Airfield Utility Vehicles

Airfix 1:72 Standard Tilly, Bedford MWC & BSA M20 from the D-Day Air Assault kit

Rhubarb over Somerset

After more than 2 months in the making my “Rhubarb over Somerset” diorama is done. If it were to be displayed anywhere I’d add a frame and plaque but over time it will probably be dismantled and its parts repurposed for another creation as it is the building that I find most fun. 

The inspiration for this diorama is a mysterious incident which occurred 80 years ago in Somerset not far from where we live. It was on a summer morning of 4th June 1943 that a Czech fighter pilot of 313 Squadron stationed at RAF Church Stanton (renamed RAF Culmhead in December 1943) clipped the roof of a GWR railway carriage with the wing of his Spitfire Mk.Vc, causing him to tragically crash in a farmer’s field near Bradford on Tone. 

During this period of WW2 the squadron was engaged in ‘Operation Rhubarb’, offensive low-level sweeps over northern France harrying ground targets such as military convoys and trains. It is possible that this pilot was at the time of the incident practicing a low-level attack on a passing locomotive and approached too low to clear the carriages. 

In creating this diorama I’ve incorporated a number of images from the period which although having no historical link to the event of the 4th June could well have been seen at some time or another in the Somerset countryside during the summer of 1943. Look out for the men of the Home Guard manning a pillbox along the Stopline Way, originally built to prevent a German beach invasion getting to London.

The Tank Regiment’s 11th Armoured Division are on the move from Bovington Camp, the Armoured Fighting Vehicles School, preparing drivers, gunners and engineers for D-Day. On the railway bridge a Scammell tank transporter carries a ‘Hobart Funny’, the Churchill Bridge Layer (coincidentally Percy Hobart was the first commander of the 11th Armoured Division when it formed in 1941), while, in the absence of signposts, a group of officers are having to check their map for directions. 

Meanwhile, a farmer shares a cup of tea with a soldier from 88 Brigade Workshop (REME) while a boy watches on sat on a milk churn. 

The railway signalman chats with a fellow soldier while he waits for the train to pass so that the rest of the convoy can proceed over the Bradford level crossing. I like to imagine that the tank transporter should be part of this convoy but they got separated hence now being lost! 

The stars of the scene are the Castle Class locomotive which I’ve repainted in a drab GWR wartime livery and a couple of clipped wing Spitfire Mk.V in RAF Church Stanton markings. The wings are clipped as this configuration was found to improve manoeuvrability at low level. 

Phew!

For those interested, here’s a list  of the 20+ models and figures I’ve used in the making of this diorama:

Airfix 1:72 Spitfire Vc, 1:76 Scammell Tank Transporter, Churchill Bridge Layer, Bedford QLT & QLD Trucks & Willies Jeep. 

Modelu military, farm and railway figures 

Ratio Plastic Models 1:76 Telegraph Poles, Crossing Gates, GWR Signals & Signal Box

Metcalfe 1:76 Stone Style Railway Bridge, Manor Farm House & Pillbox. 

Peco 1:76 Lamp Hut & Wooden Sleeper Tracks. 

Ancorton Models 1:76 Anderson Shelter.

Bedford QLD and Bedford QLT

Here are my completed models of the Bedford QLD and Bedford QLT from Airfix’s 2010 tooled 1:76 kit. Many different body styles were designed for the QL chassis and it is the QLD general service truck and QLT "Trooper" troop carrying vehicle that have been provided in this kit. 

While an impressive set of decals are supplied for a variety of different regiments there is unfortunately little historical explanation as to which to use. After some research and personal choice, I have selected for both trucks the markings of 88 Brigade Workshop (REME), a regiment with whom I’m proud to say my father served. And, as I acquired these to play a key role in my “Somerset Rhubarb” diorama and with the Tank Regiment base at Bovington being a shortish drive down the road, it made sense to me to have them attached to the 11th Armoured Division, which, formed in 1941, were responsible for many victories in the Battle of Normandy through to the crossing of the Rhine in 1945.

The Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers (REME) were formed on 1 October 1942 following the observations that Rommel’s swift advance towards Egypt owed much of its success to the German maintenance crews who mended both German and British tanks on the battlefield and sent them back into action within a few hours. Prior to mechanical maintenance of the Army’s equipment being centralised under the command and control of the REME, responsibility was inefficiently being shared between the Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC), the Royal Army Service Corps (RASC), Royal Engineers (RE) and Royal Armoured Corps (RAC). Mike Sibbons, ex REME and Archivist at the REME Museum, wrote in his 1988 book on the REME ‘From the Archives’, that “Already, within a few months of formation, this new British Army organisation had triumphed in the Middle East campaign. Never before in British history has an army fought with more efficiently maintained equipment”.

