Facebook: Friends of the Tank Museum

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

Thank you both.

[steve_holmes_11]

Great first hand info.

Being somewhat taller than average, I've paid some interest in the height limits for soldiers down the years.
That's obviously a serious factor now we've taken to shutting our fighting men inside their weapon systems.

It began with a visit to HMS Victory aged 7 when I wasn't able to stand up in the gun-decks, or even on the staircases.
I then built an Airfix Spitfire which had a potted biog of a pilot - about my height at the time, who could only fit in by omitting his parachute.

I soon learned that height was the ideal excuse for dodging unpleasant duties like ball turret gunner or tunnel rat.

The one that really bewildered me were Napoleonic era recruiting posters (Either Imperial War Museum, or Museum of London).
I was quite shocked to see most regiments had minimum and maximum height limits.
I can almost imagine this for the line infantry (don't want those lanky chaps making the unit look untidy).
I was quite surprised to see the same in force for the heavy cavalry and even the guards.

Turns out the regulations would have confined me to light cavalry.

I wondered why they had these upper limits (which I son learned were rarely enforced).
Guesswork wondered about the size of barracks bunks, or some sop to the military tailors.

It turns out to be some chunk of Georgian medical wooo.
The thinking being that somebody of exceptional stature must be lacking in some other factor.
Either weak minded (no comments please), or lacking in physical strength.

I'll now return this thread to its rightful subject matter.

[Raider4]

The photo of Paul sitting on the front of the tank, also helps me to  'get my head around' the size of some of the tanks themselves.
Bigger than I'd imagined.

Well, some are, some aren't .

Went to Bovington a fair few years ago, was stunned at how small things like the Panzer III and Cromwell were. Both had crews of 5. How?

Then you see the Panther and Jagdpanther, and boy are they huge!

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

Lots of units had heights limits and average heights have been going up for the last century at least, as we get better diet. Pre WWII the Grenadier Guards had one of 5'10" (may be more) and City of Westminster Police used to require officers to be at least 6'.

[fsn]

Simone Segouin, mostly known by her codename, Nicole Minet, was only 18-years-old when the Germans invaded. Her first act of rebellion was to steal a bicycle from a German military administration, and to slice the tires of all of the other bikes and motorcycles so they couldn't pursue her. She found a pocket of the Resistance and joined the fight, using the stolen bike to deliver messages between Resistance groups.

She was an extremely fast learner and quickly became an expert at tactics and explosives. She led teams of Resistance fighters to capture German troops, set traps, and sabotage German equipment. As the war dragged on, her deeds escalated to derailing German trains, blocking roads, blowing up bridges and helping to create a German-free path to help the Allied forces retake France from the inside. She was never caught.

Segouin was present at the liberation of Chartres on August 23, 1944, and then the liberation of Paris two days later. She was promoted to lieutenant and awarded several medals, including the Croix de Guerre. After the war, she studied medicine and became a pediatric nurse. She is still going strong, and this October (2021) she will turn 96. ❤️

[Steve J]

Wow, what a life!

[Techno II]

What Steve said !

I'm in awe of people like that.

Cheers - Phil.

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

Fortuneatly we didn't need to do that sort of thing

[paulr]

 

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

This may well be of interest :-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFkFTtWQfXo&fbclid=IwAR2xqeqQzNBiYQzeRrkUrRVPwCWWZHXBTPKGgyAeGDnI-c0bId9BozJ38Z8

[fsn]

The British had seen the potential of German ground attack aircraft in the 1940 campaign, and put work into providing tanks with their own air defence.  This is a twin Bren "Motley mount", which could be fitted to trucks and jeeps as well as tanks.  Generally, the 100rd drum would be used in the AA role, but the Bren was limited by its relatively low rate of fire – good in a ground gun, but bad for AA – and its rifle calibre.  The solution would be to move to dedicated AA vehicles with weapons of at least 20mm calibre


Presumably you would need to take a tree stump with you

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

Presumably you would need to take a tree stump with you

Not on a tank you oik !

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Telegraph poles???

[Techno II]

I agree, Will.....

Circa 1190 AD, I reckon.

Thank goodness it's illegal to wear shorts like that in our enlightened age. 

Cheers - Phil 

[steve_holmes_11]

Can I get one for my Skoda?

[OldenBUA]

It has an interesting 'shoestring, handlebars and farm implements' approach in the design.

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

Not checking - but from memory most crusiers had provison to stow the mount - but given the tiny size of the turrets didn't. Never found any record of the abortion being used !

[fsn]

Does look like a Dad's Army sort of affair. 

[steve_holmes_11]

It has an interesting 'shoestring, handlebars and farm implements' approach in the design.

Not the worst thing I've seen form that era.
Relatively compact - I assume the fixing point attaches to the turret tear or turret bustle.
Take a look at the standard issue "bren" AA mount for a Meccano hobbyists nightmare.

I am contemplating how it might have performed in a forced marriage with a Bren Carrier.
The early carrier platoon had groups of three: Command, ATR and Mortar.
Consider replacing ATR with a "Gun" carrier mounting twin Brens on this mount.

An ideal mount for what-if duelling against the Italian tankettes.

[fsn]

Yeah, but you'd still have to take the tree stump.