| Wolfhag | 22 Mar 2021 7:41 a.m. PST |
This seems to be an account of a British Tank Commander in a Lee in N. Africa. I'm not sure of the source.
Wolfhag |
Shagnasty  | 22 Mar 2021 8:38 a.m. PST |
Sounds like an exciting day in a Grant/Lee! |
| donlowry | 22 Mar 2021 9:00 a.m. PST |
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| Bronco Betty | 22 Mar 2021 10:58 a.m. PST |
I think it is probably a humorous piece by an NCO describing the general fubar of life in a war zone. If it were a correct recall of events(with twelve enemy vehicles within 50 yards) he wouldn't have survivied to write the "personal" account. BB |
| Starfury Rider | 22 Mar 2021 11:09 a.m. PST |
The passage is quoted in "Alamein" by Jon Latimer, and attributed to an officer named Ken Giles. There's a preview on Google books but I can't see the footnote that refers to the quote. I thought it was in 'Leakey's Luck' but couldn't find it. Gary |
| robert piepenbrink | 22 Mar 2021 11:12 a.m. PST |
It would not be the first soldier's memoir to have range and numbers just slightly off. Then again, those hostile tanks wouldn't be the first soldiers to go past an enemy and not shoot because they figured anything just standing there like that had to be on their side, or already dead. (Or "but Captain, you said absolute radio silence and no one was to fire until you gave the order.") But yes, of course I'd like a better citation than "British Tank Commander." Thank you, Starfury. Now I'll have to decide how much I'll pay to satisfy my curiosity. |
| Andrew Walters | 22 Mar 2021 11:35 a.m. PST |
It's a disappointing truth we will continue to ignore that the way we drive tanks around in games has nothing to do with how they were actually operated. |
| Starfury Rider | 22 Mar 2021 11:42 a.m. PST |
I'll ask on another forum I'm on, the combination of tanks and lunch items seems quite within its realm! |
| Wolfhag | 22 Mar 2021 12:15 p.m. PST |
Maybe the cheese sandwich is an alternative because the Lee didn't have a BV? Wolfhag |
| Starfury Rider | 22 Mar 2021 12:37 p.m. PST |
Answer found, it's from "Alamein to Zem Zem" by Keith Douglas, which is on archive.org. Page 119. Gary |
| troopwo | 22 Mar 2021 12:48 p.m. PST |
It is a response by a friend to Keith Douglas in his book "Alamein to Zem Zem". Keith was serving in a Crusader and looked over all but gob smacked by the size and number of guns sticking out of a Grant tank. in awe he asked his friend what it was like working with the Grant tanks. He expected a better answer,,,. |
| troopwo | 22 Mar 2021 12:50 p.m. PST |
he was a renowned artist that served through most of the north african campaign with the 8th Army and then died about a week after the Normandy landings. |
| Silurian | 22 Mar 2021 1:48 p.m. PST |
That memoir is outstanding. I couldn't put it down. |
 Legion 4 | 22 Mar 2021 4:52 p.m. PST |
Good example of something like the "The Fog of War" going on in that Grant/Lee … I was an M113 Mech Co Cdr,'87-'89 … but No one handed me a cheese sandwich !!!! 😣 |
| 4DJones | 23 Mar 2021 5:11 a.m. PST |
Keith Douglas is better known as a war poet. He was killed on 9th June 1944 just outside Tilly-sur-Seulles, Normandy. |
| troopwo | 23 Mar 2021 9:06 a.m. PST |
Speaking about the size and confusion that can go on in a tank, a Grant or a Lee specifically. There is a case in Burma where a Japanese officer managed to get into one and killed a member or two using his sword! A surviving crewman with a pistol took him out.
For some reason I keep thinking either the Carbineers or the 25th Dragoons??? |
| Wolfhag | 24 Mar 2021 7:03 a.m. PST |
Here is a description after being penetrated:
Wolfhag |
| Blutarski | 24 Mar 2021 12:15 p.m. PST |
Sobering imagery after that "cheese sandwich" thing ….. B |
| Wolfhag | 24 Mar 2021 3:37 p.m. PST |
Blutarski,
That's something to keep in mind when damage from penetration results in "No Effect" unless the game takes into account partial penetrations and spalling. A crew member that gets hit by the HEAT jet may "explode" from the rapid increase in temperature of the body fluids expansion. Wolfhag |
| Martin Rapier | 25 Mar 2021 1:45 a.m. PST |
"without any noise that I can remember, a sharp spike of yellow flame stabbed out of the muzzle of the 88mm gun in front of us. Sparks flew from the front of Avenger, and she reared back on her hind sprockets, the nose lifting slightly off the ground. A sudden heat singed the back of my neck and a rapid glance over my shoulder showed flames and smoke pouring from the engine hatches. 'Bale out – round the back of the tank I hollered' " John Foley, 107th RAC |
is back from Council of Five Nations.
