They were not tank traps. They were beach obstacles designed to tip, puncture, and destroy landing craft approaching the beaches. there were several kinds, but you are probably thinking of the one called log ramps, although many were made of steel beams. They were supposed to be beneath t…
They were not tank traps. They were beach obstacles designed to tip, puncture, and destroy landing craft approaching the beaches. there were several kinds, but you are probably thinking of the one called log ramps, although many were made of steel b…
I was a location manager (armoured vehicles advisor) on Band of Brothers and later on a number of D-Day anniversary drama documentaries. I worked with many of the people who worked on Private Ryan and faced the same problems. Omaha beach as it is to…
Because Bismarck didn’t have that capability after the battle and it’s arguable that the ship ever did. If you read ‘Battleship Bismarck a Survivors story’ by Burkard Freiherr von Müllenheim-Rechberg, specifically page 115 IIR it will all become cle…
Yes, and aluminium armour actually isn’t that unusual. The M113 (one of the most widely used AFVs in history) also had aluminium armour. So does the M2/M3 Bradely (supplemented with other armour). The design spec for the CVRT Scorpion called for it …
Messerschmitt Me 323 Gigant ("Giant"), used to try and keep Rommel’s Africa Korps supplied in Tunisia, a “hemorrhage” that ended up being about as disastrous to Germany as Stalingrad in lost men, supplies and equipment. The Me 323 was “the…
The film “Fury” itself, while inspired by a mix-match of multiple different war stories, is completely fictional. The Fury tank itself never existed but was based on the stories of real life Shermans during WW2, notably “Bomb” a Canadian Sherman tha…
President John F. Kennedy is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. When his wife, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy died in 1994, she was buried alongside him. The Kennedys had an infant son named Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, who was born prematurely in Augus…
The Soviet Union never really did trade with Western countries and companies, but there was one company that they were obsessed with. Pepsi The Soviet Union just couldn’t get enough of this drink, they absolutely loved it. Pepsi spread through the S…
The debate over which WWII submachine gun was the best can be quite a heated one, as each of these iconic weapons— the Sten, the Thompson, the Grease Gun, and the MP40—had its unique strengths and flaws, each catering to different needs on the battl…
Back in the olden days, the USN used to carry out extensive antisubmarine patrols on both coasts, just in case Soviet boats were trying to do exactly this. P-3 Orion, the USN’s Cold War land-based ASW workhorse These days they still do, but not to t…
The short answer is that he didn't need to. Field Marshal Zukhov was hyped too much during the war, as the face of the Great War, and he had a guaranteed lifetime of comfort ahead The face that every Soviet citizen would recognize, just as much …
A claim exists that one German soldier escaped from the Stalingrad encirclement on foot and reached German lines, but I don't know the truth of the matter. However, while I was researching the German defense of the Crimea in 1943 through 1944, I…
Which soldiers deserved the Medal of Honor but never received one? I can think of one Marine who I would consider deserving of the Medal of Honor that did not receive one. Sergeant Rafael Peralta While clearing houses in the second battle for Falluj…
During the horrific Russian winter German tankers often slept inside their tanks, tightly huddling in their seats. The famous Tigers, for instance, didn’t have a heating system so the interior of the tank could reach the same temp as the outside, so…
The MiG-25 Foxbat and the SR-71 Blackbird are two of the fastest aircraft ever built. The SR-71 was faster than the MiG-25. The MiG-25 had a top speed of Mach 2.83, while the SR-71 had a top speed of Mach 3.2. The SR-71 was also able to fly at highe…
