Informing the Army’s Future Structure - CAMO Discussion

[Kirkhill]

My favourite fun fact about 'On the Beach' is that the author invented the Panjandrum

Nevil Shute Norway (he dropped Norway when writing) must have been fond of the beach, because he invented a beach-based weapon of mass destruction called the Panjandrum. Figuring it might be a tad suicidal to launch a frontal assault on the Nazi machine gun nests in Normandy, the British called upon Sub-Lieutenant Norway to come up with a device capable of breaching defences while everyone sheltered in the landing craft. The Panjandrum was two giant wheels connected by a drum, powered by rockets and loaded up with explosives. The idea was you rolled it out of the boat, lit the fuse and stood well back, whereupon it would spin up the beachhead like an out-of-control Burning Man installation and blow the Nazis to smithereens.

It didn’t work. In testing, the Panjandrum ran amok, haring off along the beach at 100km/h, launching missiles in every conceivable direction. It almost wiped out the entire Allied high command, who were observing from a very unsafe distance. It later appeared on Dad’s Army.

The Australian book you've finally got time for: On the Beach by Nevil Shute

Ignore the poor fortunes of its Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner-led film. Shute’s apocalypse novel is a dynamite isolation read

www.theguardian.com

Behold the Grand Panjandrum

The Great Panjandrum Scares a Dog | Military.com

www.military.com

The result of a bottle od Scotch and a Catherine Wheel. I

 

[FJAG]

After 16 years now in uniform im convinced that atleast in the CSS world, reserve officers should not be in command of units.

I agree fully and would say the same for most fields where I would not consider command above sub-unit level viable for peart-time reservists.

Even in the legal field where the civilian legal practice was a close analogue to military law, I was convinced that ResF Legal Os could only master two of the three primary fields: OpLaw and MilJustice. I never had a handle on AdminLaw even after 22 years of part-time service. It was such a specialized field that only years of full-time service and day-to-day involvement in the field would get you grounded enough to be competent.