A REME Brigade Workshop consisted of 272 officers and men and 97 vehicles organised into 4 echelons of repair. These were: 1st echelon Light Aid Detachment (LAD), 2nd echelon Mobile Workshops, 3rd echelon Semi-Mobile Workshops and 4th echelon Static Based Workshops. My trucks are intended to be part of the 2nd echelon Mobile Workshops Light Aid Detachment (LAD) which deployed with the tanks, artillery regiments and infantry brigades, equipped to carry out light repairs, replacements and recovery of equipment in the field. Using artistic licence rather than on this occasion any scratch building skills, it is my assumption - based on historical photographs - that the QLT is close enough to a REME workshop lorry as used by the LAD, and I need make no changes to the QLD which is perfect in its predetermined general service truck role. 

The build and detail in these kits is very presentable for their scale and price, although I did decide to not use the glazing provided due to its totally  unrealistic thickness. I could have used a piece of clear plastic sheet but thought I’d try an application of Krystal Klear which, although it was more than capable of filling the required area did, due to the size of the window frame, dry a little bit like a concave lens. I still think they look good enough though 

Scammell Tank Transporter

After two part days at the bench, my attempt at Airfix’s Vintage Classic 1:76 scale Scammell Tank Transporter is complete. Being a kit reproduced using the original 1962 moulding and instructions, it’s a far cry from the quality of today’s Airfix offerings but sometimes it’s nice to have a challenge!  

I plan to use my Scammell in a scene within my Somerset diorama together with a few other trucks yet to be built. I’m not yet decided on which tank to have on its back, but I’m tempted to have it covered in a tarpaulin for an added bit of mystery … keep tuned 

Airfix AFV Starter Kits

Last Thursday morning I set off back to Devon on a 350 mile drive from Cumbria. 10 miles into the journey, my car’s water pump died and I was stranded. My motoring recovery service failed in their contractural obligation to bring me home, such that my car has been languishing in a Carlise garage over Easter and is only now receiving attention … but that’s another story. 

The scale modelling tale is one of me returning to where my hobby started, some 50 years ago, with what tools I could find around the house and a hairy stick to colour my creations! 

Feeling the need to build, I begged a lift over to a local garden centre close to my temporary location where I knew they had a large stock of Airfix kits. Without any of my usual tools nor paints with me, I decided on a couple of AFV starter kits which I felt I could better get away with a rough and ready finish. 

Using a set of snips and Pollyfiller, nail clippers and file, I set about the build. This certainty made me value the work that goes behind the scenes to craft tools specific for scale modelling! The builds went well, with the only fly in the ointment being that 4 of the 6 pots of acrylic paint were dried up and unusable. A return to the garden centre and the raiding of another couple of new kits resolved this, but why Airfix continue to rollout Starter Kits with this issue is beyond me. 

I was going to wait until I got home to apply the decals over a nice smooth layer of varnish but having completed the builds all too quickly and with still no sign of my wheels, I pressed on with the ‘in the field’ build, just as my younger self would have all those years ago. What innocent fun I had 

Victory in the Falklands

This is the final post from my Falklands War scale modelling project, inspired by a good friend of mine who took part in Operation Corporate, serving with one of the Royal Navy's Sea King anti-submarine squadrons. After building a model of the helicopter on which he actually worked, I found I could not just stop there. Each and every book and article I then picked up, drew me in deeper. Each page turned and new fact learned was then brought to life through the build of a new model; the acquisition of some, either no longer in production or not available in the UK, also led me on some interesting journeys!

The Falklands War ended with the surrender of Argentine forces on Monday 14th June. British Task Force commander, Admiral Sandy Woodward, says the conflict lasted 100 days, which give or take a day or two is about the same time it has taken me to build, paint and prepare my 20 plus models, with accompanying pilots, mechanics and troops. 

One model I built at the very start of this project was not a traditional boxed Airfix type kit, but my very first scratch built building. As my friend shared his experiences, he touched on some time spent on the island after the war, helping repair and repaint some of residents' corrugated iron roofs -  typical of the Falkland Islands - and his visit to Port Stanley's Globe Hotel for a well earned drink or two. During my subsequent research, I frequently came across a post war photo of British troops in Philomel Street, Port Stanley, with the Globe Hotel in the background.

