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VOLUME, NUMBER i.

T'he AFV G,2 is a maga,z,:i,n,e,,..publis,bed monthly, 0- Armo:r En,tbu, iasr~S. wi,t'b, 'thepurpcse of ,.athering and d:i ,seminatin< informat~"o'n about ,"rmored Figh i.ng Vehi,cle .. and,their ern'pl,loyment:, to 'provide an opportunity fo' pe,rson} ,s,e'riol1s1y' intere~'ted in 'the :Historyof Arm,or ed Fightin_. Vehicle, ~I in the IVlcdelin of t'hes,e AFVlle an.d as s oci'ated eqiriprne nt,and in, the p,layin ' of milita,ry Warg,ame,s utilizin,g miniatur'. AFVI,S" to share, ideas and i.ternaof rnutuaf mte:res't; and to promo'te. an inte' -es,t and aw r'enes:s :in the subje:,~t of A,FV~,s.

T, e AFV ....OZ is availslble. wi,th an individual issue price of $.50, "from 10{:,a1Hlob'byShops'l Magazdrie ,and Book D[eal'erslI S,ub'licrip'tioDS are avaflabl.e for the ,eru,m of $ 5 [ 1 ~001yearly.Checks ahoul.d be made pa.y,able to the "AFV ....I 2 , 1 I o'r to Ba~-o. PU:blis:, ing Comp,any" and In -_w,a'rdel~. to the Circulation E[ditor' ~

All w'ork ,on the ,AFV""'02 is vclunta ry aid p'ayment cannot be ma.de io [-- pu'blishled.mat,erial." Artie ea , and comments frolm aeriousl'y inte.r'ested pler.,lons ,are welcon:Uld; [all aub-mit ed mate:rial becomes the prope ty of the A,FV-G2, and ca.nnot; 'be returned unles ' prvio,us arrani8'B'me,nt,9 are rnade , ,A,ddlress ,all m,aterial s'ubmitted for publication. a nd allco"mme:nt s to:: A FV",,[C,2" Post Office Box Z913. La PUlentel1 Califolrnia 9.1741'.

PAC ,ARTIC,LE TITLE A,U'T'HOR3689 110121416,1819Z O21,2 22,3,

We,apon,s 'of the O'erman Panzer Troops'IHUMMELI[I Convers,i.oD of this Mo,nog:ram Panzer IV iiModeling the H'UMME,LAFV ....mqui:ry'I'he '0 :_man _arize r IV,~ Ta.nk COID'lpanyMarine Tanks in the Pae'ifi,c - _ ,ilJt't V"eolo,r ~,n Carnoufla.ge : 'Th.e Panae.rkampfwagen IV~Wargamin.g Revfew : BO'CA[QEThe Baro.nls Co,rn[erS,turmd.ivision, RhodesW,a.:rgame Con,version,s: The ,J,agdp,anzer IV.AFV- dentui[ca tion Qu"z D'rawingsA,FV~Ident.ification IQ,U'!Z SO 'utio,n

,J,oe Struck [I t J'im S t ' i ' ; ! l ' u a , ' -, dJoe Struck,Norb MeyerJim. Ste:uard

[ J "oe S,'tru'ckNorb Meye'r & ; Jim. S,te,uard

Bruce WeigleNc'rb,Meye,r'Jim Steuaz d

Jim, Garris,on, 'oe Stru,ckGr[eg Pecknsn Plat,z

,EDITO'-'IAL STAFF,-DITIO'R J ..:I i ~ _ : _ 1_ ~ __ - - I I! I II I !! I - - I _ ! I I I I I I ! I ! ~ ~ ~ l h _ ~ I ~ _ ~ ~ ! ! ! ! I I I ! ! ! ! ! ! i I ~ I ! ! I I ! ! I ! ! ! ! !! !! !! _ t I! !i !I ! ! I I! ! !! ! ! _ iii l ~ ii ii _ !!!!!!! _ ~ I I ! ! I ! ! ! ! I ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! I ! ! I !I I I ! I I I I ! !! ! I __ III !iii! _ iiiiI

ASS,IQCIATE DITOR,~ WARGAMING _,,", ....E ~_~_""_ ...._ ...._ ""_iii ... '_"" ,...,... _A,SSOClATE EDITOR ', ,MIQ[DELING _- -- --~ iiii"," -- ~" -- -, - - ... ,...- ...,-~ -~ _''''--CIRC,ULATION EDITOR - ...."";eo ...... '... . - .... _ .... ~ -- --- -~- -"....... ......, _ - __ .... _- -- _ .... _- ~ ....ASSQ'CIA,T,E ED[ITOR, IN ICHARGE OF ART ",~,-,--,_,-~,~"-----""--",-",,-,,,,,,-~-,~PU'BLLSHmG i _ ~ i _ ~ ~ I ! ! !! ! I I! ! ! _ -~111 1 ' ~ l E E iiiiiI_ -!!!!!!!i _~~_~~ _iii3- ilil iiii!~ [ __ I~1 ~ _ - ~ i i i i 1 . _ i i i i I i i i

JiUl Steua rdHi!' Platz

Nozb Meyer'JOlhn YonosStevie, 'C,o,bblBern Goets ch

'CIOVER:: Our cov- r for this isslue reflects, the new sty_e cover fOlr AFV -O:Z for the coming'year., T'he Tank forme,d fr'om the letters uAFV~I' indica'tea orr inter'est in Ar'mnred Fightin.gVehi'cl, s .. Our CQ,V,er illu,stra -ion by Joe Struck is a Fu'l Section View of the subject for 'theConversion, ar ti.cl e For this ass ue : the 15cm scbwe, e Panz' _ Ibitze I,B/l uH:umrn -Iu

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'Weapons of the Ger'man Pa..nze:r ...Troo~psby J0.St uck & Jim. S,teua'rdTank' rs. 0 tI e GermanWehrmacht\vere equip,ped with a v,a:riety of pe'rs ona a.nd

crew-served weapona, ann a knowl.edg e of th es weapons can ai,d both he modelrna.ker-, the l'listorian. a.nd the cz ate ' of military rn.irria.tu r es ~ It is the intent 0 ' this,articl,el, and a auce.edmg one on Panze, -Grenadli .5, to illus'tr-a.tlc and desc r-ibe theprincipal weapons of the GCl"man ~my ..

The personal wleap,on of cve,ry Ge.rrnan UtanJ'\.crl" was a pistol. which wa s ca r r i.edill a full, enveloping 1.ather bois te.r worn on the righ;t rea r hip II! Regulatio:n.s forbadthe wea r-ing of the pistol in any other place than the right r ea.r hdp, a.I hough this~,gulatio was of 0 i,gnor.,d. The actualpistol could b onc of many vari . i.5~ thprl11.cipal on s we r-e th,e P-08 and thl P ...38.The P ....8, otherwise known as the, IIL'ltgel"u,was adopted prio

Almost every Ge man a.rrn.or ed veh ic ,e ca.r rded another weapon' hat was avafl.abke toth crew. This was the iexcellent aub-.machine g . ~.known to the Allies as he,Schmeis,s,cr,1 but r,efere,d[ 'to by the Germans as the MP'....8 lor MP-,40. Thi,s,weapon was earrie,d, ra.cked ins,ide thetuxre' arid was a;vailable. to di,5,rnou.n.t.edcrew member'S who rrright have to lead,a. tank in. 0plo,sition,11 or' who, might ha.vesoman a . lis'te.ning post, or particip',a'['ein a. r,econnaissance patro The lV,[p ....3,8and 1:v1Piiiil40'w,ere" almost id,enti,cal, withmdnoz manufacturdng va r latdons I Bothwere ahor+ arid h_c_ndy with a folding s tock~ ul d ~I II d f" hrch co I I_ d be exten eo fOI" aame rar-ewhen required. Th v'e'rtica.l rnag, zineh,leld 3Z1 zounda of arnrnurritdon and spare

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rnaga airie pouches h. Id tlrre e lnagazines ea ch, It wa.s far rnoz-e cornrn on or one to seea dismounted tanke carrVll1g a . Iung MP,...40 thanny oth ..r weapon. Usually, h. CI: WSs cr oung ed lextra guns, fro,tn des tr oyed v' iclesJ! and thes e w'e r e favorite wapons sincethey pl'"ovided a vo'lurn. of fire of'ten needed in erm rgencies t 'The Allies also saw thea.dvantag s of .he MP'-38 and MP-40 and captu ed W' apons were of'teri us d by rnern er sof the US Army. since he Arnerdcans had nothing exc'ept the Thompson .MIA'!which coul.dcompare with t . German wreapr1ons .. Th. Srchmeisse'r was a ve ry popular w .apon with brothsides II

Light Malchine IGUDSweee a standar-d piece of equip,m.ent on eve r-y tank of the Ge':rm,an_ 6 . U I 1 -- )Weh-'lTJarchtJ, from the Panze kam:.efw!Sen I~. ,of 193r. to tb Konigstige.r, ,or Roya Tig,er'of 194S,,,,Mast of the Iate war tanks carrie:d thr ee of these efficient weapons; one in rahul mounting' firmg ',orward, one mounted coaxially 'with the main armament. and onemo- -I ed on an G L r ti-aiT',craf ring on the comrriande I.'IS cupola. These weapons could be '.IdismoWlteld from 'the vrB.hi,ci,e and us ed by the cr-ew, ilthe s ituatfon dictated. The standa.r dHgh machme gun coufd be of two different types; .he MG,-34 a d th Ia te.r MG 4Z. Alt rough phased-out by the MG-4Z, the I, a 'lie MG-3r4 was in rs,'e !'v ic : to th end of thewar. EVlen though m' .chanfcaflv rCo.lnpli at.ed rand aus ceptfbl e 'to dirt,r the MG-34 was areliale and effe ctfve gun, rl '.ring the . ifle caliber 1" r92,m,m (:ror ,j! 33 cakfb r,) ca:rtri.rdlg,e.The MG-42 was adopted..in 1942, as a r-epla.cernent l'olt' the. M.G-3,4~ It was I rSS, cornpl.Icat.edand made f om chea.pe r starnpdng s ID S ead of experis ive rna.chfned pa.rts , It fired a 1- afast _r :rate of lire (up to 1200 r ounds ....r,-minute)r and was well lik,d by the Giermansol.dfer s , It was not greatly used. on ,arlTlored vehic-es~ since its 'barre jaclt.et wassquare in. cross section an did riot a'll.ow the use of the standa.rd ound fitting, unlelssrnodifded, Most armored v'r,picl s continued. the uaeage of th,,,rMa ....4~n I-T . Fli. gerbt'sr chuss,grerat _as used on the cornrnaridee s cup'o- a wa.s a m tal clam..psystem which car r-ie d a MG...34 fas~en,d by the re IFbipod. sWive_ ~ T11e gUI was lffi,odifledby th removal of the wooden suock and 'b'y the additdon of ari an:tir"",.a,iiTrC.rai.l rin;g s.ig'llt.T ds pie Cr.. of erquipmellt g .veth. commander of th . tank a wear 0,1}for his own use whileexpos ed in the turret. Even though inten,dled fair' use against low,-fiying ,air,craft, it warsalao eflective agadnat ground ta rgets ..

