Facebook: Friends of the Tank Museum

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

Its an M10, with the turret reversed I suspect !

[Westmarcher]

Beat me to it. I'm also thinking M10 Achilles with turrets reversed (to provide some shelter over the front hatches?).

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

Could still be the Wolverine, cant tell from the angle. Also 4 would indicate an attached SP AT troop.

[fred.]

Yes, could well be a M10 variant.

The left hand most one is the most confusing, with the shape, and were the chap is. The shape could be the rear. But I'm not sure where the man is. It looks more like an armoured car in many ways - apart fro the tracks. 

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

Guy on the vehicle is in the co-drivers hatch

[fred.]

Ah. In front of the turret then - the dark patches on the turret back, look like open hatches, which was throwing me. It look like the chap was in those.

[Westmarcher]

The counter-weight at the rear of the turret is shown below and at 0:20 on this video and at 1:13, you can see the same shape of hatch and mudguard.

[fsn]

Jordan unveils underwater museum of military vehicles.
Ninteen decommissioned pieces of military hardware have been submerged at depths of up to 92ft (28m)
The vehicles, imitating a battle formation, have been stationed at a coral reef in the Red Sea.

Local authorities said the display offers a "new type" of museum experience for visiting tourists.

[Westmarcher]

What will archaeologists and future historians and geologists think when they find these 10,000 years into the future?  

[Techno]

The human race had managed to develop gills ? 

Won't the vehicles all get covered in coral ?...Mind you, there doesn't seem to be much evidence of a reef in those piccies.
I don't think they are decommissioned.....I reckon they're armed with torpedoes...... ready to sink any tankers that go over them.

Cheers - Mr Fake-News (Conspiracy Theorist)

[Ithoriel]

What will archaeologists and future historians and geologists think when they find these 10,000 years into the future?  

What they always think when faced with the inexplicable ... "This is clearly a ritual site"

[fsn]

The A22 Churchill had been designed in haste, and early versions were notorious for mechanical problems. As a result, several replacement projects were considered, based on up-armored versions of the A27 Cromwell, then the best regarded of the British cruiser tanks available. The most viable – and the only one to make it off the drawing board – was the A33 Excelsior. This was essentially a Cromwell hull up-armoured to the same standard as the Churchill, but as the Cromwell suspension would be unable to take the increased weight, the first prototype used the suspension and tracks, The second prototype used widened Cromwell track and suspension, and different armoured side skirts. However, by this point many of the issues of the Churchill had been resolved, and the project was dropped. This is the second prototype, which survives at the Tank Museum

[Raider4]

What they always think when faced with the inexplicable ... "This is clearly a ritual site"

Ahh, Time Team at it's peak.

[fsn]

Two Churchill AVRE crewmen holding one of the 290mm demolition rounds fired by the AVRE's Petard gun. Intended to demolish bunkers and obstacles, the "flying dustbin" was a low velocity "Spigot Mortar" similar to a giant version of the infantry PIAT. It was loaded by breaking the barrel upwards like a shotgun and the new round upward through a sliding hatch that replaced one of the usual hull crew hatches. Postwar Churchill AVREs replaced the Petard with a more conventional 165mm gun

[fsn]

From the Facebook Group "Royal Navy During WWII"

THE BRITISH NAVY AND FLEET AIR ARM COMBINE WITH US LANDING FORCES IN NORTH AFRICAN LANDINGS. 6-9 NOVEMBER 1942.
Seen from the bridge of HMS FORMIDABLE are HMS RENOWN, NELSON, DUKE OF YORK and VICTORIOUS.

That's two versions of the Seafire, and is that an Albacore?



THE ROYAL NAVY SUPPORTING ALLIED FORCES IN NORMANDY, JUNE 1944.
Starboard 4 inch guns of HMS BELFAST open fire on German positions around Ver-sur-Mer on the night of 27 June 1944.

[pierre the shy]

From the Facebook Group "Royal Navy During WWII"

THE BRITISH NAVY AND FLEET AIR ARM COMBINE WITH US LANDING FORCES IN NORTH AFRICAN LANDINGS. 6-9 NOVEMBER 1942.
Seen from the bridge of HMS FORMIDABLE are HMS RENOWN, NELSON, DUKE OF YORK and VICTORIOUS.

That's two versions of the Seafire, and is that an Albacore?

Yes its an Albacore - if you look closely you can see the back of the canopy between the folded wings.

According to David Brown's "Carrier Operations of WW2" Formidable's air group for the Torch landings consisted of the following FAA units:

885 Squadron - 6 Seafire IIC
888 Squadron - 12 Martlet II
893 Squadron - 12 Martlet IV
820 Squadron - 12 Albacore

Martlet was the British name for the Grumman Wildcat.

[steve_holmes_11]

Yes its an Albacore - if you look closely you can see the back of the canopy between the folded wings.

According to David Brown's "Carrier Operations of WW2" Formidable's air group for the Torch landings consisted of the following FAA units:

885 Squadron - 6 Seafire IIC
888 Squadron - 12 Martlet II
893 Squadron - 12 Martlet IV
820 Squadron - 12 Albacore

Martlet was the British name for the Grumman Wildcat.

By some accounts the Albacore was less popular than the Swordfish that it was intended to replace.

Given that it's a half squadron of Seafires, is it a sensible assumption that they were intended for a reconaissance role?

[pierre the shy]

After battling through most of 1942 still being equipped with mainly Fulmars and Sea Hurricanes the FAA was keen to use their new Seafires starting out with Operation Torch. I think they would be in limited numbers due to it being their operational debut...but they were seen as 100% fighters.

Unfortunately due to their narrow track undercarrage Seafires had a very high attrition rate whenever flying off carriers from 1942 to 1950 (FR Mk 47's flew in the Korean War) but they were a superb fighter when in the air.

[fsn]

Battle of Amiens. A dump of German artillery guns and howitzers captured by the British Fourth Army, 27 August 1918. One in foreground was captured by the Australian Corps (note a message scribbled on the barrel - "Captured by Anzac Corps. What about the Tanks?"). Those in the foreground are all 21 cm Mörser 16 heavy howitzers.

Creator: McLellan, David (Second Lieutenant) (Photographer).

[fsn]

A British Mark IV female tank, captured and used by the Germans, blown up by a mine and destroyed by French artillery. North of Perthes, 2 October 1918.

Creator: French official photographer.