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Vincent Van Goatse
Nov 8, 2006

Enjoy every sandwich.

Smellrose

Ensign Expendable posted:

PzIV part 2

Queue: PzIV, PzIII Ausf. A, PzIII Ausf. B through D, SR tanks

Available for request:

:911:
T2E1 Light Tank
M3A1
Combat Car M1
Howitzer Motor Carriage T-18

:britain:
A1E1 Independent
Infantry Tank Mk.I

:ussr:
LTP
T-37 with ShKAS
ZIK-20
T-12 and T-24
HTZ-16
Wartime modifications of the T-37 and T-38
SG-122
76 mm gun mod of the Matilda
Tank destroyers on the T-30 and T-40 chassis
45 mm M-42 gun
Soviet tractor tanks
02SS Aerosan
SU-76 prototype
LPP-25 NEW

:sweden:
L-10 and L-30
Strv m/40
Strv m/42
Landsverk prototypes 1943-1951
EMIL and KRV
Strv 103 NEW

:poland:
Trials of the TKS and C2P in the USSR
37 mm anti-tank gun

:japan:
SR tanks

:france:
Renault NC
Renault D1
Renault R35
Renault D2
Renault R40
Char B1 bis
Char B1 ter
25 mm Hotchkiss gun

:godwin:
PzI Ausf. B
PzI Ausf. C
PzII Ausf. a though b
PzII Ausf. c through C
PzII trials in the USSR NEW
Pak 97/38
Pz.Sfl.IVb
7.5 cm Pak 41
Hummel
s.FH. 18

:eurovision:
LT vz 35
CKD TNH and LTP (Tanque 39)

Soviet tractor tanks including the HTZ-16 and the Odessa one, and all Char B1 articles.

I was in a bar last week and someone made a joke about French tanks having more reverse gears, so I told them about Pierre Billotte.

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chitoryu12
Apr 24, 2014

Vincent Van Goatse posted:

Soviet tractor tanks including the HTZ-16 and the Odessa one, and all Char B1 articles.

I was in a bar last week and someone made a joke about French tanks having more reverse gears, so I told them about Pierre Billotte.

This thread has ruined me because I parsed your last sentence as "I was in a Bee-Ay-Ar".

Vincent Van Goatse
Nov 8, 2006

Enjoy every sandwich.

Smellrose

chitoryu12 posted:

This thread has ruined me because I parsed your last sentence as "I was in a Bee-Ay-Ar".

I've eaten too many brownies to fit in a Browning.

Splode
Jun 18, 2013

put some clothes on you little freak

Vincent Van Goatse posted:

I've eaten too many brownies to fit in a Browning.

You leave those poor girls alone

Taerkar
Dec 7, 2002

kind of into it, really

Vincent Van Goatse posted:

I've eaten too many brownies to fit in a Browning.

But can you still man a Browning with a Browning strapped to your hip?

Jobbo_Fett
Mar 7, 2014

Slava Ukrayini

Clapping Larry
The Krengel Diary Part 10


Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6
Part 7 Part 8 Part 9




1941


17 November: The wet season has started and it rains for hours; the roads are flooded and we try in vain to keep water out of our building. In the evening the weekly supply truck from Benghazi arrives. The driver knows all the latest news. The British have started a new offensive and there is much going on at the Sollum front. Trenches and sand dunes have collapsed. The evening radio news on the 20th mentions the British attack for the first time.

21 November: We hear that 260 tanks have been destroyed at the front. We are on light duty now and have been detailed to guard the local power station. On the 22nd we get no news from the front at Sollum. I hope all is okay with my outfit. Rumors say that our main coastal highway is under heavy artillery fire.

24 November: A funny thing happened last night during our guard duty at the power plant. We heard someone approaching in the dark and cocked our rifles and asked for the password twice. The answer was I-AA. That was not the password so we fired and then investigated. We had killed a stray donkey. We titled the report, "Donkey Battle at the Power Station." Off duty I read a lot, write in my diary, listen to radio reports, drink beer, and get the front news from passing truck drivers. One report says that our supply convoy was ambushed by a New Zealand unit on the coastal road and that we lost many men as POWs.

It's still raining and we are still doing guard duty at the power station.


