grizzlymc wrote: ↑Sun May 31, 2020 4:37 am
Is it just mud or are those Churchills in an odd mix of sand and green?
I think Heffalumps served in Italy.
Officially by mid 1944 it should be plain SCC 15 Olive drab, but possibly SCC2 service colour with SCC7 dark green disruptor, but could also be locally added paint or mud/dust. https://www.mafva.org/british-vehicle-c ... c98ba2045f
Yes there were Elefants in Italy, (& not just Hannibal's!)
I wouldn't place too much credence on that site for information. If your artillery is being overrun by infantry, & HE shell over open sights isn't enough to keep them in check, then a Bren gun isn't going to help much.
Churchills, like Tigers were in North Africa in 1942, so no reason to not be in Sicily and Italy from the start.
Sextons and Achilles are mid 44 onwards vehicles.
There is an anecdote on an American supply officer in Normandy colecting unneeded 105mm shells as a unit changed from Priests to Sextons, about why were they doing it as there was plenty of ammo so supply could not be the only issue.
So he was invited to watch a shoot by a battery of each, the Sextons were getting 1.5 to 2 shells in the air to the Priests 1 due to it being easier and faster to gun handle. The US Officers comment was, want them!
The 25 pdrs ROF was legendary. My father knew a chap whose battery of the honourable Artillery Company in Korea set a 24 hr record the dimensions of which I forget, but it were yuge. Bet the Chinese thought so too.
grizzlymc wrote: ↑Sun May 31, 2020 8:40 am
The 25 pdrs ROF was legendary. My father knew a chap whose battery of the honourable Artillery Company in Korea set a 24 hr record the dimensions of which I forget, but it were yuge. Bet the Chinese thought so too.
The 105mm had a lot more bang I think.
And I think there was a 105mm shell shortage in Normandy.
Etranger wrote: ↑Sun May 31, 2020 7:32 am
I wouldn't place too much credence on that site for information. If your artillery is being overrun by infantry, & HE shell over open sights isn't enough to keep them in check, then a Bren gun isn't going to help much.
Mention of a Grizzly chassis and a consumption rate of a gallon per mile, made me laugh.
Kein Plan überlebt den ersten Kontakt mit den Würfeln. (No plan survives the first contact with the dice.) Baron Mannshed von Wreckedoften, First Sea Lord of the Bavarian Admiralty.
Dunno about the shortage, the change over was planned, but Sextons were not ready for D Day, hence Priests, which were originally a British order from before the US came into the war!
A lot of North African German anecdotes mention the auto loading 25pdrs.
The 105mm had a bigger HE, and longer range, the aggressive RA use of artillery negated the range thing, and rof the shell bang. That and 25pdr not hurting, time for the smashers (5.5'S or the 7.2s).
FreddBloggs wrote: ↑Sun May 31, 2020 8:04 am
Churchills, like Tigers were in North Africa in 1942, so no reason to not be in Sicily and Italy from the start.
Except the 2 Army Tank Brigades weren't deployed to Italy until mid 1944, being kept in North Africa until then. The reason for this is somewhat obscure, although I've seen suggestions that it was considered that the Italian terrain "wouldn't suit" the Churchill. Of course the same could be said for any AFV in the mountains of Italy.