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Early rrrod. Is of German tanks (up to tl'l'e Pal".zerkam.pfw,~sen Vi' Pan.th,er) we r e equippedw " t h a nurnbe r of s m o k e dis c h a r g er s a tta cl ed to the tm r e i , sides ~ T'hes"e amoke di . c h a . r g e z - scons is ted of hollow tubes which pom,ted in various, dirfH~tions". The tubes, eld a numbe.r ,0,smok grenades whlch coul d be launched r."a.m the tubes. with blank carteidges, The burnin,gsmoke g .nad s could provide cover fro'm en my vis,ion while the tarik 'l'e,tre,ate,d unobae rv. .d,On lat ' model vel1.icles, the se smoke dis ella gers wer e zepfaced by' a s ingl.e gr enade launch-er in the turr"t r-oof, U'ruike th.. Qriy discharg'ers." the 'tu.rret gr enade Iaunch.er- eoul.d be re-loaded from insid the rur r et, unde r cover .. Inaddrti.on, the late modef Launchez could beus'ed~o fire high ....xplosiv grenades into the a.ir 'to ccnnter enemy in!an.trYID,en who, were. -attacking the tank under cover of its,'1 blind spots II This late s,tyle Iaunchez appea.r ed in 1944and it gave much neede d protection to tanks fighting whfIe "bu toned ....pi' and. vulne rabl C ,I,Regula r German Army ha..nd grenades 'were a l,SQ, ava llabfe to the crews of Gierman, a rrnor ~ed vell!. es in comba.t, A riurnb.e r of gr-ena.dee were s tore d Ins Ide th mnl~which coukd beu.sed to arm cr w m rmber-s wh.il,e dismounted. Inthe early war yeal'"a~, these. gr,ena.des w,ereof the IIstick~'1 or Ipota toe mash irU type; these were replaced by' the smaller' ilegg"sty'le ,ofhand grenad .which took up less storage spac e, a ' r " nades we're an emergency wea.pon;!!, tOIbe 'usI_d wherieve r th.e tank ba.d tc be abandorme d, lor wheriev .r the tank: was wit.hout ini.ant,;ryBup'po,rt,.Ger-man Ijtanker8~1 were well equdpped to fi,ght" both 'inside and, outside of thai - vhicles",Th,el,r'weapons wer-e well resp!ec ed by the enemy, and they aave ernexg ency fire and pr ote e.....tion When required b,y' the German P'arrae r ....T'roop,s.

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Conversion oI the Moriog r'a rn kitor . 'he P3n'~,crka rnpfwa gcn IV..By" J0. ,S'truck

T e 1,5cm s,chwere Panze:riha:ubitze 18/1 Selbstfa.hrlafette .auf Gesch:ltzwag'en nI/IV ..'U " 'UDlDlelu or Sand I 1- . .1 a' ahrzeug 165 _ w,as th.estanda rd he vy a r rnor ed artU I .ry w eaponused by the~ 'anze'r-Artille:rie ....e_girncnt ,during: World W,il.r I][. The long compl.aca ted namezrreazrt ; 150'lDIll heavy sedf propelle,d a:rrnor,cd ar'tlllery howi.taer 01"1 motor gun c rriag,eI1I/IViP nBurnble Bee' or Special ' rpose Vehicle 165,. T'his v hie e make s a v,ery Iogi...cal conver'sioo of the, exc,ellent Monogram. kit; and is one tha t will give "much pl ea su.r-eto the modedex ..

uHuD'lDl.elu .mourrted the 15crn schwe.r-e Fel,dhau' "tze 18/1. (lor '"evy Field How i'tz ez-]which coufd fire 15crn Granate 19' high-explo,sive ahefl.s weighing '95 i1 7 pounds at xa.nge,~,frlDIn 4000 m,eters (437'5 yds ..) to 13 1300 meters, (14j, 500 yds , )1; It, als 0 fired IS,e .... Gr,. 3'9HEAT (or aha'pled Ichar',ge armor piercing)" srnoke ,and, anti ....o,n,cret,e shefl s i! T'. e rat,eof fire was up to five I"'ounds~per-minut,e., Stcwag was providled on the v hi cle fo,T' 18r ounde of arnmunf-10,nll The gun Icould traversed up to 3 ,dg esJ.o right o. lefti andelevation 'was fro,m rrrinus 3 degr',ees tO plus 40 degrees. ~IHummell'l was also a r rnedwit'h one MG34 1(1'" MG42, light machine gin and two M ;4'0 rna hinle-pistols; andwa s rnarmedbly a ceew of six.

'I'he Q,eschUtzwagen, InlIV .. chassis uaed the e.uspens.Ion of the ..zkw" IV. ~Ausf~hrun,g__F., and the engine, tr,a"s,mission and dive spro,cket of th O P'zkw'., lIT. ,AusfRhrung J. Th I-rnaxdrrium road ape ed wa s 4Z KmP'H (,or ,2,6 m ..P'~h.) and ,2,4 KmPJ-I (OT' 15 rn, Pi,h ..) g'oingcxoss ....countzy, The fuel tank held, 12. gallons of , as ofdne, whi oh gave it a range ofZOO Km., '(lor' 124 mile,s;') on zoads and 13.0 Km (81 miles) cross liiiicountry~ When corribatLoade d ItH1llmm,e I'I weighed about 26 t.orrs ,

'~H'urn.Inelu 'was lightly armor,ed:: 30mm on the u,pp' r hull f'ront, a.ngl ed at 70 degreesand the driverls pla.te ,at 615 Idegr iea , The hull sides were, ,ZOmnl thick at '90 deg r-eea .The hull rea was Z2mm thi.ck at 80 deg r-ees ill whil the rear deck was ISrnrn thick.The engine covers and be. tom, 0,1 the vehfcle wer also lSmm thack. The sup er-stnuotuz-ehad lOmm of a.rmor af 53 deg r e ea on the f r orrt; 7'4 de.g e.es on the side s : - and 80 d. g:r,ees,on the 'r'e,ar' p,lating .. Tlh' vehicles dimensions we : Length..., 619cm (ZO~-4n)l, Wid h ....29Zcm. (91 . . . . 1N ' I ' ) l I Height ....279cm {9' - Z U ) : J Cround Clearan.ce - 40c.'m(l~...4U)I~ and Over. IIlength (incl'uJ:ng baz r'e eve zhang] ....66'J,cm ('0' ,21m-ll'~') ..

uHumm.el'u was the sta.nda.rd equtprnent of Panz,era.rtill-:.rie from late 1943 until th endof the war, The Panzer-ArtilleI."je-R'egUnent wa.s equ'ippe d with a s ix-igun hea.vy batte r ieo f H u m m .e k s " an d w o light ba tter-Ies e q u .ip p ed w ith If-pr,op_lled llO~5rCm Hcwi.tz r's oIIWes'peu,~ During 1'943 and 944, a total of 6 1 6 6 lI~ummelsu were bu,ilt at the Dleuts ehe.,Eisen,wer-ke., It proved to be a v,ery success fu.l 5,elf ...prop Il ed rn.ourrt and serve" theWehrmacht, well durin~' the list part of World War II.

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ModeliIyt the uHum~el"by Noz-b Meye1"'

he int_nt of this brief article is not to give yon a blow ....by...b ow method of constructinga "Hummel." without rrris take, but is to give the 'modeler s orne bas i.c guidelines on hew to startand accomplish the difficult parts. Since, many of' our read 1"9 may not have "'scratch-bultU ana r m o r m o d e l befoze, it is hcrped t h a t the foll o w i r i g tip,s 'will b e . u s e f u l ,First of all. the, euap erision and hull of the Monogr-am P,anzel"' IV. can be cons tz-uceed asahown in the plans , ,Althou,gh the "Humme]," used he Drive S'procket of the Panzer ur Ii I thereis, very littl.e diferenc,e be:tw'eentbe two dr'l1ve sprockets [II and we can, ignore thee: e changea ~

Our conversion will not use the hull superstru,eture, or- the Pan~er IV. turret, so thesecan be saved for other corrvez adons air "s;er,atch ...built;sU such as a Panze III.

Now. r"epla,ce, Part '2;3,[the G acis Plate)' of the Panzer IV~ 'with a piece of' .030 sheetstyr'ene, cut to the, aarne dimensions. This is changed to eliminate the extxa d,etail not n, eded.

The next rnaj10r step is to construct the D':riv,er~s and R,adio Ope:r,a'tol'",ls Compaetmentfrom,. 020 shc't styrene, work,Lng fro'mth . s ide view and aectfon view on the cover to obtainthe dimension,s ,I] Th'is ra,ia ad compartment extends back to the rear of the side vents ShOW'D inthe s ide and top views 1I The T'ea:r atep of this cornpaz-tmant angles, downwa nd: y'ou should referto the C OS5 s.ectdon view. ThIS raised area will e enme the base on W icho m.ourr the 155m.mnowitze,'r Iaterlll

The "Humrned" had a Iong er hull than the standard Panzer [V. I so our next s tep will beto extend this ea r=end, First, .ernove the r ea.r fenders where they slope downwa rd, Next.'make a teruplate fro'm the s id e view for the hull extension. Using this ternpl.ate , cut two identii!!'ca.l extension pieces fro ..020 styr n Use a pie ce of s czap pl astac beet to ove rIap both theor Igina.l hull and our extensdon piec s to hold thern in position. Now, make the lower hull plateon the r _ar .. working from the rear view. Do not make his piece 'the full width of the upper's tz-uctuz-e, but fit it between the two h 1 axterre ioris tha you 'have glued in place.

