Russo-Ukrainian War: The FV103 Spartan

Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

     Photographed around August 2024, a FV103 Spartan belonging to the 82nd. Air Assault Brigade traverses a muddy field. The FV103 is an armored personnel carrier (APC) and was part of the Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked) family of vehicles. The CVR(T) program was developed by the British company Alvis PLC and spawned a number of vehicles based around a common chassis of which the FV103 was one. The FV103 Spartan first entered British Army service in 1978 and was used as a armored transport for specialist combat teams (artillery spotter teams, anti-aircraft missile teams, etc.) which is why the passenger capacity is limited to 4 personnel, not including the 3 man crew of commander, driver, and gunner. As part of the British military aid to Ukraine, decommissioned FV103 vehicles were provided to Ukraine in 2022 while crowdfunding by Ukrainian charities have also seen the procurement of additional FV103 Spartans between 2022 and 2023.

     The 9-ton FV103 was originally fitted with a Jaguar J60 4.2 litre, DOHC (Dual Overhead Cam), 6-cylinder, inline petrol engine but later, a Cummins BTA 5.9 litre diesel motor was installed. Assuming this is the primary engine used in Ukrainian FV103 APCs, the Cummins develops 190 to 195 horsepower. This is paired to a TN15X transmission made by the British company Self-Changing Gears. On roads, the FV103 can attain a top speed of 50 miles per hour and with 112 gallons of diesel fuel carried onboard, the FV103 has a maximum operational range of 300 miles.

     The FV103 is protected with welded, aluminum alloy armor plating. From the front, the steep slope of the FV103 provides the equivalent of 60mm thick protection and this is enough to shrug off rounds of up to (and including) 14.5mm heavy machinegun ammunition. However, the rest of the FV103 is not as heavily armored nor has the slope angle to bolster defense. As such, the remainder of the FV103 is only proof against 7.62mm assault rifle ammunition at a maximum. It should be noted that as the engine is placed in the right front of the hull, this offers another layer of protection that might increase crew survival. The only other defensive system are two banks of smoke dischargers, each bank with  4 launch tubes, on the front of the FV103's hull.

     Defensive armament consists of a single mount for a general purpose machinegun up to 7.62mm in caliber. In British service, this would have been a L43A1 FN MAG with 3,000 rounds of ammunition. The mount is attached to a No.16 cupola which allows for the weapon to be aimed and fired from within the FV103. The FV103 does not have gun ports for the personnel in the troop compartment to deploy their weapons.

     It is likely that FV103 vehicles sent to Ukraine were demilitarized, especially those purchased from private dealers authorized to sell ex-British Army vehicles. The FV103 was retired from British Army service in 1985. The commander has a total of 8 periscopes and a single monocular sight that offers up to 10x magnification. The gunner has two periscopes while each passenger in the troop compartment has a periscope and there is one in the rear door. Systems likely removed from the FV103 upon sale to the civilian market include the ZB 298 battlefield surveillance radar (if fitted), the Rank Precision Industries built passive night sight, and military radio sets.

     What the FV103 in the photograph is towing cannot be determined with certainty. The basis looks to be a single-axle dolly used for cargo box trailers but what is upon the dolly is not clear.

     To date, the Ukrainian military has lost 35 FV103 vehicles with 28 of them be destroyed, 3 damaged, 2 abandoned, and the final 2 vehicles having been captured by Russian forces.

Brewster Buffalo Mk. I, No. 453 Squadron RAAF

Source: SDASM Archives

     The Brewster Buffalo's history which started in 1937 when the prototype first flew to when the last Buffalo in Finnish service was stood down in 1948 is filled with praise as well as criticism. The Brewster XF2A-1 prototype first flew on December 2, 1937 and on December 8, 1939, VF-3 operating on the USS Saratoga received 10 F2A-1 fighters and in so doing, became the U.S. Navy's first monoplane fighter to enter service. The F2A-1 and later F2A-2 models were generally liked by naval aviators who while not finding the plane fast, liked its turn and roll ability thanks to its low wing loading. However, it was soon becoming clear the F2A's brief time in service was coming to an end as the design was eclipsed. This was even more clear when the F2A-3 model appeared which had additional fuel tankage, armor for the pilot, and larger ammunition capacity for the four 12.7mm M2 Browning machine-guns. This added weight ruined the handling characteristics of the previous models and reduced the speed and climb rate. The inability of the F2A airframe to take a larger engine made it impossible to compensate for the added weight. By December 1940, the F2A made way for the Grumman F4F Wildcat and numerous F2A aircraft were handed over to U.S. Marine Corps to equip several squadrons, the most notable being VMF-221 (the “Fighting Falcons”) who flew the F2A-3 during the Battle of Midway. Other U.S. Navy F2A aircraft were relegated to training units.

     The British got involved with the Brewster Buffalo when a batch of 32 Brewster B-339 (the export designation for de-navalized F2A-2) aircraft that had been allocated to ship to Belgium instead were diverted to England following the fall of Belgium to the Germans. The British found the B-339 wanting. Evaluation reports listed poor speed, weak armament, inferior high altitude performance, lack of pilot protection, engine faults, maintenance difficulty, and poor cockpit controls layout as flaws. At the same time, the reports praised the handling, cockpit size, and the visibility afforded the pilot. Nevertheless, the B-339 was deemed unfit for combat in the Western Theater but the desperate need for any combat capable aircraft to outfit British and British Commonwealth squadrons in the Pacific and Asian Theaters saw the British order 170 Brewster B-339E aircraft as the Brewster Buffalo Mk.I. These  aircraft were modified by adding armor, installing the British Mk.III reflector gun sight, adding a gun camera, and many other modifications. The result, much like the issues with the F2A-3, saw performance suffer from the added weight. Buffalo Mk.I planes were issued to two Royal Air Force (RAF) and two Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) squadrons along with one Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) squadron. The photograph depicts one of these Buffalo Mk.I planes.

     Buffalo Mk.I W8202 was issued to No. 453 Squadron RAAF which was raised on May 23, 1941 and deployed to Singapore in August of that same year where it operated from RAF Sembawang. Once the crated aircraft were reassembled, issues soon arose. The addition of the armor plating disturbed the center of gravity which affected handling, especially in dives. The heat in the area of operations limited the Buffalo's ceiling and was a cause of oil seal failure in the engine which had the consequence of spraying oil across the canopy, blocking the pilot's view. Another constant headache was the inability of the M2 Browning weapons to fire due to issues with the solenoid firing mechanism. In some cases, the wing mounted guns were replaced with Browning .303 Mk. II weapons in order to at least attain some reliability. In service, some of the additions to the Buffalo were removed, to include the armor, bullet resistant canopy glass, gun camera, and anything else deemed unnecessary so as to lighten the aircraft. In addition, it was not uncommon for sorties to be conducted on half the petrol to further reduce the fighting weight. The problems were compounded by poor construction of the Buffaloes, lack of spare parts, and poorly trained maintenance personnel. Despite the many problems, some of the pilots appreciated the robustness of the Buffalo and its ability to withstand damage. 

