The Wild Geese

Hey NC Scout, MB sent me this link. Part of my email reply…

Gee whiz, *****! Funny you send this particular movie… it’s the only movie we watched in the bush other than the English porno movies we got now and then.

The Rhodies got hold of a bootleg copy of “The Wild Geese” and the whole of Support Commando watched this at one of our forward jumping off “to fuck the terrs up” bases… I think Mabalauta or maybe Grand Reef. I can’t remember… it was so long ago. I just remember we all laughed so hard at one of the grenade explosions that looked like a combination napalm strike and small tactical nuclear explosion.

Later on in the week, we were at some abandoned hot springs resort. All these beautiful family rondavals with the roofs falling in. The terrorists would use this resort when we weren’t there. We’d find some of their kit and AK mags in the bottom of the pool.

While there, one ****(me)*************, was laying under his bivy cover farting around with a grenade and he noticed how perfectly it fit in the concave bottom of one of our French stove fuel containers. So, with my “out of boredom project” I began to make a “Wild Geese” grenade.

I duct taped this old pineapple HE grenade to the bottom of the gas container. About half the Commando started forming, as all the guys examined my device with amazement and anticipation. One of them, as their character was, wanted to pack plastic explosive around it… overkill, which I decided not to… at least until I knew what this one would do.

So, I took this bundle and wandered over to our RECCE Sergeant Taffy *********, who was totally absorbed in reading a Wilbur Smith novel. I said, “****, look at this… it’s a Wild Geese grenade. I’m going to throw it in one of the rondavals.” He barely took his eyes off his book, glanced at me and my creation and non-chalantly said… “Okay, just don’t kill yourself ******.”

So I wandered over to one of the rondavals, pulled the pin on the grenade, threw this contraption through a broken window and high tailed it back to the guys. It was the strangest explosion. First the grenade went off… then whoooosh! A secondary explosion engulfed the rondaval, flames belching out the door and windows and blew what was left of the windows out and the roof off… glass flying everywhere. Hell of a racket… which got everyone’s attention… including ****** who ran over and said… “******… what the fuck are you doing!?” I told him… “you just told me I could do it.”

My Lieutenant V.P. ****** and Major ***** came over and watched while the rondaval burned to the ground, periodically looking with ill will towards me and the Major asking “what in God’s name possesses you?” I told them Sergeant ****** gave me permission and then described my invention to mimic the Wild Geese grenade explosion, which made it all okay. They were impressed. Then the whole of the Commando had to put the fire out with shovels and dirt before it burned down the entire resort… as it was spreading to the other structures.

Anonymous American in RLI Support Commando 1977-79

It’s out there on U-Tube but you have to pay for it

Great flick, thanks for sharing! Doesn’t help my affliction for Brit Kit or the FAL though haha.