Random Cool Photo Thread

[Shanghai-Mayne]

Very beginning of 1960s, before they starting wear the green beret.

 

[Smithy]

Might be from the "Lady Be Good"

I read a fascinating book about Lady Be Good a number of years back, excellent read and fascinating.

 

[Smithy]

Republican Polikarpov I-15 Chato during the Spanish Civil War...

 

[Smithy]

Whilst I'm posting Spanish Civil War Chato stuff, this bloke is a legend and I love this photo of him - Republican ace José Falcó (his Catalan surname means “falcon” ) in his Chato during the conflict. He flew an enormous amount against the Condor Legion and survived.

 

[Smithy]

The biggest, baddest, just downright nastiest tank of WWII, the King Tiger. One of these buggers stalled an entire division's advance.

Big? It's over twice as big as an Allied Sherman.

 

[Shanghai-Mayne]

Boeing YF118G, displaying at National AF Museum

 

[Emchisti]

The biggest, baddest, just downright nastiest tank of WWII, the King Tiger. One of these buggers stalled an entire division's advance.

Big? It's over twice as big as an Allied Sherman.

Where? I'm not aware of any Tiger II doing that.

 

[FlakMagnet]

 

[Pilot]

Where? I'm not aware of any Tiger II doing that.

The M-4 Sherman Tank Was Hell on Wheels — And a Death Trap

Fire-prone tank had to outnumber its foes to win

medium.com

 

[Pilot]

BTW , I am producing the Reichsverteidigungs-Jacke, the ones which where shown in several posts were all test jackets .

 

[Emchisti]

The M-4 Sherman Tank Was Hell on Wheels — And a Death Trap

Fire-prone tank had to outnumber its foes to win

medium.com

That doesn't show an incident as described. I'm not aware of any Tiger II doing what was described.

 

[Emchisti]

BTW , I am producing the Reichsverteidigungs-Jacke, the ones which where shown in several posts were all test jackets .

Do you make them to order?

 

[Pilot]

Do you make them to order?

Yes I do!

 

[Smithy]

Where? I'm not aware of any Tiger II doing that.

Sorry it was late when I wrote that and I said a division which was a slight exaggeration.

Hauptscharführer Karl Körner of SS-Pz-Abt.503 held up the advance of the 79th Guards Tank Regiment, as well as the 48th, 49th and 66th Tank Brigades outside of Bollersdorf on the 19th April with his King Tiger (No.311). He initially was supported by 2 others but they retired for resupply and Körner singlehandedly stalled the westerly advance of these units.

 

[Emchisti]

Not quite. Körner was not alone and his actions delayed one attack of the 5th Shock Army and associated tank units. 5th SA launched a large number of actual attacks and reconnaissance-in-force on 19th April.
Körner filed a claim for 11 (or 12) certain and 39 probable tank kills on this day. He was awarded only a fraction of the 'probables' and they were forced to withdraw, leaving a number of their valuable Tiger IIs behind (4 according to some accounts) and a number of the Stugs also engaged.

12GTC war diary states:
"12 Guards Tank Corps:by 18.00 19 April 49 Guards Tank Brigade has captured Prädikow and started a battle for Prötzel. 48 Guards Tank Brigade captured Reichenberg and Ihlow then followed behind 49 GTBr. 66 Guards Tank Brigade and 34 Guards Motor Rifle Brigade after a short artillery barrage took Grunow. West of Grunow enemy was holding a strongly fortified position with antitank weapons."

11th Independent Guards Heavy Tank Brigade was also engaged and lost 21 IS tanks to a variety of causes.

The Corps continued advancing that evening and pushed the Germans out of the area. This is reflected in both Soviet maps of 5 SA and 12 GTC as well as the German 503.

 

[Smithy]

Not quite. Körner was not alone and his actions delayed one attack of the 5th Shock Army and associated tank units. 5th SA launched a large number of actual attacks and reconnaissance-in-force on 19th April.
Körner filed a claim for 11 (or 12) certain and 39 probable tank kills on this day. He was awarded only a fraction of the 'probables' and they were forced to withdraw, leaving a number of their valuable Tiger IIs behind (4 according to some accounts) and a number of the Stugs also engaged.

12GTC war diary states:
"12 Guards Tank Corps:by 18.00 19 April 49 Guards Tank Brigade has captured Prädikow and started a battle for Prötzel. 48 Guards Tank Brigade captured Reichenberg and Ihlow then followed behind 49 GTBr. 66 Guards Tank Brigade and 34 Guards Motor Rifle Brigade after a short artillery barrage took Grunow. West of Grunow enemy was holding a strongly fortified position with antitank weapons."

11th Independent Guards Heavy Tank Brigade was also engaged and lost 21 IS tanks to a variety of causes.

The Corps continued advancing that evening and pushed the Germans out of the area. This is reflected in both Soviet maps of 5 SA and 12 GTC as well as the German 503.

Sorry that's wrong. I see you're using internet pages (and the utter crap Tankarchives site at that) and not the primary sources. Never a good idea. Better to use books which state actual sources and firsthand reports.

I suggest you read Aaron Hamilton's "Bloody Streets" which uses both the actual German and Soviet primary sources including those from the "Tsentral'nyi arkhiv Ministerstva oborony RF"

Googling stuff on the web often leads to a lot of rubbish. Tankarchives.ca which you are quoting is questionable at best - like a lot of stuff on the net.

 

[Emchisti]

No, I have access to the Soviet archives for a start. I don't agree with Tank Archives on a lot of things but we have to take original sources first. The point about the 'Not quite' is that no conclusion, not even the German claims given to Körner, nor the fact that he wasn't alone, reflect your initial post. I've been doing this a long time and this isn't just idle googling, especially given that I've been to that area and studied the Soviet attacks from Kustrin to Berlin. Did the 12 GTC and associated units lose a lot of tanks on and around 19 April? Yeah. Did a lone Tiger single-handedly hold up the Soviet Advance and 'stall' it? Not even close.

 

[Smithy]

No, I have access to the Soviet archives for a start. I don't agree with Tank Archives on a lot of things but we have to take original sources first. The point about the 'Not quite' is that no conclusion, not even the German claims given to Körner, nor the fact that he wasn't alone, reflect your initial post. I've been doing this a long time and this isn't just idle googling, especially given that I've been to that area and studied the Soviet attacks from Kustrin to Berlin. Did the 12 GTC and associated units lose a lot of tanks on and around 19 April? Yeah. Did a lone Tiger single-handedly hold up the Soviet Advance and 'stall' it? Not even close.

Well you obviously don't have access to the primary sources regarding actions on the eastern approaches to Berlin, either from the German or Soviet sides during mid April. Körner stood alone against these combined units for roughly 3 hours stalling the Russian advance towards Berlin and prompting much deliberations amongst Russian forces and even if it was possible to bypass this area.

TBH, I'm too old for this shit now. I used to argue with "keyboard warriors" about things that they didn't know anything about but I just can't be bothered anymore.

You can post all your internet page quotes but I suggest you actually read a book or visit the relevant archives.

 

[Smithy]

Love this photo, Pig gunner, Vietnam '68...

 

[Shanghai-Mayne]

A canned food factory at Ohio, 1942.