Look at Life Vol 2 Military A Piece of Cake 1960
Рет қаралды 105,936
5 жыл бұрынA film about the parachutists of the Parachute Regiment.
@Peter-lm3ic 3 жыл бұрын
I did my para training in 1961 at Abingdon and this news clip really brought back memories. Went on to do 60 jumps in total with the aircraft shown, static line Argosy and Beverly and free falling in France and the U.K. in the venerable but reliable De Havilland Rapide in France and the U.K. Happy days! All under the umbrella of 21SAS.
@Crash-zm2qd 3 жыл бұрын
My grandad went to Abingdon in 1963 he either jumped out of a Argosy or Beverly though he only stayed a weekend he was in TA he was he went Aldershot first he did his final jump in Cyprus out of a Hastings he did 8 jumps he did.
@user-tm5jo7oh5u 2 ай бұрын
My late dad did his para training here, he was guards airborne, he was very proud of his service, miss you dad 💂♂️
@hoofie2002 3 жыл бұрын
@5:06 good to see the Padre jumping as well. Sums up how involved they are with the troops in their care.
@TheCatBilbo 3 жыл бұрын
That struck me, too. If main 'chute fails release & try reserve; if reserve fails try yanking on Padre.
@888ssss 2 жыл бұрын
it was a test of his faith.
@meme4one 3 жыл бұрын
1:48 SAS trooper on the course too.
@johnallen7807 3 жыл бұрын
This brings back memories, I did mine in 1970 lol
@TheCatBilbo 3 жыл бұрын
Love the Denison smock & Para helmet, 37 or 44 pattern webbing belt - these chaps wouldn't have looked out of place at Arnhem, or Pegasus Bridge.
@wallbars8684 3 жыл бұрын
Yeah noticed those, look very good quality. Quite a collector's item now I believe and not cheap!
@freebeerfordworkers 3 жыл бұрын
@@wallbars8684 they are not - a few years ago one fetched £600, but I think they go for four figures now.
@belfastbrit 3 жыл бұрын
Just wish to point out that the Paras never took Pegasus Bridge on D Day. It was 6 platoons of the 'Ox and Bucks' plus a detachment of Royal Engineers under the command of Major Howard. Although they were all part of 6th Airborne they were not 'Paras' in the real sense but Glider borne Troops.
@TheCatBilbo 2 жыл бұрын
@@belfastbrit Excellent point! I knew this but forgot!
@BellogsTheChicken 4 жыл бұрын
The quality of the film is fantastic and the training .
@nicholasdavies6264 3 жыл бұрын
This is excellent footage !
@norton750cc 3 жыл бұрын
1971 I was there, happy days. Weston on the green, one guy landed on a hangar and got pulled off by the wind, ouch!
@wallbars8684 3 жыл бұрын
Didn't mention Jack doing P Company - bet that wasn't a 'piece of cake'!
@AnonAnonAnon 3 жыл бұрын
I wonder where Jack is nowadays. I bet he'd love to see this!
@iansoutryer3189 3 жыл бұрын
He should be in his early to mid eighties now!
@mistofoles Жыл бұрын
Love the music to this, it sounds like the intro to a "CARRY ON" film !
@Crash-zm2qd 3 жыл бұрын
My Grandad went to RAF Abingdon in 1963 at weekends to do para training he also did some para training at Aldershot as well at weekends he was in REME TA.
@freeheeldude 3 жыл бұрын
I did my basic para course at Brize Norton in 1997, looks like the course didnt change much at all. First two jumps out of the Shorts Skyvan then the C130 Hercules after that.
@greetb9330 3 жыл бұрын
Superb from a different era of understatement and little fuss. Great lads as they are now. Best to all.
@markhemzy8433 3 жыл бұрын
I never knew the Beverley had a separate chamber in the tail boom for extra parachutists. Fancy that.
@rangerwhite7091 3 жыл бұрын
lol. Imagine turning up at Aldershot in the 90s with a guitar on your back....
@TheCatBilbo 3 жыл бұрын
Ironing board - yes; guitar - no!
@vanpallandt5799 3 жыл бұрын
yes..though of course as it was the pure parachute bit i think everyone was already a trained soldier ..nonetheless ballsy thing to do..didnt say if he was an officer?
@rlane63 3 жыл бұрын
I was impressed to see that Ken Dodd was navigating the aircraft and the drop at 7:18. Well done, Mr Dodd, you were a man with hidden talents!
