The website Korean War Educator hosts an impressive number of written memoirs from Korean war veterans. Several of these memoirs are from veterans that served with armored units. These are all well written and worth a read, providing interesting details on Korean War tanks as well as insights into the experiences of the men who served in these vehicles. Some of the entries also have photo galleries. We have listed the tank related entries below with links.
From the Vault: Korean War tanker memoirs
February 26, 2015 by Leave a Comment
From the Vault: The Illustrated London News
February 23, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Here are three interesting pictures from old issues of the Illustrated London News. The first one is interesting in that attempts to combine the best features of US and Soviet tank design. The irony of this picture is that its in a British magazine in 1950, a period when it could could be argued that the UK possessed the best tank (or at least one of the best) in the world in the Centurion. The second picture is from 1944 and shows what the Allies thought German armor looked like at the time. It is interesting that while the Panther drawing looks fairly accurate, the other vehicles are really not close at all. The final picture is from 1943 and show the M3, M4 and Churchill tanks.
Sept. 23, 1950 and is titled: Combining Heavy Fire-Power with Speed and Maneuverability: A Drawing of a Composite Tank Incorporating the Best Features of American and Russian Designs.
From the Vault: “The Big Picture” Armor episodes
February 16, 2015 by Leave a Comment
For those old enough to have grown up during the early days of the Cold War, you may remember a series of films produced by the US Army called “The Big Picture.” These half hour episodes aired on ABC-TV from 1951 to 1964. Fortunately, these films have been digitized and we can watch some of the episodes that centered around tanks and armored forces.
See all six videos below:
From the Vault: Type 95 Ha-Go tested by US troops
February 14, 2015 by Leave a Comment
SNAFU! blog today posted a link to a new youtube video posted by Digital Implosion showing footage of a WWII era Japanese Type 95 Ha-Go light tank being tested by US troops. The first half of the video shows the Ha-Go being tested over various terrain features. The limitations of it’s simple suspension are quite apparent in these videos. Later in the video, various measurements and armor thicknesses are shown. The video ends with footage of a race between the Ha-Go and an M5 Stuart. The Stuart wins by a small margin.
From the Vault: Yank Magazine on Axis Vehicles
February 13, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Lone Sentry.com has a nice photo gallery and transcription of an article from Yank magazine from January 21, 1944. The article is about captured axis tanks and equipment being examined at Aberdeen Proving Grounds.
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At Aberdeen’s Ordnance Research Center, inquisitive experts finds what makes an Axis vehicle tick, and their tests produce facts worth remembering.
By Sgt. MACK MORRISS and Sgt. RALPH STEIN, YANK Staff Correspondents
Aberdeen, Md. — The first thing you learn at the Foreign Material outfit here is never, ever, to call a Nazi tank a “Mark Six” or a “Mark Four.” The correct designation is PzKW VI or PzKW IV. “Mark” is a British way of saying model, whereas PzKW means what it says: Panzer Kampfwagen, or armored battlewagon.
For more than a year captured enemy vehicles have been arriving here from every battle front on earth. The first was a half-track prime mover that came in sections and required three months of trial-and-error tinkering to be completely reconstructed. Missing parts, which were requisitioned from North Africa, never arrived; mechanics in the Base Shop section made their own.
To read the rest of the article, please click here to go to Lone Sentry.com.
From the Vault: Patton defends the M4 Sherman
February 9, 2015 by Leave a Comment
During the drive into Germany in early 1945, the American press broke the story that American tanks, in particular the M4 Sherman, were inferior to those of their German adversary, in particular the Panther and the Tiger. News of the articles travelled to Europe where troops heard them. At a press conference in March of 1945, General Patton was questioned about the quality of US tanks and publicly defended them. Patton also wrote a letter to Lt. Gen, Thomas T. Handy, Deputy Chief of Staff, which was released by the War Department to the American press. In the letter Patton points out that while the Sherman “would not last” in a straight forward slugging match with a German Tiger, “the great mobility of the M-4 usually enables it to circumvent the slow and unwieldy Tigers and not to engage in a slugging match but to attack them from the rear.” [Read more…]
Photo Gallery of former APG vehicles in storage at Anniston Army Depot
February 7, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Over at the AFV News Discussion board regular poster “the_shadock” posted a link to a really fantastic photo album. The album belongs to Flicker user “cmwebbjr” and features the vehicles formerly stored at Aberdeen Proving Grounds that are now in temporary storage at Anniston Army Depot.
Here is the description posted in the Gallery: In late 2012 the United States Army Museum system began moving many vehicles and weapons that had been in outdoor display at the various Army Museums around the country to temporary storage. Anniston Army Depot was one of the depots designated to receive them and consequently a parking lot there is now filled with a huge amount of history. I was able to get a camera authorization and make a photographic record of these vehicles. I understand that these vehicles will be stored here until a museum has a requirement for a particular example for a display at which time the article will be cosmetically restored and sent to them. Some of these vehicles are one of a kind experimental vehicles or captured military equipment from other countries.
From the Vault: Detroit Tank Arsenal
February 6, 2015 by Leave a Comment
We are introducing a new catagory to the menu bar of Tank and AFV News called “From the Vault.” This section will feature videos, pictures and documents that are not “news” yet which we still thing people will find interesting.
We will kick things off with a collection of materials about the Detroit Tank Arsenal. First, here are two wartime videos about the Tank Arsenal.
Tank and AFV News 