My attempt was not create an exact replica of the street but more to place my models in a diorama with a landmark which would resinate with the viewer. In adding this to my growing mosaic of scale scenes, it now sits between the glaciated mountains of Operation Paraquet, the beach landings of Operation Sutton and along side a Korean MASH unit and a Malayan Emergency jungle scene!

So, returning to the Falklands War and jumping back to D-Day, Operation Sutton, and 21 May 1982.

Aboard the ferry Norland Lt Col H Jones with 2 Para asked the naval signaller to flash HMS Broardside along side is any orders had been received. The response was:

TOP SECRED OPERATION SUTTON
CTG 317.0.19N 190230Z May
Ships pass to embarked forces

1. D-Day 21 May 82
2. H-Hour is 210639Z May 82
3. Break down and issue first line ammunition forthwith
4. Act immediately

This was the confirmation that Operation Sutton had been given the go-ahead by the British government, and the UN who were expected to have intervened to prevent a land offensive, had not come to pass. 

At 07:30, an hour late, 2 Para waded ashore along the southern end of the beach at San Carlos, while 40 Commando, with Scorpion and Scimitar tanks of the Blues and Royals, landed a few hundred yards further north. San Carlos, a settlement of 30 people was the first community on the Falklands to be liberated.

After a period of digging in, slowly building up supplies of munitions and equipment from the ships anchored in the bay, London were now demanding a tangible victory from the Paras and Commandos. A 20 mile beachhead was now secure but the loss of shipping to Argentine air attack was starting to hurt, so on 27 May, they launched a breakout with three targets identified. 3 Para set off for Teal Inlet, towards Port Stanley. 45 Commando boarded landing craft to Port San Carlos, to then march on Douglas, north of Teal Inlet. 2 Para got the short straw and started walking the 13 miles to Goose Green. Here, Argentine ground forces released a barrage of artillery, mortar, machine-gun and anti-aircraft fire, while from above Pucara and Skyhawks strafed, bombed and napalmed them. Unable to advance, Lt Col H Jones, single handedly stormed a machine-gun, but was struck down and killed; meanwhile his 2 Para performed a flanking move, encircling the Argentines held up in the settlement. At first light on 30th May, a couple of Argentine prisoners were sent in with a white flag and letter to inform their commander that as he was surrounded the time had come to surrender. This was accepted. The expectation was then that around 80 POWs would be taken, instead a force of more than 900 Argentine troops lined up to lay down their arms, more than three times 2 Para's number! 

The next objective was to secure the high ground around Port Stanley. 42 Commando joined the fight, moving by air to Mount Kent. 3 Para established a forward base at Douglas settlement and 45 Commando arrived at Teal Inlet. The Scots Guards meanwhile embarked in Sir Tristram for Bluff Cove and establish a forward base, but tragically, the Welsh Guards, held up on Sir Galahad, were bombed by Argentine Skyhawks along with the now empty Sir Tristram, with the loss of 51 men. 

By the end of the second week of June, following major overnight assaults on the Argentine defences around Stanley, 42 Commando, 3 Para and 45 Commando had taken the strategic high grounds of Mount Harriet, Mount Longdon, and Two Sisters. The following day, Sunday 13 June, the Scots Guards attacked Mount Longdon, Gurkhas occupied Mount William and 2 Para, who's decisive action at Goose Green, 2 weeks earlier, launched what was to be the final action of the war, on Wireless Ridge. By early morning, the British troops had overcome and set aside all that the Argentines could muster, and later that day, Monday14 June, the Argentine forces surrender.

Most troops never received a direct order to proceed, they merely realised that they had reached the point at which they were going ahead unless ordered to halt. No such order was received until they reached Port Stanley!

In completing this project, I mentioned that there were a number of books which went on to inspire my scale model builds and it is safe to say that my library has expanded in step with my knowledge and understanding of this conflict. I can highly recommended at least these 8 good books, written by both historians and those who were there.

The 20 or so models that have appeared in at my earlier posts, are shared again in the montages below, in case you missed any ..

The British Sea King and Wessex Helicopters

The British Sea Harrier FRS1 and Harrier GR3 Aircraft

The Argentine and British Land Forces

The British Ships and Landing Craft

The Argentine Aircraft

Thank you for reading and I hope that I have passed the audition ....

Operation Sutton 1982

Operation Sutton was the code name for the British landings on the beaches of San Carlos Water, East Falkland in May1982 as part of Operation Corporate, the overall British operation to retake the Falkland Islands and its territories, following the invasion by Argentine military forces. 