@barrygray7990 3 жыл бұрын
Loved the comment that chutes always open - not. Did my course in 1965 from Support Co. 10 Para. No mention of BPs, crosswinds or mid - air collisions. Great feeling when getting wings.
@Rationpack 3 жыл бұрын
Roger that !
@broontroot1991 Жыл бұрын
My mate had a BP out of the balloon at Weston.
@barrygray7990 Жыл бұрын
@@broontroot1991 Mine was also at Weston. 6th jump carrying personal weapons container. Dropping the container and releasing my reserve chute was interesting.
@missilemary 3 жыл бұрын
The padre jumping with his spectacles on.
@billbligh4547 3 жыл бұрын
“Jumping today vicar?”
@TheParachute9 4 жыл бұрын
I love the way they explained the facts in by-gone days. Not dumbed down, just the facts. Today they assume everyone is an idiot and can't absorb simple facts. This is a great time piece and slice of history
@alvindurochermtl 3 жыл бұрын
Can't and shouldn't blame them. There really are that many idiots in the society now.
@seltaeb9691 3 жыл бұрын
We were all stoopid. Plain & simple. Para Course is terribly hard, abusive sun up to sun down.
@alvindurochermtl 3 жыл бұрын
@@seltaeb9691 To be fair things are dumbed down in the military for good reasons and it isn't you were stupid per se. If things and communications weren't dumbed down to their simplest form then 50 people may have 50 different interpretations of how a piece of kit works or what a situation really is and that could be very dangerous.
@greetb9330 3 жыл бұрын
It absolutely is, the correct manner in which to do things.
@jacksugden8190 9 күн бұрын
I once did it in the 1970’s at Langar Airfield in Nottingham, no memory of the aircraft, basic one-day training and the jump 😳.
@jameskelly1115 3 жыл бұрын
I did Abingdon Jan 1968. Great times
@downhilltwofour0082 3 жыл бұрын
Judging from the comments, a lot of fine men have seen this video. My hat off to them all!
@redlabel3977 3 жыл бұрын
My father was in 3 Para back in the 60`s , I have a photograph of the aircraft in the opening shot ,A " Beverly "jump plane.
@seltaeb9691 3 жыл бұрын
A Beverly, yea God's that must be WW2 flotsam.
@jamesspiers6496 3 жыл бұрын
@@seltaeb9691 I worked on the Beverleys from 1959 until 1965 with 242OCU at RAF Disforth and Thorney Island
@alanwood7373 3 жыл бұрын
Reminds me of my training days.
@paulcook7986 3 жыл бұрын
How brave these guys.
@nicholasforman1195 Ай бұрын
Just what I was thinking..!
@willspinner8746 3 жыл бұрын
Member of the sas there by the looks of it
@tomparker1269 3 жыл бұрын
My course was 3 weeks. 2 Balloon jumps door and aperture 6 aircraft . Argosy Beverley and Hastings aircraft.
@Rationpack 3 жыл бұрын
Tom Parker 2 Para ?
@tomparker1269 3 жыл бұрын
@@Rationpack No wasn't 2 para I served with 63 para sqd. Part of 1para log regt
@vanpallandt5799 3 жыл бұрын
my dad who was TA para after regular army service in Sigs said the balloon jump was worse than the aircraft as no noise to distract you except the sound of wind and the noise of the cables swaying
@williamcarrington61 2 жыл бұрын
@@tomparker1269 Are you "Taff" Parker, Bahrein 1966 ?
@tomparker1269 2 жыл бұрын
@@williamcarrington61 no Tom Parker ex 63 para squadron rct
@Paul-md8de 3 жыл бұрын
The RAFs worst peacetime fixed wing air crash started at RAF Abingdon in 1965 , a Handley Page Hastings transport took off with Paratroopers on board and crashed near the village of Toot Baldon just south of Oxford , 41 servicemen were killed .
@freebeerfordworkers 9 ай бұрын
Remember it I was told a gruesome detail. They asked for volunteers and gave them all a plastic bag had them form a long line and walk across the crash site picking up anything that looked human.
@MONTY-YTNOM 24 күн бұрын
Another one to look up is the crash in El Adem in 1969 when a plane went down there full of 7RHA
@Droodog127 3 жыл бұрын
Granddad did his training at Ringway and Tatton Park 1940 then for real February 10th 1941 Tragino Italy
@finchedward1 3 жыл бұрын
Wow, one of the very 1st, they were stitched up with no way back home, did he remain a POW in Italy, my Grandad was 2nd Battalion Paras & WIA Tunisia . www.paradata.org.uk/event/tragino-operation-colossus#:~:text=Towards%20the%20end%20of%201940%20at%20a%20meeting,place%20called%20Tragino%20near%20Naples%20in%20southern%20Italy.
