The Battle of Wanat

I am not an American. I am not a soldier. I am not an expert.  I am interested in military history, recent history, and there is a battle that is as important, and just as brutal, as the one depected in "Blackhawk Down". The real life battle in Moganishu, Operation Gothic Serpent, October 3 and 4, 1993 was made into a book and movie - the event is now more commonly known as "Blackhawk Down".  From what I've been told, it shows war how it is. Less black and white, less lines between us and them, it's all grey, and it's all crazy in the firefight. Screaming, explosions, gunfire, death - it's war.

There are hundreds... thousands... tens of thousands of battles that have raged on on Afghanistan between the NATO coalition and the Taliban, and most will never be known, but one sticks out to me, and it's shocking it isn't as famous as Blackhawk Down, it was the Battle of Wanat.

9 Americans were killed in the firefight, the platoon was only made up of 45 men, 3/4 of the platoon was wounded or dead by the end of the battle, and the base they were in was almost overrun.  Apache helicopters were over an hour away.  Predator drones, their eyes in the sky, were diverted to other "priorities" and were not around.  The base was so close to being lost and all Americans killed that Taliban fighters were in the base, looting the base, they made off with radios and equipment from inside the buildings.  The timeline of events has more or less been sorted out, there has been an inquiry, and the American military lost a lot of good men to bad planning that day.  The responsible commanding officers all received reprimands, and the General in charge quit when the administration refused to reprimand him too (Ret. Maj. Gen. JeffreySchloesser; you are a true man of honour).

Here is the CBS News coverage of the event, much after the fact.

Here is the gun-camera footage from the Apaches when they got there over an hour from when the battle started.  By then most of the platoon had hunkered down in a corner of the base and the Taliban was busy making off with whatever they could carry.

ABC News presents Taliban video shot during the very same battle.

Tom Ricks has some fantastic coverage of the issue, over at Foreign Policy magazine, he writes a blog for them, I highly recommend reading it daily.

http://ricks.foreignpolicy.com/category/topic/wanat

Tom Ricks on CNN with Fareed Zakaria

I'm not sure why there hasn't been more attention paid to Wanat, maybe someone will make it into a movie and catch people's attention

New Flashlight

Stef got himself a new flashlight. It's rechargeable and it has a shoulder strap. You can see the size of it here in the photo. That is a regular sized Reese peanut butter cup package. Basically the light section is the size of a dinner plate and uses an automotive headlight bulb. It's a 20 million candlepower light!

My Canadian M100 Trailer

My 1950s M100 Trailer
The new addition to the fleet

I picked up an off-road capable trailer that will fit behind, and be able to keep up with, my new-to-me 1985 Bombardier Iltis!  The trailer is an early 1950's vintage trailer, the same type that was manufactured for both the American and Canadian armed forces of the era.  I believe this one is a Canadian trailer, but it's hard to tell.  

The identification plate is no longer attached, and its most recent owner (and militaria aficionado) is dead; so there's no way for me to know it's history, unless I can find a clue etched into the trailer somewhere.  I'll see what I can find, but so far nothing has given it away.

There is some rot on the left side of the trailer's metal that will require some minor repairs, but it is 100% road worthy right now. 

Brining it back from it's former home to mine was an adventure in Google Maps; once again Google Maps tried to send me into a mud hole, and this time I said No before the point of no return!  Here's the route I took to get home with the trailer in tow... and yes it did take that long.

M100 trailer
Third field Hospital Motorpool
Cheju-Do, Korea, Spring '53
(Credit: MartySoCal)

My plan is to sandblast the trailer at Blast-It-All in Almonte, get the right colour of paint for a 1950's Canadian Forces trailer, get it epoxy primed, and painted.  My hope is the trailer will at least keep it's value, and by properly painting it I will stop the rust.

While the Iltis (which is desert camo now) will eventually be Light Forrest Green, the trailer will be a vintage Olive Drab, so they won't look quite like a matching set, but they're 30 years apart, and I'd like to try and keep the trailer the colour it should have been painted originally, for authenticity.

Being vintage militaria, the demand for information and parts online is huge; there is tons of info out there for me to draw on.  Here is the manual in PDF, in case you were looking for it.

I'm looking forward to getting the Iltis plated, the trailer plated, and both of them on the road... 
Can you tell?!

Yes, I *did* buy an Iltis

The hunt is over, and I went for the Iltis which was the closest to me.

1985 Bombardier Iltis

My 1985 Bombardier Iltis

• 1.7L Volkswagen 4 cylinder liquid cooled VW 049 YX / 75HP
• Two alternators (24V and 12V)
• Discrete 24V and 12V systems
• Three 12V automotive batteries
• Modified bush bar
• 6,000lb Warn winch, 12V
• Auxiliary Lights, front and back
• Uniden Bearcat PRO 510XL CB Radio
• Genuine Canadian Iltis "Unstucker" Kit
• Aftermarket Tachometer
• VW Rabbit car-key conversion
• New seats with headrests
• Spare tire mounted at the rear
• CF-issue rifle mounts



My 1985 Bombardier Iltis

• Original CF Manuals
• Fire Extinguisher(not original)

Plus...

