A cheap bunker/pillbox
Posted: June 19, 2018 Filed under: Early 20th Century, Modelling, World War II 18 CommentsThe first thing I did was to remove the hinges that held the top and bottom halves of the box together.
I then set the tops of the boxes to one side and marked the position of the weapon slits on each face of the lower half of the box.
I carefully made vertical cut in each face of the box down to the line I had drawn around each box. I then used a craft knife to gently cut along the line between the two cuts on each face of the box. The thin gap that was created allowed then me to use the tip of the knife to gently prise out the wood between the vertical cuts. Once that was down each of the ‘slits’ in the faces of the hexagon was tidied up and sanded.
As I wanted to use the tops of the boxes to form the roofs of the bunkers/pillboxes I needed to make sure that they would not fall off during a wargame. I therefore glued pieces of matchstick in the corner of the bottom halves of each box, making sure that the pieces of matchstick projected slightly above the top of the box sides.
Once the glue was dry I checked that the tops of the boxes fitted snugly onto the bottoms. I then sealed the wood using two coats of PVA glue, making sure that first coat was properly dry before the next was added.
The bunkers/pillboxes were then undercoated before being painted light grey.
I’ve always wanted a copy … so when I saw one, I had to buy it!
Posted: June 19, 2018 Filed under: Book Review, Early 20th Century, MIscellaneous musings 8 CommentsBRITISH TANKS AND FIGHTING VEHICLES 1914-1945 (by B.T.White) is one of those books. When it was published by Ian Allan in 1970 I saw it on sale in a local bookshop and almost bought a copy … but for some reason that I cannot now remember, I didn’t. I did borrow it a couple of times from the library, and enjoyed reading it. I also regretted not buying a copy when I could, especially as I was about to become a student and was – like all students – perennially short of funds from then on.
Even when I had finished college my financial situation did not improve much. My pay as a teacher was not very good for the first few years of my career, and by the time I had enough money to begin indulging my book buying bug, the book was no longer available.
During one of my periodic visits to the nearby Falconwood Transport and Military Bookshop (5 Falconwood Parade, The Green, Welling, Kent, DA16 2PL) I happened to see that they had a near-pristine copy of the book on sale … so I bought it!
The book is as good as I remember it being and – more importantly – it fills a gap in my collection of Ian Allan military books.
Seventy-four years on: D-Day
Posted: June 6, 2018 Filed under: Early 20th Century, MIscellaneous musings 6 CommentsI was born six years after the landings took place, and I grew up surrounded by people who took part. Most of the veterans are now in their nineties, and each anniversary fewer and fewer of them remain alive.
Next year will see the seventy-fifth anniversary, and one hopes that the present-day governments of the Allied nations will stage commemorative events.
T-34 Owner’s Workshop Manual
Posted: May 3, 2018 Filed under: Book Review, Early 20th Century, Late 20th Century 16 CommentsOver the past few years they have begun to publish a range of workshop manuals about a wide range of types of transport, including the RMS Titanic, the AVRO Lancaster bomber, and Saturn V rocket. One of this series that I had not come across before was the manual for the T-34 tank, but as I saw it on sale for only £4.00 in a local branch of THE WORKS, I just had to buy a copy.
The book is subtitled ‘1940 to date (all models)’ … and it certainly seems to do exactly that. Its chapters include:
- The T-34 story
- T-34 at war 1941-45
- Operating the T-34
- T-34s in post-war foreign service
- Anatomy of the T-34/76
- T-34 weaponry and firepower
- Appendices
- T-34 variants including SPGs
- The T-44
- T-34 turrets
I have several books about the T-34, but this one seemed to cover the technical aspects of the design and its variants better than the rest … and at the price being charged, it was a bargain.
T-34 TANK: OWNER’S WORKSHOP MANUAL was written by Mark Healy and published by Haynes Publishing in 2018 (ISBN 978 1 78521 094 5).
* This expression was used in an episode of DAD’S ARMY by Private Walker when referring to Corporal Jones’s service in the Sudan Campaign.
Soldiers of the Queen (SOTQ): Issue 170
Posted: May 2, 2018 Filed under: Colonial, Early 20th Century, Late 19th Century 2 Comments
The articles included in this issue are:
- ‘With a master eye he saw what was needed and did it’: Kitchener’s Indian Army reforms 1902-1909 by David Snape
- In Defence of a Forgotten General: Lieutenant-General Sir Edwin Alfred Hervey Alderson (1859-1927) by Dr Andrew Windrow
- Letter to the Editor
- Captain Willingham Franklin Richardson RE (1843-1875): From Hampshire to the Himalayas by Richard Voss
- Book Reviews by Dr Roger T Stearn
- Officers of the Victorian Military Society
This was yet another issue full of interesting articles. I particularly enjoyed David Snape’s ‘With a master eye he saw what was needed and did it’ as it explained why the reforms were necessary and how they laid the foundations of the British Indian Army that took part in the First and Second World Wars.
