This is a British Centaur A27L Command Tank Mk 1 from the Imperial War Museum in Duxford.
Category: imperial war museum duxford
Panzerjager G13 (Hetzer)
Though painted and presented as a Late War Hetzer at the Imperial War Museum in Duxford, this in fact is a Swiss manufactured copy of the German WW2 self-propelled gun/tank destroyer. It had a crew of 4 and was armed with a 75mm gun and one machine gun.
The vehicle is a post war production model made by Skoda for the Swiss Army in 1947 (which designated it G-13). Vehicles were manufactured on the wartime production line and in many cases left over wartime spares were used (so Swiss G-13 vehicle parts sometimes carry Third Reich parts stampings). Indeed anecdotal evidence suggests some hulls were recovered from the battlefield, remanufactured and sold on to the Swiss (who used them until 1970). The main difference between the 38(t) and the G-13 was the use of a Saurer diesel engine, instead of a Tatra petrol engine in the majority of Swiss vehicles. The IWM example has a diesel engine.
M5 Half-Track
The M5 half-track (officially the Carrier, Personnel, Half-track, M5) was an American armored personnel carrier in use during World War II. It was developed in 1942 when existing manufacturers of the M2 half-track car, and M3 half-track could not keep up with production demand. The M5 was supplied to Allied nations (the British Commonwealth, France, and the Soviet Union) under the Lend-Lease.
American WW2 half-tracked armoured personnel carrier, crew of 3 plus capacity for 10 fully equipped troops, powered by 6-cylinder petrol engine, armed with three machine guns.
This one was on display at the Imperial war Museum Duxford.
I do like the concept of this vehicles and it’s not something we see in today’s armed forces.
Churchill AVRE
The Churchill AVRE was one of the so-called ‘funnies’ designed by Percy Hobart specifically for use on the D-Day beaches to break through the German fortified defences. The AVRE was the most successful ‘funny’ type and AVRE vehicles remain in service with the British Army today.
This Churchill AVRE was on display at the Imperial War Museum in Duxford. For many years it had been a target on Sailsbury Plain and then spent a fair few years as a monument on the Normandy beaches.
There was a 15mm resin and metal version of this tank available for Flames of War.
However it has now been replaced for the forthcoming (March 2020) plastic Churchill that can either be a later mark Churchill, the flamethrower Crocodile version or the AVRE version.
In gaming terms most specialist vehicles don’t really work, however this AVRE version with it’s Petard Mortar has a place if your opponent had troops skulking in bunkers.
M3A5 General Grant II (Monty’s)
US WW2 medium tank, powered by twin General Motors 6-71 diesel engines, use by General Montgomery during the battle of El Alamein. The 37mm gun was replaced by a wooden dummy gun barrel to create more room in the turret for extra radio equipment.
This Tank was used by General (later Field Marshal) Sir Bernard Law Montgomery in the Desert Campaign in 1942 – 1943, including the Battle of El Alamein in October 1942 in which the 8th Army defeated Rommel. It continued to be used by Monty during the invasion of Sicily in July 1943, and for the remainder of that year as the 8th Army advanced into Italy. It was attached to 8th Army Headquarters and was used by Montgomery and subsequent Commanders for forward observation on the battlefield. It was “Monty’s wish” that the tank should be handed back to his old Regiment, the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, and in 1948 it was brought from Austria to England and became gate guardian at Budbrooke Barracks outside Warwick.
DUKW
DUKW on display at the Imperial War Museum Duxford.
American WW2 6×6 amphibious truck, crew of 1, powered by GMC 6-cylinder inline petrol engine, armed with one machine gun.
This vehicle entered service on the 1st July 1944. After the war it served with 18 Company RASC (Amphibious). It was finally withdrawn from service in 1974.
The DUKW (colloquially known as Duck) is a six-wheel-drive amphibious modification of the 2½-ton CCKW trucks used by the U.S. military and others during World War II and the Korean War.
British Sexton Self-Propelled Artillery
The 25pdr SP, tracked, Sexton was a self-propelled artillery vehicle of the Second World War.
It was based on Canadian-built derivatives of the American M3 Lee and M4 Sherman tank chassis, which entered production in Canada as the Ram and Grizzly. When Sherman production in the US expanded and supply was no longer a problem, in 1943 it was decided to switch the Canadian production lines to produce the Sexton to give the British Army a mobile artillery gun using their Ordnance QF 25 pounder gun-howitzer. It found use in the Canadian and British Army, as well as numerous other British Empire and associated forces. Just after the war, a number of Grizzly and Sextons were sold to Portugal, who used them into the 1980s.
British WW2 self-propelled artillery vehicle based on an American tank chassis, crew of 6, powered by Continental R-975 9-cylinder radial petrol engine, armed with a 25pdr gun and two Bren light machine guns.
Universal Carrier
The Universal Carrier, also known as the Bren Gun Carrier is a common name describing a family of light armoured tracked vehicles built by Vickers-Armstrong.
Produced between 1934 and 1960, the vehicle was used widely by Allied forces during the Second World War. Universal Carriers were usually used for transporting personnel and equipment, mostly support weapons, or as machine gun platforms. With some 113,000 built in the United Kingdom and abroad, it was the most numerous armoured fighting vehicle in history.
This carrier was on display at the Bovington Tank Museum.
This carrier was part of the Imperial War Museum Duxford Land Warfare Exhibit.
SU-100
The SU-100 was a Soviet tank destroyer armed with a 100 mm anti-tank gun in a casemate superstructure. This is one on display at the Imperial war museum in Duxford.
The SU-100 was used extensively during the last year of World War II and saw service for many years afterwards with the armies of Soviet allies around the world. It is still in active service today in many countries.
Reading the Hot War books from Harry Turtledove has inspired me to think about gaming some scenarios from the books. British Comets and Centurions versus T34-85 and T54 Soviet tanks, along with tank destroyers such as the Su-100. In the book there are also Sherman tanks manned by (West) German forces.
Battlefront make a very nice plastic 15mm version of the SU-100.
IS-2M
This huge IS-2M is on display at the Imperial War Museum in Duxford.
The IS-2 tank first saw combat in early 1944, equipping elite Guards Heavy Tank Regiments of the Red Army. A regiment had 21 IS-2 tanks in four companies of five tanks each and one being used by the regimental commander.The special tank regiments were reserved for important attacks, often to spearhead attempts to break through fortified German positions like anti-tank defence lines and bunkers. The tanks supporting infantry in the assault by destroying bunkers, buildings, dug-in weapons and engaging German armoured vehicles. Once a breakthrough was achieved, lighter and more mobile tanks were used for exploitation and mopping-up. The IS-2 tank first saw action in Ukraine in early 1944 and claimed to have destroyed more than forty Tigers and Elefants for the loss of only eight tanks. While the German heavy tanks could knock out the IS-2, they had no real answer to its 122 mm gun, which easily outgunned them.
The IS-2M is a 1950s modernization of IS-2 tanks.
Reading the Hot War books from Harry Turtledove has inspired me to think about gaming some scenarios from the books. British Comets and Centurions versus Soviet tanks, such as the IS-2 or the IS-3. In the book there are also Sherman tanks manned by (West) German forces.