27 November: Tonight the bar is full of men. We hear that we are supposed to go back to the front shortly to make room for new troops here. We don't hear much news from the front but watch a war movie about our African expedition. I'm still in Appolonia. On 2 Dec, I decide to write my Christmas letters home. On 3 Dec we get radio news to our cruiser Kormoran was sunk, but so was the Australian cruiser Sydney.

4 December: So now we hear it officially that our troops are fighting west of Bardia, near Sidi Omar and in the southern part of Cyrenaica. If this is right, we seem to have lost Bardia and are retreating west. Two men from my company arrive on 5 December and teel us about Bardia being surrounded. The coastal highway cannot be used anymore.

8 December: I visit Walter Ludwig in the hospital and he tells me of the fighting at Bardia. My company has had 10 people KIA. They are driving around in circles in the desert and here I am, fit and can't do a thing to help them.

Last night, Japan entered the war against the USA and sunk 6 battleships and 2 carriers somewhere in Hawaii.

I think you all know these numbers aren't true.


9 December: What a way to fight a war. The world is upside down and we're sitting here putting on weight. On 10 December we get more news. The Prince of Wales, the Repulse and the Langley have been sunk by the Japanese off Sumatra. We get some fighting news regarding our front as well.

The USS Langley would be lost months later, but never saw action today.


11 December: Two of our motorcycle messengers stop by, telling me that our supply column now is at Cirene. This means we have retreated further.

At 3 PM the Fuhrer spoke over the radio. We have declared war on the USA. The carrier USS Saratoga is reported sunk in the Pacific.

Yeah, no.


12 December: Back to my unit finally. I arrive at 3 PM and find it camping in a wadi. Twelve men are reported KIA and 6 missing. We sleep in a cave full of lice and other vermin but otherwise it's quiet right now. Our driver can switch the radio on so we hear the news from the Far East. The American ship Arizona has been sunk and our Japanese allies now occupy Burma. Some mail arrives by motorcycle messenger. We're on alert to retreat to the west on short notice.

Sunk on the 7th.

Elyv
Jun 14, 2013



Jobbo_Fett posted:

24 November: A funny thing happened last night during our guard duty at the power plant. We heard someone approaching in the dark and cocked our rifles and asked for the password twice. The answer was I-AA. That was not the password so we fired and then investigated. We had killed a stray donkey. We titled the report, "Donkey Battle at the Power Station."

:lol: this is the best thing. It makes sense, but it's still the best thing

david_a
Apr 24, 2010




Megamarm
Poor donkey :(

Jobbo_Fett
Mar 7, 2014

Slava Ukrayini

Clapping Larry

Elyv posted:

:lol: this is the best thing. It makes sense, but it's still the best thing

Ask Us About Military History Mk III: Donkey Battle at the Power Station

[...]That was not the password.

FAUXTON
Jun 2, 2005

spero che tu stia bene

I like the way he depicts a donkey's bray as "I-AA"

Hogge Wild
Aug 21, 2012

by FactsAreUseless
Pillbug

Jobbo_Fett
Mar 7, 2014

Slava Ukrayini

Clapping Larry
Please stop doxxing me.

Jobbo_Fett
Mar 7, 2014

Slava Ukrayini

Clapping Larry
The Krengel Diary Part 11


Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6
Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10




1941


18 December: We depart this inhospitable place. Our target is 25 miles west of El Agheila, our old hunting grounds from last March. Eight of the men ride on the water carrier tank wagon, but a flat tire soon stops us. We stay overnight in a Casa along the road; much retreating traffic on the highway.

19 December: At 7 AM we are off and catch up with our group near Benghazi where they have stopped for a gasoline delivery. Nothing comes, so we try to scrounge gas ourselves. Meanwhile, Derna has been cleared by us. We just can't move on this totally blocked highway, so we stay overnight.

20 December: At 7 AM we get gas and try to reach the rest of our group that is a few miles west of Agadabia. At Agadabia the 90th Light Division has put up a defensive front but we drive further west anyway, until we reach a point 26 miles west of El Agheila. We set up a tent camp. The Fuhrer speaks to us via radio. The next day we hear a speech on the radio from General Field Marshal von Brauchitsch. Since we are near the sea we take refreshing baths. There is fighting east of Benghazi now; British planes are constantly in the vicinity.

