Rob Crane

Muddling through. Has 'a bit of a thing' about Combined Operations Pilotage Parties (COPP) – see @copp_survey

[Rob Crane @rob_crane]

I recommend following @copp_survey if you're after little glimpses into the history of Combined Operations Pilotage Parties. 🔗

Feel free to stay here if you're after a glimpse into my personal pet peeves. 🫣

[Rob Crane @rob_crane]

@SeaSpitfires I just did an instinctive debunking in the Commando Association Facebook page when someone posted about Beach Commando frogmen going in to Juno beach on the night of 5-6 June to do recce. I kind of regret it now because I may have been a bit blunt. 🙄

[Rob Crane @rob_crane]

@SeaSpitfires @Kormin_ Morning low tide in Le Havre today = 0409
Tomorrow = 0454

The Channel's tides are apparently really complex. I'm gagging to see the tide-prediction machines they used but they've been closed for restoration for years. 😕 https://t.co/GCmWReWj7r @NOCnews

[Rob Crane @rob_crane]

@Tom_Courtney_7 @SeaSpitfires There was still a massive pilotage operation at Omaha and Utah, but mostly done by US boats and crews. Why it went awry, I don't know.

[Rob Crane @rob_crane]

@Tom_Courtney_7 @SeaSpitfires I suspect it's a myth about them turning down X-craft. Only two had been converted for the role; they were at Juno and Sword. Also there wasn't a specific 'issue' at Omaha unlike Juno (land the right side of Courseulles harbour entrance)/Sword (get through a narrow approach gap).

[Rob Crane @rob_crane]

@UnderwaterLance @I_W_M It makes me shudder whenever I see the wreckage.

[Rob Crane @rob_crane]

@UnderwaterLance @I_W_M Sadly only two of the crew of X-7 survived. Aitken, Whittam and Whitle were trapped inside and had to use the escape apparatus. Only Aitken made it to the surface. He was the sub's diver and perhaps that qualification gave him a crucial advantage in making it to safety. 😢

[Rob Crane @rob_crane]

@WhiteHouse Thank goodness for that – the man makes everything he touches look like a tacky casino

[Rob Crane @rob_crane]

@surlydave_40 @SeaSpitfires That was a different unit (Combined Operations Pilotage Parties) and they were surface swimmers, without breathing apparatus or fins.

[Rob Crane @rob_crane]

@traceygipp @Number10cat @cfdownes_ @Saskiateague Do you want to deport all UK-born British citizens who aren't Christian?

[Rob Crane @rob_crane]

@Number10cat @JohnCleese You know it's not actually John, yeah?

[Rob Crane @rob_crane]

@susie_dent We know about 'petrichor'. But is there a word for the dark period before rain in which there's an 'atmosphere' and car headlights seem so crisp?

[Rob Crane @rob_crane]

@SeaSpitfires @chris_harrod The one in my previous image could be P-Party. Apparently the chap nearest the camera here is in one of their suits and it's similar-ish around the neck? But I guess there were lots of different versions of various suits etc floating around. (Floating around! Geddit?)

[Rob Crane @rob_crane]

@chris_harrod @SeaSpitfires Also just noticed 'Mobile Flotilla Unit' for no. 1. A euphemism for coastal forces units or meant to be Mobile Flotation Unit?

[Rob Crane @rob_crane]

@chris_harrod @SeaSpitfires I can make no claim to be an expert either, but I had memories of them getting their own 'gear', rather than DSEA, and it might be no. 5 in this post-war Siebe Gorman brochure. (Cast your eyes away from no. 6, Stephen! 😁)

I wonder if it got issued between Fabius and D-Day.

[Rob Crane @rob_crane]

@SeaSpitfires Having said that, I'm a big Bond fan. No doubt it's where Fleming got his inspiration etc etc etc 🥱

[Rob Crane @rob_crane]

@SeaSpitfires What I don't get is that what they did on D-Day must've been more dangerous – more exposed to enemy fire, for sure – than the myth. If anything, the myth downplays not just their adaptability but also their bravery.

[Rob Crane @rob_crane]

@SeaSpitfires Oh gawd 😱

[Rob Crane @rob_crane]

@FoxNews He wants us to attack the USA, the country that caused the Straits to be blockaded?

[Rob Crane @rob_crane]

This is hilarious! RFK Jr is so confident that he repeats his false maths, and Trump sits there smugly nodding along at his genius.

The USA is run by idiots. @WhiteHouse

[Aaron Rupar @atrupar]

RFK Jr: "A Democratic senator claimed it's mathematically impossible to have a drug drop by 600%. I said, 'Well, if the drug was $100 and it raises to $600, that would be a 600% rise. If it drops from $600 to $100, that's a 600% savings.'"

Trump: "Right"

[Rob Crane @rob_crane]

Suddenly we all know why so many Trump business ventures go bust.

[Aaron Rupar @atrupar]

RFK Jr: "President Trump has a different way of calculating percentages. If you have a $600 drug and you reduce it to $10, that's a 600% reduction."