In a thrilling segment which sees Marks trapped by the sheer amount of technology at his disposal—imprisoned by the very lights and lasers that have brought him so much joy over the years—whilst a disco remix of Richard Strauss' "Also Spach Zarathustra" pounds away with the fecund ferocity of gabber at its most powerfully potent, we begin to understand the raw appeal of the Coliseum: imagine being out of your nut whilst Marks is tinkering away with the awesome lightshow.
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The dam was difficult to find and there was early morning mist starting to gather over the water. Shannon arrived too far west and found the Rehbuch dam. Gibson's aircraft fired red Very lights to help him find the others. Although the dam's defences consisted of only two sentries with rifles, it was still a difficult target owing to the approach.
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The diversion was a success, and Italian machine-gun fire and very lights were directed towards the Indian cavalrymen. The Commandos managed to get within on the Twin Pimples before being challenged. The challenge was answered by a frontal attack by the Commandos. So as not to confuse their own forces with the Italians in the darkness, the password Jock was used when a position had been taken.
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The crew floated with the aircraft for two hours and fired Very lights but were not seen by British destroyers. They then swam for an hour to land on the Gallipoli peninsula, where they were taken prisoner. Another Handley Page was flown from England to reinforce the Palestine Brigade and served with 1 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps. In September 1918, the bomber was used to supply Colonel T. E. Lawrence and the Arabs.
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Leading a group of 12 Whitleys, Marks instructed the aircrews to fire off Very lights over the target area so the bombers could find each other and group back together. They were also to drop marker flares over the target itself. The planes would then bomb the troop concentration. This was the first time the RAF attempted to locate a target at night by making a timed run from a known point.
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The Commandos advanced at on the night of and crossed the Italian lines undetected. At the supply road they took cover, waited until and edged forward just before the diversion by the 18th Cavalry. The diversion attracted Italian machine-gun fire and very lights, as the Commandos got within of the Twin Pimples before challenge, at which the commandos attacked. The password Jock was used when a position had been taken and the Italians were swiftly overcome.
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With French troops under command it was ordered to attack Mareuil-Caubert and the high ground south of Gouy on the morning of 4 June. Although 1st Battalion Gordon Highlanders made some progress, having worked out a system of Very lights to call down fire from the divisional artillery against German machine gun positions, the other attacks failed, and it proved impossible to hold the Gordons' small gains. The following day the Germans went over to the offensive, attacking all along the division's front. The Highlanders were slowly driven back from the widely spaced villages they held.
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German artillery was registered on these approach routes and inflicted many casualties as the troops moved up. The track was on the right side of the 8th Division and the troops using it had to move from right to left to assemble along the tapes. The moon was bright and the Germans could not but notice three battalions lining up behind the British outpost line. As liaison officer to the 32nd Division, Nettleton moved up along the road and wrote that if the Germans were still ignorant of British intentions, a soldier carrying a sack of very lights was hit by a bullet which set them off.
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The columns were to take Saint- Aignan-de-Cramesnil, about 20 kilometres south of Caen. On 6 and 7 August 1944, Boardman conducted reconnaissance in no man's land, despite German fire, to allow him to establish the route in darkness. In the night attack of 7/8 August, he then successfully spearheaded the columns forward through the Falaise Gap towards the village of St Aignan de Cramesnil, several times dismounting from his tank, and going back on foot to find parts of the columns which had lost touch. He had to illuminate the way forward with Very lights, making himself a highly visible target for enemy fire.
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There were few British casualties but the shelling caused considerable confusion and the German bombardment increased, when the British preliminary bombardment began. The British troops advanced in four waves, which were illuminated by German rockets and very lights and engaged by massed small-arms fire; the three battalions of the 93rd Brigade were still able to advance and some units reached the final objective. On the left, the three attacking battalions of the 92nd Brigade were subjected to a "tremendous" barrage on their assembly- positions, just before zero hour which caused much disorganisation. The darkness in this area was increased by Oppy Wood and the infantry could not see the barrage lift.
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Near dawn, several Very lights were fired from the direction of the airstrip, two aircraft landed and a troop of the 2nd Lancers went to investigate. The aircraft took off and the Lancers noticed an Axis column approaching from the south. (The aircraft carried a party that had been laying mines near Mechili; they landed away and met Lieutenant-General Erwin Rommel, who ordered all available forces to advance, cut the Mechili–Derna road and surround Mechili.) Other patrols returned with prisoners and just after two field guns began to bombard the fort. A third gun opened fire from the north-east but was driven off by a patrol of the PAVO.
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Ludendorff's defensive changes had been implemented in some parts of the front, despite a certain reluctance by some of the local commanders. Outposts beyond the German advanced defensive zone () were to hold the front line in enough strength to stop the British from sapping forward. The garrisons were to withdraw to the main line at the rear of the when attacked, signalling to the artillery with rockets and Very lights for barrage fire. The German artillery would place the barrage in front of the main line of resistance, before the British infantry reached it and if possible, the troops in the front position were to attempt to defeat the attack without calling on the supporting Division, to limit casualties.
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Ordered to attack an objective named Horseshoe Ridge, which was believed to be lightly held, the Grenadiers, supported by a very heavy artillery barrage and advancing with all three companies, suffered 70% casualties, mainly from anti- personnel mines and mortars, but managed to take the ridge, and all three companies fired Very lights to announce the capture of their objective. In an attempt to reinforce the forward companies, and aware that his men had suffered very heavy losses in the minefields, the Grenadiers' commanding officer (CO), Lieutenant Colonel Clive, ordered the battalion's Universal Carriers to clear a way through the minefield, thus making it easier to reinforce the forward companies. This was a dismal failure, with all the Carriers being destroyed.
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The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) aircraft of , co-operated with the Anzac landing with seaplanes and a kite balloon; Number 3 Aeroplane Squadron RNAS, with 18 aircraft, flew in support of the operation at Helles. Standing patrols were maintained over Helles and the Asiatic coast, in perfect flying weather, each pilot making three sorties during the day, beginning at dawn. As soon as Ottoman artillery replied to the landings, the aircraft observers used wireless to direct naval gunfire but were ignored because the quantity of naval gunnery was overwhelmed by the number of Ottoman targets. Once the troops were established ashore, the ships responded to messages from the aircrews who used Very lights to signal to ships unable to receive wireless transmissions.
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