The "Hurnmer" fl.oor-pl.ate s should now be constructed Erom ~030 she et styrene. You canwo k fr orn th top vi w 0obtai dimnsions. When finished cutt ing , you ahoul.d app y the dim-pled trea.d on the floorplates used to pr-event the crew' from slipping., There are s ev rral meth-ods. such as all, application of uGreen-Stuffll which can be udimpledtt when no qirite dry, or youmight try s catching the plastic with scz ibe r 0form he pa tte en, The floorpl,ales are instal edusing "F'Ias tnue t!' angl e iron pieces as supports on each side of the hull. Inothe r words I placepieces ,0 angle iron on each hull side 0 act as a l e .g far th . floor to sit on,

NOW,I s crib- ines on both fenders wher th sloping upper supez-e tz-uctu r-a wdll beginiiThe,s. sc fbe lines: will b '. useful to locate the sloping a mor plate later. Using a Hl.e or sa.nd-p p T, arnooth all detail from he fe.nde r s , to I he rea of your scribed lines. We wil now starto cons truct the upper superstructure ..

F~ s t, construct the supe s tr uc ur sides fro .020 styrene .. which will seem to be toothin. Thas size, how veri is very close to actua thickness in s caf,e , Us t~ side iew as aito 'make these sides. Next, cons t.ruct the rear plate from the s arn e thickness of plastic. Thisr e r plate had t\VO' doors for crew entry, and th s doors can b _made to hint wit little effort.Cerrient the side plates to the outside of the f'errders , located as shown in the side vi. WI Then,cement the rear plate in the proper loca ion, and aIl.ow the as sernbl.y to dry. The r ea.r plate isnece s ea.r-y at t is time 0give you the pro'per angle of t se sides, inward.Next, cons tz-uct the sloping armor plate adja cerit to the sid,es, woz-kmg inward fr'om thesides. Locat this S .opfng plate on the scribe lines dr-awn ear ier, and cernen to the endersand tOI th sup. structure s ides , Finally, canst uct the front armor plate that is notched forth 155mm howitzer At this stage. the hull area is complete. except for the amount of extradeta.il tha you m.ight want to add. R', ets a e easy to construct and add and t ey should ' donat this s tage,The g can now be construct d, This can be built ...- IP, with a lot of eweaztng, and somesweat, rom the gun .....ube of th UPC Long Tom Inc.idently. the rest of the upe kit (the HighSpeed T'ra cto ) will work-up into a,n xcellent M3 Stuart. The "Humrne'l" gun can be made from.sections ,0 the Long Tom tube. built-up with Plastruc:t tubing fo .he . coil and Rcip -ocating

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A .,F.V ,. IN QU IR Y'Th purpose of thi:s lection is to &',t,t -apt to la'nsver' th,._; q,u_.st1ons c,f i,ntere~st,edre'fiders. Q~estlans may be ,'ubmitte,dby anyone" sD,d s,hould be ,sent to th,el Editorwhlose ,nIJD_.'enid 8,ddre"s,s app.- us on t'n COVI r-, lVhe" the' answer' is, 'urgently' ne -,d a,-neloa ' a se,lf'-addressed mtamp_ ,d e'n,velope.Question: What vas, the first American landing IcrB,ft t10 Ic~_rry tanks?Answer: ('Solur'c:e: JOlhn 'Reynold's )In th pilanning for th America'n inv,Qsion of North A 'riles 'in 1942, it WBS,discovi 'r'ed 'tbat t,h'_- 'U'nited States la,C!.k,'ed ~v sru' i table era.ft fOIl" till' landing ofev'-n ligh,t tan s,! A -:1". at ,d~'a1lot searching va's done b.~flclre ,8 rason,ableB'ubs,ti t,ute was found. Wh'11_ se',are'hing t,he dock are'afJ I tWlo shallow--d'rart 0'11tanke'rs, des,ig,ne'd for uSlage on Lake Mar'!,eiBbo, Vene'z,ul - we'r: found. Thoughthe- ,r Id_sign was for ,Bn, 'ntir'e,ly di"ff,erent purpose J they' did, ha'v.: ~h,' d.fJ'irabl'efeat/ure' er be1,!l8,' bl,e to. moy " c,l!o:s _ to t'h,e shore li'ft' be'- ore th.~,:'f "b,otto.enou t. " In a,ctua.l UB _ t h,, _; y p ,ro IY " :,dl,to s_ , rYe ' t,ble purpose rem. k:ably W I '1.1". In alJ-hour' per10ld 'they 'wei r- , ,abl'e to unlo,ad their eompl .:t/_ 'carg'o of light, tanks,armor _4 h,al'f tracks, j.- eps , towed gun:! I, !Lndother' item.s without .isha.:p.

Que t,ion: How gOOd 'wa ,the German tank "Gol'iath~ u'An;sIYer': (Soure.: J'o'bn R,eyn,lol,da)

' 'rGotiat:h'' 'W SI a miniature tank filled with 200 Ibsi. 10 '-x'}llo'i'ves, an,d. wasint-D,d d to be used e.gai at h av11y 'fortified positilons ~ndsp,e'eial trlg_t," It'w&-= som_tim.s used ,aain

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The German Panzer IV. Tank Complany,Diy Jim Steuazd

The German F'anze:rkamplwagen IV~ was 'tbe maina,tay 0' the Wehrm,a,cht during theSecond World War~ With a total produc:tio,n t'bat exc,ele~ded8000 v,ehic1Les. the Pa.n,zler IV.,fo;rrn_ed the backbone of every ,Panzer ....RegJment of the nurne r ous ,Panzer-Divisiane:n.

In 1943. wheri the Panzerkampfwa,gen V'. or "'Panther!I,' carne into p,ro,duction~, thedeci,sion, was made by the Oberkommando der Webrma'~ht (,c'r High Command) that everyPanzel"' ...Regim,ent sh-ould have one Ba.ttaHon of the 'new i1Pantherll a.nd one Battalion ofthe older P,anzer IV. Thi9, ,decision was for'ce,d upon the Wehrrna1cht. sinee, productionof th.e ~'Panthe.rln~ would 'Dot reach audtabl e quantities lor some t.irrre to corrre , At the tiJDeof the Invas ion of Fran.ce in 1944"1 most Panzer !!!!Regime'nls. had net. rBceiv,ed ,sufficientIIPantbersl'to Icompletelly equdp the Battaldon that was suppos ed to have thern , Th'us" i,tcan be s een arid app r e.e'iat.ed that. the Panzer I " V ' Battalion was the workhol"s e of the Oor ....man armored force during 1943-1945,~

The Panzer IV. Abteilung (OT' B,a.ttalion) was or-ga.rdz ed as fo,ll'owB':Stah'l Pa'nzer ...Abteilun,S, Tank Ba italian Headqua.rter aS:ta.bslkDn~I~a.nie Headquarters, Company]. P,anzer K,ompa ..n,ie lst Tank. CompanyZ. Pa,nzer Kompanie 2nd Tank Co:mpany3,~Panzer Kampanie 3rd Tank Company4. Pan~er ,Kompanie 4th T'ank Com.panyVerse,rji'ungs -KompaniB Supply Cornpa ny

It should be mentioned that the companies in the First Battalion of the Regiment were.numbe red consecutively from 1 to 4; thos e companies in the Second Battalion we're: nurnbe r ed from 5 through 8. It was purely a matt .T of Ichoice whether the First or SecondBattalion was equipped with the Panzer ,TV or the ~IPa.n"the:rflI

The nusribe r-ed corripa ni ea of the Pa.nzer-Abteilung were organized with a total offou.rte en tanks per cornpany, Waffen ...SS cornpa.ni ea during this same pe r-iod were or-ganized with seventeen tanks 111 since they could obtain more tanks .. Actually the nurn.-ber of tanks per com'pany had steadily declined from. a pre-war total of twentv -fwoto the 1944 level of four te en (or seventeen) .. At war '.s end, the total actually reachedonly t en vehicles per unit,The Headquarters Section of the Panz,er-K,ompanie was equipped with 'two light carslor admin.istrative purposes, and two rnoto r cyc BS, or Kettcnkr ad type hal tna.ck m,otor-cycl.ee , if the urrit was operating inan area 0 , few r oada, such as Russia. These twomotorcycles were us ed for communications pu'rposes[Il to carry messages when radiosilence had been ordered. The Company Hea dquaz-te r s also included two tanks organizedin a Section. These were used by the Company Cemrnande r for control of his unit dur~n,gtactical per icds , These tanks were equipped with extra communications equipment toa.Il.ow "nc tting!' with Battalion or Regiment when r equ.i.r ed,

There were three identical Tank Platoons in each numbered Tank Company; thes ewere organized with 4 tank in the fourteen tank, Company, and 5 tanks in the seventeentank Cornpany, Each of these Pfa.toone was cornrnanded by a Leutnan,t (or 2nd, Lieue,n-'ant) '01' a senior Non-Commissioned Officer" who led his Platoon from the cupola of hisP'anze'r .IV. tank,

Each tank of the Pan~er"",Kom'panie wa s cz-ewed by five rne.n, usually l Non-Commis ....s ioned Office,rs and 2 Enlisted ....men; th'is crew cons.isted, of a Ccrnmandez-, a Gunner, aRadi.crna.n, a Gun Loader and a Dr ive r-, Each rnernbex of the crew wa.s trained in af.l ofthe dutdea of the othe r rnerribe r s , even though a sp'EH:ialist inhis own specific duties" Thissystem of 'l~c:ro'9s....rainingn al Iowe d replacement in combat without re'gard for specializa ....tioD. in time of urgent need. A crew trained tog ether to form a cohesive team" or gandae dto ,effectively f:ight and rnadntadn thei:r' complicated combat vehi,cle~

Insummary" the Panzier ....Kornparrle wall, organi.aed with 3 OIfiee:rs~ 42 NeO"a.. a.nd,3,3Enli,sted ....m.en, T'hey' wer'('! equippe1d with, 70 pist'ol,s,l '1 rifles a.nd 2 ma,ch'ine""'pistols,;not inclu,ding the 14 75m.rn. guns. the ,28 LMGts and 14machine -pis,'l,ols in their ranks ..