24 December: Christmas Eve but there is not much to remind us of Christmas. We sing "Holy Night Silent Night" and British bombers drop a few presents near our position.

25 December: We are divided into groups and assigned to other units, so we board trucks that take us 70 miles west of El Agheila. We arrive there on the 27th. We are being held in reserve right now. It is cold and wet so the new tents we receive have sun roofs of course. Where the Hell is the Sun?

28 December: Our orders have been changed. We are moving back to our old unit; we even have to give the new equipment back. We sleep with the supply convoy and are supposed to be moved further west in a few days.

31 December: There are too many men without transport so 700 of us will be taken by 8 trucks to Tripoli for a work detail. We celebrate the New Year without a drop to drink.

SeanBeansShako
Nov 20, 2009

Now the Drums beat up again,
For all true Soldier Gentlemen.
That Andrew Roberts biography about Napoleon is top shelf stuff and if anyone disagrees, fight me.

Jobbo_Fett
Mar 7, 2014

Slava Ukrayini

Clapping Larry
The Krengel Diary Part 12


Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6
Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11




1942


1 January: At 7 AM we are off for Tripoli, reach Camp 5 and buy several crates of beer to celebrate a late new year.

9 January: We unload supplies in the harbor day in and day out. In the evenings we watch movies in a warehouse; meals are taken on the ships we unload. At least the ships have warm showers that we are allowed to use.

10 January: We spend several days filling 5-gallon cans with gasoline for the front. The rumors that we are supposed to go to the front are not true. On the 13th we're back in camp to service our 55mm PaK and our Pumas* - but we're still in Tripoli. On 22 January, we are informed that finally our forces will counterattack in the Cyrenaica desert. This attack was successful and the Tommies were beaten back to Agadabia. The duty goes on day by day, haircut in Tripoli, beer in bars at night, and work by day. On 9 February we hear of the death of Dr. Fritz Todt. The next day we visit the de-lousing station. A Yugoslavian destroyer enters the harbor.

There was no 55mm PaK. There WAS a 50mm PaK (38) or the 75mm PaK guns, and again they couldn't have had a Puma at this date.

In addition, Dr. Fritz Todt was the man in charge for Nazi Germany's armament. The man who succeeded him? Albert Speer



12 February: We have an inspection by the Military Police who find that 8 men have taken things from ships during our work detail.

I am now in charge of 300 men.


14 February: One year in North Africa. Today our Company of the 33rd Reconnaissance has a free day. We stroll through the harbor area and see a new Bloom and Voss 6-engine sea plane at anchor. It's a day for celebrations and we continue in camp. Later we hear news on the radio that the Scharnhost, Gneisenau, and Prince Eugen broke through the British blockade and are back in Germany now. The weather is stormy. We even have a tornado that rips 2 roofs off hangars.

The manufacturer is actually Blohm and Voss. The plane described is the BV 222, the largest seaplane to be produced during the war.

The naval activity is actually Operation Cerberus.




23 February: I meet Lt. Peters in town and he tells me that my old Battle Group has demanded my return. He tells me that Eric has been awarded the Italian Front medal. Several of our trucks have been lost to enemy bombing and Pvt.Rost was KIA. Lt. Napp has returned to the group.

I hope now to get back to my old outfit.


24 February: Yes, it's true; I am going back to the front. I leave at 10 AM and travel to a rest area near Tagiara, then via trucks to Misurata. It's 500 miles to the front so it will be a long drive through the desert. On 26 February we reach a point 40 miles west of Benghazi. I have a nasty cold.

28 February: In Benghazi we are reorganized into companies. My unit receives three 50mm PaK's, three 37mm PaK's, two British 6-wheeled armoured cars, and a compliment of Motorcycle Infantry. Because I still suffer from a bad cold, I have to see the medic and have to go to the Field Hospital to rest. I stay there until 2 March.

If they actually received 2 6-wheeled armoured cars, they'd be Lanchester 6x4 Armoured Cars, but they should've all been transferred to the Far East by 1942. Nothing else really matches the timeframe and nationality.



3 March: At 8 AM I leave the hospital and set off on a truck. Traveling eastward, we reach a point 120 miles from Derna. On 4 March we see a signpost directing us to our battle group, and finally get there at 3 PM. We are roundly welcomed. Eric is going home to Germany on leave. I get a surprise in the evening; Major General [Georg] von Bismarck, our Divisional Commander arrives and talks to me.