The operation opened on the evening of 19th May with the repositioning of 2000 troops, from SS Canberra to HMS Fearless & her sister ship, HMS Intrepid. At just after 14:00 on the afternoon of 20th May, control of the Task Force passed from Admiral Sandy Woodward's Battle Group and HMS Hermes, to Commodore Mike Clapp's Amphibious Group and HMS Fearless; Commodore Clapp would be leading the next phase, the landing of troops and the retaking of the Falkland Islands.

At 19:00 on 20th May, HMS Antrim and HMS Ardent detached from the Battle Group to both secure access to Falkland Sound and make the Argentines think the landings were happening anywhere but in San Carlos Water! At 22:00 Wessex helicopters from HMS Antrim dropped SBS troops to remove the Argentine forces guarding the lead into San Carlos Water, high on Fanning Head. 

Just before 02:00 on 21 May, HMS Fearless steamed into Falkland Sound, one mile ahead of HMS Intrepid. 30 minutes later HMS Fearless opened the stern gates of her flooded docks and 4 loaded LCVP (Landing Craft Vehicle Personnel) pushed out into the sea. There were now 11 ships deployed around the north-western shores of Falkland Sound either preparing to disgorge troops or preparing to bombard Argentine positions. At 03:50 HMS Antrim opened fire on Fanning Head with 250 shells in less than 30 minutes. Meanwhile, at around 07:30 the LCVPs from HMS Fearless packed with 40 Commando (together with a Scorpion and  Scimitar tank) and landing craft from HMS Intrepid with Colonel H Jone’s and 2 Para, offloaded their troops on the north and south beaches of San Carlos Water. There was very limited enemy resistance as 40 Commando ran up the first Union Jack to fly in San Carlos Settlement since the 2nd April invasion

The landings, sparked a strong reply from the Argentine’s airforces and led to the Battle of San Carlos  between aircraft and ships that lasted from 21 to 25 May 1982. Low-flying land-based Argentine jet aircraft made repeated attacks on ships of the British Task Force, which, because of its ferocity and damage sustained to the fleet, became better known as the “Battle of Bomb Alley”.  This was the first time in history that a modern surface fleet armed with surface-to-air missiles and with air cover backed up by carrier-based aircraft defended against full-scale air strikes. The British sustained losses and damage but were able to create and consolidate the beachhead and land troops. The actions had a profound impact on later naval practice. During the 1980s most warships from navies around the world were retrofitted with close-in weapon systems and guns for self-defence. 

The opening day of Operation Sutton was the largest amphibious action by British forces since the 6th June 1944 landings in Normandy, and is obviously why I also frequently see the word D-Day used for the 21st May 1982 Falklands landings. As in 1944, the only way to get a large number of troops and equipment from their ships to shore was by landing craft. The LCVP Mk2s which sailed from Fearless class amphibious transport docks, could carry 35 fully equipped Royal Marines Commandos or two Land Rovers. Meanwhile, the Higgins LCVP, as I have used in my Operation Sutton build, was a US World War II variant, typically constructed from plywood, and could carry roughly the same complement of troops or a 3 ton vehicle, so very close to HMS Fearless’s Mk2s. However, while my maths was never the best, I don’t quite see how a 9 ton Scorpion/Scimitar would be carried in even the Mk2, but for illustrative purposes, if nothing else, I have camouflaged my model of Airfix’s Higgins LCVP, in the white tiger stripes as used for the landing and there is just enough room for a Scorpion/Scimitar tank, even if its weight would probably sink it!

The Scimitar and Scorpion CVR(T) - Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked) served with two troops from B Squadron, Blues and Royals who were equipped with four tanks each. These were the only armoured vehicles used in action by the British Army during the conflict. Having previously made the Scorpion variant from an original 1975 Airfix kit, I managed to acquire a 2005 reissue to build it up as the Scimitar. The Scimitar is very similar to the Scorpion but carries the 30mm RARDEN cannon as its main weapon rather than the Scorpion’s shorter barrelled low velocity 76mm main gun. At least one Scimitar was seriously damaged by an Argentinian landmine, but the crew were unscathed, and the vehicle was salvaged by Atlantic Conveyor’s only surviving Chinook HC.1 helicopter and soon brought back into service. Scorpion and Scimitar tanks also provided air defence support with machine guns and 30 mm guns; on 23 May 1982, a Scimitar claimed the only tank to aircraft hit on a Skyhawk at 1,000 m.