     Returning to W8202, it was assigned to Pilot Officer F. Leigh “Curly” Bowes of A Flight, No. 453 Squadron. On August 27, 1941, Bowes took his Buffalo up on a flight for the first time. Unfortunately, upon returning to RAF Sembawang, he forgot to lower the landing gear and made a belly landing. Thankfully, W8202 wasn't severely damaged and it was sent to RAF Seletar in Singapore to be repaired and returned to service. Bowes suffered no injuries outside of, perhaps, a bruised ego. The Buffalo was able to compare favorably to the Nakajima Ki-27 fighter (codenamed “Nate”) but soon, the Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa (“Peregrine Falcon”; codenamed “Oscar”) appeared which outclassed the Buffalo. No. 453 Squadron drew its first blood on December 13, 1941 in the skies over Malaya when it tangled with Kawasaki Ki-48 light bombers (codenamed “Lily”) from the 75th. Sentai and Mitsubishi Ki-51 dive bombers (codenamed “Sonia”) from the 71st. Chutai along with escorting Ki-27 fighters. In the melee, two Ki-48s, one Ki-27, and three Ki-51s were downed with one Ki-48 being probable but at the cost of two Buffalo pilots. The unit had its largest aerial battle on December 22, 1941 when fourteen Buffaloes tangled with eighteen Ki-43 fighters from the 64th. Sentai. The Buffaloes claimed one Ki-43 confirmed and two Ki-43s as probable but at a loss of five Buffaloes with three pilots being killed. By now, the unit only had three functional Buffaloes and so the squadron was merged with No. 21 Squadron RAAF which was equally as depleted in terms of aircraft. No.21 Squadron RAAF had been formed on April 21, 1936 and had been deployed to Singapore in August 1940. Originally operating from RAF Seletar, it moved to RAF Sembawang where it fought alongside No. 453 Squadron. With the new unit, 21RAAF/453 Squadron, W8202 was now the mount of Sgt. Grant T. Harrison. Harrison was with No. 21 Squadron RAAF from the start. The end for W8202 came on January 12, 1942. 21RAAF/453 Squadron has been scrambled to strike Kuantan but thick cloud cover over the target area forced the unit to return. On the return flight, in heavy turbulence, a Buffalo flown by Flight Officer R.H. “Dainty” Wallace collided with Harrison flying W8202, shearing off the canopy and bending the propeller. With no power, Harrison was able to glide into a crash landing among trees near the Mersing River. Uninjured, Harrison made for the coast and after six days, was found by an Australian Army patrol. W8202 was never recovered.

     Harrison would not score any kills while flying the Buffalo though Bowes was credited with a probable kill of a Ki-48 on January 15, 1942. As for W8202, the wreck was discovered in 1962 and was in a relatively good state with each gun still loaded with 400 rounds of ammunition, the hydraulic system still had pressure, and the pilot oxygen bottle was still full. No. 390 Maintenance Unit of the RAF that was based at RAF Seletar, went to the wreck and removed the guns and ammunition. To this day, the wreck remains where it had crashed and the exact location has been kept secret to prevent the wreck from being looted. Other users of the Buffalo included the Netherlands and as already noted, the Finnish. It was in the hands of the Finnish that the Brewster really shined. Nicknamed, among others, the “Lentävä Kaljapullo” (“Flying Beer Bottle”), Finnish pilots flying the B-239E (the export designation of the de-navalised F2A-1) racked up impressive scores against all types of Soviet aircraft. One unit, Lentolaivue 24, shot down 477 Soviet aircraft between 1941 and 1945 while only losing 19 B-239E aircraft, a kill ratio of 26 to 1. This was even in the face of improved Soviet fighters and more experienced pilots. The last B-239E fighters, five in all, were stood down on September 14, 1948 and put into storage. Sadly, all five were scrapped in 1953.

Russo-Ukrainian War: The FV101 Scorpion

Source: Reddit

     Usually, the rank and file consumer of news about military aid to Ukraine only knows of the aid packages sent by the U.S. and other NATO nations. However, this is not the only source of military equipment that is being deployed by Ukrainian ground forces. There are a number of non-profit organizations which utilize crowdfunding to collect monies with which to make purchases of surplus equipment, including vehicles. The largest of these is the Serhiy Prytula Foundation whose funding drive efforts allowed for the purchase of 101 former British Army armored vehicles in 2023. Likewise, since demilitarized British Army vehicles (to include armored ones) are available on the open market, other organizations or even groups of individuals can obtain such vehicles. One of these is shown here in this photograph, belonging to the 1st. Operational Battalion “Forpost”, 1st. Presidential Operational Brigade “Bureviy”. The vehicle is the FV101 Scorpion. Entering British service in 1973, the FV101 is just one of a number of vehicles within the Alvis Vehicles designed and built Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked), CVR(T), family. The FV101 was classified as a light tank and also served as a reconnaissance vehicle and while it was withdrawn from British Army service in 1994, the FV101 remains in service with a number of countries. The largest current operator is Oman, with some 120 in service.

     Power for the 8-ton FV101 comes from a Cummins BTA series diesel engine that develops 190 horsepower and this is paired to a TN15 transmission manufactured by Self-Changing Gears Limited. The TN15 has a 7-speed gearbox, a Merritt-Brown triple-differential, and a electro-hydraulic, semi-automatic control system. This provides for a top road speed of 45 miles per hour and enough fuel is carried to give a maximum cruise range of 470 miles.

     For a main gun, the FV101 was normally fitted with either a 76mm L23A1 gun or the 90mm Cockerill Mk.3 gun along with a L43A1 7.62mm coaxial machine-gun. However, since this FV101 was demilitarized, the main gun and coaxial machine-gun were not present. So, the men of the 1st. Operational Battalion installed a 14.5mm KPVT heavy machine-gun. The KPV, designed in 1944 and entering Soviet service in 1949, continues to see combat and is the primary armament of vehicles such as the BTR-70 and BTR-80 8x8 armored personnel carriers and the BRDM-2 4x4 armored scout car. The KPVT is a variant of the KPV meant for installation in vehicles. With a rate of fire of 600 rounds per minute, the KPVT is fed from 40-round belts. Two of the main rounds are the B-32 API (Armor-Piercing Incendiary) and MDZ HEI (High-Explosive Incendiary). The B-32 uses a full metal jacket with a tungsten-carbide core which is capable of penetrating 32mm of rolled homogeneous armor at a 90 degree slope (RHA) at a range of 500 meters. At further ranges, the penetration value is reduced until it is ineffective against even the lightest armored vehicles. The MDZ round has an effective range of 1.8 miles with a maximum range of 2.5 miles. Assuming the original gun mounting remained, this would allow the KPVT to be elevated to a maximum of 35 degrees and a maximum of 10 degrees of depression. The turret can be traversed a full 360 degrees but as standard, it is not powered. This means the gunner uses a crank to turn the turret.

     The three man crew (commander, driver, and gunner) is protected by 7059 aluminum-zinc-magnesium alloy armor. The front hull supports 13mm of armor but due to the slope, the effective armor is 25mm thick. The sides and turret also support 13mm of armor but lack the sloping to increase the protection. Thus, from the front, the FV101 is resistant to some 14.5mm ammunition at 200 meters while the remainder of the FV101 can protect against shell fragments and some 7.62mm rounds. The standard FV101 was NBC (Nuclear Biological Chemical) protected but this was likely removed as part of the demilitarization along with the smoke grenade launchers. Likewise, the standard thermal night sights, communication systems, and navigational systems were also certainly removed as well. However, the commode underneath the commander's seat and the boiling vessel (with its internal water tank) were probably left installed.

     In addition to the KPVT, the crew has added at least three drone jammers to the turret. The white smudge on the hull side looks to be a censor, masking some sort of emblem, tactical symbol, or other identifiable insignia. Another photograph of this same FV101 shows the crew posing with their vehicle but they, too, are blocking the view of the hull side.

     As a side note, the group Armored Turtle: International Volunteers has been attempting to crowd fund for a FV101 Scorpion that is for sale in Britain which is not demilitarized as of March 2023. It has the L23A1 gun and the gun sights but it appears that the group has not been successful in obtaining it. Of course, one has to consider how available ammunition would be for it. Also, even the British Army did not like the gun as it lacked a fume extractor and so the turret tended to fill with fumes from firing.