5 March: It rains all day; everything is flooded out, but in the evening I go for a visit to the so called "GPU Cellar," a cave 200 meters underground with a nice bar and good beer.

Holy poo poo I want to own a bar like this now.


6 March: Now I'm back and so is my cold, this time with a headache. I go to see the medic and I'm relieved of duty to cure my cold. On the 9th we hear tales that we are moving out soon. My cold is no better so an ambulance takes me to Derna Field Hospital. I am sent from there by truck to Benghazi Hospital but my illness gets worse so I am put aboard a Ju-52 to the Base Hospital in Tripoli. I arrive there at 9 PM and I am admitted to the same room I had in October last year. According to the doctor I suffer from Trigenies Neuralgie [Trigeminal Neuralgia]. A new female nurse tends our ward; Suzi is her name.

During the next days I am X-rayed, examined by several doctors, take pills and medicines, but the headache is still very bad. For several days my head is treated with short wave radiation and by the 25th the pain is abating. I visit our Division Priest, Herr Heichen, and talk to him for an hour. One day, I think on the 29th, I lose consciousness and get a 4-day rest from the radiation treatment.


1 April: Still in the Tripoli Base Hospital but I expect to be fit in a day or so. I feel much better by the 4th. I report to the Wehrmacht Office in Tripoli to return for duty, visit the old friends from the work detail in the harbor, but stay for Easter in Tripoli with the work commando and visit Suzi in the Ward. She surprises me with 4 Easter eggs. I'm still in Tripoli on 8 April. from the Wehrmacht Office I hear that our group now is south of Timini. My last day in Tripoli is 13 April.

14 April: At 5 AM I board a truck and go in a convoy to Tanagra, The next day we have a heavy ghibli, but we manage to drive to a point 50 miles from Nufeila. On the 16th the ghibli is still raging as we set out for El Agheila, 40 miles west of Agenais.

17 April: We are now 13 miles east of our old town of Benghazi and continue to Derna. Here we call a halt; we are supposed to be reinforcements for the 21st Panzer Division. We finally find the division assembly area south of Termini.

Jobbo_Fett fucked around with this message at 23:10 on Jan 22, 2017

Ensign Expendable
Nov 11, 2008

Lager beer is proof that god loves us
Pillbug
Interesting that he would write in millimeters, all the German documents I've seen record caliber in centimeters.

Jobbo_Fett
Mar 7, 2014

Slava Ukrayini

Clapping Larry

Ensign Expendable posted:

Interesting that he would write in millimeters, all the German documents I've seen record caliber in centimeters.

Its a translation thing, according to the foreword. They changed some measurements to the metric system. I guess it was easier to keep miles, though? :shrug:

Nebakenezzer
Sep 13, 2005

The Mote in God's Eye

Jobbo_Fett posted:

5 March: It rains all day; everything is flooded out, but in the evening I go for a visit to the so called "GPU Cellar," a cave 200 meters underground with a nice bar and good beer.

Holy poo poo I want to own a bar like this now.

Wow, no kidding. Also: 200 meters underground? What the Christ, that's one hell of a deep cave.

Jobbo_Fett posted:

If they actually received 2 6-wheeled armoured cars, they'd be Lanchester 6x4 Armoured Cars, but they should've all been transferred to the Far East by 1942. Nothing else really matches the timeframe and nationality.

I'm no expert, but I wouldn't think many vehicles going back across the Med. Maybe this is a armored car recently captured from the British?

Jobbo_Fett
Mar 7, 2014

Slava Ukrayini

Clapping Larry

Nebakenezzer posted:

Wow, no kidding. Also: 200 meters underground? What the Christ, that's one hell of a deep cave.


I'm no expert, but I wouldn't think many vehicles going back across the Med. Maybe this is a armored car recently captured from the British?

