A big gun to keep peace
QUESTION Why was the Nordbat 2 regiment so controversial during the Bosnian War?
Nordbat 2, short for Nordic battalion, was a combined Norwegian, danish and Swedish unit put together in 1993 to undertake UN peace-keeping duties in bosnia, under the direction of the UN Protection Force (UNProFor). Nordbat 1 was stationed in Macedonia.
the unit was under Swedish command except for a danish tank company and Norwegian helicopter unit. Most were former Swedish conscripts led by regular Swedish army officers.
Hampered by the bureaucracy and slow decision-making in the command of UNProFor, Nordbat 2’s commanders fell back on their own methods.
the Swedish approach was for commanders in the field to exercise considerable autonomy. So Nordbat 2 were able to react to situations far more readily than the troops of other nations.
their comparative aggression gained the Swedes a reputation as trigger happy, a charge they strongly refute.
Mission Commander Colonel Ulf Henricsson’s main concern was whether the mission was successful, not strict adherence to the rules.
He transported his men in the Pbv 302, then the most heavily armoured infantry fighting vehicle, rather than the lightly armoured or unarmoured vehicles used by other nations.
He requested that the danish armoured unit be equipped with the Leopard battle tank, which was regarded as heavyhanded for a peace-keeping mission.
His troops were ordered to write their wills and took body bags with them. they were expected to fight and, if necessary, die to achieve their mission.
on Christmas day 1993, a Nordbat 2 platoon of 24 men was safeguarding a hospital in bosnia. It found itself cut off when the road was mined by a Croatian force of 600 men.
the Swedes were ordered to hand over three Muslim nurses, but commanding officer Captain Stewe Simson refused. after 24 hours under small arms and mortar fire, during which Simson refused to back down, the Croats left.
this set the pattern for other hostile encounters, most of which were used as propaganda against the Swedes.
the Serbs were particularly aggressive against Nordbat 2. a detachment of the
danish tank company was lured into a trap and attacked with anti-tank artillery and missiles. the danes reacted by firing 72 rounds from their tanks, neutralising the Serb’s anti-tank weaponry and exploding their ammunition supply. With 150 Serb soldiers killed, UNProFor took a dim view of the danes’ attempts to defend themselves.
Bob Cubitt, Northampton.
QUESTION Did the Bee Gees write more than 100 Top Ten songs?
THE bee Gees — brothers barry, robin and Maurice Gibb — were one of the most successful groups of all time. In the UK, they had five No 1 singles, 19 top ten hits
and 38 top 75 hits. they had just one No 1 album, but 26 LPs made the top 75, including 16 in the top 10.
In the U.S., they scored nine No1 singles, 15 top ten singles and a total of 40 hits in the billboard Hot 100. they had two No1 albums, nine LPs in the top ten and a total of 25 in the top 100.
the Gibbs wrote hits for many artists, including Kenny rogers and dolly Parton (Islands In the Stream, a U.S. No 1), Frankie Valli (Grease, a U.S. No1) and diana ross (Chain reaction, a UK charttopper). added together, they achieved well over 100 top tens.
Tim Mickleburgh, Grimsby, Lincs.
QUESTION What is wet bulb temperature and why is it important?
a Wet bulb thermometer measures the cooling that results from the evaporation of moisture.
as evaporation is faster when the air is dry, this is a means to an end: a calculation combining the actual air temperature (using a dry bulb thermometer) and the depression as measured by a wet bulb thermometer produces the relative humidity. this is important in weather forecasting and daily life.
relative humidity measures how saturated the air is. When this reaches 100 per cent, the air can’t hold any more moisture and ceases to be drying.
Laundry on the washing line won’t dry, but more importantly, sweat won’t evaporate so has no cooling ability, raising the risk of heat stroke.
For weather forecasting, predicting the ability of air to hold and retain moisture is vital. the actual amount of moisture required to produce 100 per cent relative humidity depends on pressure and temperature: the cooler the air, the less moisture it can hold.
this means that if the temperature drops sufficiently, it will become greater than 100 per cent saturated and will rain, typically when the air has been forced upwards (and, therefore, cooled) by a thermal (upward current of warm air), hill or weather front.
air in contact with a cold surface will be cooled locally, resulting in mist, dew or condensation on windows.
the traditional method of recording wet and dry bulb thermometer readings is to whirl a psychrometer (combining a dry thermometer and another thermometer with its bulb enveloped in a moist wick) in the air. a standard table is then consulted to determine the relative humidity from the temperatures shown by the two thermometers.
the hygrometer dials in ornamental weather gauges move a pointer by using the varying properties of a material (such as human hair) according to humidity.
Ken Wood, Newport, South Wales.
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