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The Model Kits ...

Brand: Airfix
Title: Higgins LCVP
Number: A02340
Scale: 1:72
Type: Full kit
Released: 2019 | Rebox (Unknown what changed)

Brand: Airfix

Title: Scorpion / Scimitar Tank

Number: 01320 (Also listed as A01320)

Scale: 1:76

Type: Full kit

Released: 2005 | Rebox (Changed box only)

FV101 Scorpion CVR(T)

The FV101 Scorpion CVR(T), Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked), manufactured by Alvis in Coventry, was introduced into service in 1972 and served with the British Army and RAF Regiment until 1994. It saw combat during both the 1982 Falklands War, the Gulf War of 1991, and the Battle for the Fireplace, under the command of my flock headed Action Man when Palitoy released their Action Man Scorpion Tank into the hands of this very excited schoolboy in 1972!

Although weighing in at 8-tonnes, the Scorpion was designed to be amphibious, with flotation screen deployed, to operate in boggy conditions, and to be easily shipped by air, with two Scorpions being able to be carried in a C-130 Hercules transport aircraft. As a light tank, the Scorpion entered service modestly armed, with a 76mm main gun, 7.62mm machine gun and six smoke grenade dischargers in the turret. Fitted with a Jaguar 4.2-litre petrol engine, it had a maximum speed of 50 miles per hour on land and close to 4 mph on water!

Driver in the front, recruited from a set of NATO troops

The kit I managed to procure for this build was actually the original 1975 Airfix kit and thus the very one I could have made as a mini-me to my Action Man's Palitoy version! In spite of its age, small scale and minimal number of parts, it is surprisingly well detailed and of a better fit to many of a much younger age. I fitted a driver in the front, recruited from a set of NATO troops and left the gunner's hatch in the turret open and vacant to fit with a Port Stanley diorama I have planned to share towards the end of this project ... so watch this space.

The source model is the original Airfix kit from in 1975

Two troops (3 and 4) from B Squadron, The Blues and Royals, travelled with 9 CVR(T) vehicles 4 Scorpions, 4 Scimitars (basically a Scorpion with a 30mm gun) and a single Samson (a Scorpion with a vehicle recovery hook in place of its turret) aboard the requisitioned Truck Ferry, M/V Elk, while crews embarked on the SS Canberra. After engaging in range practice on Ascension Island, the Scorpions and accompanying CVR(T)s were loaded aboard HMS Fearless in readiness for the amphibious landing at San Carlos Bay on 21-May.

After the initial landing had taken place the beachhead was first enlarged in preparation for the move on Stanley. During this time the Scorpions and Scimitars provided perimeter security from dug-in positions and with the loss of the Atlantic Conveyor, even assisted the then limited helicopter force as logistics carriers, shuttling stores from one place to another. 

Argentine Panhard and British Scorpion side by side on the modelling mat 

In a terrain which prevented the the 90mm, much larger gunned, Argentine Panhard AML-90 armoured cars from even leaving Port Stanley, the Scorpion was to ably support British ground forces in a number of operations, including 

* 5 Commando in their move along the northern route to attack Two Sisters 11-12 June
* 3 Para in their move to Teal Inlet and the taking of Mount Longdon 11-12 June
* 2 Para in the Battle of Wireless Ridge 13-14 June
* Scots Guards during the Battle of Mount Tumbledown 13–14 June 
 

Two techniques used by the British employing the CVRs proved very successful. The first involved a diversionary attack on the night of 12 June. In the attack, the Scots Guards employed 4 Troop in a reconnaissance role and then a direct fire role in support of the diversionary assault. The impact of the use of the CVRs was instrumental deceiving the enemy. The other technique employed by the CVRs was known as “zapping”: …the CVR crew would engage the Argentine position with a brief burst of 7.62mm machine gun fire provoking a response, which was promptly silenced by either the Scorpion’s 76mm or Simitar’s 30mm main gun, firing HESH (High-explosive squash head rounds). It is said that few Argentines felt able to reply after being zapped!

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The model

Brand: Airfix
Title: Scorpion Tank
Number: 01320-4 (Also listed as 02312-6)
Scale: 1:76
Released: 1975 | Initial release - new tool

Operation Goodwood - Cromwell, King Tiger & Stug III

So, as promised,  here's part 2 of my tracked vehicle medley. Following the Hobart Funnies which kicked off this 'land ship' excursion, I acquired 3 additional Airfix models of tanks used in and following those Normandy landings. These were, two tanks making the debut in the field of combat, the Tiger II and Cromwell, and a surprising tracked vehicle, the Stug III. As a backstory to these models, I selected the Allied's July operations to break out from the Normandy beachheads and subsequent the liberation of two strategic towns, St Lo and Caen, which opened the way to Paris and the Franco-German border.

