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85,000 Historical Films From British Pathé on YouTube

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Shiplord Kirel: From behind wingnut lines4/20/2014 1:27:14 am PDT

Odds and ends

This might be the toughest and most multiply skilled military force in the world, and is certainly one of the most unusual. Sldepatruljen Sirius (Sirius Sledge Patrol). This is the 14 man Danish navy unit that provides police and military presence in the wilds of northeastern Greenland. Patrolmen work in pairs and travel by dog sled, often for months at a time with no other human contact. Training involves the usual; shooting, demolition, etc. and such esoterica as sewing.
It is one of the few military units in the world that still uses bolt action rifles (M-1917 Enfield) on the grounds that only manual action rifles are reliable enough under the extreme conditions. They also carry a sidearm, a 10mm Glock semi-auto pistol. This was recently upgraded from a 9mm because the latter did not have adequate stopping power against rogue polar bears. Semi-auto is apparently acceptable for hand guns because they are not as exposed to the elements as the rifles.
The Sirius Patrol saw combat during World War II, locating and rooting out various clandestine weather stations the Germans had set up in Greenland. In the days before weather satellites, this was crucial intelligence activity and its denial had a real effect on the German war effort.