Haha! That said, I must point out there's a serious point to such large emblems. The last thing you want when driving a captured enemy tank is a friendly anti-tank gunner shooting at you.
So you paint your national emblem as big as you can all over the tank. The Germans did this all the time.
35 yrs ago in the early hours of 26 February 1991, 4th Armd Bde attacked Objective Bronze before moving on to Copper South & then on to Brass & Steel (all in Iraq). I was commanding a small packet of assorted AFVs incl 14/20H Step-Up & an RE Sqn SHQ as we moved towards the Iraq/Kuwait border.
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Christie's M1928
Hello all there
Up for having first of two partial knee replacements very soon
Is there any useful advice about recovery and coping during recovery?
The talk is now rescheduled for 24 February and I hope you can join us.
I've added a small update to an article on my rather amateurish but hopefully informative and accessible blog. Might be of interest to some. Germans up near BrΓ©ville-les-Mont, c.11th June 1944.
Cheers.
#Normandy44 #WW2
normandyinsightresearch.blogspot.com/p/346infante...
That's a great personal connection. I'll keep an eye out for him π
Photograph of a book, Airborne Armour, by Keith Flint. The cover shows a well-known photo of a British Tetrarch tank exiting a large Hamilcar glider. The sub-heading of the book is "Tetrarch, Locust, Hamilcar and the 6th Airborne Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment 1938-50".
Finally got round to getting a copy of this book.
That's my reading for tomorrow's forecast rain.
Answering a request from Facebook I've added a few BEF designs and put them in their own category in the shop:
www.redbubble.com/people/uktan...
As ever, open to further requests!
Woman in Euston Station: Donβt stress.
Woman sheβs with: Donβt stress? Donβt stress Rona? Weβre at the wrong station, at the wrong time, on the wrong day. Again!
Due to illness I have had to postpone.
This will be a very interesting talk. Tune in if you can!
Absolutely. That said, what you have inside it is arguably more important... π
Looks like one of the 5 SturmgeschΓΌtz prototypes, built on a PzKw III Ausf. B chassis, being used as a driving instruction vehicle.
Great photo!
bsky.app/profile/rgpo...
A black & white photo from the northern Spanish city of Burgos in August 1936. The city would be Franco's headquarters & capital city until after the end of the Spanish Civil War. The shot is of a town square, the Plaza Alonso MartΓnez, looking east with the CapitanΓa General, a military headquarters building in the background, on the left. On the right, a couple of 3-storey buildings. In the centre is a group of dignitaries, mainly military officers, escorted by Civil Guards in their patent leather hats, walking towards the camera. In the middle of the group, we see General Francisco Franco, then just one of the military leaders of the uprising against the democratically elected Spanish government. To his right is the moustachioed General Cavalcanti, another leading rebel officer who would die the following spring in San SebastiΓ‘n, presumably of natural causes. On Franco's left is the tall General Mola, one of the main plotters of the failed coup which led to the civil war. He is turning to his right, shouting at or to someone to the left of the photo. He would die in a plane crash the following June.
A colour photo from June 2024, showing roughly the same view as the black and white photo. The CapitanΓa building is now a military museum, the tall brick building is an addition from the late 1980s and the square is now pedestrianised. Otherwise, the view is essentially the same. There's a personal element to this 'Then & Now'. Back in the mid-1980s, I taught in an office block overlooking the CapitanΓa, behind the tall brick building in the photo. While we were conscious at the time of the possibility of terrorist attack from ETA on this military headquarters below, I was sadly unaware of the importance of the CapitanΓa & the city itself in 1930s Spanish history.
Then & Now. Plaza Alonso MartΓnez, Burgos, Spain in August 1936 & June 2024.
The B&W photo is well-known with Generals Cavalcanti, Franco & Mola in front of the CapitanΓa General, Franco's HQ during the Spanish Civil War.
Within a year, both Cavalcanti & Mola would be dead.
Details in Alt text
Nice shot. Thanks!
Haha! Very good!!! π
You're welcome. The LT-38/PzKw 38(t) & the vehicles it spawned are of particular interest to me.
Contrary to what many folk think, the Hetzer only used certain modified components from this tank (uprated engine, transmission and wheels).
Other than these few parts, the Hetzer was actually a brand new design by BMM.
Excellent photo!
While I don't doubt the authenticity of this pic, we're approaching the point where unscrupulous folk may well use Gen AI to create fake 'historic' shots to prove a point or just lie.