...0-

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,F lRS l [ P L A T O O NI

T H I R D F J L A T f X I N '

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Marin.e Tanks in. Pa c.ifi,c - Part V IIJoe St.ruck

Eniwetok Atoll wa.s the n.,ext Ce:nt.ral Pacific obdec'tive fO'T US Mar'in.es ti The capbur e o.fEngebi,1) the northern ....mast Laland of the at.ollji w'as assign'ed. to the ZZnd Mar-ines, an, orphanl"e,gilnent., and to tho 2nd Se.par,ate: Tank. COlmp311Y. E'oiw'etok a,,n .d the other southern islandswe're to be captuz ed by Arm'y units '.,

Inthe attack on Engeb,i. the tankl es s Company D'of the ,4th,Tank Ba'ttal ion had a similarassignment as i:t had ,for the K.wajal.ein operation. On February 11th,1} 1944. while battleships,cruisers and destrIQy'er-s sh,elled the isla'nld, the scouts of Compa'n-y D e,a.pt,ured thA small islet,sadjacent to Engebil

On the next day, the Z,Znd Mar ines storm.edl ashore on, shell and bomb .....itted, ,Engeb1i. Tbe.ZnldSeparate T,ank Company's Shermans began landin.g behind, th,e a,,9,S,tilui't.wave,s from their,LCM's., One LCM skip'per lowered bis zarrip too soon a.nd the landing craft, flolocledand cap,B,izled.Only one Icrewme.mber of tbebuttoned ....p tank onboaxd was able .to escape'. The tanks m oved=upto suppoz-t riflemen fig'h.ting on the islandta airfield; shell holes and debris made their rou'tedifficult. The Shermans g'rea'tly aided the Mar ine advance even though the Japanese defender'sfought hard from epide r holes and the li)ilasted 'ruins of the isl,and"g buildings .By late afternoon.t h e ' airfield had ' b e e n o v e r r u n , and (lrga.nized r esds tance had b e e n speed.llly el'imina.ted,. T1he 3rdBattalion. of the ZZ.nd Marines and the 'Z,nd Sepa r-ate Tank C,om.pany wez e s.ent 'to assist the Ar'myt.roops asaa,ulting Eniwetok Island.

Twelve Shlel~man,s r e=ernba r-ked on. L'CM',s, and rna de the l,o'ng twe,nty ...five. mile vOly,agesouth a cros s the Lagoon, ,ar'r-iving ea rIy next mOIT'nin,g to land their Shermans. The A:r:my unitsmade al ow progress agains t fortified pos itdona, rind aga.iriat ,stronge'r re.sista.nce than. expected,

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ThE:: Ma 1 '" ine .5 w t : :' ] " ', e Hen,1 for war d " antl 0 1 . e a dvan ce S00n qui ck ened ill T ha t C'Veriing" the J,apanes.,e spent muc.h of their strength by ,e,ounteratta.ckingll Th.e :ne,x'mOl"llling" the Ma rine tanks contdrrued to, gdv e close...u,PP'OI"t. r educing e~ne'mySllt:rongpo ints with th.eir 75mm guns. Eniw,etok was secured late in the: afte:r-noon of Feb,'ruar-y 20th, and onl.y the small p1erry Island r erna iried to be ta,k.en

The 2nd. S,e'par-,ate Tank Cornpany ernba r-ked again to' join th.e 22.,nd MarineReg irne nt a.ssaukt on Perry IsIa.nd I! T'h'8' Shexrna.ns were Ia ad.ed in the four-thwav'sll and they a,s,a'iste.d the attack on th,e' e.nem.y d,eienaea, in the no'rth~r'n POtion of the island .. ,A shortdistance f:ro'm the bea ch, the Shermans encounter-

. I d th .. .. J - " I ' - - _ . . I : " 1'',.ht ta.nk -, md th .. ' ....klv . ,d a . . . d l the .-.....o ,_.,'ol d -~.. -.ree .,apa,nese --~g .. _ .s , anc .. s.y qUIC c y r enu ce ..,IBITl, 10 sm.o erlngBIc:rap,~ Naval gunfi r e had b,een caHe.d- in to a ss Ist against the s tubbo.r n IJ'a'pla~

ese. delenslB1 When the. shellfire was lifted, the Marine.s moved forward ra'pidlYIi ,a,s"s'i,ste,d bythe She r'rnana, through the eha.tte r ed coconut gr-o'vle,s al.l of fhe way acr cs.s fh.e no rther n end ofthe islandl, eliminating the rnany enemy slpider- holes a.n.dLog bunkers that oppos ed fhern ..

Tank and In.fantry unifs -the:n. rcarran.ged therna elve s , and in the afternoon" the'y,attackedaouthwa ed dawn the Is l.and, The"Sh.e,rma,ns advanced ste8.,dilYt tiring c()ntinuallly., When t'he 'tankshad exhausted their ammunition, the advance ground to a halt~ Ma.r ine mortar and artillery f'ir'was brougb.t down in front of 'the advance .. while the. tanks, w'ere resu.pp,li,ed. The advance re''''aurn ed 'when the rearme,d tanka z-etuxned, This proces9 was repeated until the hdarine arilvanc,ehalted .for 'the everring,The Japane,se counterattack, 'that night was aupported by Light tanks whieh were de:stroye.dduzfng a pitched batUe with the M,a:rin,e Shermans II] The las t pocket 01 ,enemy l'"'csis'tance waselim.inat1ed the next mozrdng , and Perr'Y Island was secured before noon,

The She rrnari 'tanks had aga In pz oved instrumental in the quiek conquest of E.niweto'kAtoll",

Afte ~the Cape 'Gloucester ,airfield pe r irn ete r had! been a ecur ed in Jan,uary 1944, theFirst Marin'e Division patr oll.ed and hunted ,dOWl1- J,apanese in the NewB:ritain, jungke; In March,11944, 5,th Marines landed at Ta.la~:eaJ on New' B,ri,taintB Willaumea Peninsula, over a hundred-miles eas t of Cape Glouceeter , Five light tanks of the 1st Platoon. Company C" and four med ...i,wn ta..nk,s of Cornpany Alii Lst Tank Battal.ion wer e a'tta.ched tiC the, 5th Marine,s,. These four Sherm.~nli::!!' wer - em. loyed' 9 i - - an 1'1i1i ~ ial "-""1.- T' - -..,.,.; , , J i 1 th ;0 _. "na- 'a.l,g u n l - oil - s por t" 11.~_ 'rIi~iel:"!l~ .~'. . e , p , : - , ~n . '~...,U~Ug w'~yflj 0 pruvl,ue el'r ownv _. ... . Jl're ! 'up :..r~ !J i J l . V . I l. I i :i L . . : '" '; ~ H ' ''blocked and tied ....down. the Sher,m,an~, in,LCM'IS and uae d the,m as ftgunboats,tl'. Teats ''Were, con-ducted of'i Iboki a Jew days befor e the ached,uled landing. and the LCM....Tanks p:rov'e,d sa'tisiae,tory

L CM - S lIe rf1 llJ n Tilnlt "GunlKHlttl, us~d at C ap G JC tu~ste rAt dawn on March 6th~ a eonvoy of Is,ixty land.ing craft" escor-ted by a ,few P'T boats,

arrived off Volupai Plantation on the western shore of Wllla.um.ea Pe'ninsula,~ The lou,r LCM-T a n k gunboats m ov ed in cl os e tOI t h e s h o z - e , and. rak,ed th.e beach wit.h their rna chkne guns and75mrn cannon, giving' usnpp'orting naval l~runfil",eY' as the assault 'waves we.r-e ashore. Japanese,snipers fired back. and '90mrn mortar bornbs spka.s hed in the water around the Ma r inea , TheShe rrnans Iaride d and moved inlan,d on a :muddy jun.gle road ,to join th'e advarrce , ,Li'l!utenant JohnSca1"horoughls S he z - rn a r i m ove d -su p to aa.s i.st Ma Ine s ha.Lte.d be erierny he~avy rna.clrine gun p1o,si-tfons , which barred their progress to the p'la.nta ti.on, Tbe mn'k knocked out. a machine gun bun ...

Cont.inued on P'age 2j']!lli J J. l!!ii!!i

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C f l by orb ey " Jim S ua rd. Th, I V i O A r'uns HI! Medium Ta.nkIn th sum er of 943. S,S-P zer--C

~ ~ - - - ~ ~ ~ ~ - - - ~ ~ - - - ~ - - - - - - ~ - - - - - - ~ ~ - - ~ ~ - - - ~ ~ - - - ~ ~ - - ~was t ,Insfer:r" d !'om t.he Russian Front to No striate ic reserve tocount r the axpected capi :ulatio of h ad .ascis'-,o'vernm, rrt, Elemen'ts 0 - theuLSSA_ U nccup i: d he cities of Pizzand M~lanJ nd th ',ea ured veh icIe of his rnontb+aar'icle wae pho'lograph d whil pa.t -olf ing he lets or Mila iii It was a standard. anzer IV1'of the 6,th Compa'ny of 55 Panze ,'-Regiment III '- and it can b eae ily mod led fro th Mono-,gram k,t, which, pries, nts th sam ve r i.on of this arnous tank.

