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06 Ford GP
A Jeep, but not as we know it...
22 Show Time
Reviews of various military events
36 Battle ‘Bug’
When the Beetle went to war
42 Military Motorcycles
Two-wheelers used by the British in World War
Two
50 Too little, too late
The US Anti-aircraft Artillery Service
56 The load-bearing
Humvee
Part two of John Teasdale’s look at the iconic
vehicle
62 The Light Tank
The Mark V and L4E
68 Sting in the tail
‘Osa’ - the Russian Wasp
74 Old School Warrior
Mark Burley’s Snatch Land Rover
62 63Athe problems facing the commander of a two-man light tank which, they felt, could be overcome if the tank’s crew could be increased n article by two Royal Tank Corps officers that appeared in the Royal Tank Corps Journal around 1931 discussed
by at least half a man.Office decided that in future they would Since half a man was not feasible, the Warconcentrate on the development of a three-man light tank. be a new man to operate the weapons and the So that, in addition to the driver there would
wireless, leaving the commander free to keep a look-out from his hatch, navigate, direct the driver and generally command. This was not an entirely original idea. In
1929 Vickers-Armstrongs had produced anugly looking tank designated A5E1which had a crew of three but ultimately disappeared without trace while, three years earlier the Royal Ordnance Factory had been responsible for the
design and construction of A3E1, sometimes referred to as the three-man light tank. This was a peculiar contraption featuring a machine gun turret at each end which must have been
more difficult to command and fight than
in order to accommodate two men and as a result the ‘Naturally the new turret was larger,
tank’s hull was wider to carry it’words David Fletcher pictures archiveDavid Fletcher delves into the history of the Mark V and the L4E1 Light TankThe
of Tanks
Business
A Light Mark V on the road at Bovington. The two-man turret crew is visible and the commander has his map reading frame erectedregiment liked to have itself identified on the turretThe section lined up, in those peaceful days theinspected by a group of soldiers Mark V Light Tanks being on Salisbury Plain36 37The withwords Richard Gunn pictures ArchiveBite
Wand almost inevitably a Volkswagen-based Kübelwagen or Schwimmwagen will pop up at some point. These two vehicles, built atch practically any war movie or TV drama set in Germany, occupied Europe or North Africa,
in substantial numbers (approximately 52,000 of the Kübelwagen and 14,283 of the Schwimmwagen), were as synonymous with the Wehrmacht as Jeeps and DUKWs were
with Allied forces during World War Two.production was underway. But aside from a few examples built for propaganda purposes and given to high-ranking Nazi officials, the outbreak
of the conflict largely saw standard saloon production cease after only a couple of hundred had appeared prior to September 1939. The Kübelwagen and Schwimmwagen took up
the factory time and space that would otherwise have been devoted to the German people’s car. Eventually, of course, the Beetle managed to
successfully shake off its dubious birth,Bug
the fighting Kübelwagen and floating Schwimmwagen originated from – the However, throw in the vehicle that both
Kraft durch Freude-Wagen (KdF-Wagen) or Volkswagen Type 1, more commonly known post-war as the Beetle – and many might question whether it was an anachronism.
identification, even though it wouldn’t earn that nickname until the 1950s) had been launched Granted, the Beetle (we’ll call it that for ease of
by the time Word War Two started and limitedRichard Gunnthe story of the tells
the Volkswagen Beetle Kommandeurwagen,
saloon that became a 4x4 fighting machineOne of the two 1946 British Army trial Kommandeurwagens, showing its roller
front end to try and avoid digging-in
Rear aspect of a Kommandeurwagen - the standard front and rear bumpers
didn’t help the angles of attack for banks and ditches