Picture of the day

grelmar said:
Bingo...

Carius had the nickname "Kubel-killer" due to adventures of this nature (although in this instance, the Kubel appears to have survived). He was a very pro-active commander, and would abscond with dispatch drivers' Kubels to do personal reconnaissance ahead of their lines. This led to a lot of close calls and numerous wrecked Kubels.

It's a shame he was fighting for the wrong team. By all accounts, he was an honourable fellow, deeply concerned for the welfare of the men who served under him. A "lead from the front" commander who would take extraordinary personal risks to get a better understanding of the battlespace. His disdain for politics is likely a key reason why he rose through the command chain as slowly as he did. His performance in the field was absolutely impressive.
Click to expand...

"Tigers In The Mud" is a good read for those with an interest and haven't heard of it.
 
grelmar said:
Bingo...

Carius had the nickname "Kubel-killer" due to adventures of this nature (although in this instance, the Kubel appears to have survived). He was a very pro-active commander, and would abscond with dispatch drivers' Kubels to do personal reconnaissance ahead of their lines. This led to a lot of close calls and numerous wrecked Kubels.

It's a shame he was fighting for the wrong team. By all accounts, he was an honourable fellow, deeply concerned for the welfare of the men who served under him. A "lead from the front" commander who would take extraordinary personal risks to get a better understanding of the battlespace. His disdain for politics is likely a key reason why he rose through the command chain as slowly as he did. His performance in the field was absolutely impressive.
Click to expand...

All German officers then started as privates in their respective combat arm and earned their leadership, most were very good "welfare of the troops" types and excellent leaders from the get go.
 
LA cowboy said:
Point 303 inch from top of rifling not from bottom of grooves. Funny enough it calculates out to be 7.92 mm..... same as the German 8mm....
but I digress.
Click to expand...

Which, oddly, is an exact match for 7.62x54R, which has a groove diameter of 7.92mm.

Both .303 British and 54R fire .311" projectiles (7.92mm), of roughly the same length and weight (the standards for both cartridges in these areas have varied over the years). If you reload, and run short of .303 projectiles, you can safely pull the bullets from 54R surplus rounds (quite often more cheaply than buying NIB .303 projectiles) for plinking and target practice.

It goes back to the birth of the smokeless cartridge, and different countries stepping all over each others patents and acquiring each others tooling by occasionally dubious means. The changeover to high velocity smokeless cartridges at the end of the 1800's was revolutionary, and happened worldwide at a staggering speed, given the limits of communication and shipping etc. at the time.

purple said:
Carious was an impressive fellow and "Tigers in the Mud" is worth a read. He died 2 years ago at age 92. His post-war career was running a pharmacy which he called "Tiger Apotheke".
Click to expand...

It was an interesting read. Some of the details really drove home what the tankers went through in WWII. I distinctly remember an anecdote about one of Carius's crew getting an impromptu haircut - he'd dozed off with his head leaning against the side of the turret, and woke to find that his sweat had frozen his hair to the metal, and he had to be cut loose.
 
The Kar 98 has a bore diameter of 7.9mm (0.311”) and a grove diameter of 8.2mm (0.3228” or 0.323”).

With wear and factory tolerances your bore measurements may differ.
 
Back to pictures...

No context other than "bombers over Normandy." As horrible as it is, war can be breathtakingly beautiful (but only under the right lighting conditions, from a specific angle, and devoid of the larger context)...

View attachment 89709
 
fraserdw said:
All German officers then started as privates in their respective combat arm and earned their leadership, most were very good "welfare of the troops" types and excellent leaders from the get go.
Click to expand...

The Canadian Army did that as well - shortly after the 1st Cdn Brigade returned from France in 1940 they created 'OCTU' ... the picture and text are self explanatory.A Star Weekly Jan 4 1941161.jpg the 'Cadet' on the right had joined as a private in '32 and landed at Brest as a 'PSM' ... he would continue and end the war in 'Occupation' as the only officer of his Regiment that served in every action they participated in from Sicily on. Selection 'by the ranks' - 'from the ranks' is just not too well known in Canada which is a great shame. I have numerous subsequent OCTU course photo's that I must distribute so that folks can see the many other Canadian 'Officers' who were selected by their peers and subordinates in this fashion...
 

Attachments

  • A Star Weekly Jan 4 1941161.jpg
    A Star Weekly Jan 4 1941161.jpg
    26.3 KB · Views: 463
Officer requirements, selection and promotion are quite different in a wartime army vs a peacetime army. In wartime officer attrition/casualties are the heaviest among platoon and company commanders and there is a very high turnover rate among junior officers. It makes a lot of sense to fill these needs with people from the ranks who have demonstrated their leadership capabilities.
 
grelmar said:
Back to pictures...

No context other than "bombers over Normandy." As horrible as it is, war can be breathtakingly beautiful (but only under the right lighting conditions, from a specific angle, and devoid of the larger context)...

View attachment 89709
Click to expand...
I dont need color or a focused lens to see that this is absolutely beautiful. Somebody also thought so and was inspired to pull out the camera. My brain can fill in the gaps.
 
purple said:
The other dimension to using enemy equipment is that there is no logistics support for it in terms of ammo, parts and maintenance so it will inevitably run dry or stop working.
Click to expand...

But if you are on the front line you can always find more ammo or replacement arms. Especially if you are in a bit of a stalemate situation. The Finns during the winter war captured tens of thousands of arms from the Russians. They particularly like the DP machine guns, and sub guns. The Germans all over on the Eastern front as well. I have even read in I believe Herbert McBride's book that they would take (in WW1) captured German MGs and used them to add to their compliment of firepower.
 
Cdn303 said:
But if you are on the front line you can always find more ammo or replacement arms. Especially if you are in a bit of a stalemate situation. The Finns during the winter war captured tens of thousands of arms from the Russians. They particularly like the DP machine guns, and sub guns. The Germans all over on the Eastern front as well. I have even read in I believe Herbert McBride's book that they would take (in WW1) captured German MGs and used them to add to their compliment of firepower.
Click to expand...


Not quite the same but I was always intrigued by a Cdn Infantry officer, who served in France and Holland, explaining how desirable they found the US BAR and would 'adopt' them whenever they came across one without an 'owner'.
 
tumblr_omrn7vkhxs1ujyzsuo1_1280.jpg


USS Chenango (CVE-28) loading P-40 aircraft onboard, October 1942
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom