The website for the popular “Panzerwrecks” photo books is displaying a message that series publisher William Auerbach passed away suddenly on April 16. Mr. Auerbach was known for authoring many books and articles presenting photographs of WW2 German armor. He was a frequent contributor to the AFV News bulletin during it’s publication run, his first article there appearing in the March 1978 issues. Over the years he worked with several other writers on books about German armor, including Thomas Jentz, Lukas Friedli, and his partner on the Panzerwreck series, Lee Archer. The Panzerwreck series includes 18 volumes published from 2005 to the present, collecting and presenting WW2 era photos of knocked-out German armor.
Spotlight on 3rd Armored Division WW2 history
April 29, 2015 by Leave a Comment
For those interested in the history of the US 3rd Armored Division in World War 2, the website www3ad.com is worth checking out. 3AD.com is the official website for the 3rd Armored Division Association. Of particular note are the following sections:
Soldier’s Memoirs – 50 different soldier memoirs in various formats.
Lafayette Pool – A page dedicated to US tank ace Lafayette Pool, containing his own writings as well as various articles about him.
Feature Articles – An index of almost 60 feature articles about the 3rd Armored Division.
General Maurice Rose – A page of information and resources about 3rd AD commander Gen. Maurice Rose, the highest ranking US officer to be killed by enemy forces during the war.
SU-100 Restoration Video
April 29, 2015 by Leave a Comment
WarGaming has released a youtube video about a group of Russian tank restorers and their efforts to bring an SU-100 back to life. The video is in Russian but English subtitles are available.
Leichttraktor pictures and documents from Swedish Tank Archives blog
April 26, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Ren Hanxue, creator of the Swedish Tank Archives blog, recently posted a PDF of documents and pictures from the Swedish Archives pertaining to the German Leichttraktor. The documents are of course in German so we are not entirely sure what they contain. However, the pictures are very interesting, providing shots of not just the vehicle but also of some of the automotive components and subsystems. The Leichttraktor is a fairly obscure vehicle, being a German post WWI design that never saw mass production. It is most widely known as the tier one German tank in the World of Tanks video game, where it is commonly referred to as the “Loltraktor.”
We highly recommend Swedish Tank Archives. People with an interest in Swedish tanks will find it a valuable resource. The site also contains documents relating to Swedish evaluations of foreign vehicles such as the Chieftain, AMX 13, and T-80U. Ren Hanxue also maintains a youtube page with some videos if Swedish tank terrain trails including Centurion, Strv 104, T-72 and T-80 tanks.
Memorial built near first tank factory
April 25, 2015 by Leave a Comment
The BBC is reporting that a life sized tribute to the world’s first tank has been installed on a traffic roundabout in Lincoln, the city where the first tanks were built. The memorial, which depicts a Mark I tank, was built to coincide with the 100th anniversary of WWI. The Tritton Road roundabout is just yards away from the William Foster and Co factory where tanks, including the first prototype “Little Willie”, were made as early as 1915.
Audio article on German WW1 tank Mephisto
April 25, 2015 by Leave a Comment
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is featuring an hour long audio article on the WW1 German tank Mephisto. The program is part of the show “Conversations with Richard Fidler.” The episode can be listened to here.
Episode description:
The first tanks were invented in a desperate attempt to end the agony of trench warfare. They inspired a new kind of terror on the battlefield – German soldiers called it ‘Panzerschreck’: Tank Terror. Mephisto was deployed against Australian soldiers in France, but the Australians managed to steal the tank from right under the noses of the German army. Although brought to Australia with enormous fanfare, Mephisto lay neglected for decades.
Further listening and information
With special thanks to Major General John Cantwell, Jeff Hopkins-Weise, Stephen Dando-Collins and Dr Michael Westaway. Mephisto is on display at the Workshops Rail Museum, where it will remain until early 2018. The Queensland Museum’s Anzac Legacy Gallery announced as part of the Anzac Centenary commemorations, will eventually provide a permanent home for Mephisto.
Listen to John Cantwell’s 2012 conversation with Richard.
Explore the ABC’s WW1 Centenary site, Australia Remembers.
M60 on display for 15 years started up and moved
April 23, 2015 by 3 Comments
Local News 8 in Idaho is reporting that an M60 tank on static display in a park in St. Anthony was started up and moved under it’s own power in order to receive a paint job.
The longstanding tank at Clyde Keefer park in St. Anthony is no longer there, at least for now. That’s because city officials, along with a few members of the military, drove the tank to the city garage to clean it, sand blast it, and paint it. “I get notices from the army once a year asking if we’re taking good care of our tank,” said Mayor Niels Thueson of St. Anthony. “And I write them back and I say, yea we’re taking good care of your tank, but it needs a paint job. Well they wrote back and said, well paint it.”
Canadian tank ace Radley-Walters passes away
April 22, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Sydney Valpy Radley-Walters passed away on April 21, 2015 at the age of 95. Radley-Walters was best known for having been a Canadian Army tank commander during the Normandy campaign in 1944. As part of the 27th Armoured Regiment of the 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade, he is credited by some sources with 18 tank kills. Most famously, Radley-Walters may have been responsible for the destruction of the Tiger tank commanded by German tank ace Michael Wittman at the Battle of Villers-Bocage. While British tank gunner Joe Ekins is generally credited with destroying Wittman’s Tiger, a line of reasoning has been advanced suggesting that Radley-Walters unit was responsible for defeating Wittman.
Lawsuit over Panzer IV ownership continues
April 22, 2015 by Leave a Comment
The Portola Valley Almanac is reporting that the lawsuit against the Collings Foundation brought by Vulcan Warbirds over ownership of a Panzer IV tank continues. The Panzer IV tank was part of the Jaques Littlefield collection, which was given to the Collings Foundation after Mr. Littlefield passed away in 2009. Last year Collings Foundation auctioned off part of the collection to pay for a building to house the rest of the collection. Vulcan Warbirds, which is headed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, had made a bid during the auction which was rejected for not meeting the reserve price. After the auction ended, Vulcan Warbirds claims to have made an agreement with a representative of the auction house to buy the tank for 2.5 million dollars. Collings foundation says they did not agree to sell the tank after the auction ended nor did they receive the 2.5 million dollars. According to an LA Times article, the tank in question was built in 1944 and used as part of the German effort during World War II. It was eventually bought by Syria in the 1950s. The Israelis captured the Panzer in 1967 during the Six-Day War and used it to train soldiers before retiring it to the Israeli Armor Museum. In 2003 it was purchased by the Military Vehicle Technology Foundation (Littlefield Collection.)
The original auction listing for this Panzer IV can be viewed here.
Virginia Museum of Military Vehicles Video Clips
April 21, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Over at the AFV News Discussion Board, board member “vagabond” recently posted this nice collection of videos from the 2010 Virginia Museum of Military Vehicles Open House. The video clips contain footage of numerous tanks and armored vehicles being run around the track. Vehicle types include a Centurion tank, M3 Lee, M7 Priest, M4 Sherman, Pz 61, T-55 and a British Valentine tank.
View the SmugMug video gallery of the 2010 VMMV Open House here
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