• 5 additional rims+tires, spare
• A whole "parts" Iltis, running and has brakes, needs clutch work
• Several handles and doohickeys.
• Two spare clutches
• Spare set of windshield wipers
• Eight spare brake shoes
• ...everything else the previous owner has collected that has the name "Bombardier Iltis" on it!

My "parts" Iltis

As the story goes, and per my previous post, the current owner of the Iltis can't get in and out of it easily anymore, and would rather use a 4-Wheeler "Rhino" than the Iltis for his back country hobbies.  His loss, my gain!  For me, this will be the Pinetree Line exploration vehicle.  It is driveable in the winter, it does have a heater, but it is a little drafty - and while *possible* to drive in the winter, I think I'll try to keep cold-weather driving to a minimum.

I'm pretty stoked, and will take possession of it Wednesday :)

If you are interested in purchasing the Thunder Bay Iltis which is for sale, look on Kijiji, or follow this link.  Let him know I sent you.

Buying an Iltis, take two

Every time I buy a vehicle I discover more about the fine art of buying vehicles.  In this case, it's not like buying a minivan that just came off lease; checking body panels for Bondo, scuffs on the leather, etc..  virtually all Iltis' have been abused by Canadian Forces jocks in training, and in theater - all have scuffs and bruises from their escapades. Skipping them across lakes and over ditches was common - but I should note, they took the abuse and usually kept on trucking.

Researching the Iltis, thousands of which were purchased between 1983-1986 by the Canadian Forces, I've seem many people in many forums scavenging for parts to repair their hobby vehicles. I think I've got a good idea what goes wrong on them, how to find the parts, and fix them.

Some of the issues I've run into are far more mundane than exotic 24V fuel pumps (which the Iltis uses...) and can be experienced with any vehicle purchase.

Cost is something everyone runs into.  But after the sale, the hidden costs start to creep up on you.  When buying a 25 year old vehicle, you can bet there are skeletons in that closet.  What do you do?  Anticipate the worst.  Inform yourself on the usual things that go wrong.  Don't believe anyone who tells you the vehicle is in mint shape and runs like a top.  Get a safety check, or at least a mechanic to look at the vehicle before purchase.  If you don't get an expert opinion before hand, be prepared to pay for the worst case scenarios that would have made you walk away from the sale.  There is also a lot of social engineering, economics, sociology and psychology involved in a sale.  Who is it that you're buying the vehicle from?  What's their social situation?  What's their financial situation?  Why are they selling?  How long has the item been for sale?  What is the market for their model like?  How many others are for sale, and what differentiates this one, from the rest?

I'm currently posed with a dilemma, which I don't mind sharing on our blog because both sellers who I'm dealing with know I'm looking at the other one's Iltis.

1986 Bombardier Iltis, Canadian Camo

There's a 1986 Iltis that underwent a restoration in 2007, and today is for sale in Thunder Bay, Ontario.  According to Google Maps, the most direct route from Thunder Bay to Carp, Ontario is ~20hrs of driving away.  That vehicle has undergone a safety check, and found a small shopping list of relatively minor issues, including issues with the wheel cylinder, suspension bushings, ball joints, etc.. It is not repaired, and as the buyer I would need to perform those repairs on my dime, or haggle the seller down.  The vehicle does have a full set of canvas/vinyl doors, camo netting, the standard issue trailer, and many accessories.
A flight there costs ~$300+4.5hrs (or a bus costs ~$250+22hrs).
Driving back would cost ~$300 in gas, and 2-3 days of leisurely driving
Perhaps more worrying, if I were to break down along the way with this new-to-me vehicle, i could be quite far from civilization and incur significant costs for hotels and repairs.  For all the problems and risks that I can list for this vehicle, it is being sold by an honest seller who drove it the same distance from southern Ontario to Thunder Bay in 2007, he knows exactly what I'm considering doing.  With these mounting secondary costs, I had to consider another vehicle closer to home.

1985 Bombardier Iltis, OPFOR Camo Pattern

I found a 1985 Bombardier Iltis less than an hour away, that seems to be in good shape - from the pictures.  The seller is an old-timer who's had his knee replaced, and doesn't want to climb into the tub anymore.  He's been collecting parts for the Iltis for as long as he's had it, and will give all the parts he's accumulated, as well as an entire 2nd Iltis in with the deal.  This made the deal much more interesting, even while there is no trailer.  The spare parts, inclusion of a winch, a separate 12V alternator and auxiliary lights make this deal very attractive.  The "problem" with this one is while it is almost the same price as the above, I am not sure it has had a safety check done recently, therefore it will certainly have some problems that require repair.    How much will those repairs cost?  No idea.

How much does the risk involved in the trip to Thunder Bay, additional time and expense of the trip there and back (4 day round trip) change the equation?  The 1985 Iltis is the devil I *don't* know, and the 1986 Iltis is what I consider the devil I *do* know.  I will see the 1985 Iltis on Tuesday... the seller in Thunder Bay knows I'm looking at one which is closer - and completely understands my reasoning.  I haven't given up on the Thunder Bay Iltis, partially because it's in such fine shape, the seats have been repaired and re-covered, and the trailer matches the Iltis perfectly - right down to the matching stenciled numbers on the sides of both the Iltis and trailer.

I'm really looking forward to Tuesday...



Here we have a perfect example of why the Bombardier Iltis rocks.