British Mk. IV Tank No.2648 "Lyric": War Memorial Donation

     The British deployed tanks into battle for the first time during the Battle of Flers–Courcelette which was fought from September 15, 1916 through September 22, 1916. The fledgling Tank Corps was equipped with 50 Mark I tanks. Unfortunately, the Mark I was mechanically unreliable and their crews inadequately trained in handling this new weapon. In preparation for the coming battle, the Mark I tanks were moved into assembly positions on September 13 but many of the crews, anxious about the coming battle and moving their tanks over terrain totally different from that of the training grounds, would see only 36 tanks left functional for the start of the battle. During the combat, 27 tanks reached the German front trench line and by the time tanks reached the third objective, only 6 did so. It is believed that only 18 tanks actually contributed to the combat, the remainder breaking down or having been ditched (a term for having become stuck or bogged down due to the terrain). In addition, it was found that the Mark I tank's maximum frontal armor of 10mm was capable of being penetrated by the 7.92X57mm Spitzgeschoß mit Kern (armor-piercing; known as the K Bullet) ammunition used by German infantry weapons. All in all, it had not been a stellar debut of the British tank.

     Still, the British did not give up on the Tank Corps. By 1917, crew training continued to be an issue with many crews only receiving a hasty training regimine. But, the tank itself was improved and by April 1917, the new Mark IV tank was entering service. Mechanical reliability was enhanced to a degree but the main change was the increase in the front armor thickness from 10mm to 12mm. Even though a mere 2mm more of armor seems paltry, it was enough to render the K Bullet far less effective and instead of always being able to pierce the armor of the earlier Mark I tank, now it could only do so 33% of the time against the Mark IV and only from the extremely close range of 100 meters. This had the effect of making German infantry much more reliant on artillery assets to deal with British tanks than they had been in 1916. Moreover, the deployment methodology of tanks had been overhauled so that cooperation between tanks, infantry, artillery, and aircraft was streamlined with easy to learn drills that had the effect of creating a combined arms strategy. Another critical aspect of the revised tank tactics was the use of reconnaissance and intelligence to pinpoint where tanks could be best deployed and effective against enemy positions. A part of the attack strategy was resupply. To that end, when Mark IV tanks went into action en mass again during the Battle of Cambrai which raged from November 20, 1917 to December 7, 1917, behind them were supply tanks.

     Between 1917 and 1918, over 200 Mark IV tanks were produced specifically as supply tanks. In addition, some obsolete Mark I and Mark II tanks were converted into supply tanks. The modification typically involved removing all armament and for the purpose-built supply tanks, the sponsons were larger and squared off in order to more easily accommodate stores of supplies. By the Battle of Cambrai, Mark IV supply tanks were used exclusively, having replaced the earlier models. Each tank company was to be equipped with two supply tanks. The Mark IV supply tanks were known as “Top Towers” due to a box-like towing apparatus that was fitted to the top of the tank. Two tow cables ran from the driver's turret through the box affixed towards the rear of the tank roof, the apparatus preventing the cables from getting tangled in the tracks of the tank. The cables pulled sledges which contained ammunition and other supplies and thus increased the amount of cargo a single supply tank could carry.

     The tank in the photograph is “Lyric” and carried the serial number 2648. It had been commanded by 2nd. Lieutenant Lowe and belonged to B Company, 5th. Section, 12th. Battalion. The crew number of the tank was L36 (other sources say L52). The tank survived World War One and would end up as a replacement war memorial and tourist attraction near Fort de la Pompelle outside the city of Reims. The original tank which served as the memorial had been the German Beutepanzer (“captured tank”), Wagon 113, of Abteilung 14, that had been abandoned after ditching on June 1, 1918. The Germans had captured the Mark IV tank “Liesal” (Serial No.4571) that had belonged to the 5th. Battalion on March 22, 1918 after it had broken down and had to be abandoned while supporting the 66th. Infantry Division near Roisel. It was repaired and refurbished then issued to Abteilung 14. In the mid-1920s, concerns by city administrators in Reims about the safety of visitors to the tank saw them consider replacing it. The damage to “Liesel” was extensive and thus posed the risk of injuries to visitors who decided to climb around the tank. In addition, the area surrounding the tank had yet to be fully purged of any ordnance which also posed a hazard to visitors. Finally, the location of the tank had become overgrown and it was no longer readily visible to passers-by. Thus, the wreck of “Liesal” was removed and later scrapped and the British donated “Lyric” to Reims who emplaced it along Rue de Châlons which was a much more accessible and visible location. In addition to advertising the tank attraction, the city added markers on the tank with one being on the roof which allowed for aerial identification, another on the front of the hull which was about the tank and the local history, and one on the hull side hatches warning against opening or entering the tank. “Lyric” remained in place all the way into World War Two as photographs exist showing German soldiers in 1940 posing with the tank but it would not survive any further as it was presumably scrapped by the Germans in order to reclaim the metal for other uses.

British Stuart: Ad Hoc 18-pdr Field Gun Portée

From British and American Tanks of World War Two by Peter Chamberlain and Chris Ellis.

      Although the M3 light tank was U.S. designed and built, it was the British who first took it into action during Operation Crusader which commenced on November 18, 1941 in northern Africa. In British service, the M3 was known as the Stuart and for Operation Crusader, 170 Stuart I light tanks were included in the order of battle for the British 8th. Army. As the battle unfolded, units equipped with the Stuart suffered significant casualties. This, despite the fact the Stuart compared very favorably against two of the most common Axis tanks, the Panzerkampfwagen III Ausf G and the Italian Fiat M13/40. Against the former, the two tanks were evenly matched in terms of speed and armor protection and both the Stuart's 37mm M6 gun and the PzKpfw III's 3.7cm KwK 36 gun could knock the other tank out from over 1,000 meters. Against the Fiat, the M3 dominated the Italian medium tank and the Stuart was invulnerable to the 47mm Cannone da 47/32 AT gun from 1,000 meters and beyond whereas the Stuart could penetrate the M13/40 almost anywhere at that range. Analysis following the Allied victory against Axis forces on December 30, 1941 showed that the high casualty rate had more to do with the skill of German tank crews and superior tactics. The British also found that the two-man turret of the Stuart was problematic, to the point that some Stuart crews tried to squeeze a third man in to facilitate gun handling. The Stuart also did not have a high fuel capacity in comparison to some British tanks (such as the Crusader) which limited its range to only 75 miles. Still, the British appreciated the mechanical reliability of the Stuart and excellent speed. Nevertheless, by mid-1942, the British relegated the Stuart to reconnaissance tasks only, avoiding tank-vs-tank combat wherever possible. The British continued to use the Stuart throughout World War Two. Subsequent models were the Stuart II (Guiberson diesel engined M3), Stuart III (M3A1), Stuart IV (Guiberson engined M3A1), Stuart V (M3A3), and the Stuart VI (M5 and M5A1).

     The British also used a number of variants of the Stuart and two of the most common were the Stuart Recce and the Stuart Kangaroo. The Stuart Recce removed the turret which lowered the profile of the tank and lowered the weight of the vehicle which in turn, improved range. The Stuart Kangaroo also removed the turret and the vehicle was used as an armored personnel carrier (APC). There is debate on if the name “Kangaroo” was ever applied to the Stuart like it was to other similar vehicles derived from the M7 Priest, M4 Sherman, and Canadian Ram tank. These APCs were mostly used by British engineer units attached to armored brigades. A third, relatively common variant, was the Stuart Command which was also a turret-less Stuart but utilized by commanders and was equipped with additional radio equipment.