Sadly, I can't seem to find any info on the bar, although I didn't google very hard. Maybe its some sort of lost gem of yesteryear? :shrug:


As for the armoured car, its stated they were captured from the British, but most (if not all) were transported back to Britain before the war, and then transferred out to the Far East.


quote:

In January 1929 the first Lanchesters (and Rolls Royce armoured cars transferred from Navy and Air force stocks) were received by the 11th Hussars regiment. Because of slow rate of delivery, it took until 1934 to fully equip the unit. In November the regiment was relocated to Egypt to relieve the 12th Royal Lancers, which returned to Britain and took over the cars.

In January–February 1935 a provisional D squadron of the 12th Lancers with eight armoured cars served as a peacekeeping force in the Saar region. On 31 December B and C squadrons were sent again to Egypt with 29 armoured cars as a response to the Italian invasion of Abyssinia and strengthening garrisons in Libya. They were used in patrolling the western frontier. By the end of 1936 the squadrons were returned to Britain, where the regiment was re-equipped with Morris Light Reconnaissance Cars.[1]

By 1939, most Lanchesters (13 Mk I; 1 Mk IA; 5 Mk II; and 3 Mk IIA) were sent to the Far East and assigned to the Selangor and Perak battalions of Federated Malay States Volunteer Force, the Singapore Volunteer Corps, Straits Settlements Volunteer Force and the 2nd battalion of Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders in Malay, some of which took part in the Malayan Campaign (December 1941 - 15 February 1942) against Japan.

10 Lanchesters were given to the Territorial Army (23rd London Armoured Car Company and 1st Derbyshire Yeomanry) and in 1940 one was converted to provide protected transportation for use by Cabinet ministers and other VIPs.

In 1941 two were given to the 1st Belgian armoured cars squadron.

As far as I know, the British shouldn't have any 6-wheeled armoured cars in North Africa. :shrug:

HEY GUNS
Oct 11, 2012

FOPTIMUS PRIME
it's a red letter day, the dude is finally getting bombed by people on the opposite side

Tias
May 25, 2008

Pictured: the patron saint of internet political arguments (probably)

This avatar made possible by a gift from the Religionthread Posters Relief Fund
Man, that diary gives me the chills.

Ask Us About Military History: I am now in charge of 300 men.
:gonk:

Rockopolis
Dec 21, 2012

I MAKE FUN OF QUEER STORYGAMES BECAUSE I HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO WITH MY LIFE THAN MAKE OTHER PEOPLE CRY

I can't understand these kinds of games, and not getting it bugs me almost as much as me being weird
Is the treatment he's getting radiosurgery to deaden the trigeminal nerve and cure the headaches?

aphid_licker
Jan 7, 2009


I gotta admit that I didn't expect the Afrika Korps to be doing impromptu radiation therapy. Wtf.

HEY GUNS
Oct 11, 2012

FOPTIMUS PRIME
nobody knew a goddamn thing about medicine until the mid 1990s and it is a hilarious and terrifying clusterfuck the whole way down since the beginning of time, hand
to
heart

Elyv
Jun 14, 2013



Nebakenezzer posted:

Wow, no kidding. Also: 200 meters underground? What the Christ, that's one hell of a deep cave.

It's way underground, you wouldn't have heard of it :smaug:

HEY GUNS
Oct 11, 2012

FOPTIMUS PRIME
there's a scene in peter hagendorf's diary where he goes to a pair of bars someone's set up in shacks an hour into some valley somewhere, one's named heaven and one's named hell

Jobbo_Fett
Mar 7, 2014

Slava Ukrayini

Clapping Larry

HEY GAIL posted:

there's a scene in peter hagendorf's diary where he goes to a pair of bars someone's set up in shacks an hour into some valley somewhere, one's named heaven and one's named hell

Awesome! It's the sort of dumb gimmick I'd come up with if I owned a business or two.

aphid_licker
Jan 7, 2009


I read a couple medical articles from 1907-09 on x-ray lesions and their treatment and it was loving horrifying (not the medicine, the subject matter). There were pictures. They seemed very on the ball about microscopy, cellular and tissue structures, and skin transplants, as well as disseminating info. He mentions German medical journal articles etc.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2099032/

HEY GUNS
Oct 11, 2012

FOPTIMUS PRIME

Jobbo_Fett posted:

Awesome! It's the sort of dumb gimmick I'd come up with if I owned a business or two.
it's why history is great--there's places where people from the past or from other cultures are really different from us, and there's places where you can see a common humanity, and that that common humanity likes getting drunk and doing stupid poo poo

General China
Aug 19, 2012

by Smythe

SeanBeansShako posted:

That Andrew Roberts biography about Napoleon is top shelf stuff and if anyone disagrees, fight me.

