# Swiss army unit mistakenly invades Liechtenstein



## rz350 (2 Mar 2007)

Taken from the AP, all rights reserved and fair use and blah blah blah

ZURICH, Switzerland - What began as a routine training exercise almost ended in an embarrassing diplomatic incident after a company of Swiss soldiers got lost at night and marched into neighboring Liechtenstein. 

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According to Swiss daily Blick, the 170 infantry soldiers wandered just over a mile across an unmarked border into the tiny principality early Thursday before realizing their mistake and turning back.

A spokesman for the Swiss army confirmed the story but said that there were unlikely to be any serious repercussions for the mistaken invasion.

"We've spoken to the authorities in Liechtenstein and it's not a problem," Daniel Reist told The Associated Press.

Officials in Liechtenstein also played down the incident.

Interior ministry spokesman Markus Amman said nobody in Liechtenstein had even noticed the soldiers, who were carrying assault rifles but no ammunition. "It's not like they stormed over here with attack helicopters or something," he said.

Liechtenstein, which has about 34,000 inhabitants and is slightly smaller than Washington DC, doesn't have an army.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070302/ap_on_fe_st/mistaken_invasion

Just imagine if that was DPRK troops over the DMZ or Eritrean troops into Ethipoia!


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## dapaterson (2 Mar 2007)

> What began as a routine training exercise for some Swiss soldiers almost ended in an embarrassing diplomatic incident, when the troops got lost at night and mistakenly marched into neighbouring Liechtenstein.
> 
> According to the Swiss newspaper Blick, the 170 infantry soldiers from the neutral country wandered more than 1.5-kilometres across an unmarked border into the tiny principality early Thursday, but they soon realized their mistake and turned back.



http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2007/03/02/swissinvade.html


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## Gimpy (2 Mar 2007)

The funny thing is that its the Swiss armie's responsibility to protect Liechtenstein so I would have thought they would have been able to conduct exercises in Liechtenstein anyways.


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## Mike Baker (2 Mar 2007)

> ZURICH, Switzerland - What began as a routine training exercise almost ended in an embarrassing diplomatic incident after a company of Swiss soldiers got lost at night and marched into neighboring Liechtenstein.
> 
> According to Swiss daily Blick, the 170 infantry soldiers wandered just over a mile across an unmarked border into the tiny principality early Thursday before realizing their mistake and turning back.
> 
> ...


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070302/ap_on_fe_st/mistaken_invasion


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## MikeM (2 Mar 2007)

I love how they use the term "invasion"..hardly an aggressive act, and clearly both states agree.


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## CrazyCanuck (2 Mar 2007)

This is just one of those little international unincidents that everyone can have a good laugh over, I can see those soldiers telling their captivated future grandchildren "Hey, guess what? I once invaded Liechtenstein"


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## xena (2 Mar 2007)

I was once in a convoy that was driving down to Ft Lewis, Washington, and while stopped at a red light somewhere in the vicinity of Seattle, a local must have noticed our plates said "Canada".  He rolled down his window and asked me what we were doing.  I said we were invading.  He said "Cool.  As long as you bring your beer."

And we do have the distinction of being the only country in history to have sucessfully invaded the US and set fire to its capital.

First the US, now Liechtenstein - what's the world coming to?   :


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## Fraser.g (2 Mar 2007)

And how many Officer Cadets in Chilliwack walked across the border into the US?


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## Michael OLeary (2 Mar 2007)

RN PRN said:
			
		

> And how many Officer Cadets in Chilliwack walked across the border into the US?



Only the ones where the Staff weren't paying close enough attention to the navigation to call a halt at that fenceline.


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## TN2IC (2 Mar 2007)

I bet the soldiers didn't care. Gee.. if my boss told me to march into another Country I would...

Only hard thing would be trying to keep a straight face.

Yes Sir... we are invading East Germany..


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## warspite (2 Mar 2007)

Fellow members of army.ca we be best to heed this blatant display of Swiss imperialism. That any modern first world country would threaten such a helpless target with such a show of force is completely reprehensible.  The Swiss should not be allowed to get away with this heinous act. The world must not allow such actions as this to go unpunished. We must stand up for the freedom of this little principality, we must take action to curb the threat of Swiss militarism. I propose the Canadian Navy should enforce a blockade on some stretch of water in the middle of the Atlantic, to show the Swiss that we mean business, cause nothing says we mean business like a blockade of a landlocked country. Further more I also propose that the airforce immediately commence the bombing of strategic locations within the Swiss empire, suburbs included. I would also like to add that I recommend that the bomb of choice be chocolate chips cookies.....with a red maple leaf made out of sprinkles. Cause nothing wins the hearts and minds of people like chocolate chip cookies or maple leafs. Combined they will be the ultimate weapon against the evil Swiss. Finally I recommend that the army commence preparations to march on the Swiss capital. Along the way the can liberate France......of some wine. Upon reaching Switzerland the army will be required to seize all the tolberones in a preemptive move to prevent the Swiss from causing us toothdecay. Should the Swiss government refuse to capitalate to our superior forces, it's leaders will be required to listen to Celine Dion until they sign the surrender. I know it's cruel but in war you must be willing to sacrifice a few sane minds to save many more.  Once the the threat of Swiss imperialism has been safely crushed we can all sleep in our beds safely at night, knowing that the threat of the fierce Swiss legions will forever be a part of history. History will remember us and Liechtenstein will thank us for ending this threat to stability and peace and making the world a safer place to live.

