tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post438469240553087972..comments2024-03-29T02:32:07.583-07:00Comments on Chant du Départ: Tanks in the ForestOldAFSargehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15935839956936191547noreply@blogger.comBlogger34125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-51180698498613645492020-10-21T17:39:58.119-07:002020-10-21T17:39:58.119-07:00Yup.Yup.OldAFSargehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15935839956936191547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-47502067647890575142020-10-21T17:28:00.731-07:002020-10-21T17:28:00.731-07:00Isolated firefights, that both sides lost.Isolated firefights, that both sides lost.SCOTTtheBADGERhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12859188068159799373noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-43384720529466560902020-10-21T16:43:03.129-07:002020-10-21T16:43:03.129-07:00Nope, I don't remember Connie being in the boo...Nope, I don't remember Connie being in the book. What I had was an early version.<br /><br /><i>Der Spieß</i>, was the German word for their company sergeant major or first sergeant, also known as the die Kompanie-Mutter, the company mother. Literally means "The spear." This may refer to the sergeant of a flintlock-era company having carried a polearm rather than a musket, or it may relate to Latin pilus prior "leading spear," the senior centurion in a cohort.<br /><br />The German characters are accessible via my computer's character map, there are also "alt" codes I can use to enter them. One of the pages on the blog (see the sidebar) has a partial listing of "alt" codes. (So called because you hold down the alt key while entering a number from the number pad on the keyboard, the numbers up top won't work.)OldAFSargehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15935839956936191547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-67403597950650267682020-10-21T16:33:54.204-07:002020-10-21T16:33:54.204-07:00Probably. Not a year goes by that they don't f...Probably. Not a year goes by that they don't find human remains as well.OldAFSargehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15935839956936191547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-50943227510091818822020-10-21T16:11:36.474-07:002020-10-21T16:11:36.474-07:00Do you think there’s still a lot of unexploded ord...Do you think there’s still a lot of unexploded ordinance in there?Williamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05720206407574457665noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-45646964029874858362020-10-21T15:43:46.826-07:002020-10-21T15:43:46.826-07:00With Connie? They knew what would grab our attenti...With Connie? They knew what would grab our attention!<br /><br />Didn’t realize that forest was so thick<br /><br />What was the Spiess again? Nickname for the medic?<br /><br />How do you get all the German characters in there?Williamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05720206407574457665noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-13670769762604369362020-10-21T12:59:23.427-07:002020-10-21T12:59:23.427-07:00Thanks MrG!Thanks MrG!OldAFSargehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15935839956936191547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-13243327250810026762020-10-21T12:48:29.476-07:002020-10-21T12:48:29.476-07:00Hey AFSarge;
I was driving a "Track"...Hey AFSarge;<br /><br /> I was driving a "Track" A 113 based vehicle in the mud and snow through the forest and you ain't kidding, it ain't fun when the vehicle starts sliding and the tracks are spinning and you ain't going in the direction the tracks are spinning....until the tree or rock stops you...Well anyway. then you have to work your way back out...and that ain't fun either...usually involved a lot of manual labor. Excellent storyMrGarabaldihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05768774166065615995noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-36785583809969165132020-10-21T12:03:41.026-07:002020-10-21T12:03:41.026-07:00Imagine the thrill of opening your hatch after a f...Imagine the thrill of opening your hatch after a fire fight and finding ATGM guidance wires all over your tank.<br /><br />Ouch!OldAFSargehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15935839956936191547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-43747205888332619342020-10-21T12:01:05.966-07:002020-10-21T12:01:05.966-07:00The ready ammunition was out in the open. So the l...The ready ammunition was out in the open. So the loader doesn't have to dig around for it.OldAFSargehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15935839956936191547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-45285795003244305782020-10-21T11:52:43.134-07:002020-10-21T11:52:43.134-07:00For all their craftyness, Japanese were just rolle...For all their craftyness, Japanese were just rolled over when they met real tanks with good crews, see Soviet veterans of ETO versus Manchria force... And it is easier to machinegun man running at you with explosives strapped on than one hiding in cover with panzerfaust ready to use...<br />Germans even managed to produce first ATGM, the X-7 Rottkapchen (Red Riding Hood), though its limited use in 1945 was more of a technology demonstration than real threat due to low numbers. Eventually armies after WW2 started to pick up the idea, and rest is just ATGM: Generations TV series :PPaweł Kasperekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17636249014878876718noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-85590324343406978592020-10-21T11:45:17.149-07:002020-10-21T11:45:17.149-07:00Bad luck, driving an old clunker tank that didn...Bad luck, driving an old clunker tank that didn't have wet stowage.a bearhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07871505359143633270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-17948033031174379802020-10-21T11:17:32.992-07:002020-10-21T11:17:32.992-07:00I can well imagine. Standing on the sunlit uplands...I can well imagine. Standing on the sunlit uplands looking down into those forests was enough for me.OldAFSargehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15935839956936191547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-61221887988533549602020-10-21T10:54:33.826-07:002020-10-21T10:54:33.826-07:001964-66 some of us Combat Engineers received real ...1964-66 some of us Combat Engineers received real life training in the Hurtgen Forest. A scary place with lots of unexploded mines and other assorted nasties. Not a fond memory.Well Seasoned Foolhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16670165728759453075noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-33904264794073350532020-10-21T10:21:20.845-07:002020-10-21T10:21:20.845-07:00The battle in the Hürtgenwald was nasty, continued...The battle in the Hürtgenwald was nasty, continued right on through the Battle of the Bulge. We didn't really break through there until the whole German line began to fall back after their Ardennes Offensive was stopped and was rolled back.