Kursk

An entry with two meanings - 1) The giant battle of July 1943 and 2) The K141 Submarine Kursk - only because 1) prompted recall of 2)  Whilst 3) might be a non-sequiteur, 4) is slightly more relevant in terms of velocity and penetration, and ice.

1)
     As a wargamer of long standing, I am more familiar with the battle of Kursk than 99% of my fellow countrymen.  During the Cold War it remained an obscure subject here in the West, except for people like me who gamed Eastern Front stuff in hex-and-counter games or on the tabletop with Historical Miniature Replicas (no they are NOT "Toy Soldiers"!).  This is the 70th anniversary of the battle, and the BBC even reported on it last week, so it has come out of the shadows somewhat.
     Now, I wonder, do (or did) the Russians ever get to read about what the Allies did before the Great Patriotic War started and whilst it lasted?  Obviously the Allied commitment in North Africa, Sicily, Italy and then North West Europe was on a smaller scale than that of Russia, but we did our bit.  Then, too, we had commitments in the Far East.

2) 
     I won't go into details here but thought at the time, what a terrible way to die.  I don't doubt submariners across the globe were thinking "There but for the grace of God ..." and also thinking what a terrible way to die.  Next month marks the 13th anniversary of the K141 going down.

Good lord, what a depressing post!  Quick, Conrad, think of something cheerful!

3)

Aha!  England beat Australia in the Ashes!

I'm not sure about cricket.  Don't watch it, only barely understand the rules and am certain nobody outside the Commonwealth gives a toss about it, but - damn it, it is such a characteristically British sport.  It's not whether you won or lost but how you played the game, although beating the Ozzies really is the cherry on the cake.  I have been stunned at the erudition and intellect shown by cricketers when interviewed on Radio 4 (my diversion during drive-to-work) and this was explained to me by Phil, the sporty component of our pub-quiz team: apparently a lot of cricketers arrive as professionals from university cricket programmes, so they are degree-level sportsmen.  Football and rugby - ah, now there's a different story ...

4)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23281423

If the Battle of Kursk was dominated by tanks and armour and penetration of same, say hello to my little friend the 20Kg penetrator, which turned 10 tonnes of ice into snowflakes on impact, and yet could have had a payload of eggs because nothing inside the penetrator was broken, or even jarred a bit.  They need a name more catchy that "penetrator", too, because it sounds like an extra in a porn film.



20 kilos of British Blammo*! getting ready to go Father Christmas on a ten-tonne block of ice.

* You never know, they might call it that.


Chin-chin old chap!