The Zeebrugge and Ostend Raids: The blockships
Posted: April 30, 2018 Filed under: Early 20th Century, Late 19th Century, Warships, World War I 6 Comments
Their characteristics when built were:
- Displacement: 3,600 tons
- Dimensions:
- Length: 314′ (96m)
- Beam: 43′ 6″ (13.26m)
- Draught: 17′ 6″ (5.33m)
- Speed: 19.75 knots
- Complement: 273 to 300 officers and men
- Armament: 2 × 6-inch (152mm) QF Guns; 6 × 4.7-inch (120mm) QF Guns; 8 × 6-pounder QF Guns; 2 or 4 × 14-inch (360mm) Torpedo Tubes
By the time that HMS Dreadnought was launched, the protected cruisers were already becoming obsolete, and seven of the class (HMS Andromache, HMS Apollo, HMS Intrepid, HMS Iphigenia, HMS Latona, HMS Naiad, and HMS Thetis) were converted into minelayers in 1907.
Six of the class were converted into blockships for the Zeebrugge and Ostend raids. These were:
- HMS Intrepid: Expended at Zeebrugge
- HMS Iphigenia: Expended at Zeebrugge
- HMS Thetis: Expended at Zeebrugge
- HMS Brilliant: Expended at Ostend (1st raid)
- HMS Sirius: Expended at Ostend (1st raid)
- HMS Sappho: Intended to be used at Ostend (2nd raid), but broke down on the way and not used
HMS Intrepid
HMS Iphigenia
HMS Thetis
HMS Brilliant
HMS Sirius
HMS Sappho
To prepare them for their use as blockships, the vessels were stripped of most of their armament and many compartments were filled with concrete. The extent of the damage inflicted on the blockships during the raids can be gauged by the following photograph:
The Zeebrugge and Ostend Raids: The Mersey ferries
Posted: April 28, 2018 Filed under: Early 20th Century, World War I 6 CommentsOf the Mersey ferries that were available, the Iris and the Daffodil (later the Royal iris and the Royal Daffodil) were selected. They had been built in 1906, and were twin-screw vessels powered by reciprocating engines that gave them a top speed of 12 knots. They were equipped with flying bridges that were fitted with docking cabs to with port and starboard, and they were steered from the bridge.
Iris
Daffodil
Once taken into naval service they were modified so that they could each carry up to 1,500 military personnel. The modifications included:
- The removal of all furniture;
- The fitting of armour plate to vulnerable areas of the vessel;
- Being painted grey.
HMS Iris
HMS Daffodil
During the raid on Zeebrugge, the Daffodil helped to keep HMS Vindictive alongside the mole by pushing the cruiser with her bows. This also enable the Royal Marines she was carrying to cross over to the Vindictive so that they could land. The Iris attempted to land its contingent of Royal Marines directly onto the mole just ahead of the Vindictive. This proved to be very difficult, and eventually she was ordered to withdraw. At this point she was hit by two large shells, which destroyed one of the docking cabs and part of the bridge.
After the raid the two ships were returned to their owners, and 17th May, 1918, they sailed back into the Mersey, where they were rapturously received by large crowds of local people.
After the war had ended, both vessels were given permission by King George V to add the prefix ‘Royal’ to their names. The Royal Iris became a river cruise boat on the Mersey in 1923, and in 1931 she was sold to Cork Harbour Commissioners, who renamed her Blarney in 1937. She served her new owners well and was not withdrawn from service until 1961. In 1932 the Royal Daffodil also became a Mersey-based river cruise boat, but when she was sold to the New Medway Steam Packet Company in 1934, she moved south to the River Medway. Her service there lasted until 1938, when she was sold and broken up.
The Zeebrugge and Ostend Raids: HMS Vindictive
Posted: April 25, 2018 Filed under: Early 20th Century, Late 19th Century, Warships, World War I 8 Comments
The Arrogant-class protected Cruisers as built.
