Feldgrau.net

Problem was - they were still thinking in terms of a 1918-style breakthrough battle after a period of static warfare. The NEW form of armoured warfare hadn't yet made it's real appearance in Poland... Hi Phylo, If Churchill written his 6-point memoranda to in 1941 to Sir Edward Bridges, et al, no d...

Hi David, The 57th RTR at Warminster had all the tanks then available in 1941, but not one of the A10cs. Of the twenty built fourteen had been lost in France, and the other six were briefly deployed in the Western Desert. "By 1931 the General Staff had decided that the work of the Experimental ...

Gerry, by CS are you referring to Churchill CS tanks in your unit...or were older CS types still in service with Churchill-equiped units at that time? Looks like your personal experience starts coming in at the end of the paper time line, would that be right - late '42 onwards? Other than at the br...

Laying smoke was not the primary purpose of a CS tank So what was the howitzer used for then?[/quote] Hi David, Mainly throwing heavy HE ammo. The CS of my regiment the North Irish Horse most times carried 90/10 ratio HE to Smoke. On one occasion, ''Bushmills' (a Mark II CS tank) in her last action...

Hi David, Laying smoke was not the primary purpose of a CS tank. Both the Valentine and Matilda using machine guns for purpose, the former until the 6-pdr guns, with HE capacity came along. The Churchill, in which I served, proved to the most effective - the deployment of CS Marks, mounting either o...

Any news on them post April 1941? Hi David, They saw service with 1st Army in Tunisia and with 8th Army in Italy. The Churchill unit in which I served, the North Irish Horse, supported 1st DLI on several occasions in both theatres. Perhaps the most memorable was the battle for Sedjenane in Tunisia....

Hi Joe, As far as the British Army was concerned, a 'kill' was not credited unless the enemy vehicle was proven to be past repair. Similarly, a British tank was not deemed to have been 'killed'. Here is the 8th Army Tank States, Italy, including those of the North Irish Horse in which I served: http...

The whys and wherefores of Operation Jubilee have been discussed ad infinitum however, whatever the conjecture there was one very positive result - it concerns the performance of the Churchill tank. Despite Hitler, after Dieppe, commenting: "This is the first time the British have had the court...

Hi DK, According to one my 142nd RAC contacts, the battalion was ordered to repaint in less than a month. Regarding the Derbyshire Yeomanry it was possibly/probably much later - during those heady first days the prospect of doing battle in the desert was not too far-fetched. Yes, I did serve with th...

Probably due to the possibility that 1st Army would be fighting in the desert. When 25th Army Tank Brigade's Churchill were shipped to North Africa many gallons of sand/dark brown paint accompanied them. As neither we (i.e. North Irish Horse) and 51st RTR were destined to join 8th Army in the desert...

Hi Lupo,

For a listing of NZ official histories see:
http://library.christchurch.org.nz/Reso ... /index.asp

Cheers, Gerry

Hi,

Can anyone tell me where I could locate the reports of the Commander of sPz.Abt.501, Tunisia 1942/3?

I would be most grateful.

Cheers, Gerry

Sid, the Reconnaissance Corps was formed circa 1943
Rich[/quote]

Just for the record the date was the 14th January 1941.

In the NW European campaign of 44-5 no Churchills equipped with the 6 pdr gun saw service, all later models of the Churchill were armed with a 75mm which had a better HE shell but was a poor A/T gun Sorry, you are incorrect. 34th Armoured Brigade records show that each of its three battalions - 9th...

Having read with great interest the postings under the heading "British Armour" it is necessary to comment on some statements made. Eduardo wrote: "British armour tactics were profoundly affected by the limited performance of their tanks. Neither Churchills, cromwells or Shermans coul...