     This, then, brings us to the subject of the photograph. It depicts a one-off modification to a Stuart in which a British Ordnance QF 18-pounder field gun, sans wheels, was fitted to a simple bracket mount in place of the tank's turret. Although many of these guns were converted into the improved QF 25-pounder gun prior to World War Two, a number of the older guns (which entered service in 1904) remained in service and saw action during the opening stages of the North African campaign. Whether this ad hoc self-propelled gun (or portée) was ever used in action remains unknown but it was certainly constructed during the North African campaign in 1941-42. An examination of the mounting suggests that the gun was centered on the upper hull with the box trail extending over the opening left by the removal of the turret. This would allow the gun to be elevated to a maximum of 37 degrees and permit recoil. Of course, this assumes the gun is the Mk. III or Mk. IV model. If, on the other hand, the gun was an older Mk. I or Mk. II with a single, central trail, then the maximum elevation was only 16 degrees. The gun crew would have operated the gun without the benefit of all-around protection with the only measure of defense coming from the gun shield. It appears that two of the three hull machine-guns (one front hull mounted and one in each side of the upper hull) were removed, likely to make room for ammunition. This left only the front hull machine-gun. If the intent was to provide mobility for the gun and its 6.3 mile range was its defense from enemy attack, then having the additional machine-guns wasn't needed and if need be, crew small arms could also be utilized for close-in defense. How much ammunition the modified Stuart could carry isn't known though with the shell being a little over 1 foot long, an adequate supply could likely have been stowed if the machine-guns and the ammunition for them was removed. How the crew entered the SPG is also not known. It may have been possible for the crew to slip underneath the trailing arm or perhaps the trailing arm was not secured to the rear deck and the gun could be tilted upward to permit the crew to enter. Certainly in action, three men would likely have been crewing the gun from the deck while another remained in the tank, passing ammunition up through the opening where the turret had been. Some have said the modified Stuart was used as an assault gun, utilizing the gun for infantry support in the direct fire role. However, this is unlikely given the high profile of the SPG, the lack of armor protection for the gun crew, and the relatively light armor of the tank itself.

British A10 Cruiser Tank Mk. IIA: 7th. Armored Brigade

(Associated Press)

     An Associated Press wire photograph dated January 26, 1941 depicts the crew of a British A10 Cruiser Tank Mk. IIA enjoying a Christmas Day meal. This would put a date of December 25, 1940 when the photograph was actually taken by the war correspondent. According to the tag line, the men were eating a British Christmas pudding which was made from biscuit rations, prunes, marmalade, and rum. The men appear to be haphazardly uniformed but all five men are wearing the standard tank crew pants that featured large thigh pockets. All of the pants show varying degrees of staining from oil, grease, and other grit and grime found inside tanks as well as staining from having to perform mechanical maintenance on their tank. The pants also show various degrees of sun bleaching. Three of the men sport the British Army peaked cap while the other two have knit hats. Given the temperature can plummet even in the desert during the evening and night, all the men have various jackets and sweaters over their uniform blouses for warmth. Of interest, three of the men appear to be carrying captured Italian Beretta Model 1934 semi-automatic pistols judging by the shape and design of the leather holsters. That they are carrying captured Italian weapons can be bolstered by the Carcano Modello 1891 bolt-action rifle seen on top of the tank turret. The AP photograph stated the tank crew was in the vicinity of the Libyan city of Bardia. If this is accurate, it would mean the men were part of the British 7th. Armored Brigade. This was because the unit, along with elements of the 7th. Royal Tank Regiment (RTR), were attached to Australian forces consisting of the 6th. Australian Division along with the 16th. and 17th. Australian Infantry Brigades for the purposes of assaulting Bardia. That the men belonged to the 7th. Armored Brigade is because the only tanks the 7th. RTR had with them for the attack were Matilda II infantry tanks.

     The Australians began building up their forces in the Bardia area beginning in December 1940. The Australian units were not at full compliment and thus it took some effort to fill the gaps with various British forces in the region to ensure the Australian units were at strength. The time was used by the British Royal Air Force to dispatch reconnaissance sorties from No.208 Squadron flying Westland Lysander aircraft escorted by Gloster Gladiator fighters from No.3 Squadron Royal Australian Air Force. In addition, foot patrols goaded Italian artillery to fire which divulged their locations while these patrols also conducted ground reconnaissance of Italian antitank obstacles and barbed wire lines. On December 24, 1940, Christmas Eve, British Major General Richard O'Connor directed the commander of the assembled forces, Australian Lieutenant General Iven Giffard Mackay, to begin planning for the taking of Bardia. Defending Bardia were some 45,000 Italian troops, made up mainly from the remnants of four infantry divisions along with a mixture of Blackshirt divisions, frontier guards, and three companies of elite Bersaglieri infantry troops.

     The attack commenced on December 31, 1940 when RAF bombers began a series of sorties against Bardia which lasted until January 2, 1941. Over 100 sorties were flown by No.70 Squadron RAF and No.216 Squadron RAF with fighters patrolling the skies from No.33, No.73, and No.274 Squadrons RAF. Ground artillery added to the bombardment with the Lysanders from No.208 Squadron acting as spotters for the Australian and British guns. On January 3, the Royal Navy battleships HMS Warspite, Valiant, and Barham along with their escorts commenced ship-to-shore bombardment, firing nearly 245 rounds of ammunition from their big guns before departing, leaving the bombardment duties to the elderly HMS Terror (a monitor launched in 1916) and her escorts, the gunboats HMS Ladybird, Aphis, and Gnat. At 0416, the Australian units were on their start lines and at 0530, the artillery bombardment commenced. Sappers went forward in advance of the infantry to clear lanes and once these lanes were open, the assault got underway. By 0920, the Australian forces had achieved their objectives, having made good progress against the Italian defenders. The second wave of Australian forces commenced their attack following an artillery barrage that started at 1125. The Australians again made progress but the Italian resistance was stiffer and at the end of the day, the Australians and British had penetrated nearly two miles into Bardia. On January 4, the attacks resumed at 0900 and as the day wore on, the Italians lost further and further ground until only isolated outposts remained. General Giuseppe Tellera, who commanded the Italian 10th. Army, considered sending a relief force but in the end, saw that the situation at Bardia was hopeless and any relief effort would be doomed to failure. The combat continued but by the close of January 5, 1941, victory belonged to the Australians and British. All told, the Allies attacked with 16,000 men against the Italian strength of 45,000. Of the Allied forces, 130 perished with 326 wounded but the Italians suffered 1,703 killed in action with 3,740 men wounded. Another 36,000 Italians surrendered to Australian and British forces.

Consolidated Liberator B Mk.VI "V-Victor": Accident Over Monfalcone

     British bomber crews, like their American counterparts, faced a multitude of dangers. Enemy fighters and fighter-bombers, anti-aircraft fire, and even mechanical issues all posed hazards. But another danger was “friendly fire” accidents and this photograph is evidence of that. On March 16, 1945, the Consolidated Liberator B Mk.VI (the British designation for the B-24H) “V-Victor” (code KK320) of No. 37 Squadron RAF (Royal Air Force) was part of a bombing raid on the ship and marshaling yards in Monfalcone, Italy. “V-Victor” was piloted by Squadron Leader Lionel C. Saxby while other members of the eleven man crew included Pilot Officer (P/O) G.T. Barker (navigator), K.H. Westrope (tail gunner), Wally Lewis (top turret gunner), and Cliff Hurst (radio operator). Included in the raid were bombers from No.70 Squadron RAF of which one of the aircraft was another Liberator B Mk.VI, “R-Roger”. Both squadrons were part of No.231 Wing RAF which itself was part of No. 205 Group RAF, flying out of Tortorella Airfield in Italy. As the bombers reached their targets over Monfalcone, at 12,000ft., they began to release their payloads that consisted of 1,000lb GP (General Purpose) bombs. It isn't exactly known if “R-Roger” or “V-Victor” drifted from formation but the pilot of “R-Roger” was not aware “V-Victor” was now almost directly underneath them.