This Panz r IVf!IJof th HL. ibstandarteU wa -inished in a th" -tone pa.int chernethat seern s airly standa d fo];'ervice on the Easte' n Front .. he tank was P i 're with abase coat of the s't,andardWehrmach. uSland-tanU prim : : ' 1 "pa irrt, This ICOor waa r aturleldin I ' e De cernbez- 196'9 ' is sue ofthe AFV -,G2, and i lSI being.. pea ted hi I e fo our readler's,canV'nl' . ce. he mix 0 ,- is..tanda r d facto y paint inis-_is S 0 laws"

Carnoufl.ag _ paints were app. red to the tu . et or seshoe shaped! upplemen a armor. and 8,0 to the Si,d ' Ski!'ar D " that g v extra 'P ote c ion [0 th A - -ftih.run _ Iii Tb.e aecamouflage oorB we re the B ick R . a, d Chacol Browna Irrts 'tb,a, w r _ , Iuatz-a ted in "FV-CZ,. 'bru ry 1910 I s su ~The sxac t pa te r I of carnoufla . that wa a pli d t . th pzkw.IV' wa: a s illus rated in the s ide view diawing bov ~ SI, nti gm e linuJ. d slgnate th Brick Red carnoufIa e p in ~ and I he olid bl -k indicat wll1 e Choco-Ia t Bzown p_ int W'8.S 8:p"pli d. Th lin, s between colors wer no ha ed and, ef".nite, 'but w e in ....st ad soi' and well blend dill I- should be rne nticried th oniLi re S~de Skirts and the Ho raeahoeSuplpll rn nta a_mar plat-n I h e m carn.oi .. age paint applied to it.

"lIi he cti.cal rnarkin of I_ h ILeis .nda r-te ....S-Adolf Hitl'e, II consistedI, of a shield 'n outline fOIT'mt w''h the ut 1- r corne cut ...of The shield con ...

taine _a akel.e on keYt poin in downward ane 0 he leftll ~iagonally a.cro Sth s tli. l,d, S,ine 'I' th m nD'~et ich" ( he commander of the tlLSSAHH)m ant Ukey" in Gerrnan sIarig , i can be _ppreciated, whe r e fh ymbo_ ori -_Ina ed f ern, B, nath the' hi d,. the re w re t.:cross d oak eave s ins tencfl out ....ine , A 1 of the abov e tac i.eal rna.rki g appea ed in whi e pa int,This ta etic 1 slymbo was applied to a ll vehic' s of h uLibs anda rte" ndit a.ppea d 0 our anz ez IVll in the usual Loca ~on IS ak ched on. the nextp ell It wa s 10 at. doth .1" ght of '1h _ _ _ I _ . " i'v,er" is Viso :J on th Hull FrontPi ate , Fo,r thos prison modeli 'g t ri~ vehicl e, no, rea.lly goad decaks are

SA, 'D-TAN P'IME7 part' Floqu'U RR81 Earthpa t Flo, uil RR63 Mud

1 part ,loquil Mil White

availab I that cor'rectly dupl icat. the Ic 1 ,y' - all of this farrrou ' diiaion .. Wi b a little car _and a littl.e pa i nc e, ho 'ever" th- tacfical m _ k~ng can be painteld with a .line brush . w"t . all,Qfth~ d.esir-d detail. It appea s zom the photo, r' plb ' of O:.Jl: V' hicle that tb e was no tact'~,c.alm .~in.g'on t e ro_ r of h _ ' _ n k.

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Natfonal identity markf gs wer car ried on. B oll-m o un te d M a cllllllJ G u n our Panz ez IV. on both sid,es of the 'I'urr-et SIUP-LtJ . 'f :a ll tJ II o f plemental Hcrs eshoe ...shaped Ar'mor. at the ex ....ra clle al S ymbtJ I t 'erm f'orwa d end of the se p aues lii he slylle 0'

the se German Cr',CB,ses Wa.S, typical of the late-w,arperiod. being a fair-Iy [a 1 g,8 black cr-os s with fa

,Hul l Fntnt P I a " " whrte outline, and no thin bla ck outlining around\...o,iww~Vlso, the white areas IE ch tank in German a -mo r -'d units wasi d e n t i f i e d by a sy,st'em of Tu r-re t I,d'entific,ation Numbe rs , which were painted in th,rle,e.Locat'ionson th.e Tur et Hnr se s ,oe-sbaped S pplemntal Armor. These numbers we' e l.oca ted on boths i d e s 0- the Turret, imlnedia, y to the rear of the German crosses, and on th e l"'8,ar of theSuppl ern ental Ar-mor', for identiiication to any tank following to the rear. Ou'r Parize r IV. ua edt I ur be r u61S,11. indica_ingha.t it was thelal oon eade r ' 6, v .hicl e of ;he 4th P-a toon of t6th Company of SS,-Panzer-Regim,. nt, l'i! Armored units of the Waffen'-SS, during the 1942 ....3perEod, numbe rr d a.ll v hi ekes in cons equa trva or de I within each corn.p ny , 'I'hus , our rank wathe 18b tank, the four latoan Le.ade r s used th numbers: 1160 1311 1 , 1'60811 , 1'161311 and n6 BU,there being five tanks in ea ch Platoon, arid a g and=total of twenty ...wo tanks in each Company,

The Turr den'tification Numbers we e pa inted in a two on color scheme, the centerof the number being p a i n t e d in fial- red, outlined in whit"e to improve on the limit d vis "'bili-y othe I' d nurnne r s .. 'I'h numbers could be read at a :Cai l'",ange.. bui the TI d prevented Iorig rang,ei: entification by the enerny of spe ci ic veh"'cles.

Sil1.ce the uLeibs,tandarteU had moved to No r-th e.nn Italy in response tOI an errre r-gency,th a crews had moved qui ckl y, leaving their. b,aggag behind. Hav.h g s e en service on h.a s t rn Front~ the crew had become quite adept at . lving within their nIoving "ho sell. and

our Pariz e r IV. was. no exception, Photographs show quite a va r ie ty of rnis c Iarieou s equipmenfe atooni, g th tank in some ca.s e s , wet aund y was tlllungU au to dry on fh Turl. t Supple-rnenta l Armor, or on the edge of the Armor Skirting,. 'Our particular tank ha d two Ge,rm,at1. hel". ts h on the forwa r-d lifting hooks , just beh.irid the German cross s , These h lm._ ts w r

for the use of the ta nk crew wen, dis rnourrte d, inc they were all but us ele S In lde of ththey we e of'ten hung on the outside. It appea r s that a Hbed-r.all~' or a rnatt es s was s tuff edb tw ei he Turret and the Suppl ern enta A rm.or ju t behi d th Tur - I t Esc pe Doors. Ourtank. was equipped with. a Flieaerbes chtl.ssger~t .. or a MG34 Anti-aircraft machine gun fastenedo ae Ccrnrna.nder+s Cupola Several spar track: link s ec tions were fasten d to the Tu r: et rooat the f:ront just behind the gun mantle; a itional tra k sections wer also fastened to I he Hullfront plate. to giv extra. protection to the front of he tank. Our particular tallk also carried

four spare Road Whels~ EvidentlYj the cr ewhad armed a healthy respect fo spa, e partsneeded in an emergency" and the y believedin having sufficient sp res on hand" Two ofthe spar e Road Wheels were fastened to theH 1 r ea.r , ove r the ,engine comp,R .anent, ina similar style to those carried on the Sturm,-

~ ,. and .'IIiIe Id . ' 1 1 1 i f i c D l i t m Num , i F . . ges chUtz III. The othe r two Road Wh el.s wercarried wedged on both s id 8 of t e Hull. onthe sides of the Driver1,s and the Radio Op ratolr~ 5, corrrpaz-trn.errte ~

Sine Milan, Italy wa ~ n,ew to the c e\VJ the~ were obs e r'ved IIsights etng ~ in our photo;looking clos IY I you can see all five rn.ern'bez s of the crew. The Corrrrna.nde (Oll~ Platoon L ad-er) is atandtng in his, Cupola I while' the Gunnel" and Load. rare si!.otin,g on the Tu.r et Roof, TheRadio Oper tor is evidently stand.ing on his seat. with his I cdy e: posed from the waist up, andthe. Driver has his h.ead arid s'houl.de rs expoe ed , evidently e n j o y i n g t h e w a r r n I t a l i a n s um r n e r

Black and W hlle G erm an C ro ss

sun .. Reader comments, would be gTeatly app re clafed so that improv rnerrts can be rn.ade inIsulcee,ding Color InCamouflage article,s!Ii Next rnonth+s article will illustrate a British vehic-eu.s ed in the W'stern Des r in 1941-1943.

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W . R ,.ar-g arnang .evew:by Bz-u ce 'Weig',e

As, tank t rra.in g,oe,sj ther e+s eat y nothing morefrustr'ating than the patch-work of "bocage " a r-ound th oNormandy area, sa itwo'uld s ' -m only illogical h ts crne misguid .d wa r gazn er would try to z ep.r oduc eit in game form~ i ~~ T'es ted and g,iven a g "udging110df appr oval y I_h.les rna l.l but ded i.ca ted cl.rqueof wa r-ga.rnfng Jana ti.cs at San Diego Sta te Col.l ege , ,the garne involves a va riety of vehicl S J withinIantry, a, till - Y J an even a p'la.n e thrownin for good m.easu e,

Tb numbers of playrs va.r i 6 withthe total S o tr ength u tiliz. ed, but th e 1" e rnu s talway s be a tireless" orrmipotent jtrdg e, asthe game irivol.ve s much hi.dderi rnoverrrenr .. Though itwould, b _ possible to s'et-up "Bocage!' on a board or aandtable, we formd a Ia rge (20 IX , s I')study room wall ideal fa,r our o'pel""ations, until we found our entire h01tly,-co'nl_es,t1e:d battle: ....field wiped-o'ut one mar'ning, .. after a su,rprise r a id b'Y 'th, d.o2'm~s m.aid a ervdce , The, vehi~c ee themB~lveElI are ldraw'n on ca rdboa r d p i.eces , and held to th.e wall with folded maskingtape on this r,everse s ides, (Thiel rna.rrufactu r-e of thes e ple cea will be cover-ed in a futur-ear ticl e ~ ~~Ed;o )

"Bocage " is not a short game, although cuts in equipment, or the shorte.ning of turnsw o u l d h e l.p T'W'Q ,Z-rnan ams m ovfng a. tota.l o f about 400 inf'a.ntry an d . 4 5 v eh i c l ee , ma1deit in 20 minute t:rns ~ wi h a Httl.e hurryi, ' g , ; !