@Droodog127 3 жыл бұрын
@@finchedward1 He escaped after Italy Capitulated and woke up to an unguarded camp, then they all took to the hills and Hitler sent in a fallschirmjäger regiment and getting recaptured put on a train to Germany, he asked the station master at Cocullo Italy to slow the train on a curve and a whole bunch jumped off , he carried his mate who broke his legs for most of the trip back to allied lines after being hidden by a woman , Agata De Cesare .. made it back to England and shipped out to the Pacific - Operation Faros till the end of the war -- www.paradata.org.uk/people/james-parker
@finchedward1 3 жыл бұрын
@@Droodog127 Thankyou for the reply & great information & the link to Para data, what a war he had. Please find attached my Grandads profile on the site. I have been to several locations, cemeteries etc in Sicily & Italy associated with the war & my Grandad. I hope to visit Tunisia in the next few years all being well. Thankyou for the reply & great information & the link to Para data, what a war he had. with best wishes Edward www.paradata.org.uk/people/walter-h-handscomb
@Droodog127 3 жыл бұрын
@@finchedward1 Outstanding!! Sad they both died young , Granddad died in 1973 😥
@simonhellier7281 3 жыл бұрын
See the Chaplain lined up for the jump looking tense!
@barryroach1980 3 жыл бұрын
That was Reverend Timothy Farthing from Dads Army, I didnt see the Verger there though! LOL!
@johnsaunders2109 3 жыл бұрын
I thought he was la-di- da Gunner Graham !!!
@GrantKify 3 жыл бұрын
I was 10 Para and did my Para course at Abingdon in 1966. Because of bad weather we actually did our first jump from a Hastings. This was shortly after a Hastings has crashed killing all the trainees. You can imaging how we all felt, then to crown it all we had an engine fire and although we were hooked up were told to unhook and assume the crash position as the aircraft returned to Abingdon. As we landed the runway was lined with fire trucks🤪. An hour later we were back in the air to complete our first jump. My next jump was from a balloon and that was much more frightening. I still remember the creaking cables holding the basket as I stood in the door.
@stevenlangdon-griffiths293 3 жыл бұрын
That’s totally terrifying, to continue after what had happened to you. Did you find that you continued because you were on auto pilot, or did the nco’s keep everyone moving, or was it through you being focused?
@GrantKify 3 жыл бұрын
@@stevenlangdon-griffiths293 I was totally focused on getting my wings
@stevenlangdon-griffiths293 3 жыл бұрын
Grant Kinnaird outstanding mindset
@GrantKify 3 жыл бұрын
@@stevenlangdon-griffiths293 thank you
@freebeerfordworkers 3 жыл бұрын
Standing in the door of the balloon for my first jump and waiting for the man before to clear the dispatcher pointed out the sights of Oxford to distract my attention. it was a very friendly chat and I remember trying to think of something intelligent to say in response - without success - I just kept nodding.
@CaptainMorganxxx 3 жыл бұрын
That brings back memories, Aldershot, Abingdon, then out to Egypt, We jumped from Valettas, and DC-3, Alan Lad was filming the RED Berit at Aldershot at the time (we were Extras ) 1951 , i think, 16th Ind, Para Bgd Group, I was RMP Airborne, I wonder if there any left of the 16th ???
@broontroot1991 Жыл бұрын
So was my dad.He was very disappointed as he played a German.
@lukebell2683 3 жыл бұрын
Haha awesome I'm just down the road from Abingdon
@freebeerfordworkers 3 жыл бұрын
Great place in 1969 I believe it's an industrial estate now?
@arenttelindert2913 3 жыл бұрын
6:38 'It's easy to guess what the padre is doing" :-)
@vanpallandt5799 3 жыл бұрын
shows the variety of colours in Denison smocks and even the colours of the helmets. I always remember being told off, not in a military concept, and been reminded that uniform means all the same..which of course is not quite true as ally and gucci kit etc and associated concepts has always demonstrated, probably from the the time of legionaries on Hadrians Wall
@begent73 6 ай бұрын
Anyone based at Abingdon in 1960 remember John Hollyer, acting corporal in SAC Air Traffic Control
@Poshypaws 3 жыл бұрын
01:57 I wonder, I wonder whether John Addison, composer of the Suite for ABTF, had seen this particular film and heard the music??