     Two bombs from “R-Roger” struck “V-Victor”. The first bomb hit directly on the top turret, shattering it while crumpling the upper fuselage, and then passed through the fuselage, creating a significant tear in the aluminum skinning. Fortunately for Wally Lewis, he had not been manning the turret at the time but was actually struck by the bomb as it passed through the fuselage, the glancing blow enough to render him unconscious. Cliff Hurst, whose radio station was located near the turret, suffered numerous small injuries from the shards of metal that whipped through his compartment, helped by the buffeting winds howling through the shredded fuselage. The second bomb struck the port, inner engine, buckling the cowling to the point the winds ripped away several pieces. The bomb also skidded off the cowling and knocked the propeller off in addition to causing the engine to trail smoke. Immediately after the hits, “V-Victor” quickly lost altitude and entered into a dive. Some of the crew made ready to abandon the stricken plane but Squadron Leader Saxby was able to recover from the dive and piloted “V-Victor” back the 300 miles to Tortorella Airfield, landing the bomber without incident. The photograph shows “V-Victor” after landing, the crew and maintenance men examining the damage. Baxby can be seen in the fuselage gash while the navigator, P/O Barker, is looking over the wrecked turret from a hatch while a mechanic assesses the extent of the engine damage.

     Although the damage was significant, it wasn't too severe that it could not be repaired. However, “V-Victor” was written off on April 26, 1945. In part, the decision to not repair the Liberator could have been due to the fact that the squadron was relocating to Aqir, Palestine beginning on October 2, 1945 and not long after, in December 1945, moved to Shallufa, Egypt where No.37 Squadron was eventually stood down on March 31, 1946.

The British FV4401 Contentious: An Ambitious Airmobile Tank

     One of the more interesting post-World War Two tank designs was the British FV4401 Contentious. The intent of the FV4401 was to provide a light (up to 20-tons), easily transportable armored fighting vehicle (AFV) that could be air dropped and provide armored support for airborne and rapid deployment forces. There were two designs put forward under the FV4401 designation. The first was a one man, thinly armored vehicle fitted with two 120mm L6 WOMBAT recoilless rifles, the latter being used due to their light weight. Each L6 was equipped with a autoloader fed from a seven-round rotary magazine. This first design was more of a tank destroyer, akin to the Japanese Type 60 tank destroyer developed from 1956 to 1960. The second design is the focus here. 

     Work commenced on the two-man FV4401 (sometimes called the Contentious II) in the mid-1950s and the design had a number of novel features. For armament, the Ordnance QF 20-pounder (84mm) gun was initially selected as, at the time, it was a excellent gun and was also used in the British Centurion main battle tank (MBT). Rather than put the gun in a true turret from the outset, the gun was fitted into the hull of the prototype in a very limited traverse mounting. This kept the height of the FV4401 low and also saved weight. The gun was provided with an autoloader which could effectively fire twelve rounds per minute. To elevate and depress the gun, the FV4401 was fitted with suspension that could be raised and lowered and to provide additional traverse, the tank was turned in place. To speed aiming, the gun had an optical light pulse sight which was tied into a servo that allowed for automatic adjustment of the gun and monitored the alignment of the gun as a whole. This was akin to an early implementation of a Movement Reporting System (MRS). Both the commander and the gunner had complete driving and gunnery controls. For armor protection, the front glacis was to feature horizontal rows of metal ridges. The purpose was to break up incoming projectiles before they struck the armor proper. Behind this was a four foot empty space that was filled with diesel fuel. When full, the fuel provided the equivalent of twenty-four inches of armor and behind that was a 40mm thick back plate which separated the fuel compartment from the crew compartment. Components for the initial prototype, namely the lower chassis, were taken from a British FV4101 Charioteer medium tank, the road wheels from the FV300 series (a project for lightweight armored fighting vehicles), and for an engine, a Rolls-Royce B Range diesel engine was used. This engine series, topping out at 187 horsepower for the B81 model (as used in the FV430 AFV series), wasn't to be the final engine fit as the Contentious II was to use an engine developing between 300 to 500 horsepower. The FV4401 was envisioned that at the sacrifice of added weight, a turret could be fitted as well as be fully Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical (NBC) sealed. The proposed turret was to be low in profile so as not to add significant height to the Contentious II.

     Sometime in the late 1950s, the FV4401 Contentious II prototype was completed. It was far more of a test vehicle for the adjustable suspension, gun mounting, and fire controls as the prototype was unarmored and the fuel tanks were situated outside the tank, secured to the track guards. The armor concept had been tested and showed that ignition of the diesel fuel following penetration did not occur. If a fire was started, the crew compartment offered some protection and it was planned to house the fuel within the space in armored tanks which would be able to contain any explosion. The explosion risk came more from the tank being penetrated when the fuel level was low and fumes were more in abundance within. To minimize fuel loss, the fuel in the front part of the hull were to be inside compartmentalized tanks. This novel armor, however, was not fitted to the prototype but would have had the Contentious II program continued and more refined prototypes produced. The 20-pounder gun was sighted to 2,000 yards and at that range, the Armor-Piercing Discarding Sabot (APDS) ammunition could penetrate 290mm of rolled homogeneous armor and at 1,000 yards, it could punch through 330mm of armor. This was more than enough to deal with two of the most common Soviet tanks, the T-54 and T-55. Ranging was accomplished by a pulse radar (seen here on the bracket above the gun). Despite the good performance of the 20-pounder gun, work was done on up-gunning the Contentious II with either a 120mm gun, a 155mm gun, or even a larger caliber gun.

     As for being air dropped, tests were done using steel constructed replicas in the general shape of the turreted Contentious II design starting in November 1956. They were deployed from a Blackburn Beverley heavy transport, the replicas fitted directly with skids and air bags as a form of impact cushioning. However, these tests were not overly successful, the steel showing significant damage from the landing forces despite the parachute braking and air bags. At least one of the damaged replicas ended up as a range target after impacting the ground, the test personnel seeing no worthwhile reason to recover it.

     The FV4401 Contentious II prototype was also tested at Lulworth Range in Dorset, England, against a 6X6 vehicle, the TV1000 Rhino, which was envisioned in a similar role as the FV4401 but using wheels. The TV1000 had stability problems, the rubber on the wheels wore out at an alarming rate, and the TV1000 used skid steering, much like a tank does, and thus offered little over the FV4401 which was deemed superior. 

     Despite the novel features and relative success during testing, the FV4401 was not put into production nor were further prototypes completed (some sources say at least two more were built) in the FV4401's final form. Had the FV4401 entered service, it would have given British airborne forces a significantly more advanced weapon in comparison to the U.S. M56 Scorpion which entered service in 1957 and would have also been superior to the Soviet ASU-57 airborne assault gun that began service in 1951.

     Today, the prototype shown in the photograph at Kirkcudbright Training Area survives to this day, able to be seen at the Tank Museum at Bovington in Dorset, England. Unlike the photograph, the FV4401 at Bovington is armed with a Royal Ordnance L7 105mm gun which was added for display purposes.

The British FV4004 Conway: Not Good Enough

     When Soviet IS-3 heavy tanks belonging to the 71st. Guards Heavy Tank Regiment appeared before Western eyes on September 7, 1945, rolling down the Charlottenburger Straße in Berlin to celebrate the Allied victory over Germany, it would send a ripple of panic through the U.S. and Britain. With its pointed and well sloped front hull boasting 200mm thick armor and its low, rounded turret fitted with the heavy hitting 122mm D-25 gun, the “Shchuka” (“Pike” as the Soviets nicknamed the IS-3) became the boogieman that haunted the dreams of tank designers and tank crews. The IS-3 was the catalyst for two heavy tanks designed to beat it. The first was the U.S. M103 heavy tank which entered service in 1957 and the second was the British FV214 Conqueror which saw service starting in 1955. For the British, the delays in getting the FV214 into operational service saw the experimentation with heavy guns on existing tank chassis in order to put something into the field that both had the range and the hitting power to defeat the IS-3. One of these designs was the FV4004 Conway.