Having successfully landed at Sword & Juno beaches on the opening day of Operation Overlord, D-Day 6th June 1944, the British and Canadians armies hit a brick wall at Caen. Bisected by the river Orne, it was a vital road and rail junction which Montgomery had planned to take on D-Day itself, however, congestion in the beachhead delayed the arrival of armour and allowed the Germans, recognising Caen's strategic importance, to consolidate their forces for counter attack. 

If you had to design anti-tank defences, one would be hard pushed to create anything more effective than the ditches and high banks topped with thorny hedges found surrounding the farmland along the Normany coast; this was a landscape soon to be known, to the Allied soldiers cost, as the bocage. These banks, ditches and hedges not only offered excellent defensive positions in which to hide anti tank guns, mortars and snipers but were also very difficult to launch a viable attack against. The roads were narrow, in some cases too narrow for tanks and if wide enough, there was normally insufficient room to traverse a turret, so tanks could be taken out by those lying in wait, at their leisure, like sitting ducks! 

Cromwell, Stug III, King Tiger standoff!

Naturally, these conditions were known to the planners and this was why Britain's newest edition to its armoured division, the Cromwell tank, also know as the Cruiser Mk VIII, was fitted with a specialised hedge clearing attachment. While not specifically one of Hobarts Funnies, which I shared in an earlier post, I think the Cromwell tank's accessories should at least warrant an honouree entry in his inventory, 

Cromwell tank with hedge clearing attachment

as in addition to the hedge clearing attachment, it could also be fitted with a snorkel over its engine vents so as to allow it to wade ashore from its landing craft! While probably never in reality seen on the same vehicle at the same time, making full use of artistic license, I've ensured both of these accessories were seen fitted to my model of this D-Day equipped version.

An interesting factoid about the decals on this model: the white star, usually associated with the American forces, was actually adopted for all Allied ground vehicles during the second world war, so it is very much OK to see it adorning this British Cromwell tank.

Cromwell tank with snorkel

So, what about Operation Goodwood? Well, while there were a two preceding operations (Epsom & Charnwood) in the attempt to liberate Caen, Goodwood was distinctive in that Montgomery, commander of the Allied ground forces, went against his mechanised battle doctrine of never using tanks without infantry support. It was July 1944, the British Army were struggling to fill gaps in its ranks but had plenty of tanks. Montgomery was under pressure from the RAF to secure forward airfields, from Churchill to capture the V1 sites which had started launching flying bombs on London and from the Americans to take the pressure off their Operation Cobra to liberate St Lo. So, Montgomery released 3 armoured divisions of 2,650 tanks to envelop Caen in the largest tank battle that the British ever fought. While it was costly in men and machines, with a third of the entire British tank strength in Normandy lost, its success was seen some 60km to the west, where as the Germans believing this British flank attack to be the most dangerous, emptied St Lo of vital supplies. This left the door open for the Americans to break out toward Falaise and encircle what was to be known as the Falaise Pocket. Operation Goodwood had effectively been a decoy enabling the breakout and the ultimate destruction of most of Germany's Army Group B west of the Seine.

The Normandy campaign, saw both the British and Germans bring 2 new tanks into the war. The Germans introduced their very expensive heavy tank, the Tiger II or King Tiger, while the British rolled out their medium tank, the Cromwell, a scaled down version of the Churchill tank, which you may recall was the base vehicle for many of Hobarts Funnies.  The Cromwell was powered by a Rolls Royce Meteor engine, which was inspired by the famous Merlin engine of the Spitfire after many from crashed aircraft were actually converted for earlier tank use. It could reach an impressive 40 mph and cover 170 miles on its 500 litres of fuel, meanwhile, the King Tiger, could only reach 25 mph and had to stop to replenish its 860 litre tank at least every 100 miles. While the inadequacy of its original 6lb main gun was resolved by boring it out to take the same 75mm shell used by the Sherman, it did enter the conflict with an improvement over the Sherman, in having a lower profile, harder to hit, and thicker armour enabling it to sustain more damage. That said, it would need its superior speed and unique ability to lay down accurate fire on the move to out gun the King Tiger!

