News for all things related to Tanks and Armored Fighting Vehicles
Swedish media are reporting that a Pansarterrängbil 360 APC (also known as the Patria) was hit by a passenger train. This accident happened during the Aurora 17 military exercise near Trosa, south of Stockholm. Media reports indicate that three people in the military vehicle were injured, while one train passenger suffered minor injuries. Photos below.
We are back from our weekend at the big tank show in Nokesville VA. One of our favorite items on display was this M4A1 Sherman tank. According to the event organizers, this is the oldest Sherman tank in the world in running condition (the oldest in any condition is “Michael“, which is housed at Bovington.) Note that this tank has the direct vision slits of the earliest model M4A1 tanks. This tank was run on both days of the event, taking place in a re-enactment of a Marine assault on a fixed position. We have to admit that we intentially stood behind this vehicle while it was being started just so we could be envelped by Sherman tank exhaust.
Tomorrow I am heading out to Nokesville VA to attend the Americans in Wartime 2017 Openhouse put on by the NMAW and VMMV. I plan to be there for both days, Saturday the 23rd and Sunday the 24th. For those that are attending and want to say hi, look for the guy wearing a blue baseball cap that says “LST 393 Muskegon MI.” I will most likely also be lugging around a video camera, tripod and microphone. Assuming I get some good footage, I am aiming create the first original video by Tank and AFV News.com. I’ll be checking email throughout the day, so feel free to contact me at the event at tanksonthebrain@gmail.com
Russian news sources RT and Sputnik International have published articles describing a rail accident in Poland that has left several US armored vehicles damaged. The articles describe ten “tanks” as damaged, although the photos of the incident show Bradley IFVs. Apparently they hit a metal awning that overhangs the tracks at the station near the city of Torun while being transported from Gdansk to a military range in Zagan. These vehicles were being transported as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve, a NATO exercise intended to boost the Alliances presence in Eastern Europe. Below are some photos of the accident.
Osprey Publishing has released a new entry in their Duel series,Pershing vs Tiger: Germany 1945 (Duel)
Publisher’s Description:
During the final battles on World War II’s Western Front, the legendary German Tiger I heavy tank clashed with the brand-new M26 Pershing fielded by the United States. The Tiger I had earned a formidable reputation by the end of 1944, although its non-sloped armour and poor mobility meant it was being superseded by the Tiger II or ‘King Tiger’. While the Tiger I had been in the front lines since 1942, the US Pershing first entered combat in late February 1945, and more than 20 Pershings would see action before war’s end.
This book examines the dramatic Tiger/Pershing duel at Elsdorf in Germany, and also assesses the clashes between German armour and the sole ‘Super Pershing’ deployed to Europe. Featuring full-colour artwork, carefully chosen photographs and specially commissioned maps, this is the story of the first US heavy tanks in combat with the fearsome Tiger I during the last months of World War II in Europe.
Over at the World of Tanks website, North American researcher Nicholas “The Chieftain” Moran has posted a new article based on some of his archive digging. Beware, this one features mathmatical formulas.
Article excerpt:
There is an important distinction to be made between data, analysis and information. In the military, it is particularly the case when referring to intelligence. Information coming into the intel office is data. Information being put out by the intel office is intelligence.
This sort of distinction can be applied to anything from operational estimates to mechanical design. In this case, a paper from the Aberdeen Proving Grounds’ Ballistics Research Lab in December 1951 used mathematical principles in order to assess the situations and likelihoods involved in a tank meeting an AP shell. BLUF: If you don’t like maths, just scroll down to the charts starting about half-way down.
The paper was called “The Range and Angular Distribution of AP Hits on Tanks.” Exciting, I know.
It said….
Dubno 1941: The Greatest Tank Battle of the Second World War
By Aleksei Isaev
Helion & Company
Before we get into the content of the book, let’s start with a description of the book itself. This is a 244 page hardcover volume. The book is surprisingly heavy due to the dense, high quality paper used. The paper texture is very smooth to the touch and provides good photo reproduction quality for the several image galleries found in the book. The galleries consist primarily of images of tanks and also pictures of some of the commanders who play a part in the battle. The book uses footnotes rather than endnotes and contains a rather useful series of appendices, a bibliography and an index.
This book was originally written in Russian and translated into English by Kevin Bridge. The translation reads fairly well, although every so often a sentence will come off a bit clunky. Whether this is due to the original text or to the translation is hard to say. One translation error that jumped out at us was the mention of Western researcher “Thomas Yentz.” Those well read on German armor will of course recognize this person as Thomas Jentz. The publisher provides a disclaimer at the start of the book noting that the translation has kept partisan statements such as “our tanks” and “our aircraft” in the text. This is a Russian book written by a Russian author and as such, it focuses much more on the Russian perspective of the battle than the German.
The text of the book is relatively straight forward, starting with a description of forces on both sides of the battle forces at the onset of Operation Barbarossa. The chain of events from the launch of the German invasion on June 22 up to the Dubno battle a week later are explained with a good deal of detail. A few maps are provided in the text, although readers may want to get a more detailed map of their own to prevent getting lost in the various details of unit movements and dispositions. For those looking for individual accounts of combat or Steven Ambrose style history, this book will be quite dry and unrewarding. For those looking for a detailed operational level description of events with analysis, this book should prove enjoyable.
The book ends with a conclusion offering an overview of the events and some analysis explaining why things turned out the way they did. Isaev provides several reasons for why the Soviets lost this battle, primarily lack of experience and training, poor communication and poor unit organization compared to their German adversary. One other factor that seems to crop up continuously in the description of the fighting is a lack of proper artillery support for Soviet armored units due to a lack of suitable prime movers.
Throughout the text the author regularly emphasizes certain points that he sees as important for having been misinterpreted or left out of Soviet era histories. However, since most Western readers will not be familiar with these older histories, these points by the author may seem a bit confusing. One thing not addressed in great detail in this book is the issue of why this battle, as large as it was, is so little known. For the answer to that question, one needs to take a dive into the world of post war Soviet historiography. And while this book avoids that topic, the next book in our review pile fearlessly plunges into it. (The Battle of Kursk: Controversial and Neglected Aspects by Valeriy Zamulin
For those interested in learning more about this battle, we would easily give this book a recommendation, provided people understand this is a pretty information dense book. Those looking for some light reading should go elsewhere. This volume is one of several Russian language WWII histories that Helion & Company have brought over to the English reading public. We commend them for doing so and hope the keep it up.