     The chassis to be used was that of the Centurion Mk.3 main battle tank and outside of the turret, the remainder of the Conway was exactly the same as the Centurion. The weapon to be used was the L1 120mm rifled gun and because the breech of the L1 was so massive, a completely new turret had to be built as the standard Centurion turret could not mount it. The turret itself was tall, a necessity to fit both the breech and allow the gun crew to operate, and was not thickly armored. By consequence, the turret, while larger and with a heavy gun, did not impose much of weight increase and so the mobility of the Conway remained good with a top speed of 21.5mph as provided by its Rolls-Royce Meteor engine. The ammunition for the L1 usually consisted of Armor-Piercing Discarding Sabot (APDS) and High-Explosive Squash-Head (HESH). The ammunition was in two parts, the projectile and the brass propellant case. For the APDS round, the projectile was 21.4lbs. while the case was 60.9lbs. The HESH ammunition was 35.3lbs. and 41.5lbs. respectively. Because of the size of the complete rounds, the ammunition the Conway could carry was very limited. The APDS round could penetrate 390mm of flat steel armor at 1,000 yards or up to 120mm of armor at a 55 degree slope. The HESH round, on the other hand, could cause spalling on armor up to 120mm thick at a 60 degree slope at any range and this made it effective in long range tank duels in which the HESH round would not be as vulnerable to the sloping of the IS-3's armor.

     A single prototype of the Conway was completed in either 1949 or 1950 and was tested. However, by 1951, it was decided to discontinue work on the Conway. It isn't known the exact reasons as to why but it could be speculated that the limited ammunition capacity and the high profile of the Conway were not conductive to a tank destroyer. Another concern was that the APDS round could not reliably knock out the IS-3 at range leaving only the HESH ammunition which, while more capable at longer ranges, also did not guaranty target destruction. This is evidenced by the FV4005 “Centaur” project which essentially took up where the Conway left off, the new design meant to utilize the even larger L4 183mm gun which was thought to be the “one shot, one kill” weapon the British needed.

     Today, the Conway survives and is on display at the Tank Museum at Bovington in Dorset, England. Following the cancellation of the Conway in 1951, only the turret remained so the Conway at the museum is the original turret and gun but on a different Centurion Mk.3 chassis.

 

Acting Captain Mark Anthony Peter Phillips: 1st. The Queen's Dragoon Guards

     Acting Captain Mark Anthony Peter Phillips, husband (at the time) of Princess Anne, sits in the driver’s station of a FV101 Scorpion Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked) (CVR(T)). The Associated Press photograph was taken January 7, 1974, under one year after the Scorpion entered service with the British Army. Phillips, an officer in 1st. The Queen's Dragoon Guards, was test driving the new Scorpion at the Driving and Maintenance School housed in Bovington, England. 

     Not much of the Scorpion can be seen outside of the barrel of the low velocity 76mm L23A1 gun and the coaxial 7.62mm machine-gun along with a bank of smoke grenade dischargers. The Scorpion remained in active service with the British Army until 1994 when they were withdrawn from front line use and currently, they are utilized for training. The Scorpion also saw much success as an exported weapon system with some 17 countries still actively utilizing the vehicle. The chassis of the Scorpion was also the basis for several derivative vehicles to include the FV103 Spartan APC (armored personnel carrier), FV104 Samaritan armored ambulance, and FV106 Samson recovery vehicle among others. Many of these remain in service with the British Army as well as with export customers. The Scorpion would see combat during the Falklands War (deployed with elements from the Blues and Royals cavalry regiment) and also the Gulf War (with 1st. The Queen's Dragoon Guards). 

     As for Phillips, after graduating from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in July 1969 and in short order, attained the rank of Lieutenant in January 1971. By the time this photograph was taken, Phillips had married Princess Anne (in November 1973) and was appointed personal aide-de-camp to Queen Elizabeth II. He attained the rank of Captain in July 1975 and would retire from the Army on March 30, 1978. 

     Phillips, an accomplished equestrian, remains involved in the sport to this day.

Supermarine Walrus: Goodbye from the HMS Liverpool

(Author's Collection)

     A Supermarine Walrus from the Town-class light cruiser HMS Liverpool is lowered into the water. On the back of the photograph is written: “Our plane that never came back. Liverpool.” Research into this lament sounding sentence shows that what one thinks is the obvious turns out not to be. The HMS Liverpool, commissioned in November 1938, carried three Supermarine Walrus aircraft onboard though only one catapult was fitted to the ship. The primary purpose of the Walrus was twofold: carry out aerial patrolling to search for submarines and enemy surface ships and to perform air-sea rescue when called upon. I started my investigation into the loss of the Walrus on the assumption that it was downed during the extensive combat the HMS Liverpool saw while with the 7th. Cruiser Squadron of the British Mediterranean Fleet when it went into action against Italian naval ships in June 1940. During the months long campaign, the HMS Liverpool was torpedoed and bombed by Italian aircraft with one torpedo hit destroying the bow of the ship to the point that it separated from the ship while the Liverpool was under tow. Given the significant action the ship saw and the activity of the Italian air force during the skirmishes, it seemed natural to assume that the Walrus had been shot down while patrolling except that in finding an accounting of the ship’s war record, there is nothing about the loss of one of its Walrus aircraft. Then, an alternate search turned up a lead which explained the hand written caption on the photo as well as explained why no Walrus loss was given on the ship’s combat record. 

     When the HMS Liverpool first entered service, it was deployed to the 5th. Cruiser Squadron which was operating in the Far East Theater in 1939-1940. At the time, Hong Kong was bereft of military assets with much of it having been recalled to England to support British forces in Europe. The RAF had a minuscule presence at Kai Tak Airport in Hong Kong, being outfitted with a mere three old Vickers Vildebeest biplane torpedo bombers. The airport did feature a slipway for seaplanes to exit Kowloon Bay. When the HMS Liverpool pulled into Hong Kong in January 1940, two of the three Walrus’ were left with the RAF at Kai Tak with the tail codes L 2259 and L 2819. 

     Although the photograph is blurred significantly, the Walrus seems to be L 2819. What appears to be camouflage on the Walrus is actually shadows of the ship’s crew watching the proceedings from the deck. The note on the back of the picture was more lamenting the fact a part of their ship was being left behind rather than lost in combat and that the Walrus photographed was not lost to enemy action accounts for why it was not recorded in the ship’s war record. Tai Tak Airport, and Hong Kong proper, fell to the Japanese on December 25, 1941. When the Japanese commenced the attack on December 8, Tai Tak was targeted by Japanese bombers and the RAF aircraft were wiped out on the ground save one Vildebeest which was abandoned and the RAF personnel went on to defend the city as foot troops.

The Vickers-Carden-Lloyd A4E12: An Export Success Story

The A4E12 under test, demonstrating its amphibious capability. (Author's Collection)

     In the 1930s Britain, there was an apathy in the high command towards modernizing and expanding Britain’s tank force. In part, this was a legacy of World War One thinking in which tanks were not seen as being a true, equal component of an armed force and also that it was felt World War One would be the last global conflict. Despite this, there was fairly significant tank development in England and in most cases, it wasn’t to interest the British military but to entice foreign buyers. Numerous nations either did not have the technical ability to build tanks or they did not have the manufacturing infrastructure to produce tanks and so looking elsewhere and using hard currency was a way to obtain tanks and other armored vehicles. One such vehicle was the Vickers-Carden-Lloyd A4E12 light amphibious tank. 

