John Kettler

This looks really good to me. Regards, John Kettler

MIkeyD, Have seen various pics of the many times repainted (including hot pink overall) T-34/85 in some UK park, but not this one. If the tank's self-aware, does it cry inside over what's been done to its proud martial self? Regards, John Kettler

Among most military enthusiasts, the view prevails that the last bayonet charge took place on Mount Tumbledown by the British against dug-in Argentine troops during the South Atlantic War. But I just learned there was one quite successfully employed in the Bosnia-Serbia set-to in 1995 by the French against the Serbs, who had taken UN peacekeeper French soldiers captive by a highly effective ruse de guerre aka dirty trick. The French resorted to the bayonet so as not to potentially shoot their own captive comrades and not only carried the position and inflicted casualties but thoroughly intimidated the Serbs. I'll let an expert military commentator on the correct use and psychological effects of the bayonet do the wrap up. Here is Lance Corporal Jones, of long and distinguished service in many wars with Her and His Majesty's Army, including with "Chinese Gordon" at Khartoum. Regards, John Kettler

For WW I (and maybe mass produced tanks in general), the hands down winner for ugliest, in my view, at least, is the St. Chamond. Not only does is look ugly, stupid and ungainly, but from a functional aspect, it seems optimized for taking core samples out of the far wall of a trench when crossing! The Cromwell baffles me. As a tank that looks martial? Full marks. But as a design I'd want to go to war in? Seems to me that the positive aspects of the Crusader, all those sloping surfaces, were abandoned utterly, resulting in an armored box whose only real armor slope on upper hull and above was the glacis plate, a device for assisting arriving projectiles to hit the driver's plate. with everything else vertical. Compared to a Crusader, the Cromwell was a super tank. Regards, John Kettler

Lucky Strike, It's a new Red Army technique called Instinctual Traffic Control. Trial would have progressed more had the tankisti stopped squishing the traffic directors! On a separate note, I find seeing such a super clean tank disconcerting. Looks for like an overgrown toy than a combat vehicle. Regards, John Kettler

Nektoman, If I understood you correctly, you seem to be saying that some units, such as your Motor Rifle Regiment, did take in raw recruits and train them inside the unit,? And troops requiring specialized skills were trained elsewhere before being assigned to their actual units? If those things are right, then the comedy in question depicted a real practice but in the wrong kind of unit, for if ever there was a unit requiring specialized training, it would be the Strategic Rocket Troops. Have read the SRT, of all the branches of the Red Army, had the top choice when it came to getting the smart recruits, and the exacting nature and danger of the work certainly isn't something I'd let a raw recruit anywhere near. During the Cold War, a mechanic fropped a wrech while working on a Titan II ICBM in its closed silo. The wrench hit something on the way down, bounced into the side of the liquid fueled huge missile, pierced one of the tanks and BOOM! The explosion was so powerful it blew the 50 ton sliding cover clean off the silo. That's with a highly trained missile technician! Regards, John Kettler

Husker2142, Did you ever see, hear or read about shipping raw recruits directly to the receiving unit, rather than going through basic training (or similar) at a large dedicated recruit training facility? Seems like the Red Army of the early 90s and early 2000 was much like the US Army in the aftermath of the Vietnam War--a huge mess, made far worse by a host of high leverage related issues. Regards, John Kettler

BornGinger, Am well aware of that fact, but I wanted to see whether there was any truth to the to me unusual approach to training depicted in that comedy. Regards, John Kettler

This is a first class military technical article from the authoritative Tank Archives. Shows what the Red Army had and then the not pretty process of eventually fielding the RPG-43, as well as a quick look at wartime projects for more advanced grenades that ran out of war. https://www.tankarchives.ca/2021/01/red-armys-first-heat-grenades.html?m=1&fbclid=IwAR2yMG0YLBrjVRwPbStr-E8ePKkJUp5iJFsavdyjelrBgYghQGzCrMISG1A Regards, John Kettler

The July 1, 2:42 AM entry on the page of the Military History Club za' oboronu has an extensive photo spread on the above event held June 26-27 this year. Had no way to share this directly, but here's the page link. https://www.facebook.com/zaoboronu Regards, John Kettler

SAN loss near certainty, but delight certain! 830 paintings covering a multitude of periods and subjects. https://scrolller.com/r/BattlePaintings Regards, John Kettler

On a separate note, brother George has identified this particular Firefly as a Mark IC (Hybrid). It's hybrid because it has a cast glacis and differential drive housing, but all the rest of the tank is welded. Never knew such a thing existed until today, and leave to my eagle eyed brother to a) spot it and b) quiz me about it publicly of the CoC FB page. When I first saw Henkel's, my brain interpreted it as Heinkel's, a decidedly odd thing to put on a public sign on the side of a building. Regards, John Kettler

So many grog types we have on these Forums! Now we must add ad sign grogs to the list. Well done, guys! Does that make this place a laundry or just a vertical space witha highly durable ad on it? Regards, John Kettler

A Canadian 17 Pounder Sherman (Firefly) of the 21st Armoured Regt. (The Governor General's Foot Guards) in Wissel, Germany. March/April, 1945. The tank appears to be fitted with an 8-tube smoke discharger I've never seen before. It's a fine study of a combat vehicle and building damage at excellent resolution. Regards, John Kettler

Here's a short video of Challenger 2s in the field with no extraneous sounds, just the tank sounds alone. Though of no use now, it will be when we finally get the British. Regards, John Kettler