By the outbreak of the First World War, the design of the Arrogant-class Protected Cruisers was obsolete, and only HMS Vindictive took an active part in the conflict. HMS Gladiator had sunk in 1908 as a result of a collision with the merchant ship SS Saint Paul, whilst HMS Arrogant had become a Submarine Depot Ship in 1911 and HMS Furious had been paid off and hulked in 1912. (She was renamed HMS Forte in 1915 to release the name for the new Light Battlecruiser that was being built.)
The ship’s characteristics were:
- Displacement: 5,750 tons
- Dimensions:
- Length: 342′ (104.2m)
- Beam: 57′ 6″ (17.5m)
- Draught: 20′ (6.1m)
- Propulsion: 2 x vertical triple-expansion steam engines (10,000shp) using steam generated by 18 Belleville water-tube boilers, driving 2 propellers
- Speed: 19 knots
- Complement: 480
- Armament:
- When built: 4 × 6-inch (152 mm) QF Guns; 6 × 4.7-inch (120 mm) QF guns; 8 × 12-pounder (3-inch/76mm) QF Guns; 3 × 3-pounder (47mm) QF Guns; 5 x Machine Guns; 3 submerged 18-inch (450mm) Torpedo Tubes
- By 1914: 10 × 6-inch (152 mm) QF Guns; 8 × 12-pounder (3-inch/76mm) QF Guns; 3 × 3-pounder (47mm) QF Guns; 5 x Machine Guns; 3 submerged 18-inch (450mm) Torpedo Tubes
- At the time of the Zeebrugge Raid: 1 x 11-inch (280mm) Howitzer; 2 x 7.5-inch (190mm) Howitzers; 2 x 6-inch (152 mm) QF Guns; 16 x 3-inch (76mm) Stokes Mortars; 5 x Pompom Guns; 16 x Lewis Machine Guns; Flamethrowers
- Armour:
- Deck: 1.5-inch to 3-inch (38mm to 76mm)
- Conning tower: 9-inch (229mm)
One of the 7.5-inch Howitzers and several of the 3-inch Stokes Mortars fitted to HMS Vindictive.
HMS Vindictive on her return from Zeebrugge.
The damage done to HMS Vindictive during the raid can be clearly seen in this photograph. The large box-shaped structure to the right of the bridge in this photograph housed one of the large flamethrowers.
After her heroic service during the Zeebrugge Raid, the very badly damaged HMS Vindictive was expended as a blockship during the second raid on Ostend.
An even older Paraguayan River Gunboat!
Posted: April 6, 2018 Filed under: Chaco War, Early 20th Century, Late 20th Century, Warships 4 Comments
She began life as a river tug, and was purchased and converted into a river gunboat soon after she was launched. She was originally armed with a single 3″ gun, but in the late 1980s this was replaced by a 40mm Bofors automatic cannon, two 20mm Oerlikon automatic cannons, and two 0.5″ machine guns.
At the same time as she was re-armed, the ship was modernised. Her original steam engines were replaced with new diesel ones, and her superstructure was completely re-modelled. She was certainly still in service in 2016 … one hundred and eleven years after she was launched!
Paraguayan River Gunboats
Posted: April 5, 2018 Filed under: Chaco War, Early 20th Century, Warships 2 CommentsA map of the area shows why.
Two rivers – the Paraguay and the Pilcomayo – effectively bordered the area claimed by Paraguay, and they were able to use them to supply and support their forces in the Chaco area. As a result, the Paraguayans had a small but very effective navy.
The backbone of the Paraguayan Navy were two river gunboats, the Humaitá-class gunboats. These had been designed in Paraguay with Italian assistance, and built in Genoa by Cantieri Odero between 1928 and 1931.
The ships were named Humaitá and Paraguay and they reached Asunción on 5th May, 1931.
Their characteristics were:
- Displacement: 856 tons
- Dimensions:
- Length: 229.7′ (70m)
- Beam: 35.1′ (10.7m)
- Draught: 5.6′ (1.7m)
- Propulsion: 2 x Parsons 3,800 shp (2,800 kW) geared steam turbines driving 2 shafts
- Speed: 18 knots
- Range: 1,700 nautical miles at 16 knots
- Complement: 86
- Armament: 4 × 4.7″ (2 x 2) Guns; 3 × 3″ (3 x 1) Guns; 2 × 40mm (2 x 1) Anti-Aircraft Guns; 6 mines
- Armour:
- Belt: 0.5″
- Deck: 0.3″
- Turrets: 0.3″
- Conning tower: 0.76″
The two ships were used extensively during the war, and still exist today. Humaitá is now a museum ship and Paraguay is awaiting refurbishment that will include the replacement of her engines by new diesel ones.
WARGAMING MISCELLANY 