     To achieve buoyancy, the A4E12 sacrificed so much armor protection that it could barely hold the designation of light tank. At the maximum, the A4E12 sported 11mm of armor. Additional buoyancy came from the balsa wood floats which were encased in sheet steel and fitted to the hull sides above the tracks. The A4E12, on water, moved via a propeller fitted to the rear of the tank and a rudder provided steering. Armament consisted of a single Vickers .303in. machine-gun. Export sales, however, were fairly brisk for the A4E12 and China, the Dutch East Indies, Thailand, and the Soviet Union were all buyers of the tank. The Chinese 12th. Army Group would deploy the A4E12 into action against the Japanese in the Second Sino-Japanese War which began on July 7, 1937. In the end, all but one remained in Chinese service (as a training tank) though during the battles, the Japanese captured a few in functional condition and used them against the Chinese. 

     The Soviet Union purchased eight A4E12 tanks for trials and enamored with the A4E12, used it as the basis for the T-37 light amphibious tank. The T-37 was not an outright copy of the British design but the A4E12 did provide the influence for the Soviet tank. The T-37 saw extensive action against the Finnish in the Winter War and against the Germans following the 1941 invasion. However, the severe lack of armor (9mm maximum) saw most of the T-37 tanks destroyed with the few which survived being relegated to the training role. 

     One of the Soviet Union’s purchased A4E12 tanks survives today and is on display at the Kubinka Tank Museum outside Moscow, Russia.

Ordnance BL 15in. Howitzer Mk.I: A Gun The British Military Didn't Want

     In October 1914, the Royal Marines were reorganized in order to create two Royal Marine Artillery brigades. One served as an anti-aircraft artillery brigade while the other became the Royal Marine Howitzer Brigade (RMHB) under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel G. R. Poole. With a strength of around 1,000 men, the RMHB was split into twelve, one gun batteries. Each battery was composed of 60 men. A training facility was arranged for at Fort Cumberland, located in Portsmouth, UK. The guns deployed by the RMHB was the Ordnance Breech Loading (BL) 15in. Howitzer Mk.I and the RMHB would be the only unit to use them. 

     Coventry Ordnance Works, buoyed by their success with the 9.2in. howitzer, designed the BL 15in. gun on their own. However, with no military request for the gun, Coventry Ordnance Works used its influence within the British Admiralty to attempt to get interest in the product. At that time, Winston Churchill was First Lord of the Admiralty and saw the opportunity to get the Royal Navy involved in the land conflict in France. He authorized the purchase of 12 of the guns and so equipped, the RMHB would be sent to the Western Front in February 1915. The BL 15in. howitzer weighed around 94 tons and required three Foster-Daimler 105hp tractors to move. It could throw a 1,450lb shell out to a maximum range of 6.1 miles. Although effective enough when it came to eliciting destruction on German forces, the range was less than other, more capable guns and the time it took to bring the gun into action and the support required to operate it were detriments to its continued use. 

     Churchill’s support for the RMHB faded away in light of the performance of the howitzers and in time, the guns were forced onto the British Army who did not want them. Still, under Army oversight, RMHB crews served the weapons during the Battle of the Somme (September 1916) and the Third Battle of Ypres (October 1917). The guns were declared obsolete shortly after World War One and all of them were scrapped by 1920.

British Mk. IV Tank No.2873 "Blarney Castle": Deadly Day at Fontaine-Notre-Dame

"Blarney Castle" photographed by the Germans following the combat near Fontaine-Notre-Dame.

      The Battle of Cambrai, which commenced on November 20, 1917 and ended on December 7, 1917, was a proving ground for advancements in tactics both on the side of the British as well as the Germans. For the British, air support was a key addition to the battle plans in which the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was assigned ground targets to attack prior to ground forces commencing their advance. In addition, cooperation between tanks and infantry was improved and artillery methods modified (for example, predicted artillery fire) and sound ranging used to conduct counter-battery artillery fire. For the Germans, the battle showed the effectiveness of Stoßtruppen (Stormtooper) tactics which emphasized infiltration, small units which provided support for each other, and mobile heavy weapons (machine-guns, trench mortars, and flamethrowers) which provided the Stoßtruppen with a significant attack advantage. It also showed the Germans how effective their artillery was against British tanks which had the equal effect of showing the British how vulnerable their tanks were to such weapons.

     Cambrai was a vital German supply point for the German's Siegfriedstellung, which was a defensive line known as the Hindenburg Line by the British. If the British could take it and the surrounding territory, especially Bourlon Ridge near the town, it would pose a serious threat to the German rear lines. Included in the attack were 378 combat tanks of the British Tank Corps. All of these tanks were the Mark IV, the main tank deployed by the British during World War One. These tanks came in two versions. The Mark IV Male was equipped with three .303in. Lewis machine-guns (one in the front hull and one in each sponson) and two Ordnance Quick-Firing 6-pounder 6 cwt Hotchkiss Mk I guns, one in each sponson. The other type was the Mark IV Female which was equipped only with five Lewis machine-guns, one in the hull and two in each sponson. The purpose of the two types was that the Male tanks would engage enemy targets (for example, pillboxes) with the 6-pounder guns while the Female tanks would provide protection to the Male tanks by repelling any close assault attacks by enemy infantry and to bring down withering machine-gun fire on any exposed enemy troops that may be flushed out by the Male tanks. One of these Mark IV Female tanks, named “Blarney Castle“, took part in the combat in the commune of Fontaine-Notre-Dame, 2.5 miles west of Cambrai.

     The tank was part of 6th. Company, 12th. Section, of B Battalion. It carried the serial number of 2873 and was commanded, alternatively, by either 2nd. Lieutenant Julian Cecil Lazonby or 2nd. Lieutenant Thomas Henderson. The tank's crew number was B57. As was tradition at the time, tanks were named by their commander and the name had to start with the letter of the battalion the tank belonged to. Thus, Henderson got to select the name and he chose “Blarney Castle“. This was because his parents were land owners in Ardrum, Inniscarra in County Cork in Ireland. Ardrum was where the owners of the famous Blarney Castle resided at the time. For the combat to come, “Blarney Castle“ was commanded by 2nd. Lt. Lazonby while 2nd. Lt. Henderson was in command of a tank from the 10th. Company, “Behemoth II“ (crew number B54; Serial No. 4516). The tanks, along with four others, sought to enter the village on November 23, 1917 and came under fire by elements of K.Flak Batterie 7. The German unit was equipped with Krupp 7.7cm L/27 anti-aircraft guns that were mounted on Daimler-Benz trucks. While normally used against enemy aircraft, German forces requested two of the trucks to be brought forward to contain the British tank attack. The 7.7cm gun was able to hurl a shell to a velocity of 1,520 feet per second and when used in the direct fire role, had a maximum range of 4.9 miles. This hitting power was more than adequate to punch through the thin armor of a Mark IV tank which was 12mm thick in the front, 8mm on the sides, and 6mm on the rear of the tank. The two vehicles from K.Flak Batterie 7 were supported by a company of troops from Reserve Infanterie Regiment 52. Together, they destroyed seven tanks in all, which included the wiping out of the 6th. Company. “Blarney Castle“ was struck multiple times by the accurate fire of the German gunners. Hits to the tank are evident on both sides which suggests the two trucks were not together and thus were able to engage the tanks in a cross-fire. The eight man crew had no chance. The interior of the Mark IV was open which meant fuel tanks, the engine and its components, crew positions, guns, and ammunition were not compartmentalized. Thus, the penetrations by the 7.7cm shells turned the inside of “Blarney Castle“ into an inferno and those crew fortunate enough to be killed outright were spared the agony of being incinerated. This grim photograph was taken by a German in the aftermath of the combat and shows one of the crew on the ground and at least one other crewman visible in the open hatch below the sponson. “Blarney Castle“ was a heavily photographed tank and another picture shows that on the other side of the tank, another charred crewman was on the ground and two others perished trying to get out through the hatches beneath the sponson. “Behemoth II“ also did not survive the battle, being destroyed with a loss of all crew.

British Mark IV Tank No.9146: Relic in Berlin 1945

 

A U.S. Army photographer gazes at the remains of No.9146. This is one of a handful of photographs that feature this same man around the tank.

