This is one T-21 that will never get off the ground and fly...hopefully Same as I gained my Wings in. 1982.
In this case WWI. I was watching a live feed of Kiev this afternoon when the power went out and stayed out. "The lamps are going out all over Europe, we shall not see them lit again in our life-time"
Been there myself, but It cuts both ways. Thirtyone years ago, I visited a detached element of a Celle based unit on exercise in the area of the Teutoburg forest. Travelling with the Squadron Commander to the agreed rendezvous, we duly arrived ...... and we waited. There seemed nothing there. After about twenty minutes, a walking bush appeared from behind some trees and approached my host. Sensing that there might be an element of irritation afoot, I stood back a little. The bush (a young corporal) saluted his OC and quietly voiced that “he knew what Sir was going to say, but there was absolutely no way he was going to set up his complex here (pointing at the ground near the Rover tyres) because these were extremely rare Bee Orchids and needed preservation. If we would follow on foot, the detachment was about 150 metres away.” The Squadron Commander shrugged his shoulders with exasperation and asked me “how can you deal with these people?” I smiled. A year later, the bunch involved were in our forward area in Iraq and acquitted themselves very well. Another offering; a little too obvious, perhaps, but when I buy these: from: you have to go just round the corner and look carefully to really appreciate why: the air seems to have a salty diesel smell:
Your Cold (into hot) war tale has reminded me of WW2. The day after Villers Bocage, attack by 2nd Panzer only just broken up by bombardment.... "The 'brigade box' was now threatened with a serious risk of encirclement. Brigadier 'looney' Hinde drove up to his tank positions in a scout car, and began to give his officers their orders for night withdrawal, covered by the exhausted infantry of the Queens. Hinde had won his nickname in the desert both for courage and eccentricity. Now, he suddenly broke off in mid-sentence and peered fascinated at the ground. "anybody got a matchbox?" he demanded in excitement. Amidst the acute strain of the battle, Lieutenant-colonel Carver of 1st RTR suggested this might not be a good moment to worry about nature. "Don't be such a bloody fool, mike!" exploded Hinde. "You can fight a battle every day of your life, but you might not see a caterpillar like that in fifteen years!" " (From Max Hastings 'Overlord')
Speaking of walking bushes: Some years after the war, my (then still very young) grandmother went out dancing with some friends by car. On the way back, she felt an urgent need. But all the trees on both sides of the road had been cut down, which of course made it impossible for a young lady....you know. Anyway, finally she spied an overgrown hill - salvation! But just as she was about to relieve herself, an English command suddenly sounded - and to her end-of-life horrified embarrassment,......... all the bushes moved away. "And the worst thing of all was: whenever I met a grinning Tommy, I never knew if he was there!"
Indeed, we have a saying: ‘You can’t see the wood for the trees’, but this must be why my old German teacher used to mutter: ‘Vor lauter Büschen, kann man in den Wald nicht pinkeln.’