M10 mounted MG

[mjkerner]

Reminded me that a great book on 82nd Airborne is an autobiography by Ross S Carter called "Those Devils in Baggy Pants". He served in Africa, Italy, Normandy and the Ardennes. One of only 3 (I think) of his original platoon to survive. He wrote the book while dying of cancer aged 28.

Great book. Had the raggedy-assed paperback (Dell or Ballantine) as a kid in the mid 1960's. Still have it. In later years, my older brother, who was in both 82nd and 101st Division before and after his tour in VN with the 1st Air Cav, went into law practice with a guy whose father was in Carter's platoon. That guy had a lot of stories!

[John Kettler]

Michael Emrys,

First hedgerow cutter equipped M10 I've ever seen, and what a fabulous modeling subject!

altipueri,

Two along the same lines. Francis Gary Powers, who survived being shot down by an SA-2 over Sverdlovsk, Russia and imprisonment for a time there, died in a news helicopter crash. German nightfighter extraordinaire (121 four engine bomber kills) survived operations, British counterfire and nasty Mosquito nightfighters, too, only to be killed right after the war when a truckload of oxygen tanks fell onto his car while driving.

Regards,

John Kettler

[Sublime]

Audie Murphy dying in that plane crash...

[Michael Emrys]

First hedgerow cutter equipped M10 I've ever seen, and what a fabulous modeling subject!

I've since come across one more such vehicle pic in Zaloga. The caption says that it was in time for Cobra. No doubt there will now be an outcry for it to be included in the game. I don't know...possibly in the Odds 'n' Sods pack, but with outrageously high rarity.

Michael

[MikeyD]

says it was near Normandy, but Zaloga says the picture was taken at Düren.

One hint is the thick coat of winter grime, the sandbags and the bare leafless trees in the background. What an M10 would be doing with culin hedgecutter on the wrong side of the Rhine is beyond me. That's not a standard hedgecutter design either, maybe its more of a barricade plow.

[Michael Emrys]

That's not a standard hedgecutter design either, maybe its more of a barricade plow.

Actually, as Zaloga's selection of pics shows, there were several standard designs although the majority of the ones installed were of the design we are most familiar with. But he definitely shows several vehicles of different types with the design in that pic. They all, except for the M10 in question, appear to have been photographed around the time of Cobra.

Michael

[Michael Emrys]

BTW, there is a somewhat better image of the M10 on p. 196 here. It's the second pic on the page.

Michael

[altipueri]

Great link.

Other things that seem interesting, to me at least:

p160 - German? helmets on the front of US tank.

p162 - re-positioned 50 cal

p163 - 11% 1945 tank casualties due to panzerfaust or similar

p196 - that M10 with Cuilin still attached was in Duren 24 Feb 45

p203 - US white tank stars painted over

p221 - M10 with 50 cal

p223 - US put German markings on tank (M5) and used German speakers in a ruse

p243 - use of dozer blade Shermans to lead assault to get some protection from panzerfaust

p243 - Pershing hit by 88mm from 200 yards, ammo set off, but crew survived.

[akd]

I've since come across one more such vehicle pic in Zaloga. The caption says that it was in time for Cobra. No doubt there will now be an outcry for it to be included in the game.

M10 with Rhino attachment is in the game already.

[JonS]

p163 - 11% 1945 tank casualties due to panzerfaust or similar

The British also noted an escalating percentage of tank casualties in 1945 being caused by fausts and mines and the like. They concluded that the fausts and mines weren't becoming more effective, but that the Germans had basically run out of guns and tanks. So, by default, most tank cas were being caused by what the Germans had left. Which was fausts, schrecks, and mines ...

[MikeyD]

I recall an early Pentagon report stated the first year of the Iraq occupation 50% of U.S. casualties were due to RPG. That number doesn't remotely resemble the fighting 5-6 years in. Wars evolve. I recall someone once describing the move beyind the Rhine as German forces contracting in on themselves and concentrating, making the fighting more brutal. I'm not sure it that would apply if, instead of contracting, they're losing hundreds of thousands of fighters on the field.

[altipueri]

Fighting on interior lines, plus it's their country rather than someone else's.

Wasn't 2011 first year no US casualties in Iraq sine 2003 (or maybe one road accident).

Do any of you read a column called "War Nerd" written by Gary Brecher on a thing called "The Exile" ?

[JonS]

There were 54 US military deaths (34 of which were hostile fatalities), and 227 wounded, in Iraq in 2011

[mjkerner]

Fighting on interior lines, plus it's their country rather than someone else's.

Wasn't 2011 first year no US casualties in Iraq sine 2003 (or maybe one road accident).

Do any of you read a column called "War Nerd" written by Gary Brecher on a thing called "The Exile" ?

Yup, a very interesting guy. Always a great read. Sometimes I think he is brilliant, and at other times that he's smoking crack.

[Vanir Ausf B]

He could be both.

[altipueri]

There were 54 US military deaths (34 of which were hostile fatalities), and 227 wounded, in Iraq in 2011

Maybe I confused "last year" and "the last year". A site called icasualties shows only one death in the 12 months since November 2011 - assuming it has been updated of course. This would seem to be the number Brecher referred to in his article of about September.

[JonS]

Yeah, that's plausible. icas lists no hostile US fatals in the last 12 months, but it doesn't have any wounded data at all for the last 12 months.

Still, which ever way you quibble it, there seems to be a lot less dying going on in Iraq, which is A Good Thing. There's still ~12 civilians being killed there every day, which is bad, but better than 70-odd per day in '06 and '07.

[Vanir Ausf B]

The reason there have been no US casualties in Iraq recently is that we don't have any troops there anymore, except for embassy guards. The last US combat forces withdrew in December '11.

[JonS]

The British also noted an escalating percentage of tank casualties in 1945 being caused by fausts and mines and the like. They concluded that the fausts and mines weren't becoming more effective, but that the Germans had basically run out of guns and tanks. So, by default, most tank cas were being caused by what the Germans had left. Which was fausts, schrecks, and mines ...

http://www.battlefront.com/community/showpost.php?p=1389960&postcount=17