V,ehicl'8s: Each side's v'ehicle's are s,ele,ct,ed bly ro.lling two dice. to cho ose {r'om twoli-variation charts before the garne+s sta rt, Ne.ithe.r play,sx should know the. othe r+s indi ....vidual str-ang th, but the British (,or' AlHes ) should always hav e a.Imoat three tim 5, the Ger ...ma J t- tal:n ,S,O - _I

Infantry! Personn,el are obta ined by a two dice 1"011 in th e sarne manne as the tanks,w' h a ro l o f UZH b e irig 1 0 0 men" in ea ing by 10 me n f o r e ch atdditiona.l u r n b e r :rolled~A u5~' would giv'e the player 130 men; a ~I'IZ!' would equal ,ZOO rrren, L1fantl~Y weapons in-cl.ud: 1 . ight rnachine gun arid 2 subvrna chdne guns per 10 rn eri, w'ith one uB,81:Z()oQka~I' oru,Pan.zers,chrecku peJlr 20 rn en,

M:ovement,::: Tanks (at least in ou r 1 :212 s cal,e garne] move a maximum of 4 inches perturn; P'akw, D.rs.;r B'reri ,Carrierls" Ar mored ....Cars and Half tracks may move' 6 inches, while,VWms and ,Jeep"!l move a maximum of 8 in,c:hes~ Infantry may run. 4 Irich e s rnax im urn " b,utmust re s t, or wal k, at their no rrna Z inch rate {or two turns before :running again" VW 1 'Sand Jeeps may car ry 4 rn.eri, while AFV~ s may carry 0 men ,e,ac.h; thes e lO men are pro ....tected agamat sh.rapne l and srnafl e-ar m s fire only in the, AP1CrS or Hal f'tza cks , AFVms, turnat a loss of 1 i ch movement pier 90 de.gr-eea , and trl(ivel in r eve r se at halLl speed, ,Afteravfng S 'opped, th.ey m,ay proceed dur ing the next turn at hal! spe ed,

p ay: Ea.ch sidle will separately place aIl their rnen in po,sitio'ns, cove r Ing r-oads., gapsin he,dgerlows, etc, Th.e players will th n r-emove tb iI' personnel from the board" af'te r'the j dge bas. recorded their tYP'B and location in gr eas e ....pericfl; on hds plasti,c ccrve r ed map.

Each sIde 'will move s epa r atel y, whfl e the other side is, out ,of "he room. Onl.y the :re~sulta of the firing are rmounc .d.when both sIdes a re in the room, between rrrovernerrts I Inothe r word.s, the movement, airsring and firing axe dorie dur-ing each. playe,. 'i'S turn in theroom; when it has been det1ermined, which targe s wer e hitt the opposIng player will beushered into the room." so that he may' exarni.ne the Hit Reaults Chart" arrd record the darrr-age that ea ch target. has suffered. (It is .also n,ecess"ary that Infa n ry nlir,e""fi.ghts~ be re~salvo d b etwe. n turns 80that the oppos Ing player can cleci.d which of his Squads are able toreturn fire, including- both tho se "s een" and "unseen" up to that time ii The firs,t side is thensent out of the r oom, and the j"Lldg' . exp iairrs to, the S cond sidL all that his m.n saw dur-Ing

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the ,first side~s, move. It is now the second sidel's turn' a move, acting upon informationgained from the, judg e ,

The British play rrs objective "9 to r each th . far side of hie playing board" with 50,"0of h~6 ve'hicles, or to totally des tr cy th opposing Ge rrna ns , The Germans will win wi-hth des tr'uc tion of over 50% of the British equipmerrt,

These :rules sound rather tiresome, but the game wouldn't b realistic without lem.Though I be ieve that we 'v e worked most O r r the bugs out oj' the, rules, it. should be men-

i o n e d that they only logical set o f guides g 'o v er n 'i n g a varity 0 p e c e d e r rted situa-tions II[ While appea rin,g formidable in p r int, they [are eas,ily a.djusted to during the garn.e,and should. pose no pz-obl.ern one lea r [ed.It should be rem rnbez-ed that rnos of th game will involve the opposing

sidels tanks and mien hidden along the l,engths of he~dgerow8 .f'ac.ing eachother ac- oss th ,li[slds betw[een~ This, a itua'tfon will be broken lars s ma.Ilunits of Brr'itish infantry a tternpt to dash acr osa toe, field tOI'S abl.lsh [a ,bridgehea.d in the next hedge r ow, fr,om which position thEfY 'w'ill be ,ab,leto see any enerny vehtcl.ea behind i II! Once inforlT1ation auch [a[s,.his i _ C _ 1

known, frie'ndly artill[er'y' a.nd m.oz-ta.r fire can becalled ....n, and the [guns, of frielndly tanka sighted., h h 1 " ,.'"' N' t ha[D. tie enemy venae e,s[ POSl ions. vote, ow ..eve r, that though a British patrol may have told

their cor cealed tanks wher to &inl their w eapona,thes e tanks m,ay only wait pa tientl.y for the.i quarryto rev al his ex~ct loca rion bry firing" before opening

up on him il Now tat the def'eriddng vehicles ar U'cov r ed",the British m-ay de,cide. to run some of [_'h,eir units acr cs.e the

field, trus ing t e Ge nman+s first shot to lniss, and th mass of immediat return fir. tope rmarien ly silence the enemy. It shouid be rrrerrtione d that infantry, lik tanks, immedia .tly reveal their location by firingl

Having destoyed or pushed back the German u its holding t I. edge r ow the B itishplayer brings up his units I and prepares to advaric e to the next hedge,row in the samefashton, And the riext , iil iii ~ and th next ..... and th next. II i Fun, huh? Th B'ritish pl.ayemay wish i 0 advance slowly along a broad ceiling ....o-floo't fran', or h m ay try to cone' nt.ra te in the north or south, achieve a breakthrough" then wheel arid pick-off any enemyarm o ~r . reating past him. At the games begirrrrirrg, the Germans are in. poa se s aio ofmost of the pl.ay ing a.r ea , and are separated Fr-om the British by the width of lone field;the di.s ta nce b tween two par all he dg e r-ow ,

'I'he r e also can be "hddden rnovernen t" All vehicles are recorded on the luplre'slorjudge IS rnap, ancl the exa ct Loca tion is plotted on. th.e wall" by minute markings in pencil,p a.ced by the r s ectfve players Th .. players do not. of cou r se , know 10. their op[ anent'spieces until a HspotterH arreak.s around into a position from wlaeric he can see behind theenemy lines.. Th judge will reveal to the layer what his ~~spolttern can see. Unless the"spotter" hirn.s If is s en" the oth er playe ls not old hat some 0 his "conceale II unit.are actua.lly known tc his oppon nt.

Par of s mpt board is s hown abov -; next month, w will tak up Hfiringn Or ho,w to"rio in" you}" opponent, by blasting him out of a he.dge r ow... ii Ii M [ .. [~ ~ I tI[

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Modleling ,Hints b'y Nozb MeyerSub'mit your modeling pr'oble,m.s in writing

to the Editor.Que,s,tion,: I have it I'N:ittoU Gerrnan 251/1 Halft.1"ack kit th,at II'v'e bl,ee'D wor'king on .. Some, of

the detadl look,s heavy and wrong, auch as, the MQ34's provided in the kit. Howca.n Iimprove on tbeae ?

An,s'wer: T'he. I'lNitto ZS,l/1 U is a g,o,od kitt although I agree' that some of the ,detaD is, hea.vy,.As far as im,p1""loving on the MG3,4~s .in the kit" Yi()urbest, 'bet is to throw thern in the wa.ste ba.s-kat. If your Loca'l hobby shop carries any 54mm miniatuT'18, f igures" the,re is still 'hope'. YOIUshouldl pur-chaa e two H&R ,MG34Is; these' are in 1:32 scal e and even though, the:Nitt,o' ,kit is in,1:35 s cake, the di!eren,c1e is n,ot enough to matter. Once you ha,ve these two guns, 'they must'ble: mounted ,correctly on the rn.odel., Let's ,s,tart at the, fro,nt en,d land w'ork to the re,ar.

T'he front MG34, is rnoimte.d InaIde a s:hi.,eld~ For this shrel.d, y'ou will n,e,ed some ,.010S . eet ,styre.ne., Using the s'-hield providled in the kit as a p,atter:n, lay the sbfe d down on thes,t,yr,ene,_ and trace c,arelully wit!'! a s cr ibe r ar ound the outside of the plat,tern .. 'I'he.n, with your.X..a.cto #11 b, ade, ca'refully cut out the t;,raeing,1 Fi'nish thispile,ce withan. emery boa.r'd" and the'n USe 'the linisheld ,s,ide as a patte en for the op,_pos Ite sid,e'., Once thlese two par-ts are cornpl eted, Y'DU wi 1 need a tri-angle of lIi OZCs,tyre.ne ,f,o.rthe bas e; .After' cutting aut this triangle.. drilla hcte in. the cent,er to fit the mount pr'ovide,d in the kit. Ass,e.mbl,(! 'yourfrlont mount and shi,e d as ahown in sketch iIA.lII I'Next, ,I et's go on to the sw'ivel mount in the rear o lf the vehicle,~ It r ,i fJnn,l.looks like the hard,es,t par-t, btut is rleally the ea.s Iest, Fil"'st, drill mo ' " \ IhOle's about 3/4, of the way through the ,sle,eve (o,r cylindler) Io n the OP'POI-s.it.e ,side of the arrrr, See diagram. ~I'B'" fa.:r exact l.ocatdon, Th,en., cut NO st.raight p,ieces ofIsprue; the longest one ahould b,, ,/Z inch long and the shorter one about 4/5th"s of this length.

