the first tank v tank battle in WW1 and seemed to continue to be the more successful option. There was also an excerpt from a British Tankie which mentioned "Hornets" when referring to enemy tanks which ties in woth some of the earlier discussion
     
  9. MarkN

    MarkN Banned

    Well if that's what you want to do, so be it. ;)
     

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