A rather tired looking Marder III Ausf.M was photographed by a New Zealand soldier at the end of 1944 in Faenza, Italy and either belonged to the 1.Komapnie/Panzerjäger-Abteilung 305, 2.Kompanie/Panzerjäger-Abteiling 715.
It is a late production example with the welded driver’s armored hood, modified towing hooks and welded air intake. This vehicle was probably booby-trapped as it has MINES chalked onto the side along with a barely discernible Balkenkreuz.
With a total of 32 kill rings on the barrel, a Marder III Ausf.M of 1.Kompanie/Panzerjäger-Abteilung 346 awaits it’s fate at a weapons collection dump in Ultrecht, Netherlands, July 1945.
It is another late production with welded air intake (covered) having been camouflaged in a rather fetching Leopard spot pattern. Additional camouflage materials would have been held by the wires which criss-cross the sides (ran through the grab-handles). Other vehicles include a captured Sherman Firefly VC, Volkswagen, Kübelwagen and Italian Fiat/SPA CL30 light truck.
324 pages, including 16 pages of photos.
Hardback book on recycled paper
black end sheets
blood-red cloth binding with inset duotone plate.
Sturmenzeetub!
A Femme Fatale is a mysterious and seductive woman. Whose charms ensnare her lovers in bonds of irresistible desire, often leading them into compromising, dangerous, and deadly situations.
El Guettar, Tunisia
Fallschirmjager:
A Panzerkampfwagen IV Ausf.G of the Deutsche Afrika Korps (Panzergruppe Afrika) having taken a hit and “brewed” up, being inspected by men of the U.S. Army II Corps, 1943.
Instandhaltungtruppen ( maintenance troops ) overhauling Panzer IV Ausf H’s 12-cylinder Maybach HL 120 TRM V12 engine. Circular shafts on engine deck plates mounts internal ventilation fans. Sprocket mount up front has been disassembled as well.
Ausf H model indicated by its turret armor apron and rear muffler design. Tracks sag on its weight along the idlers and road-wheels with retaining pins removed
(which is also common scene depicted on Panzer IVs destroyed in battlefield). Maintenance truck with crane on right is installing replacement gun mount for Panzer IV in the rear.
Panzer IV Ausf H in Ostland, key indicator is Soviet T-34 tracks in middle of front glacis between bow machine gun port on left and driver armor visor flap on right.
The rest of spare tracks on hull and turret are Panzer IV design. Tank numeral 923 indicates 9th Kompanie ( company ), 2nd Zug ( platoon ), 3rd vehicle in platoon. Tank passing in close proximity to entrenched infantry lines, as noted by single sitting infantryman very close to rolling tracks on lower left side. These spare T-34 tracks are in abundance throughout entire Ostland battlefield from destroyed Soviet wrecks and abandoned derelicts.
Surrounded by barbed wire, sandbags and mud, this 60ft trench is barely distinguishable from those occupied by British soldiers fighting in the First World War almost a century ago.
The enormous dugout has been painstakingly recreated by an ex-history teacher in his back garden in Surrey, and the dedicated 55-year-old even spent 24 hours living in its confines with a team of volunteers as part of his efforts to experience life as a WWI soldier.
Andrew Robertshaw and 30 helpers spent a month shifting around 200 tonnes of earth to build the enormous three-room trench, which he hopes will teach people more about the horrific living conditions endured by British troops during the Great War.
The father-of-one has even spent 24 hours living in the hole - which features a kitchen, infantry room, and officers’ dugout - as part of an overnight re-enactment of trench warfare in the garden in Charlwood.
Mr Robertshaw - who acted as a military advisor on the Steven Spielberg epic War Horse - and a band of volunteers dressed up in replica uniforms and used rifles to fire blanks into the countryside during their stint in the trench.
‘My grandfather fought in the war and was wounded three times,’ said the historian, who also runs the Royal Logistics Corps Museum in Deepcut, Surrey.
‘I wanted to show people that the war was about survival and not just about death. When the soldiers weren’t fighting this is how they were living.
‘The most common experience was living in a trench and trying to be as comfortable as possible while living in a hole in the ground,’ he added.
Ashley, is this your dad?
Mags taped together, wonky stock conversion, and painted skulls. Why -_-
Wat. Does it have two muzzle brakes…?
yes <3
BAHAHAHA@two “tank” breaks
Hawker Hunter under restoration at Bruntingthorpe - “Would Suit Enthusiast”
Fallschirmjager:
OH-MEIN-GOTT!!! Look how sexy that Rolls-Royce Avon 203 turbojet engine is…
The Luftwwaffe ‘Mistel’ Program
The Mistel (“Mistletoe”), also known as Beethoven-Gerät (Beethoven Device) and Vati und Sohn (Daddy and Son), was a Luftwaffe composite aircraft, the first such experiments in Nazi Germany concerning composite aircraft of any type were performed with the DFS 230 troop glider as the “lower” component.
It was normally done using established, engine-powered Luftwaffe aircraft such as the Focke-Wulf Fw 56 or the Messerschmitt Bf 109E as the upper component, in an attempt to provide the troop glider with a longer range, than if it was simply towed in the conventional manner.
Later, the technique became more refined, and the bomber component (which was often a new aircraft rather than surplus) was fitted with a specialised 1,800 kg (3,960 lb) warhead.
The final stage of Mistel development was the development of specialised purpose-built jet-powered bomber components, including ones developed from the Messerschmitt Me 262 and Junkers Ju 287 and the entirely new Arado Ar 234. None of these ambitious schemes had left the drawing board before the end of the war.
Plate01: A Junkers JU88 A-4 as a Kampfmistel in the process of being fitted with the warhead, the nose glazing has been removed to the first bulkhead and the arms for the “parasite” aircraft have been attached.
Plate02:A Focke Wulf FW190 F-8/Junkers JU88 G-1 long range combination in Oranienburg 1945, as it was planned for use in Unternehmen Eisenhammer.
Just kidding…