I prefer Charlie de Gaulles history of the French army, La France et son Armée.

It's most interesting feature is that it makes no mention of the battle of Waterloo.

At all.

Jobbo_Fett
Mar 7, 2014

Slava Ukrayini

Clapping Larry
The Krengel Diary Part 13


Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6
Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12




1942


20 April: I report to Division HQ and the first person I meet is ex-Lt. Napp, who has been promoted to Colonel and is a Staff Officer of General von Bismarck, who is now commanding the 21st Panzer Division. We shake hands and exchange wishes of good luck.

21 April: We wonder about the usual birthday speech by our Fuhrer; nothing was mentioned about it last night. We get 2 days of new training in such things as, "how to overcome desert fatigue," as if we old African hands didn't know how to do that already.

New companies are formed; 3 heavy machine gun units to each company. On 24 April the companies report to the medics for check ups. We all suffer from stomach problems. It's the bad unclean food and the drinking water, combined with the lice and sand fleas.


26 April: Six days after the 20th we hear the Fuhrer's birthday speech. We get our new sun roof tents back and its great fun setting them up.

29 April: We have an inspection tour of the division by General von Bismarck. We are training on our new anti-tank guns. On 4 May we read about Lt. Napp's promotion to Colonel.

6 May: At 6 AM we fall in line for details. Our company has 10 officers, 10 NCOs and 30 of lower ranks. We form 2 anti-tank platoons, 1 Pioneer platoon, and 1 Flak platoon with 2 Quads (20mm). We also receive 4 NSU tracked motorcycles plus a vintage French 25mm PaK. The next day we do training with the NSU's and Quads; still in training on 10 May. On 11 May we get 2 more Officers and 75 more men so we are full strength again.

The NSU motorcycles are - Kettenkrads!
The "Quads" are Flakvierlings.
The vintage French gun is most likely a 25mm Hotchkiss Anti-Tank Gun.



14 May: We move to a wadi 2 miles from base; very hot today and lots of British air activity on the 15th and 16th. For several days we will train our newcomers on the weapons. Finally we move near the Derna airport after giving all our surplus items to the Quartermaster for keeping.



:siren: I apologize for having to write this. :siren:

26 May: Today I get a lift into Derna to do some shopping and end up being cheated out of 400 lira by a filthy Jew or Arab; I don't see much different in them myself. I report him to the Military Police and they take him in. From the front we hear that the Africa Corps is attacking Tobruk (again, like last year). Lt.Eigenbauer and several men are sent to Benghazi to fetch 2 more NSU tracked motorcycles. We get some news from Russia on the radio. Our forces have taken Charkov along with 165,000 POWs.

1 June: Today we received 8, yes 8, brand new NSU Ketten motorcycles, and we are supposed to get more. Our company is almost ready to move up, but bad news reaches us on the 2nd; our major was wounded during a fighter-bomber attack. But nevertheless, so far the Africa Corps has taken 2000 POWs, destroyed 350 tanks and 53 artillery pieces. Ten of our men are taking a truck to the front line to collect captured machine guns and rifles.

5 June: A sad day; a messenger from the line brought news that Willi Orcher was KIA, so now I'm the only one left from our old group that fought in France. We regroup and I become the leader of the 1st Machine Gun Platoon and continue my training. At Derna fighter base there is a lot of activity with Bf-109s, Stukas, and Ju-88s.

11 June: We hear that our new guns have arrived in Benghazi. So far, we have 4 KIA and 27 wounded at the front.

13 June: We take our trucks and Pumas* to Benghazi to fetch our new guns; some are the long-barrel ones with folding shields**, a new suspension and synthetic rubber tires. On the 15th news from the front: the British Gazala garrison is surrounded. We are training on the new guns. We write a letter to the Fuhrer thanking him for the new NSU tracked motorcycles. We go swimming in the sea near Derna. Up at the front, our battle group is fighting south of Tobruk while we build sand castles here in Derna.

Krengel is either talking about 88mm FlaK guns, or 75mm PaK guns. Its more likely to be 88mm's due to the mention of folding shields.


