Gman

I need to find some details online preferrably or in book form if possible for this formation of the FFI that used captured German equipment in 1944/45 and wondered if any of the good readers here could recommend sources ? I have done the usual google and my google-fu seems weak today. ** Advance warning : my French is lousy to non existant but my German is rusty ** Thanks in advance all. Garry

Not sure in all honesty however it does make one wonder about the USAF pulling theirs out of service sooner than Oz. Could be something to do with RAAF having to make do with older airframes and parts such as the tanks in the wings (well the wings ARE the tanks).

Not at all prematurely. All depends on how many ground crew you want to sacrifice to keep the F111's flying. Its an open secret in the RAAF that nothing they have tried has worked. Currently their solution is to poison civillian contractors with the toxic job of redoing the internal tanks rather than poisoning RAAF personnell. Not a good solution, sorry. The word I have heard from quite a few sources unofficially is that without redoing the fuel tanks then after 100 hours flight, there is a reasonable chance of catastrophic failure (read that as you wish). And the RAAF has indicated it has no more stomach for the legal battles for compensation that operating the F111 involve too. Pity, excellent aircraft that is at the end of its effective service life.

I was reading recently of concrete armour being used on Finnish Stug III's in the Continuation War. Was this at all effective ? I am guessing it was partly to dissuade magnetic mines or captured Panzerfausts (much like the log armour) as I can't imagine it having much utility versus solid shot or AP rounds. Anyone know more details ? thanks in advance

So that hasn't happened so far ? With Kornet and similar ?

From memory the Fox and the Fuchs are identical, correct ? I seem to recall they were gifts from Germany in 1990 for GW1. How did the Fox performance rate in US Service ? Seems an excellent chassis, is it just the lack of interoperability for spares that is causing their retirement ?

Thanks very much, would definitely be interested in scans. My German is very rusty but sure I can work through things.

Thanks ABNRedleg, very informative. Sounds like the battalion did very well for themselves, a shame there is so little information out there.

Isn't that a contradiction in terms, for that sentence ???

Anyone able to point me towards any good books or online resources about Major Becker's "Funnies" ? I am referring in particular of course to the converted French tanks that were made into an assault gun battalion for the 21st Panzer. From what little I can gather through Google and other reading, I understand they were quite effective at blunting Brit and Canadian tank attacks in a hit and run capacity. Anyone able to shed more light perhaps ? Thanks in advance. Gman

Slightly off subject but did 5.5" guns ever engage Tigers directly ?

That seems very odd, Bojan. I was of the understanding that 88/L71 should defeat 100mm@ 60 armour quite readily at ranges beyond 500m not struggle at 100m ? Perhaps an issue with the ammo ? I seem to recall that the penetration should be in the order of 180mm at 500m, surely enough to overmatch 100mm at 60degree ? Of course, my recollection could be incorrect...

Anyone know where you can get CH products downunder ? Still the best, for my money. regards Gman

I wasn't suggesting that AMX-13's hadn't seen much action, far from it. Compared to say, a Leopard of any ilk they have seen very significant combat. My question was if people had heard much of HOW they had performed. I had heard bad things from the Israeli point of view, but very much RUMINT. Not seen anything online or in book form that gave a serious indication for their performance. Same goes for Indonesia, Nepal etc. And my understanding was that the French didn't get rid of them fully til the later 1980's ? If correct thats a long period of service, actually. Any suggestions where I could look, online at least ? Cheers Gman

Anyone know of links online or have info on how French AMX-13's performed in Suez 56 ? I gather this is the only time the French used them in combat. How did Israeli AMX-13's perform in combat in 1956 or 1967 vs enemy tanks - anyone know detail at all ? Have AMX-13's seen action elsewhere much ? I had heard rumour they were used in an Indo-Pakistani war. Question arose regarding how the gun compared with the Panther main gun from which I gather it was copied and if it had much chance as a tank destroyer vs T34/85 types especially but in general terms. I gather its still used by the Singaporeans as a 75mm gun light tank. cheers Gman