     Following the German surrender in May 1945, among the debris of war scattered about what is today the Schloßplatz in front of the Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral) were two former British World War One tanks, both Mark V models. For some time, there was a swirl of mystery around them. Where did they come from? Were they used in action in the desperate final battles in Berlin? For one of the tanks, some unknowns remain. For the other tank, carrying serial 9146 and seen here, it is a story that can be told today.

     During World War One, 9146 was assigned to the British Tank Corps' 16th. Battalion. At this time, it was a Male, meaning, it was equipped with two 6-pounder guns, one in each side sponson. In addition to the guns, the tank carried four Hotchkiss machine-guns. On October 16, 1918, three tanks from the 16th. Battalion (to include 9146) were attached to elements of the British Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment and IX Corps for an attack on German positions at the Bois-de-Riquerval and the Andigny-les-Fermas Ridge. On October 17, 1918 at 5:20am, the preparatory bombardment by artillery commenced and the attack got under way. One of the objectives during the battle was the French village of Regnicourt and 9146 took part in the combat to eject the Germans from the area. Unfortunately, the tank was struck by a round from a German 7.7cm (77mm) field gun. The paltry 12mm of armor, while adequate against German 7.92mm armor piercing rounds, was useless against field guns and other artillery. The round appeared to have entered the right sponson of the tank and killed four men: Corporal Drewitt, Private Daniels, Private Doig, and Private Fensome. It would appear that 9146 was recovered from the battlefield and repaired. However, it was turned into a Mark V Composite (sometimes referred to as Hermaphrodite) and so the damaged right sponson was replaced with the right sponson from a Mark V Female tank. Female tanks were armed with six Hotchkiss machine-guns and so 9146 now had a single 6-pdr gun and machine-gun in the left sponson and three machine-guns in the right sponson.

     Life for 9146 was not done and when the Russian White Army looked to England and France for tanks to equip their forces for combat against the Bolshevik Red Army during the Russian Civil War (fought from November 7, 1917 to June 16, 1923), 9146 was included in a shipment of surplus British tanks to Novorossiysk, Russia sometime in 1919. The tank was transferred to one of Lieutenant-General Anton Ivanovich Denikin's tank detachments within his Dobrovolcheskaya Armiya (Volunteer Army). When the Red Army went on the offensive in October 1919, the Volunteer Army began to crumble and as it retreated, many of the tanks were abandoned or left behind to delay Red Army troops to allow as many Volunteer Army soldiers to escape the onslaught. Thus, the Red Army came into a total of 50 British tanks including Mark V heavy tanks and Whippet cavalry tanks. 9146 happened to be one of these, having been captured sometime in 1921 near T'bilisi, Georgia.

     Sometime in the 1930s, it was found that some fifteen British tanks from the Russian Civil War remained on the inventory and so People's Commissar (Minister) for Defense Kliment Voroshilov (or Iosef Stalin himself source depending) directed that these tanks be utilized as monuments situated in various cities. For 9146 and one other tank, they were sent to the city of Smolensk and set up outside of the Holy Dormition Cathedral (Cathedral Church of the Assumption). Following the German occupation of Smolensk which began on July 16, 1941, the two tanks were removed from their posts and shipped to Berlin, Germany. Upon arrival, they were put on display outdoors as part of the Zeughaus' arms collection (today, the Deutsches Historisches Museum resides in the Zeughaus building). Most believe that both tanks were non-operational and in any case, their weapons had been removed from them prior to being put on display in Smolensk. The damage done to them was likely due to Soviet bombing and/or being struck by Soviet tank guns or anti-tank cannon during the Berlin combat. Soviet soldiers have scrawled words on the tank and after awhile, 9146 and its companion were broken down for scrap. There is an interesting story, completely unverified, told by an airman in 2003 about 2nd. Lieutenant James Conway of the 710th. Bomb Squadron. Conway was the bombardier for a Boeing B-17G (serial 42-31169) named “Hey Mabel!” The bomber was shot down on April 29, 1944 and crashed near Zermützel which was three miles north of Neuruppin, the latter town being some 50 miles from Berlin. In the story, Conway said that after he was captured following his parachute decent from the stricken bomber, he was “loaded into a turretless World War One tank for a trip thru Berlin's streets.” Whether Conway really was taken to Berlin in such a tank or he mistook a contemporary tank has never been confirmed though the chances of a fully functional Mark V tank, let alone it being able to make the journey from where Conway was captured to Berlin without any incident is not too likely.

     As a side note, the man next to 9146 wears a shoulder patch of one of the U.S. Army's armored divisions and he has three service stripes on his left sleeve. A ribbon can just be made out above the left pocket on his service coat. He is also holding what appears to be a Graflex Speed Graphic medium format camera which could make him a press photographer as such a camera was not used by the casual picture taker given its type, size, and expense. 

Army Hospital Corps Radiologist: Early Personal Protective Equipment

A British Army Hospital Corps radiologist with the rank of sergeant wearing protective equipment to ply his trade.

      The man credited with discovering X-rays was German physics professor Wilhelm Röntgen in 1895 and it would earn him a Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901. His X-ray of his wife's hand made in December 1895 was the first of a human body part. The first discussion of using X-rays in combat medicine came from the Prussian War Ministry but it would be the Italians during the First Italo-Ethiopian War who used the X-ray to locate bullets in two Italian soldiers who had been injured during the Battle of Adwa in 1896. The British started their foray into military radiology when the British Red Cross set up an X-ray station during the Greco-Turkish War of 1897 to provide medical support for Greek forces. A prominent radiologist in England at the time was Dr. John Francis Hall-Edwards and in 1900, he joined the Warwickshire Regiment during the Second Boer War and became the chief radiologist at the Imperial Yeomanry Hospital at Deelfontein, South Africa. By this time, X-ray equipment was standard issue to British military hospitals. Dr. Hall-Edwards spent 14 months at the hospital, performing X-rays on some 280 wounded soldiers. Up until World War One, the apparatus to perform X-rays was stationary, being located at hospitals with fixed locations. That changed in 1914 when Madame Marie Curie created “radiological cars” that were standard lorries donated to her from private sources and converted to become mobile X-ray labs. Nicknamed “Little Curies”, some 20 lorries were fitted with the X-ray apparatus and support equipment plus a dark room for the processing of the photographic plates. Curie herself trained a total of 150 women volunteers to crew the lorries which operated in the front lines with French field hospitals. Not content to lead from behind, Curie operated her own “Little Curie” in support of the effort. The first such lorry was deployed during the First Battle of the Marne which commenced in September 1914. Soon, other warring powers deployed their own mobile X-ray trucks to the front lines.

     The dangers of X-rays were known from the very outset of their discovery and subsequent experimentation with them. The majority was burns caused by long exposure to the rays but other ill-effects were documented. Despite this, some physicians claimed that there was no consequences to X-ray exposure at all. Typically, neither the radiologist or the patient was protected in any way during an X-ray examination and in part this was due to the still (at the time) debated side-effects of exposure which contributed to a lack of reliable safety protocols and training. Nevertheless, some steps were taken and this rather curious photograph shows one of them. This was a World War One British radiologist with the rank of sergeant (as denoted by the three reverse chevrons) in the Army Hospital Corps (as denoted by the circular Red Cross insignia) who is wearing a protective apron, gloves, and hood. Although it might appear that the rank is on the actual protective garment, the sleeve seam for the apron can be seen just above the rank and branch insignia. The protection was derived from lead within the apron, gloves, and the hood. It is possible that the hood's vision ports may be leaden glass. The protrusions coming off the hood could be straps or fasteners. There does appear to be a tie at the waist for the apron which suggests it may be more open in the back. It is unknown if this was a prototype or a piece of protective equipment that was put into production and issued to British military radiologists.