"See? There *were* Cromwell tanks used in Tunisia! Here's a photo that proves it"
#OTD in 1944. White-washed Cromwell tanks from 7 Armoured Division. #WW2 #HISTORY
Kalaallit Nunaat kalaallinut inuiaqatigiinnut = Greenland for the Greenlandic people. With background of Greenland flag
SOURCES
β’ Panzerwrecks 19 Yugoslavia - Archer & DimitrijeviΔ
β’ Panzer Tracts 18 & 23 - Jentz & Doyle
β’ German Panzers & Allied Armour in Yugoslavia in WW2 - DimitrijeviΔ
Photo credits in the Alt Text for each pic.
End/
Another black & white photo of German PzKw 38(t) light tank with tactical number 554 seen from a 1 o'clock angle and in close-up. The background seems to be a farmyard with a barn, fence and trees. The commander is visible in his turret hatch. He's wearing what seems to be Soviet tank commander's headgear (I'm no uniform expert). The driver's visor at the left front is open. We see the same metal pennant as in the prior photo of this tank but on the round armour plate covering the empty hull MG mount, the faded red star is almost invisible. In this shot however, we can now see its tactical number, 554, as well as the black tank emblem painted in a white circle marking. Also in this photo, we see a long patch of lighter paint has been applied, possibly to obscure the previous German cross (Balkenkreuz). Photo: Medija centar Odbrana, via the excellent 'Panzerwrecks 19 Yugoslavia' book. Go on, buy it. It's really good!
This miscellaneous German armour remained in service with the Yugoslav Army until it was replaced by Soviet & US armour which arrived in the late 1940s/1950s.
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NB More detail given in the Alt Text for each photo
A black & white photo of a German PzKw 38(t) light tank seen from a 1 o'clock angle. The background is of a flat training ground with a building or two and trees faintly visible on the horizon. The commander is visible in his turret hatch as is the radio operator in his at the tank's left front of the superstructure. Both men are wearing side caps. The driver's visor at the right front is open. A metal pennant to the side of the driver's visor is crudely painted with the Yugoslav flag. On the round armour plate covering the empty hull MG mount, a faded red star is visible. No other markings of this tank - including its tactical number, 554 - can be seen in this photo. With its battered mudguards, the tank has a tired look about it. This vehicle is an Ausf. C, built in 1940 then later refurbished to the standard specified for train escort tanks. So we see the circular armour plate covering the hull MG position , the front Notek light relocated from the mudguard to the hull front and the spare track link storage added to the upper front plate. Photo: Medija centar Odbrana, via the excellent 'Panzerwrecks 19 Yugoslavia' book.
Certainly the tanks in the photos bear the hallmarks of train escort tanks. They are early versions - Ausf. B & C - reconditioned in 1942/43.
The hull MG was removed & replaced with a Fu5 radio transceiver. The position of the front Notek lamp & spare track links is another feature.
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A black & white photo of a German PzKw 38(t) light tank seen from a raised position at a 2 o'clock angle. The tank is parked facing down into a slight dip in the ground. The background is of a flat training ground. The commander's turret hatch & the driver's visor at the tank's right front are open. A metal pennant to the side of the driver's visor is painted with the Yugoslav flag. On the round armour plate covering the empty hull MG mount, a faded red star is visible. On the turret side we can see the tank's tactical number (555) painted in white as well as a black tank painted in a white circle. The tank is very dusty but is otherwise in good condition. This vehicle is an Ausf. B, built in 1940 then later refurbished to the standard specified for train escort tanks. So we see the circular armour plate covering the hull MG position, the front Notek light relocated from the mudguard to the hull front and the spare track link storage added to the upper front plate. This tank has also been fitted with a stowage bin with a curved top at the rear. This housed a pre-heating device for the engine. Photo source is unknown (random internet find), though likely to be from the same series of photos as the others in this thread, held by Medija centar Odbrana.
After WW2, the Yugoslav Army used lots of AFVs left behind by the Nazis. Among them were a handful of venerable PzKw 38(t) tanks.
Interestingly, it seems these small tanks were taken from German armoured trains captured in Yugoslavia. Two such tanks were assigned to each train.
π§΅
#TankTuesday
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Ρ Π· ΡΠΎΠ±ΠΎΡ Π·Π³ΠΎΠ΄Π΅Π½!
Just pulling your leg. Getting distracted like that happens to us all... and it's annoying!
Will look forward to as many photos from your visit as you can post!
PS The tank in my photo isn't Soviet! It's the A1E1 Independent. Shame on you. Tut, tut... π
