tss Posted November 17, 2000 Share Posted November 17, 2000 Here are few pictures of French tanks in German service in Lappland. Here's one Hotchkiss H-39 near Alakurtti, Salla. Note the tank-friendly terrain in the background. This is what happens when you leave your Hotchkiss overnight in the wrong part of Lappland. The tank-identification grogs can now start arguing what is the thing that tows the 75 mm AT gun. This little Somua S-35 went swimming. I lied in the thread title and the last two pictures are of German tanks in the same area: The crew of this Pz-III went for a little joyride. This picture shows that you shouldn't drink and drive. Again, tank-grogs can spend a nice day trying to identify this. - Tommi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgdpzr Posted November 17, 2000 Share Posted November 17, 2000 OK, regarding the mystery vehicle in the second photo, I don't have my reference material in front of me so I can't specifically identify the vehicle (and I would probably have to reformat my keyboard anyway), but it looks like the little Polish "recon" tankette. That's my guess anyway. Thanks for the pictures. [This message has been edited by jgdpzr (edited 11-17-2000).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Weiss Posted November 17, 2000 Share Posted November 17, 2000 Aw-ite, I seen enough of this. Where precisely, is Lappland? Now, I've heard of lapdancing. First time I went to Florida about 12 years ago. For a dollar or two a feller could be made to feel right welcome. But these Lappland stories I keep hearing tend to overshadow other places I'm more familiar with like Russia, Germany, Rumania, Italy, Hungary, or even Lithuania, Latvia, or Ukraine. Now, what is in Lappland that would interest a feller? Why would one want to visit Lappland? Does Lappland have lappdancing? What do Lappland women look like? What is the famous food of ole Lappland? Is there a flag of Lappland? Should somehow CM2 wind up being all about Lappland then the rest of us should be at least casually familiar with the place and able to find it on a map. ------------------ "Gentlemen, you may be sure that of the three courses open to the enemy, he will always choose the fourth." -Field Marshal Count Helmuth von Moltke, (1848-1916) [This message has been edited by Bruno Weiss (edited 11-17-2000).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sergei Posted November 17, 2000 Share Posted November 17, 2000 Does the vehicle towing the 75mm piece belong German or Finnish army? Bruno; Lapland (or Lappland or Lapp) was the battlefield of Lapland's war in fall 1944-early 1945. It was a result of Finnish separate peace with Soviets. A short description can be found from http://www.hkkk.fi/~yrjola/war/finland/summary.html at the end of the page. Lapp is the northernmost province of Finland. Reindeers, silly natives, swamps, mosquitoes and such. And they claim that the Real Santa Claus lives there. That's probably why Germans wanted to go there in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tss Posted November 17, 2000 Author Share Posted November 17, 2000 Sergei wrote: Does the vehicle towing the 75mm piece belong German or Finnish army? Finnish. The scan is not so good but I didn't want to get too big jpegs. In the original picture it is clear that the riders have Finnish uniforms (or at least not German uniforms) but the jpeg is a little fuzzy. Mind you, this information is now enough to identify the thing. Bruno; Lapland (or Lappland or Lapp) was the battlefield of Lapland's war in fall 1944-early 1945. Also, Germans (and Finns) tried to attack to Murmansk (Kirov) railroad in Fall 1941. Those attacks were stopped. Germans had two independent panzer batallions in the forests, one that had mostly Pz-I and Pz-II tanks with a few Pz-IIIs thrown in and the other had captured Hotchkiss and Somua tanks. One of the batallions, Panzer Abeteilung 40 z.b.V. (that with German equipment) was sent to Norway for refitting in 1943 and it became a part of 25th Panzer Division that was practically destroyed in Ukraine during Winter 1944. The fact that two of the above pictures (the tipped Hotchkiss and the Somua) were taken in September 1944 should be enough to convince anybody that it was a sideshow front. - Tommi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marco Bergman Posted November 18, 2000 Share Posted November 18, 2000 The tractor is a Russian STZ-3 Komsomolets, probably captured in the initial Russian invasion. Introduced 1937 Weight 4T Max speed 25 mph Later replaced by turretless T60s & T70s and halftracks. The thirsty tank appears to be a Pz-II. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Croda Posted November 18, 2000 Share Posted November 18, 2000 HEY! That last one, in the snowbank, is PENG'S Car! So that's where he's been all this time! ------------------ "Nuts!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dittohead Posted November 18, 2000 Share Posted November 18, 2000 Nah, that would be Ted Kennedy's tank in the drink. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tss Posted November 19, 2000 Author Share Posted November 19, 2000 Marco Bergman wrote: The tractor is a Russian STZ-3 Komsomolets, probably captured in the initial Russian invasion. Yup, it is one of those junior communists. Though the Soviets used several different designations for the tractors and those that were captured by Finns in Winter War or in 1941 were designated as A-20. The bogged (or should I say seriously marshed or swamped) tank is a Pz-II according to the caption of the picture. - Tommi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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