Bringing in the BIG Guns

Well, it's about time that the Carl Gustav became standard issue. This weapon has been in use by several military forces, especially the British, for several years. The U.S. had the 90mm recoilless rifle with mixed reviews, instead of adopting the tried and true 'Charlie G". There was a lightweight model of this weapon years ago featuring a thin steel barrel wound with fiberglass and a limited barrel life, but for the U.s., that should not be a problem.
 
If I remember correctly a Charlie G was used by a Royal Marine Commando against an Argentine warship during the Falklands invasion, forcing the captain to withdraw. Its a good bit of kit.
 
My only lasting memory I have of the Carl Gustaf is the way the Swedes sold them to Australia, and then when we went to Vietnam in support of the US, they refused to sell us the ammunition.
 
I'm surprised that the Brits didn't offer to supply you with ammunition.

We had a similar situation during the Falklands war, Belgium refused to sell us a certain type of ammunition.
 
As I remember it, the Brits weren't real happy with us either. On reflection they had every right as we had no real reason to support a murderous dictatorial regime with no body's interest at heart except the Diem family.

It cost us several thousand of our best young men and many times that in maimed, wounded and psychologically damaged, and I'm still waiting for some Buck toothed Vietnamese Commissar to knock down my front door in the middle of the night and have his way with me.
 
I've often wondered why Australia got involved in Vietnam in the first place. Britain couldn't get involved even if we wanted to, as we were too thinly stretched with our overseas commitments as well as Northern Ireland. Although I did hear rumours that British SAS were carrying out ops in Vietnam, how true this is I have no idea. I also remember (around 1966-1967) accusations from somewhere or other that RAF pilots were flying US aircraft on sorties into North Vietnam, how these accusations came about, again I have no idea. I do however, remember seeing US aircraft landing or parked at RAF Changi in Singapore on numerous occasions between 1967 and 1970.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top