@MrGraemeb2022 4 ай бұрын
RAF Abingdon is now earmarked for housing development.
@bazmanoid5371 3 жыл бұрын
Brilliant
@scottfuller5194 3 жыл бұрын
The paras have no equal...!
@lordred4116 3 жыл бұрын
It's done at Brize Norton now.
@Rationpack 3 жыл бұрын
204 Platoon1960 . Rock on !!!
@wullieg7269 3 ай бұрын
DAD was 23rd P.F.A. at this time
@JammyDodger45 3 жыл бұрын
Dropping through the floor looks like added fun!
@seltaeb9691 3 жыл бұрын
Sheer guts & I didn't have enough to do the course & knew the balloon jump would kill me, so I didn't volunteer & stayed put in my Corp. First rule in the army is Don't Volunteer, Second rule is Don't get Caught..
@JammyDodger45 3 жыл бұрын
@@seltaeb9691 - I did one of the first jumps courses after the balloon had been retired, I was very pleased. I wasn't so pleased when it then turned up at my unit 3 months later and we all had to turn to for a Parachute Parade!! I did 3 jumps that day and can't really say I enjoyed any of them. Once the balloon completed its tour of UK units it was fully retired and thankfully I never had to do it again. I still don't get lads who loved it!
@JammyDodger45 3 жыл бұрын
@Scumfuck McDoucheface - planes are fast, noisy and fun ... Balloons are static, eerily quiet and boring!
@freebeerfordworkers 3 жыл бұрын
@@JammyDodger45 the balloon was terrific. After you've done the first one of the day the rest became us casual as crossing the street. We had American airborne visitors for a weekend at Strensall and laid on a balloon. To the embarrassment of the Yanks and our great amusement one of them refused Their captain asked for three men to go up again and if he refused they were to "kick the sonofabitch out". As I recall three the biggest guys volunteered and they had no trouble second time.
@JammyDodger45 3 жыл бұрын
@@freebeerfordworkers - the shame of refusing is bad enough, doing it in front of another nation is shocking. We had a refusal on my BPC, on his 4th jump, by the time we got back to the accom at Bzn he had packed all his kit and disappeared. There was no second chance with us!
@HO-bndk 3 жыл бұрын
"...or into battle". This is in 1960. Little did they know but the Parachute Regiment would never jump into action ever again.
@meme4one 3 жыл бұрын
Shhhh don't let the "sky gods" hear you say that, you'll dent their egos.
@stephenmurphy5204 3 жыл бұрын
Memories. Did this at Brize 1976. Training looked identical. No more balloons. Shame
@freebeerfordworkers 3 жыл бұрын
yes, they said they were obsolete and too expensive to maintain, but apparently the Belgians are still using them for parachute training. Someone else said the reason they were so expensive because the RAF balloon crews had to be put up in hotels.
@seltaeb9691 3 жыл бұрын
@@freebeerfordworkers I was in Brize 76-78. Did you rmbr Concorde doing it's Touch & Go laps for hours, the noise was deafening, ornaments rattled telly full vol & the heatwave of 76 was a furnace. The Base was in revolt & by way of 'sorry' we had a Concorde open day. It is really cramped inside, fast yes but give me a Vicky VC10 anytime. Beautiful aircraft just short of 1000mph.
@freebeerfordworkers 3 жыл бұрын
@@seltaeb9691 no, I did my course at Abingdon about five years before, terrific place they told us it would be like a holiday camp. I wouldn't go that far, but it was a good fortnight in summer.
@simposayerman 2 күн бұрын
Back in the day - Did they do p company prior to the course
@reddevilparatrooper 3 жыл бұрын
Very different from Ft. Benning US Army Airborne School. The training apparatus that is except for the 34 foot exit door, running PLF ramp, and barrage balloon jump. I wish we had the barrage balloon jump.
@jesseblack5812 3 жыл бұрын
we don't anymore. This film was from 1960. Balloon jump was replaced by Skyvan jumps a few years back, and we only do static line now (so no rip cords)
@seltaeb9691 3 жыл бұрын
I'd jump out of the plane but the Barrage Balloon Jump is no way jose. No safety ropes just the wind whistling goodbye.. guts & stupidity needed for that. It's killed a few.
