> The lines in this post about double-taping the banana clips caught my
> interest - an almost exact copy of the dialog appears in Tom Clancy's
> (apologies for linking TC and le Carre in any way) Patriot Games where
> Ryan asks sometihng along the lines of "why did the machine gunner stop
> firing" and is told "he taped two magazines together like they do in the
> movies; something we were taught never to do in the paras - and it jammed"
>
> Stephen "now i'm not sure the best way to resize my company" Wimbourne
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------
Hmmm. Now I must rethink. As I noted in the post, I *am* running from
memory; I may be muddling the two, but I am quite sure I recall such an
exchange in one of Deighton's later novels, post-_Funeral in Berlin_. If
someone's got copies of the relevent texts I am entirely open to
correction.
But I've still seen it done (and been taught to do it myself, but no I'm
not an ex-squaddie, and yes it's a long story).
PHJD