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This is the Morris Commercial 15-cwt R-Type Truck on display at the Imperial War Museum Duxford in their Land Warfare Exhibit.
Served with 20 Company Royal Army Service Corps in the late 1930s, early part of World War Two. The vast majority of R Type trucks were lost at Dunkirk.
Staff Car employed by Field Marshal Montgomery of Alamein.
This staff car was used by Montgomery as his personal chauffeur-driven transport while commanding the British Eighth Army in North Africa, Sicily and Italy. Attached to his Tactical Headquarters (The Monty Caravans), ‘Old Faithful’ was used by Montgomery to visit the troops in the field, and from it he gave his famous ‘pep’ talks that did so much for morale. When Monty was chosen to command the D-Day landings and returned to the UK the vehicle remained behind and contunued as the pesonal transport for subsequent 8th Army commanders.
This Quick Fire 25 pounder Mark II Gun on a Mark I carriage was on display at the Imperial War Museum in London. This 25 pdr field gun was used by 11 Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, when it fought at Ruweisat Ridge on 2 July 1942.
The idea of combining the dual role of gun and howitzer arose in 1918, and was developed between the two World Wars. A pilot model was built in 1930, the first 25-pounder appeared in 1935 and the final stages of development were hastened by the outbreak of the Second World War. Initial production was slow, but by 1945, over 12,000 had been manufactured. The 25-pounder was probably the most outstanding field artillery piece used by British and Commonwealth forces in the Second World War, being durable, easy to operate and versatile. The Army’s basic close support artillery weapon, it doubled as an anti-tank gun in the North African Campaign, and was also employed in jungle, airborne and mountain roles. The 25-pounder remained the standard British divisional field gun until 1967, but the type saw service in the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971, in the Middle East in 1973 and was still in widespread use in the mid-1970s.
Principal vehicle used by the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) between 1940 and 1943
This vehicle was discovered in the Egyptian desert in 1980 and recovered by the LRDG Association (now defunct). Its markings identify it as Truck No. 8 of W Patrol, one of the Long Range Desert Group’s original New Zealand patrols. W Patrol was disbanded in December 1940, before any major missions were undertaken, and the patrol’s vehicles were redistributed to the newly created G Patrol. The vehicle could therefore have been lost in the latter half of 1940, or more likely in early to mid 1941 when operated by G Patrol (but before they had chance to update the vehicle’s markings). The trucks were all given Maori nicknames. This one was named by Trooper Clarkie Waetford of W Patrol as Waikaha, where his grandparents grew up in New Zealand.
The T-34, was a Soviet medium tank, which had a profound and lasting effect on the field of tank design. At its introduction in 1940, the T-34 possessed an unprecedented combination of firepower, mobility, protection and ruggedness.
After an unsuccessful attempt to develop a new, better armoured and armed tank, the T-43, Soviet command made the decision to retool the factories to produce an improved version of the T-34. Its turret ring was enlarged allowing a larger turret to be fitted and thus the larger 85 mm gun. This tank was called the T-34-85.
This T-34-85 is on display at the Imperial War Museum in London.
Rear view of the tank.
Close-up of the tracks.
The development of the T-34-85 led directly to the T-54 and T-55 series of tanks, which in turn evolved into the later T-62, T-72, and T-90 that form the armoured core of many modern armies.
When I was last in Manchester, I had some time so I popped over to the Salford Quays to visit the Imperial War Museum North.
This is a fascinating museum, but unlike London and Duxford there aren’t quite as many vehicles or aircraft.
They have lots of smaller items and the displays are both fascinating and informative.
They do have a Matilda II infantry tank.
This is a British WW2 infantry support tank, crew of 4, powered by two Leyland 6-cylinder diesel engines, armed with 2pdr gun and machine gun.
This tank served with various Royal Armoured Corps training regiments within Britain.
I do have an old 15mm metal model, but that is still on the workbench since I bought it in the 1990s, typical wargamer!
Guarding the entrance to the Imperial War Museum Duxford is an A34 Comet Tank.
Imperial War Museum Duxford is a branch of the Imperial War Museum near Duxford in Cambridgeshire, and on a recent visit I was able to take a range of photographs of the aircraft and tanks on display.
The Comet was was a British cruiser tank that first saw use near the end of the second world war. It was designed as an improvement on the earlier Cromwell tank, mounting the new 77 mm HV gun in a new lower profile and part-cast turret. This gun was effective against late-war German tanks, including the Panther at medium range, and the Tiger.
I do have some of the Flames of War plastic models, but they are currently still in their boxes.
I’ve always found the comparative photographs showing photographs from the 1940s and how those same locations look today. In the past you would have needed to physically go the locations to take those comparative photographs, however with tools such as Google Street View you can now find the same locations online.
The harbours of Weymouth and Portland were one of the biggest departure points for US troops with over 500,000 military personnel, including support staff, and 144,000 vehicles.
This is a circa late May or early June 1944 photograph of U.S. Rangers marching through Weymouth in Dorset, en route to board landing ships for the invasion of France.
Using Google Street View you can get a similar contemporary view of Weymouth.
You can actually see very little has changed since 1944, the hotel has changed its name and the buildings have been repainted, but the substance of the buildings have changed very little.
Went for a walk along Sand Bay (near to Weston super Mare). I find it interesting that there is a pillbox on the beach, as you wouldn’t have thought that this coastline was under threat of German invasion back in 1940.
However doing some research about the pillbox, I came to realise that the British in 1940 did believe that invasion may come from the South West.
The Taunton Stop Line was a defensive line in south west England. It was designed “to stop an enemy’s advance from the west and in particular a rapid advance supported by armoured fighting vehicles (up to the size of a German medium tank) which may have broken through the forward defences.
The Taunton Stop Line ran north-south for nearly 50 miles through Somerset, Dorset and Devon, roughly from Axminster to Chard along the River Axe, then along the Great Western Railway to Ilminster, the railway and Chard Canal to Taunton, the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal to Bridgwater, and the River Parrett to the coast near Highbridge.
A beach battery at Portished, was built to protect the entrance to Avonmouth Docks. It was the first such installation to be become operational in the area, the battery containing two 6″ guns. Similarily the Severn Fixed Defences were designed to protect the Bristol Channel with batteries established at Brian Down and on Steep Holm and Flat Holm.
In October 1940 it was announced that the Severn Fixed Defences, a string of gun batteries, designed to protect the mouth of the Severn, would be established at Brean Down, on both Steep and Flat Holm, and on the Glamorgan coast at Lavernock Point.
Just like Brean Down further south along the coast, weapons were tested at Sand Point (next to Sand Bay) during the Second World War. Some were so strange that they were never seen after their initial trials.
With the release of the Bolt Action Sealion Campaign book it got me thinking about all the possibilities of a German invasion of Somerset… okay probably would have been impossible, but even so….
The Daimler Scout Car, known in service as the “Dingo” (after the Australian wild dog), was a British light fast 4WD reconnaissance vehicle also used in the liaison role during the Second World War. In 1938 the British War Office issued a specification for a scouting vehicle. Out of three designs submitted by Alvis, BSA and Morris, the one by BSA was selected. The actual production was passed to Daimler, which was a vehicle manufacturer in the BSA group of companies. The vehicle was officially designated Daimler Scout Car, but became widely known as Dingo, which was the name of the competing Alvis prototype.
I bought some SDD models in the 1990s.
Not sure how I will use these, potentially desert models or as wrecks.
Another option would be to use them as part of my modern English Civil War background.
