News for all things related to Tanks and Armored Fighting Vehicles
Today’s POTD ties in with the previous post about the 100th anniversary of the first tank trials at Hatfield Park in 1916. This photo comes from the book “Eye Witness” by Ernest Dunlop Swinton. We found the image at this website. For those interested in checking out “Eye Witness” by Swinton, the book is available for viewing online at the Hathi Trust Digital Library site.
The BBC is running a story about a historic exhibition at the Hatfield House in Hertfordshire UK. In early 1916 a Mark I tank was trialled at the grounds of the Hatfield House in front of military personnel, politicians and King George V. These trials are considered the first tank trails in the UK. At the end of WWI, the 4th Marquess, owner of Hatfield House, was presented with a Mark I tank used in the trials. In 1969 the tank was given to the Tank Museum in Bovington. To mark the 100th anniversary of the first tank trials at Hatfield, a replica Mark IV tank owned by Mac and William McCullagh has been loaned the Hatfield estate where it will be on display. The exhibition at Hatfield House will run to 30 September 2016. The replica Mark IV is named “Edwin B14” after a relative of the owners who died at the Battle of Messine Ride in June 1917. In 2014 this replica tank was placed on top of the Vanguard Holdings Ltd building in Greenford to mark the 100 anniversary of the start of WWI.
For more information on the Mark I tank at Bovington, click here.
Jane’s is reporting that the IDF is taking delivery of Urdan Backtrail logistics trailers that can be towed by tanks, APCs, and other heavy AFVs. The trailers have a cargo area measuring 4×2 meters and can carry approximately two tons. According to the article, Urdan says the Backtrail was “developed in response to the critical logistic requirements of the modern battlefield. It enables the continuous provision of supplies – including fuel, water, weapons, etc – to forces fighting in remote and inaccessible locations.” Urdan developed the trailer over a four year period starting in 2008, which included driving Backtrail models around the Golan Heights and southern Israel. The trailer received IDF approval to begin mass production and deliveries in 2014. The article notes that the trailer can be towed by the Merkava tank , the Namer and Achzarit heavy APCs, and the Puma armored engineering vehicle, but is too heavy for the M113 APC
WNEP 16 News (Pennsylvania) is reporting that a WW2 era Stuart light tank has found a new home in Berwick PA, site of the former American Car and Foundry factory.
The Stuart Light Tank, called a Stuie, was among 15,000 Stuie Tanks built from 1940 to 1944 at the former American Car and Foundry factory that once stood inside the industrial park.
The tanks were used in combat during World War II in Europe. Many at the celebration are veterans of the war.
“It’s almost like uniting a family.When you lose somebody in battle and they’re over there, and they finally come home, that’s the closing,” said Donald.
Veteran Joe Messina worked at the factory, testing the tanks.
“I test drove them before they went out,” said Messina. “I test drove them when they came out the gate and then I took them.”
The plan is to eventually have the Stuie Tank placed at the entrance to the industrial park. It will serve as a memorial to the Stuie Tanks, the factory, and the thousands of people who worked there.
There is already a historical marker set at the memorial site, which was put there last September on V-E Day to honor the 9,000 workers.
This video presenting pictures of a tank cemetery near Kiev showed up on Youtube earlier today.
Here is an article from the July-Sept 1958 issues of INFANTRY magazine titled “A New Lift for the Infantryman” by Lt Col Edward H. Simpson. This article is about the T-113 armored personnel carrier, which was the prototype for the famous M113 APC. The article gives a pretty good impression of what the Army was expecting out of their new APC, primarily low weight, low cost and better maneuverability. Interestingly, the author states that the T-113 has been given the unofficial nickname of “The Kangaroo” and refers to it as such several times in the piece. It’s worth pointing out that the M113 never received an official nickname.
If you would like to download the article in PDF format, the entire July-Sept 1958 issue of INFANTRY can be downloaded here (article starting on page 101 of the PDF)
ABC Far North (Australia) has posted an article about an AC1 Sentinel tank that has found a new home at the Australian Armour and Artillery Museum in Cairns. Only 65 Sentinel tanks were produced by Australia during WW2 and only 3 of the AC1 still remain in existence (as well as 2 AC3 models, an AC4 and a few AC1 hulls converted into agricultural tractors.) This particular Sentinel AC1 was owned by the late Jacques Littlefield as part of his large private collection. The video game company Wargaming purchased the Littlefield Sentinel and has donated it to the Australian Armor & Artillery Museum where it will be put on display after some minor renovations. The ABC Far North article quotes Wargaming America’s director of militaria relations Nicholas Moran:
“Australia had never built a proper tank before, so by the time the tank was ready for testing in July 1942 it was a little outdated.”
“By the time the fighting really got going against the Japanese, the Americans and British had started producing tanks of their own in large numbers and to a standard design.
“So it just simply didn’t make sense for Australia to continue to produce their own tank.”
The closest any Sentinel tank ever came to seeing actual military service was in the shooting of the film The Rats of Tobruk.
“If you see The Rats of Tobruk they’ve got German iron crosses on the side of them,” Mr Moran said.
“That was pretty typical of movies in the post-war industry; they didn’t really think the audience cared if a tank looked realistic, as long as it had a German cross on the side.
“In fairness, at least the Sentinel was unusual enough that it wasn’t going to be confused with something the Allies were using.”
For the full ABC article, click here.
Earlier this month Wargaming released a short video about this particular AC1 Sentinel.
For a list of the remaining Sentinel tanks in the world, click here to view a PDF of surviving Canadian and Australian Cruiser tanks hosted by the Surviving Panzers website.
This photo shows a HSTV-L undergoing suspension tests while mounted on Reconfigurable N-Post Simulators (RNPS) at TARDEC Bldg. 215.
We believe this photo comes from the Virginia Museum of Military Vehicles. It shows quite well the difference in size between the British Valentine tank and the M3 Grant.
According to Sputnik news.com, the Russian tank building plant Uralvagonzavod will be opening up part of their facility for military tourism. Uralvagonzavod, located at Nizhny Tagil in the Ural Mountains, is the builder of the T-90 MBT and the new Armata T-14. According to the Sputnik new.com article:
The tour will also include a visit to the Museum of Armored Vehicles, which features more than a thousand exhibits, from the T-34 to the T-90, as well as samples of armor, shells, and other individual components of the plant’s production, plus rare books, other literature and paintings. Visitors, the press release says, will be able to get a look at some of the vehicles on display both inside and out.
The final stage of the tour will feature a demonstration of the T-90 main battle tank on the move, along with a master class from the vehicle’s commander. Moreover, program organizers promise a working lunch in the plant’s workers’ canteen, plus a soldier’s lunch of porridge out in the field.
The ‘Voyentur’ (‘Military Tour’) program is scheduled to begin operations later this year, the company promises.
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