Picture of the day

DOUGLAS D said:
What would be the best spot to hit a Stug? It seems that the sloped armor on the front of the hull would be the strong point?
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As with most all armoured vehicles (especially in that era), the thinnest armour tends to be on the roof and in the rear. As for shooting at the front, that's usually the target you're presented with.
 
fat tony said:
Yes. The 152mm HE were said to be able to brute force German tanks out of action even though they were not anti tank rounds. Definitely looked like the fuze set it off really fast rather than penetrating then going off. An authority once told me a 155mm artillery shell is or was unable to knock out an average Western tank if it hit the tank. Such info is hard to come by and an authorized person probably would have access to such intel rather than a squaddie.

But, we know 152 mm rounds had catastrophic effects on WWII Axis tanks so some other factor is at play, whatever that is in this person's opinion.

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The caption claimed this was a Panther tank turret hit with a 152mm shell. Don't know if it was in combat or a test, HE or AP. The ISU 152 was only a tank destroyer by accident. It was an assault gun mainly. I had heard the ISU was most successful when about three of them set up an ambush for the Axis tanks, or maybe firing from a place where they could appear, shoot, & quickly retire behind cover. They would have been formidable in an urban area where there were no range advantages.
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Did the "authority" say just what defines "knocked out".........a mobility kill? crew injured to the point of being evacd? gunnery optics smashed all to sh!t? vehicle automotive no longer driveable? catastrophic secondary explosion ? I think taking a 155mm round would certainly take the fight out of the tank...........or the tank out of the fight.
 
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fat tony said:
Yikes! Whatever hit the hull - maybe a 17#er? caused it to brew up to the extent it blew the mantlet plate to hell and back. You can clearly see where it was bent then torn completely off under tremendous force. It also looks like at least four hull rivets on the right became projectiles, ironically heading in the direction of the opfor.
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When I saw this picture I assumed there were 2 hits, not quite head on, and the hits gouged elongated holes.
 
XRCD011 said:
Did the "authority" say just what defines "knocked out".........a mobility kill? crew injured to the point of being evacd? gunnery optics smashed all to sh!t? vehicle automotive no longer driveable? catastrophic secondary explosion ? I think taking a 155mm round would certainly take the fight out of the tank...........or the tank out of the fight.
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This was ages ago, before WOT or the internet, they did not elaborate. TBH the only modernish era information I saw about this sort of thing was an old Swedish gov't film of the testing done on the S-Tank. Among other things it was shot at close range with a 105 round from an L7 gun in a field carriage and bore sighted by the looks of the film. I am not sure if it was heat or ap. I think it might have been ap. of course it was a glancing hit off the front glacis plate - it took out all the strakes on the top of the hull and kept going downrange but no, I have never seen the classified film I am assuming that the Lt. mentioned. Maybe he was going by what he read in an intel. report. Who knows?

This related thread on another forum seems to delve deeply into the deceptively simple question and give a very long answer.

https://www.defencetalk.com/military/forums/t/effectiveness-of-artillery-and-sph-vs-tanks.12659/
 
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XRCD011 said:
Did the "authority" say just what defines "knocked out".........a mobility kill? crew injured to the point of being evacd? gunnery optics smashed all to sh!t? vehicle automotive no longer driveable? catastrophic secondary explosion ? I think taking a 155mm round would certainly take the fight out of the tank...........or the tank out of the fight.
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Get enough explosive to the scene and it doesn't matter what got it there. :)

Grizz
 
"soldiers in a cafe in Antwerp" September 1944

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The results of the RAF bombardment of Walcheren Island. "You want flooding, have we got a deal for you!"

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The Germans brought this tragedy on the civilians of Walcheren Island. Very sad.In the scale of war tragedies, small, but the aftermath had to be dealt with for some time, just like the reconstruction of Arnhem & Oosterbeeke, and a long list of other places.
 
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That tragedy was shared by the Canadian soldiers driving the Germans out of the Scheldt Estuary.

For sheer misery it rivaled the fighting in Italy.
 
Sharps '74 said:
That tragedy was shared by the Canadian soldiers driving the Germans out of the Scheldt Estuary.

For sheer misery it rivaled the fighting in Italy.
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Very true plucked from one type of hell, taken to another. The flooding strategy was devised by Guy Simonds & approved by Eisenhauer. The Belgian civilians in the cafe pic seem very happy, not least of which the cute Flammande sporting a carnation in her hairdo. One can imagine the boy has offered to carry a hand written note from the young soldier to the Flammande. :)
 
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During the period the RCR were in the Netherlands my father recalled - and told me - that to a man the unit voluntarily agreed to reduced rations of 1200 cal/day.... the cooks handed the balance of the ration allotment over to Dutch civilians. My father was very proud of the troops compassion and their generosity — as a kid I didnt understand what this was all about ... he explained the conditions and deprivation that the Dutch were facing.
 
Sorry for the abrupt change in topic, but this struck me as interesting.

Boy Scouts played a significant role in the British war machine of WW1. They functioned as scouts (naturally), dispatch riders, and field ambulance. And they did it on bicycles.

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The War Office 1906 pattern Miniature Rifle was not a great seller, but there were a few.

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It'd be fun to have one. Have any of you seen such a thing in the flesh?

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I've seen one with cut forend and stock sanded,dark stained and laquered.All metal had nice brown patina and rifle looked like it hasn't been shot in ages.
 
Interesting clean bolt design. I have had a few over the decades. Notice the top sporter stock rifle has the sight protector installed backwards.
Probably done when rifle was restored with checkering. Front sight had a folding over protector. The target vernier add on is rather a waisted investment. Usually rifles found with terrible bores = bad target shooting. My last one made by BSA Co. Can't recall for sure but I betcha
LSA Co. made them too. This rifle was made concurrently with the infamous BSA .22 Martinis and of course the Martinis won out for target
accuracy . Canada bought a whack of .22 Martinis and I have seen CC butt marked discs from '22 to '29. Canada did not buy any War Office
Miniature rifles. So in GB the War Office rifle tanked near the times of the Ross .22 M1912 which also tanked. JOHN
 
AP said:
During the period the RCR were in the Netherlands my father recalled - and told me - that to a man the unit voluntarily agreed to reduced rations of 1200 cal/day.... the cooks handed the balance of the ration allotment over to Dutch civilians. My father was very proud of the troops compassion and their generosity — as a kid I didnt understand what this was all about ... he explained the conditions and deprivation that the Dutch were facing.
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Belgium did not suffer through The Hunger Winter. I doubt if it was a rose garden though. There is not a great deal written in English on the occupation history of Belgium. Just the standard stuff like The Battle of the Bulge. Sort of glossed over really.
 
there was also two different models. single and double extractor. BSA and London Small arms manufactured them, I have both. they are very nice to shoot, very similar to the DSM-34.
 
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