Not to mention Indians. For what its worth, when I was younger, I was in a Light Horse Regiment here in Oz running M113s (NEVER Gavins !) . we would always celebrate 31st October as Beersheba Day. It was a night for having the OR's served by the NCO's and officers in the mess. Just one of those timeless traditions. Great that the day is still remembered in the Oz Army. cheers Gman

Anyone know what happened to the Comets ? I assume they have been quietly retired by now ? Could be fantastic to invest in some fascinating technology from the 40's. cheers GmanOz

On this subject, does anyone have information as to how effective the Stuka was in the Battle for France ? I have heard hearsay that it was vastly overrated as an AT weapon. Some scuttlebutt has suggested it only took out a total of 30 French tanks in the whole of the campaign for all they lost. I did wonder as from the word I have read and heard previously, the French armour was often stopped by air attacks. anyone able to help with this information ? Thanks Gman

As has been said previously, its nice to have a well done campaign game. i find that replayability of a game is closely linked to having a worthwhile campaign, even if it is a simplistic model such as in M1TP2. Sadly many companies are taking the shortcut of just using an online MP game instead. Nice if you are young and single and have the spare time to committ. Not all of us are into the online MP gaming however, which means I may never get to see how great Red Orchestra really is. Pity really, but then its a huge extra step to do a campaign game and I can understand wanting to keep costs down with just an online game. cheers Gman

Hey Ssnake, I liked Steel Beasts, but miss the campaign and dynamic game play of M1TP2. Had heard SB Pro didn't have this ? Have I misread things ? I onlyhave the standard version personally. The replay value of a campaign mode that has dynamic scenario options was one of the huge pluses of the whole Microprose stuff. Agreed, I couldn't get into Gunship either. cheers Gman

Is there any similar game out there that allows for the "campaign mode" ? This was an aspect of the game that was decades ahead of its time, have tried other games and the only one that seemed vaguely close was the T72 Balkans one. Found the controls bit buggy in that, not sure how realistic either. Is there anything new on the horizon planned for tank sims ? especially that might have the great campaign or ongoing mission mode ? I know it must be an incredibly difficult thing to model however. cheers Gman

I seem to recall the traverse on the M10 was abyssmal in actual fact. Anyone else know more details ? Am sure I read somewhere that the traverse was about 2-3 minutes for a revolution ? Supposedly the worst in WWII ? Would the Western allies have been better served by an SU85 style vehicle ? far better armour (slope wise) and enclosed too, great mobility. Available in similar time span to the M10 also. better lower silhouette surely ? Interesting thought process. cheers Gman

Oops by superior I do mean in gun performance, I was referring to penetration thanks Gman.

I stand corrected on the T-28, sounds bit like the Panther being a medium to the Germans but comparable to everyone else's heavy. Likewise the T-28 was heavier than most people's mediums, thus my error. I suspect that armour quality wise, the T-35 would have been far poorer at keeping out 37mm shells than the T-34 Kingsargent, do you have any details on the comparison for the comparative performances of French 47's and German 37's in the Battle for France 1940 ? My understanding is that French 47s (NOT necessarily 37s as you rightly pointed out) and French armour thickness were both far superior to the German 37mm and Pz III and Pz IV's armour thickness at this time. Reference this for an example http://www.tarrif.net/ thanks Gman

Few problems with this post. Firstly, the initial PzIII's had 37mm, the initial PzIV's had the 75mmL24, it wasn't til 1943 IIRC that the Pz III came out with the short 75mm. Every reason to have both side by side in 1940, actually, when the French had arguably most of the best tanks available, firepower and armour wise. I think you will find if you look carefully enough that the German 37 was clearly inferior to the 2pdr and the French 47, the comparable medium tank guns at this time, also. Leo is I think referring to the later models perhaps with the 75mm L43, the F8 or G model Stug III. And I believe that with the extremely capable slope to the T34's original 45mm armour, it was almost as good as a 1939 or 1940 Heavy tank. Far better if you compare it with the armour of a T28 or T35 which were much heavier but far inferior in armour protection if not thickness. cheers Gman