Stug III

While the King Tiger ay have been latest edition to Germany’s highly effective war machine, it already had 2 very powerful and feared stablemates in the form of the Tiger I and Panther, both of which were more than a match for most of what the Allied forces could at the time muster.  However, another interesting factoid: it was neither of these new nor existing heavy tanks which made the biggest impact on Allied tank losses; indeed it was not even a tank, but the Stug III self propelled gun and tank destroyer. This was basically a 75mm gun stuck on the body of an old Panzer III. While less easy to aim, it costed a third of the price of a turreted Panzer III, and found success due to its considerably lower profile, making it the perfect weapon to camouflage in wait for its prey, protected by the ditches, banks and hedges of the Brocade. 

It was the most prolific tracked vehicle to be produced by Germany during the war, and it occurs to me that, due to its low cost, its effectiveness on the battlefield, and for being in service from the start to the end of the war, it could be somewhat likened to the Allied’s extensive use of the mass produced American Sherman tank and a-typical of what I had considered to have been Germany’s usual approach: to create and exploit the most expensive and bespoke new armaments possible! 

Lovers of flight may be be please to learn that my next post will return us again to the air.

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The Models:

Brand: Airfix

Title: Tiger Ausf.B 'King Tiger' Starter Set

Number: A55303

Scale: 1:76

Type: Full kit

Released: 2012 | Rebox (Model set)

Brand: Airfix

Title: Stug III 75mm Assault Gun Vintage Classics

Number: A01306V

Scale: 1:76

Type: Full kit

Released: 2018 | Rebox (Changed box only)

Brand: Airfix

Title: Cromwell MkIV Starter set

Number: A55109

Scale: 1:76

Type: Full kit

Released: 2011 | Rebox (Model set)

Hobarts Funnies

Continuing my lockdown scale modelling project, I've switched to another peculiar interest of mine, the land ships of military combat; post 1917, the tank. Following my build of the D-day Hawker Typhoon, I thought I'd focus this build on the armour used to support our allied forces in the D-day landings. I finally decided on an epic construction of 6 models, 5 of which are a creation of one man, an engineer and expert in mechanised warfare, Percy Hobart; and the 6th is the craft which landed them all.

Major General Percy Hobart

Major General Percy Hobart had an interesting military career and was the creator of an equally interesting military division, whose impact on some of the critical campaigns in the latter years of World War 2 can not be over emphasised.

Hobart joined the army in 1904 as an officer in the Royal Engineers and having been inspired by the invention of the tank during the 1914-18 war, he volunteered to be transferred to the Royal Tank Corps in 1923. His vision for the new mechanised form of warfare did not, however, meet with the agreement of the established army leadership who, being still dominated by conservative cavalry officers, were most resistant to his ideas. In spite of this, he was promoted to Major General in 1937 and sent to form and train the "Mobile Force (Egypt)", which later became the 7th Armoured Division, famous as the "Desert Rats". 

His unconventional ideas on how armoured warfare should be conducted, however, still kept him out of favour with the top brass and so when General Sir Archibald Wavell took over command in Africa in 1940, he dismissed Hobart into retirement! Hobart returned to England, and joined the Home Guard as a Lance Corporal! Meanwhile, Churchill, unhappy with the way the desert campaign was proceeding under Wavell, demanded a different approach. Amazingly, against senior army leadership's wishes, he appointed Hobart to to train 11th Armoured Division and then he was given the opportunity to raise and train a new armoured division, the 79th Armoured Division. 

In March 1943, when the the division was on the brink of being disbanded due to lack of resources, General Sir Alan Brooke,  Chief of the Imperial General Staff, took the unprecedented decision to invite Hobart to convert his 79th Division into a unit of specialised armour. Hobart was given free rein to use his extensive engineering experience and armoured warfare expertise to address a number of military challenges. His mission was to devise solutions to overcome the inability of regular tanks and infantry to cope with fortified obstacles in an amphibious landing, as had so disastrously been demonstrated during the raid on Dieppe in August 1942. This, understandably, was all in preparation for the Allied invasion of Europe and what was to be known as Operation Overlord, the D-Day Landings. 

79th (Experimental) Armoured Division Royal Engineers

In its conversion, the division was renamed the "79th (Experimental) Armoured Division Royal Engineers"with unit insignia of a black bull's head with flaring nostrils superimposed over a yellow triangle. Under Hobart's leadership, the 79th assembled units of modified tank designs collectively nicknamed "Hobart's Funnies". These were used in the Normandy landings and were credited with helping the Allies get ashore. 