@freebeerfordworkers 3 жыл бұрын
@@seltaeb9691 I don't think it did. They told us there hadn't been a fatality since WW2. There was one in the late 1970s when they introduced a harness with quick release buckles on the shoulder. Problem was they sometimes released of their own accord. The lads who saw it, said he went straight in from about 600 feet his fully deployed parachute floating above like a handkerchief in a gentle breeze.
@johnallen7807 2 жыл бұрын
The balloon at night on Hankley Common, a real test of nerves, you can hear guys talking on the ground at 800ft!
@JustinSane50 3 жыл бұрын
1:49 SAS reservist at the front there?
@AnonAnonAnon 3 жыл бұрын
Good observation! Notice his boots too, no puttees!Looks like 'boots combat high' but I'm sure they didn't exist in 1960.
@jonjon9047 3 жыл бұрын
Could be guards. Brown beret black leather gaiters.
@JustinSane50 3 жыл бұрын
@@jonjon9047 Very true, although it does look rather sandy
@seltaeb9691 3 жыл бұрын
My OC asked me & 3 mates just joined new unit (not Para's, Sigs) to do Para Course, ie Hell on Earth, yes yes yes & no! No way Jose!... ('71).
@nacholibre1962 3 жыл бұрын
1:31 He looks like Steve Buscemi of Boradwalk Empire.
@lesmoor001 3 жыл бұрын
world was a different place then
@888ssss 2 жыл бұрын
Probably was safer to jump with a parachute packed by a woman than it was to stay in a Blackburn Beverley.
@matthewtelepneff2168 3 жыл бұрын
What about P company?
@nicholasforman1195 Ай бұрын
Apart from the aircraft not much change from Arnhem in September 1944
@mistofoles Жыл бұрын
@3:11 - LOL ! That poor sod is shitting himself !
@salforlad64 3 жыл бұрын
Excuse me daddy, was this when this country used to be Britain?
@vanpallandt5799 3 жыл бұрын
wait for next census but the last one had 87% of population as white British i think. Went out in Punjabi restaurant in Manchester, white, black, brown, Chinese, Asian..door person was of Asian appearance but broad Manc accent
@tomparker1269 3 жыл бұрын
Brings back old memories from abingdon on my jump course in the sixties.
@Crash-zm2qd 3 жыл бұрын
My grandad went there in 63 and got his wings
@CrabAir 3 жыл бұрын
Did mine in '63 as well - part of training as a jump instructor. Had Paras and Gurkhas to practice on :)
@Crash-zm2qd 3 жыл бұрын
@@CrabAir how long was you there for I think my grandad was there for a weekend he went to Aldershot first he did.
@CrabAir 3 жыл бұрын
@@Crash-zm2qd 8 weeks July August. First 11 days learning to jump and the rest training a as PJI
@Crash-zm2qd 3 жыл бұрын
@@CrabAir my grandad did 8 jumps his last one in Cyprus he was in TA reme.
@willepete0088 3 жыл бұрын
Some PLF they did huh?
@dangerman8625 3 жыл бұрын
Parachute, 2,Para, keep it up, next time, S. A. S.!
@daverich2534 3 жыл бұрын
but jack should had gone through p company first, so the para course would had been a piss to do
@grahambarber2766 3 жыл бұрын
Wondered that myself and was a Reserve All Arms P Coy in operation for the non Para Reg ranks?
@snowflakemelter1172 3 жыл бұрын
P company is a fitness course , the jumps course is the opposite, the two are totally different.
@CrispinBac0n 3 жыл бұрын
And one arrives at depot with a rock N roll guitar
@h7283 3 жыл бұрын
@@CrispinBac0n Why's that buddy?
@CrispinBac0n 3 жыл бұрын
@@h7283 because he's a star
@Edward1312 3 жыл бұрын
Couldnt afford a guitar case!
@occam5052 Жыл бұрын
I feel quite sick just looking at height on film 😂
@johntait491 3 жыл бұрын
Dennison smocks, PJI's, Balloon Jumps, Beverley's, Abingdon and Hankley Common..!! 😂
@johnwiddowson5695 3 жыл бұрын
I did my last jump onto Hankley Common from an Argosy. For some reason nearly everyone had loads of twists. One bloke apparently ended upside down with his legs in his rigging lines, he was supposedly heard shouting “help me, help me”. Dislocated shoulder. Lol
@apollo8972 3 жыл бұрын
He entitled to say Parachuting is a piece of piss..
@user-jy2qp8gp2l 4 ай бұрын
Fajny film
bigboimovies
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