bernd1151 Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 The year is 1937 and in order to maintain peace at its Western border with Afghanistan, the British used to patrol the area with bomber planes such as the Hawker Hind. Unfortunately there is no Hawker plane of that area available for P3D v4 (at least I haven’t found any), so I use the nice JF Bristol Bulldog instead. Armed with my trusted friend, a Webley Mk V pistol, I take off from a small airfield near Landi Kotal, west of Peshawar and close to the Afghan border Close to the Khyber Pass. The toughest opponent the RAF pilots had to face in those days was not an enemy airplane, but Afghan tribes They were farmers and they enjoyed war as a hobby. Nearly all of them were armed and from time to time they would take some kind of action either against eachother or against the police posts. The British army didn’t have enough men in this remote part of British India, so the RAF was required to do something about it. Their main job in case of violence was to bomb the villages, but before doing so, they flew over the villages and dropped leaflets to indicate to the tribes, what they were going to do and why. With luck, these leaflets brought the attacks against police posts to an end, but on occasion the tribesmen were less than impressed. In this case, the planes would return, dropping leaflets one more time. But this time they contained a warning to evacuate the villages within 48 hours. After that the bombing of the village started. As stated earlier, the opponent, the pilot had to face, was not an enemy plane, but the Afghan tribesmen. Because sometimes you as the pilot had the misfortune of engine failure over Afghan territory. Once you have managed to bail out with your parachute, you knew that you would meet down at the bottom with extremely angry villagers, who were not going to welcome you with open arms. They might hand you over to the women of the tribe, who would do some extremely nasty things to you. That is why all pilots carried a so called “Protection Certificate” that promised the tribe a large sum of money, if they would return you to the nearest British outpost alive and, more importantly, complete. They would get less money, if they would bring you in dead, or suffering from, shall we say, sudden surgery. But this time all went well, I didn’t face engine failure and the tribe below had stopped attacking the police post close to the border. I could return to my outpost near Landi Kotal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TigerTigerM Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 Very nicely done. I can recommend Eric Newby's book "A Short Walk In THe Hindu Kush" , for a dry but humorous & understated description of early mountaineering in Afghanistan. TTM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Lars Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 Wow. Is that really true? Great story, great pictures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stillwater Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 Sounds like this never was the most peaceful place to be discovered. Thanks for the great history lesson, Bernd! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingleaf Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 Great shots and story Bernd. Well done. I would never go there unless Hilda was with me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bernd1151 Posted August 1, 2018 Author Share Posted August 1, 2018 2 hours ago, TigerTigerM said: Very nicely done. I can recommend Eric Newby's book "A Short Walk In THe Hindu Kush" , for a dry but humorous & understated description of early mountaineering in Afghanistan. TTM Thanks, TTM. And thank you for poiting out this book, sure looks interesting 2 hours ago, Captain Lars said: Wow. Is that really true? Great story, great pictures. Many thanks, Lars. Yes, true story, I have been to India many times and once lived in Lahore, Pakistan. There I got hooked on the history of the British Raj in India 2 hours ago, Stillwater said: Sounds like this never was the most peaceful place to be discovered. Thanks for the great history lesson, Bernd! Thanks a lot, Gerold. It sure wasn't. Question is, will it ever be? 2 hours ago, flyingleaf said: Great shots and story Bernd. Well done. I would never go there unless Hilda was with me. Many thanks, Karl. But would Hilda fit into a vintage bi-plane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VH-KDK Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 Excellent images and a very interesting narration Bernd, well done. I don't think the native welcoming committee for downed enemy aviators has been very pleasant in too many places. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Sawyer Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 That was excellent Gerold, really excellent, thank you for this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adambar Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 Very well done Bernd and thanks for the history lesson, interesting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olderndirt Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 A tough crowd - imagine what fun they'd have with shoulder fired rockets against those biplanes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bernd1151 Posted August 2, 2018 Author Share Posted August 2, 2018 16 hours ago, VH-KDK said: Excellent images and a very interesting narration Bernd, well done. I don't think the native welcoming committee for downed enemy aviators has been very pleasant in too many places. I'm happy, you liked it, Martyn. And I fully agree with your second sentence 12 hours ago, Jack Sawyer said: That was excellent Gerold, really excellent, thank you for this! Many thanks, John 7 hours ago, adambar said: Very well done Bernd and thanks for the history lesson, interesting! Thank you for liking it, Adam 7 hours ago, olderndirt said: A tough crowd - imagine what fun they'd have with shoulder fired rockets against those biplanes. Oh yeah, you bet OnD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macca22au Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 I won't join the commentary, but: the English lost a complete column of soldiers while trying to pull out of Afghanistan in the 1880s with the exception of one survivor. Ever since then any country or countries that have invaded Afghanistan have got in easily and left the hard way. Even the Russians. Oasis based tribesmen whose lives are dedicated to fighting each other, just love to make life intolerable for any and all outsiders. As Bernd said, they just love to do very unpleasant things to infidels, even when they carried a 'gooly chit'. There may be good strategic reasons to be in Afghanistan but no tactical ones. Bernd great photos and narrative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bernd1151 Posted August 2, 2018 Author Share Posted August 2, 2018 53 minutes ago, macca22au said: I won't join the commentary, but: the English lost a complete column of soldiers while trying to pull out of Afghanistan in the 1880s with the exception of one survivor. Ever since then any country or countries that have invaded Afghanistan have got in easily and left the hard way. Even the Russians. Oasis based tribesmen whose lives are dedicated to fighting each other, just love to make life intolerable for any and all outsiders. As Bernd said, they just love to do very unpleasant things to infidels, even when they carried a 'gooly chit'. There may be good strategic reasons to be in Afghanistan but no tactical ones. Bernd great photos and narrative. Many thanks for your comments, Ian. I think it was Zbigniew Brzezinski, Jimmy Carter’s national security adviser, who said, when the Russians entered Afghanistan: Now we got them their version of Vietnam. He was correct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Sawyer Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 4 hours ago, bernd1151 said: Many thanks, John Sorry Bernd, boy do I feel stoopid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bernd1151 Posted August 2, 2018 Author Share Posted August 2, 2018 14 minutes ago, Jack Sawyer said: Sorry Bernd, boy do I feel stoopid No worries, buddy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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