<br /><br />We shall see what Gammell does, he is resourceful, but he's also young.OldAFSargehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15935839956936191547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-7503290643491920772020-10-21T10:18:10.330-07:002020-10-21T10:18:10.330-07:00Ouch!Ouch!OldAFSargehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15935839956936191547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-51036500252916887162020-10-21T10:17:37.898-07:002020-10-21T10:17:37.898-07:00The Japanese soldier was good at making his limite...The Japanese soldier was good at making his limited resources go further than other armies.OldAFSargehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15935839956936191547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-18867723220226590732020-10-21T10:16:28.070-07:002020-10-21T10:16:28.070-07:00Oh yes, stumps are no fun. The Army back in the &#...Oh yes, stumps are no fun. The Army back in the '70s had a comic book pamphlet on how to knock out a tank, jamming a log between the road wheels works wonders.OldAFSargehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15935839956936191547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-44250355029193286412020-10-21T10:13:45.064-07:002020-10-21T10:13:45.064-07:00Dad was 3rd AD. They were bogged down on a flat fi...Dad was 3rd AD. They were bogged down on a flat field in mud. 88s chewed them up.Skiphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05684179171065794525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-5930374522103207372020-10-21T09:49:05.256-07:002020-10-21T09:49:05.256-07:00It is a bad choice to make - send the experienced ...It is a bad choice to make - send the experienced men to recon and risk losing them or send newbies and use them up as noisy ambush finders. On the one hand, the old hands are better at seeing stuff, but the loss of an old hand is very damaging. On the other hand, Repple-Depple is usually full of FNGs that are just about useless except for human shields or human mine or ambush detectors (in a rather life-ending way,) but their lack of experience means they could miss critical things (like a panzerfaust-carrying German.) Hobson's Choice...<br /><br />And both sides are attriting right and left. This comes down to the siege equation, the old 'It takes 4 attackers to defeat 1 defender' so start and see who runs out of bodies or will-to-fight first. <br /><br />I really hope the Germans get a massive case of surrender going before it's too late. Patton famously said that once you're within 300 yards of the enemy, it's too late for them to surrender. And woods battles rarely have 300 yard distances (well, at the beginning, but maybe after the artillery on both sides clears the trees...)<br /><br />Yay, Gammell is alive! Wonder if he's going to pull a Sgt. York on the enemy? Or if he's going to channel the future Weather Channel and just 'hunker down?' Guess I'll have to wait.Beanshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15293778848879361153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-5430297497219926302020-10-21T09:44:57.086-07:002020-10-21T09:44:57.086-07:00And they roll over as well.And they roll over as well.OldAFSargehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15935839956936191547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-68417134336528050422020-10-21T09:40:09.794-07:002020-10-21T09:40:09.794-07:00Though the Japanese had a bad habit of making real...Though the Japanese had a bad habit of making really awesome anti-tank traps (think the tiger trap out of old movies) and anti-tank trenches and other anti-tank fixed features that funneled American tanks into narrow areas covered by self-propelled explosives (the aforementioned Jap-with-a-bomb) or the limited transverse naval cannon that was dismounted off of some sunk ship. <br /><br />At least the Central Pacific was flat lands so the US tanks didn't have to worry too much about plunging high velocity. Not so the Southeastern and Eastern Pacific islands. The Japanese had few high-powered cannons but used them quite well.Beanshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15293778848879361153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-89708962661617018162020-10-21T09:35:50.007-07:002020-10-21T09:35:50.007-07:00And stumps are fantastic ways to de-track a tank. ...And stumps are fantastic ways to de-track a tank. Especially the American medium tank series with the narrow road track (later suspensions like the Easy-8 had wider tracks and didn't pop off as easy...)Beanshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15293778848879361153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-48938349495043674292020-10-21T09:33:46.080-07:002020-10-21T09:33:46.080-07:00There are some awe- and fear- inspiring videos of ...There are some awe- and fear- inspiring videos of tanks doing the powerslide down muddy hills and on ice easily found on the interwebs. Um... no... nope... nyet... not this fat boy! I'll ride a horse. I'll ride a truck. Ride a tank on mud and ice? Nooooope.Beanshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15293778848879361153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7684531976778247960.post-67808290840428406082020-10-21T08:07:35.401-07:002020-10-21T08:07:35.401-07:00Thanks Rob!Thanks Rob!OldAFSargehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15935839956936191547noreply@blogger.com