Now, cut the okd ar'm o.ff of' the sleeve (or cylinder)1 and l"OW1d ,o,ifthe outside ca r efukly with an eme ry boaz-d, Glue th,e mo st:raig'h,tpieces, of sprue into the hol es with the Longer pie,ee on the top. Jointhe two piecea of spz-ue at the enid Jr flo'rming a tria.ngle. Finally.file a smal.l double saddle out of p .astic or metal, and glue thispie,ee on, the end of the piece,s of ,spr'u,e as a mount for your guns IJ

The two rneta.l .H&RM0341s1 should be mounted 'to your newm.ounta .. us ing Epoxy glue. Your author l'ecQ1mmends uKlinksuepoxy, ,since it hclds like mad. Now that your guns are mounted, be sure: to Let the:m set over~

night~ to ins:ure that the epoxy is. set-up hard .. Extr,a detail can then be addad, such as an arrr-munition belt dangling f'r,om a gun", and s .ve'rl,al spare arnrnuzdtdon cans setting in you.r vehiclc_n.ea:r bly th,e guns.. A,nd there yo'u are ! I . .. .

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In the . a.rly part of World W,ar' nI i ' the Aegean islan.d of Rhodes a . d . belencaptare ed and occupied. by the Italian Arm.y. During 19'4Z. th.e ltal:ia.n O'IC~cup' tion. forces were xleinfoIFc,ed. by sma Il urrifs of the Oerm.an Army, tOblolster the siagging Italian ,def';n,s,e'" 'I'he Ax_!,s power s we re somewhat nervou.s about B'ritisb inten:tiOD!i1a: in the: eastern Medi'te:l"ranean". After the ltaIan capitulation", the Germans were for,ced .0 g:arris.on Rhode s , to pr'8vebn'wlsdiate oceupa.Ulon by the BI"I'tiishl' a.nd to co:ntinue to try to impressl t:n,e.,arhy Tur'ks,'1 whose coop eza'tfon W,&S s ought in the rieve r-ending garne ofp,oli'tic:s. Thu,s, in 1.'943'1 the 0. 'rman Ar'my cr,eated a new 1'~d'ivisi'Oi'n'~JQ Iolccupy and deferid the islan.dl of Rhodes a,gamB!t any Allie,d move or intent

Thf,s new division, titledl "ISturDldivisio,n (or Assla.u1t Divisi.on.) R'hodwa.s cornpos ed of various m is ceflaneoua units t'hat had been, in, g21'r:rison iGreece, or which had bleen 'p,repa.rin,g for movernent to North .A,fr'icB., jus'efore the 'Germ,an s,g,rrend,er in -unisla. Inreality. Stur'rnl.~ivi8ioln Rhodes was not a f'ull cor

bat ,divis:ion"l nor was it a sp,ecial 1"las:saultlt unit designled to oppos e ,ene'm.y' landings., :In.st,e,a,d'iit w s a Brigade siz1ed "Karnpfgr-uppa" air Battl_ Gr oup, and the 9 "Iecial til_lie WB,I designe,d to~mpr'ess t, e errerrry and 'the Turks. 'who were less than Z5miles from, Rhiode,s,Stu -mdivision Rhodes W'8.S, organized w,ilth the foiLjJ.IQwi'n:g urrita:Divislon Stab mit. Krad:schUtzenkolnpa.nie Divis,ion Staff with Mlotorcycle Compa.nySturml"egirnefi't Rhodoa (f,ormerly a:renadierr'~ AB,s,ault~Regim.e'nt ' I 'Rhlods,SI 'II!

Regimen' 440 arid Grenadier' ....Btl.hold,oBI) ~"it lIP II. and III. B,atta ions, plusI ~II II ~" and nI i Battalions (,4 compantes e"a..) an lnfantry Gun Company'ir_.it' ~ G h'U 'K . -.LI!u& ItIB,rle....es c,nrta- :om.panliB

P'anzer-,Aufk.llt:rungs -Ablt,eU mg 9 199. Armored-Reclonnaiss,ance Battalion 999.l e Pan,zer, ...Sp~h=Ko,mpa.nie Light Armored ....ear CompanyP u - ACes, anzer-Slpa.h-K mpanie Heavy' rmored","arompany

Volkswa,gen-Aufkl~rungB""Kom"planie V'oll~swagen Reconnads aan ce ICompanSichwere-Komp,anie Heavy Wea'po,ns, CompanyPanzerjllgerkom.panie (farm.er y Pz" Jg. Kp. 9991 ) Anti-Tank CompanyPanzel" ....Abteilung Rhodos Tank Ba'ttal ion I IRhodes "Sta. und Stabskompanie Headquarter's and Hq, CompanyPanzer-Komp,a.nie Medium Tank Cornp nyStu:rrngesi(:hUtzl Batt tie (formerly Stu!! IG . Bttrr , 9 12) 1 Assault Gun BatteryPanzerj.~gerkornpanie (frmer y Pz. Jg,Kp. Rhodos] Anti,....ank Company

IV. Abt , IArtillerie-Regim nt 999 IV.Battalion, Artillery Regim.eu" 999Stab und Stabsblatte ie Hea dqua r t r s and Hq, Battery3 let. F. H~ Blatterien (mot. Z,) 3 Batteries of ligl1.t towed Howitze-

F'Ia ...Kornparde Rhodos Anti ....Air'craft Company IIRhodesll lPionierkompanie 999 [t,mot. ) Eng'ineer Cornpany 999 [pa t lnotoriz,e .),Panzer, ....N,achrilchten-K.ampanie Rhodes ArmOlred Signal Company "Rhodas.!'Na.chs chub ....Truppen 999 Rear' S,ervices Unit 999

1 ~ " W M l J I " . I " 's t K I . "';;'1UJ . VI ,,""_ _ I ._, '1 . _ _ _ ._RHODOS

Sturmdlivisli.on R.hodosby Jim Steua.rd

All 10 I the above units that car'ried the designation 111 '9'9'911 were, ,former units of II 9 9 9 r 1 iAfrikB.-Divis Ion" , which was inthe p.r oceas of transferring to Tunisia when the au.r r' mde rcame. Th nurnl . r 999 also indicat,ed a !lpena 1'1 or ris,on uni of th. German .rmY,. Theunits that carried otbee number' designa _.ions we r fo,rm:eT oc cupa tion units in Greece., wl'lilthe uni s with th Idesigna.tion. IIRhodosu had been ill cccupation b,afol' . the Italian surrender.

It should al.so be menttcned fhat Sit rmdivision Rhodos nevez saw cornbat , When theAlli s landed in Italy and moved rroz-thwa r-d, and when the ernphae i was on fighting in Europe.t e Ae ean beca e a forgot on area of the war. Wh'en th ..final German surre nd r came, thetr,aops on Rhode s su.r r endea-ed to the Allies, ba sed in Athens .. who va cuared them from theis and.

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W,argame Conversi.on.s: J a g d - ~ a n z e r I V .Perhaps on - reason why RIQCOII,s, mini-tanks 'hav,e b'e,en growing in popularity is the

mrrnber 0 conve r-sions that a w'a,r'game'r can make on each chas aie ,One of the most auce asful conv,e:rsio'fi,s, of World Wa.r II ~ was '-h,e German Jagdpanzer

IV~ An e.'qually su,ce,ssful conve r-s ion can be ma d.e in uHO" s cal.e for your waxgam.e,'I'he r e 8 a cho-ice of two different m.ethods availabl,e with ROea mi-liatur,e,s,. For eachrnethod, two mini.-tanks are requi.r edt a Panaer 'V'I cha s sda I( z . .. .o61 to' Z ...t 1Z} and aWeslt Ge rrna n Kanncnjagdpauaer (Z,_l 73) [I

The iir'st and eae ies t method of Iconveri,sion. to the Ja,gd,panzer IV "I is to mount the'tr,&cks a.nd ausp ensIcn of' the Pa.nsser IV IIJ in place' of thos e Ion 'the Kannonjagdlpan.zer.The:n r'erno'V'e: the gun and gun mantle and cut off the mounting pofnts on th;is, pa.rt.Fil the r,e.s.ulti!.:lg hole 'in 'th.,e: cha aa Is with O ld G unUgreen stuff" arid sa nd it arnooth, N'8X'tt F,e..... M tJ n fA - - move the 90mm gun f:rom t'be rnantke , and ' "_ LDt:atiQII '. .,....., ~1IIi1_,._.... . rMH"fill the s,ighting hole in the rna.ntl e with L D t lt I I k H t . .. .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..I.....Jugrle'cn s'tuffu W,he,n sanding th is, pa rt smooth,rlemo,ve the ring betwe en the gun. and theman' ell A,t this. t.irrie , mount a suitable gun

b a io

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AF 'V '10 Q U IZ ,

ID20

l017

ID18

1D 2 ,1

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A FV'""1D Q~UIZ~ ARMOR OF THE DESERT'1D...116: Italian Me,dium. Tank Carro Armato ipo M 13/40; This vehicle formed te backbone of

th.e Italian a r rno red units ill the Nor-th African carnpadgn, 1ntro,d'uced in 1940~ the MJ. 3.140mounted a 47111m gun and Brnrn coaxial rnachine gun in the tu ret .. and twin Breda Malain the hull ball rnourrt, Wit'h a rnaxdrnum speed. of 20 mph. ,and Irorita a rrnor of 30mm, theItalians V iI erie a fair match fo1'" the cont rnp or'a ry Brlt-ish c ru ise.r s ; however with the a d-vent of the Mat.il.daa and the American rrrecriurras , it required a bra.ve cr ew to take a 13/40 into a tank battle, A total of BOOwere cornpbeted by Jilly 19411 rO t 'which. about 100w e captured an d used by the B r i th 2,nd A r mo u r e d Division.

