Re: [WW] Assumptions (a bit OT but it does mention BARs)

[Alan Kellogg <mythusmage@cts.com>]

>Anyways, there were a group of British escaping an Axis advance in North
>Africa.  They had a large group of trucks, tanks, etc., and were moving
>by night.  As they approached a road, though, they found it covered as
>far as they could see by Nazi and Italian trucks hauling supplies.
>
>They couldn't stay where they were because they'd be found out.  One
>British soldier walked to the road, stepped out into it, and put his
>hands up to stop traffic like a road guard.  Traffic stopped, and the
>British column crossed the road.
>
>I will be more than happy to admit that it takes a darn big pair to do
>something like that.  Some people wondered why the Axis convoy stopped,
>and the Red Shirt's opinion was that he got lucky and found one of the
>Italian truck drivers.  The Italian knew if he raised the alarm, he'd be
>the first to die, and most of the Italians didn't care that much for the
>Axis cause, so he sat back, probably smoked a cigarette, and feigned
>ignorance.

That's a new one to me. I think it's more likely the Brits' uniforms 
had gotten so grungy on campaign one couldn't tell who they were 
working for.

I heard of a similar incident, occurred sometime during the aftermath 
of the Crusader battles. During the course of the fighting both sides 
picked up transport from the enemy, so everybody's columns were a mix 
of German, British, and Italian trucks. At one point a British column 
and a German/Italian column passed each other side by side. Both 
withheld fire, partly because they were worn out after days of 
constant battle, and partly because neither could be sure it really 
was the enemy on the other side.

Alan
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