19 June: Tobruk is now surrounded; 4 men have been wounded at the front. We have been assigned a new Field Post number: 42339.

Tobruk has been taken again by us. Our company now has 12 anti-tank guns. On the 25th we hear that we have retaken all the positions we lost last year: Halfaya, Sollym, Capuzzo, and Sidi Barani.

Nebakenezzer
Sep 13, 2005

The Mote in God's Eye

Elyv posted:

It's way underground, you wouldn't have heard of it :smaug:

:golfclap:

Mother of Hipsters, the legend of a bar so far underground in Libya nobody can find it.

Where is this cave-bar supposed to be? My Western Libyan geography is a little lacking.

SeanBeansShako
Nov 20, 2009

Now the Drums beat up again,
For all true Soldier Gentlemen.

General China posted:

I prefer Charlie de Gaulles history of the French army, La France et son Armée.

It's most interesting feature is that it makes no mention of the battle of Waterloo.

At all.

"Waterloo? great village to stay the night at. Not as nice as Sedan though...."

Ensign Expendable
Nov 11, 2008

Lager beer is proof that god loves us
Pillbug
PzIV part 3

Queue: PzIII Ausf. A, PzIII Ausf. B through D, SR tanks, Soviet tractor tanks, HTZ-16, Char B1 bis, Char B1 ter

Available for request:

:911:
T2E1 Light Tank
M3A1
Combat Car M1
Howitzer Motor Carriage T-18

:britain:
A1E1 Independent
Infantry Tank Mk.I

:ussr:
LTP
T-37 with ShKAS
ZIK-20
T-12 and T-24
Wartime modifications of the T-37 and T-38
SG-122
76 mm gun mod of the Matilda
Tank destroyers on the T-30 and T-40 chassis
45 mm M-42 gun
02SS Aerosan
SU-76 prototype
LPP-25 NEW

:sweden:
L-10 and L-30
Strv m/40
Strv m/42
Landsverk prototypes 1943-1951
EMIL and KRV
Strv 103 NEW

:poland:
Trials of the TKS and C2P in the USSR
37 mm anti-tank gun

:japan:
SR tanks

:france:
Renault NC
Renault D1
Renault R35
Renault D2
Renault R40
25 mm Hotchkiss gun

:godwin:
PzI Ausf. B
PzI Ausf. C
PzII Ausf. a though b
PzII Ausf. c through C
PzII trials in the USSR NEW
Pak 97/38
Pz.Sfl.IVb
7.5 cm Pak 41
Hummel
s.FH. 18

:eurovision:
LT vz 35
CKD TNH and LTP (Tanque 39)

Jobbo_Fett
Mar 7, 2014

Slava Ukrayini

Clapping Larry

Nebakenezzer posted:

:golfclap:

Mother of Hipsters, the legend of a bar so far underground in Libya nobody can find it.

Where is this cave-bar supposed to be? My Western Libyan geography is a little lacking.

As far as I understand it, it would have to be somewhere between Benghazi and Derna, so eartern Libya.

I can't seem to find anything on a cave bar in that area, other than Haua Fteah which is near Susah on the coast of the Mediterranean. On top of that, nothing about Haua Fteah correlates with the "200 meters deep".

Ensign Expendable
Nov 11, 2008

Lager beer is proof that god loves us
Pillbug
Maybe it's an idiom, like six feet under.

Jobbo_Fett
Mar 7, 2014

Slava Ukrayini

Clapping Larry
Look, I just really want it to be literal. Stop ruining this for me :(

The Lone Badger
Sep 24, 2007

Maybe you go through 200m of caves to reach it, but the vertical distance is only 10-20m from the surface.

FastestGunAlive
Apr 7, 2010

Dancing palm tree.
I am glad you kept that jobbo because it helped
Put it back in perspective. I found myself sympathizing with the guy as you've been sharing these, to the point that I looked it up to see if he survived the war. I find that line rather chilling and it helps me keep this in perspective.

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spectralent
Oct 1, 2014

Me and the boys poppin' down to the shops
The frequent mentions of sickness are really fascinating for me, especially since we briefly covered tropical diseases and epidemiology via a comparative look at the desert rats and the afrikakorps.

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