10-17: British 'nfantry Tank Mar:k I. II Ma.tilda Mark lEI.,; uThe Tiger of the Deaer t" equippedthe Infantriy Suplpolrt Battalion.s Q ,f the Royal Tank Regiment between. 1940 a.nd July 194ZIi!The Matilda .. despite its al ow 9lpe:ed (15 mph), prove,d impervious to Axfs anti-tank guns,until the 8lii8cm F'Iak gun was a.dapte.d to that. r ol e. Produlction difficulties~ howeve r ,limited the number of Matildas available; and those on hand weze :ra'r,ely ua ed to full ad....vantage since they we r e tied to infantry formations ~ By 1942, the ,2....pou.ndex gun had b e -COlTlC ineffectfve against improved German armor" and the Matilda. was wrthdz-awn fromse r v ic e e . . c e p t f , o r special p u z - p o s e v a r ianta, Z, 987 Matildas w .r'ebuilt betwe en 1937and 1943~

ID....B: Ge'rm,an Panzerkatnpfwag'en _I., Sd.K z.l.Zl; 'I'he ligt tank of the Afrika. Korps , thePzkw., II. was a stop gap d.es ign, to be replace,d- by the Pzkw., Ill. Maxfmurn axrner wasonly 15m:m and the vehf.cl e was armed with a 21cm KwK 38 and lone 7.9Z n ma chirie gunin the turret" With a crew of t, Iree, the Pzkw II II was a. light. airly fas t vehicle adapt ~dwell fo r the r econna.is aarrce roLe~ While us eful against iru,an.t.ry and in 'tn,e FIEH:onn role.it w',a,s no match for- the B,ril-isb C,ruiser'.8'1Il

ID...19: Ame,rican M-3 Light T,ank "Stua r t!': T'be Stuart was the firs,t U~SI tank tOI see actio inWorld War II., Z80 vehicles w e r ship,ped tOI Egypt. in July ]'941 fa use by the Britis,:h8th Army,!! It was a gz-ea tsuc ce ss with th.e British e r ews because of it,s rna..e.uver'abill.i:tyand reliabilitYI a.Ithough the 37mm gun was little be'tt,er than the British 2-,p,ound,er. T'hernax.irrrurn spee,d 'was $6 mph, and it had a frontal ar rrro r of 1-1/Z in,chea" of rivetedpl.atea , The B:r:itish r efe r ed to the 'tank a s a "Honey!' and the na.me became the urioff i.cda.lni.cknarn.e, The M....3 saw EU!TVi,ce th.rougbout the No -th African, carnpa Ign, until r epl.acedby' Sh,ermans, af'ter Alamein'lI T'he M ...3 also saw' se'l"vice wtth the American force that.landed in M,oro,c,co. although it was BIQIOnrepla.ced by impro,v,ed models ~

!D~ZO:: ,German Panzerl~amEfwa,gen DI. j S,d.Klz ..141.; The main. battle tank of the Oerm.lan tankunits, inAfrica. the P,zkw. Ifl , Mode l s F land a wer'e a rme d with the 51cID Ll42 g'un and,had 3,O:rrun of frontal armor. Aft"el" th.eir' meeting,s with B"ritish tanka, howeve r , addition-,al armor 'plates were added to the front arid s ldes of' the vehicle,s, in the field,. 'I'hus , the,Pzkw" m'.was able: to engage the 8th Army Cru~aders at 1000 m.eters range wrthout fearof the enemy Z'I!!I]p'oun,der,s,. 'I'he Pzkw~ III. wa s upgunrred, in the 't'Special t ' versi'Q,n, withan L,J60 ve'r'sion of the ,cm tank gun.~ This additional barrel length gav,e the tank a rrruch'bett,er' shooting 'performance,.m....l: B.ritish ICru:isler 'Tank Mark IV.ItA 13 Mark. II,. )1 I! T'he A 13 was one of 'thrlBe basile: types'O f Cruise -5 us,'e:d by the British at the outbreak of the wa Dev el oped in 1.939 fl"o,m, theAI] Mk, I i i i ' the Mk,,]I. had increa,s,ed armor pr',ot,ec.tion of 30mm thickness, with. spa cedarmor O'D the turret. It rnourrtad 'the standar'd Z-pounder and 'had a maximum spe ed of 30rnp I ii ,A 13'8 wer e used by the 7th Armc,ured Divisi,on until Septerrrbez 1.941 when th,e,y'were. re;pllaced b,y Crus,adera~, A total of 308, 01 all ma eks of the A 13 'were pzoduc ed

....Z....

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,Marine Ta:nks, in the Pacifi,c ""'Corrtiriued . .from P,ase 13kcr-, aOIQ the,n su,dd,e:nlYI1 two iJ'ap's. ea eb 'with a" ma,gn'B'tie la.nti ....ank m.ine , jurnped-jrp ou:t ,of thejungle undez-b rus h; :Marin.e riflem,('rn killed one 'b"ef,clre h.e could r ea ch the ta nk, but the other Ja,sucee'eded in .a.f,(lxin:1 the mdne 'to the B:ide of the tu.'r'retlll 'I'he blas't k.illed 'the IJapl and a Marinerifleman that tried to 6rtolp :h.im[ll stunned th e c:r'IBW a.:n.d jammed the turret in, 'train. At, 'the sarn.'time", 't'he rear of the tur-r'E!:1j:,w,as hit ;I,nd :pierced with. a thr'le:e"'q,'Uarte':r's inc'h hole" prlobably f'roma ,Ja.,pa.n,lese an.ti-tank. ,gr'cnade. A sh!o:r"t tim,e late:!", the damaged tank rn ov ed f'or'w'a.rd ,aS3::io[l1 a , : n ds,t,I"''llck a 1.ao,d,"'lT.I!i,ne:., wbi,ch finally p'ut 't'he Marine tank out olf c'o!rnmi.saionliTwo Sher'mans, accompanled the a,'tta,'ck that drove Intc Vo:lupai e ocomrt grov'B., ,asa:inst,only B,'ca;tte,rc,d :resis'tanc;e~ The, .Mar:inee 'balted as o:is;ht f,ell.!, a:nd the other re'm,ainins Sh,e.rmanm.ov'ed forw',ard to Ijoin 'the, advance, A small Ja:pa.:n'ese .rea,r',lua:r,d opposed th.e rert,ead'.y Marine,adv'a'Qcle the D,ext, m.or'n~g, wbich co'ntitnu,ed 'wi,tbout the 'three, Sh.er'm.an,s, which had becomebogged, down along the mllc:ky Volu'pai tr'ail'lJ A 'tlen-'ton wr'19lck.er had to be slent, fr"om ,Division, atCape Olouce,ste:r in, or'd.er t 'CI extri,c,a'te, therrr, The Marine,s cr'oBsQld. t,othe ,PerniluBl'ula's eaBter'D.sh,o,r'e.; 'c,a,:pturin,[1 Tala;B,ea and., 'i'ts,' airfield'it Only t'lle mop'p'ing-'Ulp :remaine,d by t'he: end~ of March9 It'b,..

The ,Ma,rin8 ~'INavy'li' had been in a,c1l:ion a:l a,in, that afte'r.DIO,Q,nj) Two LC,.M-,'Tan'k G ' U _ _ D b , g , a t s , 1 )Dl0W mOuD'ting ligh't tanks, atta,c:ked ,8.:11,enemy Ianding ba.:rgIB ,off of ,Dor't:he'lrn W'Ulaumeaijj One:fired ,oight,e,en rounds of 37mm into ,the en,erny c.raf't as it rna.de for s,h,or'e~ T'he: otb.or LCM,-T'ankQunb'loat ra'k,ed it 'W''ith 'tb.r,ee:~hundr'ed, rounld,s of j 30 calib,er' bull. e ts, ~ The twenty Japanese Idis ...embazked and. r'an,-l'ike:,-h,e:ll whe,n the 'lanlding crait bea ched, One won,ders what th,ey' thought 'wha'ttacke,d a-t s,sa by tanka, iO 'ii '. 'ii j ~

Durin,g Al:lril. U,S Arm.y u.Dits relie'vied and, :r,eplaced. t'be Mar:m.e9 on New Biri'tain., B.nd bearly MaYl' all, of the First Marine Division had Q,epar'"ted, the isla.nd.

M d- . 1~. , ; 't-h . t'IH' = - - . "i""FiIo ,1 II' I C . . .n"f"iIt . t j i " ' i ' i i l " ' : i I e ' . . . . 1 - ' o m p..~'g:A Be1Dg ! ,e ..UU1.~"'.!I;,e ' '._ V4.1:, I~:u,g,.!L !I " . _ "" . . , - , lU, '!i; iii' .Tube.B~, and, ,Plastru,e,t angle ir,o,n, for the lower S,up'po:rtRail.,s. Q\LQ detail ma'y be,added. w,orkingfrom. th,e. selction vi.ew on the f.ront cover-. using slc.:rap' plastic, and v'myl tape,

'I'hez-e is ,8 . lot Ici efi'QI':r:t hec~s.sa,ry to ,construct, an. accurate, m,o,del c,f the ...................~ . _ ..Panze:rhaub,i:tze "'!Hu'lnn1.el" I) however. when the D1J),del Is dona, you'lll have [t'he s,Ei,'tis,i,action:making a re,ally unique 'nl.,olldel tha.t will really demonatzate your mod,elins, ability an,d s'kill.

On April 3Jrd~ [94.1" the, major Briti.sh Suplply Base, at MSUB lay dirEu::tly in thf~ 'path ofthe advancing A,f:rika. Karps II The Suppl.y Ba s e was bleing h,eid 'by auppoz-t troops of the 2ndArm.oured Dlvisio,n~, arid, as that f'oTrna,tion was, pa.rticula:rly' ahoz-t 1 0 transport ve'hicl'8:s, dueto the campaign in, Gr'e'ece~ rnos t 01 the ,divis,io'n~sfuel stocke were stored. at Msus1 inst"ea.dof being carri,ed by the Suppl y Cornparries [attached, to t'he combat units ~ That da:y, however'"a large force ofAxis tanks was: 5,igh.tI8:d appr oa chlng the ba se, and the cornrna.nde r W'B,S .face'with a do'eis ion ,,...o des tr oy 'the p,et:r 01 IdURl'PS, ,o.:r to :r is k the iri' .fall r u g ir.rtc enem. y hands i!!' SCHblack columns of smoks roae from the desert floor", markin.g the end of thouaands 'of gal Ionaof gasol.ine and ,diesel fuel!! A short time tat,erJ, the. madn badly of the 6t'h Ba'ttali,on ,of theRoyal T,a,nk Regiment ,arrived to refill their empty fuel tanks; but the.re was not,hing . ,eft.As the ta.nke,':ta began the Long trek to Te;bruk, s ome 'turned and took one Look at their abarr-donned ta.nka, The 6t,h Batta.:iion had been equdpped wi.th cap tured Ita.l ia..n M :13/40"8.

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