We recently received images of a document by the British Department of Tank Design from early 1943 showing the results of tests they performed on a captured German Panzer II. The goal of the tests were to obtain information on the reliability and performance of the German tank, which was captured in Libya. The report notes that the tank had been put through a good bit of use before being captured, with the odometer showing over 7000 miles. Despite the condition of the vehicle, the report notes that “the machine behaved extremely well and little serious mechanical trouble was experienced.” This is an eleven page document, the individual pages can be viewed in the image gallery below.
For those looking for a detailed report on the effectiveness of US 76mm tank guns, check out this new technical report from ARDEC, the U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center. Released in January of 2018, this document is a 58 page PDF and is a rather thorough examination of the topic. 
While the Sherman tank is so closely associated with the Second World War, it’s sometimes overlooked that these vehicles also served the US Army in a very different conflict, the Korean War. This article from the May-June 1953 issue of ARMOR provides an account by a First Lieutenant who recounts how Sherman tank crews in Korea had to acclimate their tactics and vehicles to fighting a static war in mountainous terrain. One thing we found rather interesting in this article was the mention that one of the Easy Eight Sherman tanks was equipped with twin .50 cal machine guns on the roof and one in the hull replacing the .30 cal machine gun. A picture of the vehicle with the twin .50 cal guns is included in the article. If any other photographic evidence of this particular vehicle exists, we would love to see it.
Tank and AFV News 