| Wolfhag | 22 Jul 2016 10:40 a.m. PST |
As heroic tales of civilians continue to emerge since the failed coup attempt in Turkey, one story in particular is drawing a lot of attention, anti-coup protesters managed to stop military tanks heading to Istanbul's Ataturk Airport on July 15, the day of the coup, by filling the vehicles' exhaust outlets with their clothes, according to the protestors themselves. link I imagine it would work on WWII tanks too. Wolfhag |
 Legion 4   | 22 Jul 2016 10:45 a.m. PST |
Hmmm … interesting technique … |
| Weasel | 22 Jul 2016 10:48 a.m. PST |
It's only a bad plan if it fails :-) |
| Legion 4 | 22 Jul 2016 10:49 a.m. PST |
Seems to have been effective … |
| Inkpaduta | 22 Jul 2016 10:59 a.m. PST |
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| Weasel | 22 Jul 2016 11:08 a.m. PST |
For once, the battalion laundry squad get a +1 to do something. |
| Mako11 | 22 Jul 2016 11:16 a.m. PST |
Worked for what's his name in Beverly Hills Cop – though he used bananas. |
| Legion 4 | 22 Jul 2016 12:06 p.m. PST |
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| Wolfhag | 22 Jul 2016 12:07 p.m. PST |
From "Tank and AFV News" website:
Tank Warfare on the Eastern Front: An Interview with Robert Forczyk How do your experiences as an armor officer shape the way you approach your historical writing? I learned a great deal about operating, fixing and breaking tanks that I never could have learned from a book. For example, did you know that you can knock out a tank with a T-shirt? I found out the hard way, when somebody's T-shirt got ingested into my air cleaner boxes, which starved the engine to the point that it died and we couldn't re-start it. Finally, we found a T-shirt plugging the air intake. I learned that little things can often have big impacts. Wolfhag |
| Legion 4 | 22 Jul 2016 12:11 p.m. PST |
Hmmm … so you're saying that this guy is saying because he had previous experience with tanks he knew what to do. That can't be true … too many on TMP say otherwise ! Because … they read about … don't you know ?  |
| PrivateSnafu | 22 Jul 2016 12:33 p.m. PST |
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| SteveZodiac | 22 Jul 2016 1:29 p.m. PST |
That only works if they aren't shooting at you! |
| cwlinsj | 22 Jul 2016 1:30 p.m. PST |
This also works.
…although it may be a promo still of Vin Diesel's Fast & Furious 28
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| Patrick Sexton | 22 Jul 2016 2:10 p.m. PST |
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| Zargon | 22 Jul 2016 2:59 p.m. PST |
That will teach them Crimeans… No wait… That one succeeded. Oh well turkey for dinner again. |
| Mithmee | 22 Jul 2016 6:54 p.m. PST |
Yes you can and Erdogan has done actually that. There was no Coup. |
| Norman D Landings | 23 Jul 2016 1:59 a.m. PST |
I remember reading about early WWII infantry anti-tank tactics – along with Molotov cocktails and the like; spreading petrol-soaked blankets or curtains over the engine cover was advised. I reserve judgement on its efficacy, and I would hide in a cupboard rather then attempt it. |
| Supercilius Maximus | 23 Jul 2016 5:55 a.m. PST |
This also works. World's Worst Hide & Seek competitor? |
| Legion 4 | 23 Jul 2016 9:00 a.m. PST |
LOL ! Some very funny comments. I remember at Inf Ofc Basic in '79. We were each put in a concrete reinforced foxhole. And then an M60 MBT ran over you. And you had to pop-up with an expended LAW and fire at the M60's rear. As it passed. To get us used to when the massive amounts of Warsaw Pact armor rolled across the West Germany border and headed for the Channel ! |
| Mark 1 | 23 Jul 2016 12:00 p.m. PST |
We were each put in a concrete reinforced foxhole. And then an M60 MBT ran over you. And you had to pop-up with an expended LAW and fire at the M60's rear. They seem to have improved the safety of the training program … my father told me that when he was in the tank destroyer command in WW2 they had to dig their own foxhole, get run over by a tank and pull out their bazooka to shoot it in the rear. Imagine the foxhole you'd have to dig to get a full sized bazooka down there with you. And imagine how long it would take to get a bazooka ready to fire at the back of the passing tank. Unlike a LAW you could not prepare the bazooka to fire before popping up. You could not store it vertically if it was loaded (the rocket would fall out the back), so you had to load it AFTER you had popped up out of your foxhole. So in case the implication is not obvious -- that foxhole you dug had to be big enough for TWO of you, in addition to being deep enough for a bazooka, and still had to have sufficient structural integrity to withstand the pressure of the tank rolling over you. And then there was always the question of the second tank… All this for support staff as well as vehicle crewmen. He was trained as a NCO supply clerk, but the crews of the M18 Hellcat TDs were trained to fight tanks with bazookas (and mines) too. My father didn't seem to think much of the tactic. But it seems he found the training quite memorable. -Mark
(aka: Mk 1) |
| Legion 4 | 23 Jul 2016 5:28 p.m. PST |
Yes, I agree with all that Mark. It may been more geared towards making us not be "terrorized" by attacking tanks ? And of course you still had to make sure your LAW back blast area was clear. I.e. the rear of the LAW tube was clearly out of the foxhole. Or you might get a bit "toasted" …  |
| Weasel | 24 Jul 2016 9:15 a.m. PST |
Reminds of the scene in "13th company" or whatever the Russian movie is. The paratrooper sits in the hole, tank drives over and they have to hit it with an anti-tank mine after it crosses. The guy pisses himself and the rest laugh at them, until the sergeant yells "You can  yourself, you can cry for your mother as long as you complete the mission". Good times. |
| Legion 4 | 24 Jul 2016 9:33 a.m. PST |
Sounds like a realistic movie … And no doubt in a combat action that would be a very "tense" situation … Very glad I only had to do it once in training ! |