Example of how the resources were distributed in the D-Day Landings

The majority of the designs were modified forms of the Churchill and Sherman tanks as both were available in large numbers. The Churchill had good, though slow, cross-country performance, heavy armour, and a roomy interior while the Sherman's mechanical reliability was valued.

Among the many specialist vehicles and their attachments were:

Crocodile: A Churchill tank modified by the fitting of a flame-thrower in place of the hull machine gun. An armoured trailer, towed behind the tank, carried 400 gallons (1,800 litres) of fuel. The flamethrower had a range of over 120 yards (110 metres), far greater than man-portable units. Regarded as a powerful psychological weapon, this flame tank proved highly effective at clearing bunkers, trenches and other German fortifications.

AVRE (Assault Vehicle Royal Engineers): A Churchill tank adapted to attack defensive fortifications. The AVRE's main gun was replaced by a petard mortar that fired a forty-pound (18 kg) HE-filled projectile (nicknamed the "flying dustbin") 150 yards (137 m); it was capable of destroying concrete obstacles such as roadblocks and bunkers. The mortar had to be reloaded externally by opening a hatch and sliding a round into the mortar tube from the hull! 

ARK (Armoured Ramp Carrier): was a turret-less Churchill tank, carrying a bridge capable of spanning 30ft (9.14m) gap on its deck, complete with hydraulic system which would lift the bridge on a pivoting arm and lay it horizontally in front of the vehicle. It was then disconnected and the vehicle withdrawn, leaving the bridge in position for the advancing combat tanks to use. With the turret removed, the fighting compartment was largely filled with hydrolic machinery to operate the bridge arm. The bridge could support a 60 ton (60,964kg) weight. 

Crab: Once combat power rolled onto the beaches, the next challenge posed would be the tens of thousands of mines and other obstacles. Many options were considered with Hobart finally settling on a version which he had found some success in desert conditions fitted to the Matilda and Valentine tanks in Egypt. Using modified Sherman tank, the most capable modern platform, engineers equipped it with a mine flail; a rotating cylinder of weighted chains that exploded mines in the path of the tank. After being landed on the D-day beaches by an LCM (landing craft mechanical), the Sherman Crab's primary role was to clear paths and secure the exits, minesweeping and with direct fire power. While not sufficiently manoeuvrable to be employed as infantry support, it could on exceptions be used against pillboxes and strongpoints! 

DD tank (Duplex Drive): An amphibious M4A1 or M4A4 Sherman fitted with a large watertight canvas housing able to float and reach the shore after being launched from a landing craft up to several miles from the beach. They were intended to give support to the first waves of infantry that attacked the beaches. On D-day, they had mixed results due to weather, yet they were very effective when landing in numbers. 

The DD landing details were as follows: at GOLD beach the initial infantry assault went in without DD-tank support as the 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards found sea conditions unfavourable for launching, thus all had to be shore landed; on JUNO Beach the 6th Canadian Armoured Regiment landed 21/29 launched, while complicated by worsening sea conditions and the later than planned arrival of armour, the 10th Canadian regiment landed all by LCTs; and on SWORD Beach the 13th/18th Royal Hussars had the most successful deployment of the day, landing 31/34 tanks launched and arriving just after the leading Crabs and AVREs to provide timely support. Meanwhile to the west at UTAH Beach 70th Tank Battalion landed 29/30 launched; at OMAHA Beach 741st Battalion landed just 2/29 launched, while 743rd Battalion shore landed all its tanks from LCTs.

The 79th's vehicles were offered to all of the forces taking part in the landings of Operation Overlord, but the Americans declined all except the amphibious Sherman DD tank. The result was that on OMAHA and UTAH Beaches the US suffered 40% casualties amongst their engineers clearing the exit lanes of obstacles and mines, and it was late in the day before these were secured to enable the  beach itself from being cleared.

There is a view that had General Omar Bradley, the American commander, made use of all Hobart's Funnies that the US army may not have got so bogged down and incurred so many losses during their landing on Omaha beach. Perhaps in recognition of this mistake, Bradley ensured that the American forces did at least make use of the Sherman Crab after D-Day.

.. and here are a few shots of the real thing..

In its 3 short years, the 79th Armoured Division had amassed almost seven thousand vehicles and realised a great number of accomplishments in the performance of its specialised mission. Although disbanded on 20 August 1945, the 79th's tactics, techniques and procedures have survived through various permutations, and its influence can still be seen in today's operations of amphibious assault, use of armour in an urban environment, strongpoint assault, obstacle breaching and river crossing operations.