Sincerely 
Warspite :cdnsalute:


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## p_imbeault (2 Mar 2007)

Hey while your at it, get them to stop stealing my cheese. Nothing makes me angrier then someone stealing small round sections of my cheese slice's


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## Yrys (3 Mar 2007)

Well said warspite op: !

But we should do the bombing with something made with maple
sirup with hot Tommie'S coffe inside  8) !


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## retiredgrunt45 (3 Mar 2007)

Now thats what the world should be like, bombing with chocolate chip cookies and maple syrop and liberating tolberone. A pat on the back "No problem friend"

Maybe someday, it will be...


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## AJFitzpatrick (5 Mar 2007)

I swear I used the search  :-[ Maybe if I knew how to spell Liechenstein.


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## reccecrewman (7 Mar 2007)

And whomever opts to punish the Swiss for their imperialistic expansionism, go the spoils of conquering the Swiss - unending supply of cheese, chocolate and........... what else do they have? Oh yeah, the Swiss Banks!  ;D


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## LanJ (7 Mar 2007)

xena said:
			
		

> I was once in a convoy that was driving down to Ft Lewis, Washington, and while stopped at a red light somewhere in the vicinity of Seattle, a local must have noticed our plates said "Canada".  He rolled down his window and asked me what we were doing.  I said we were invading.  He said "Cool.  As long as you bring your beer."



AHAHAHAHA 
Thats funny man


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## Strike (7 Mar 2007)

I do recall hearing of a Sea King that decided to land on a little island that was pretty much a pile of rocks somewhere in the middle of the North Atlantic.  Turned out it was Denmark.  Way to read a map guys!   ;D :rofl:


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## Bill Smy (8 Mar 2007)

Ref reply #7

And we do have the distinction of being the only country in history to have sucessfully invaded the US and set fire to its capital.

If you are referring to the burning of Washington during the War of 1812 -- you are mistaken. There were no Canadian troops there -- it was a British operation.


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## Roy Harding (8 Mar 2007)

Bill Smy said:
			
		

> Ref reply #7
> 
> And we do have the distinction of being the only country in history to have sucessfully invaded the US and set fire to its capital.
> 
> If you are referring to the burning of Washington during the War of 1812 -- you are mistaken. There were no Canadian troops there -- it was a British operation.



Good point - I've always been uncomfortable with that particular tale.

As far as the Swiss Troops goes - hell, I've NEVER, EVER made a mistake in navigation - nor has ANYONE I've ever met.   :


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## FormerHorseGuard (9 Mar 2007)

i watched a program on 60 minutes or a show like that a few years a go, it was about an Airforce that  could not fly in any one direction without turning in direction in under 5 minutes because it would be flying out of its airspace and invading another nation.
I guess being in Canada, we forget or do not realize how small some countries in Europe are compared to PEI or Nova Scotia.

But that  would be very funny to invade a country ona training exercise, what a  story to tell in the mess.


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## Sheerin (9 Mar 2007)

reminds me of this story http://archives.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/02/18/britain.marines/index.html

*British troops 'invade' Spain* February 19, 2002
GIBRALTAR --British troops temporarily invaded Spain when a landing exercise on Gibraltar went wrong.

About 20 Royal Marines landed in bad weather on a Spanish beach, thinking they were on British territory.

They hastily retreated after locals told them of their error. Gibraltar has been a contested area between London and Madrid for 300 years.

The two European Union and NATO allies -- once the greatest of foes -- are negotiating a deal to resolve their tussle over Gibraltar, which British marines seized from Spain in 1704.

Spain's foreign ministry played down the incident as a harmless error that would not undermine negotiations aimed at resolving the Gibraltar issue.

"We are not going to protest. From our point of view the matter is closed," a Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

A British Ministry of Defence spokesman told Reuters that two landing craft from HMS Ocean accidentally entered Spanish territorial waters and in bad weather one landing craft landed on the beach a few yards over the Spanish side of the border.

He added that it was the first time he had heard of such an error taking place during one of the frequent landing exercises.

"Clearly that is the end of the matter but obviously it is a situation we would rather not have taken place."

The two countries hope to reach a deal on the colony's future in the next few months but many of the 30,000 inhabitants of "The Rock," as the peninsula is known, say they will not accept any move towards Spanish sovereignty.


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## geo (9 Mar 2007)

1.5 Km into Lichtenstein..... they were prolly just about to cross into the next country.... 
and their reception at the next border might not have been as welcoming


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## orange.paint (9 Mar 2007)

Beautiful country though.I had heard of the country with football, but I am ashamed I didnt quite know where in europe it was until lately.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Schlossvaduz.jpg

Very nice.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Lichtenstein_NASA.png


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