The Crusader Project

I think the Germans are talking about the 8-wheel armoured cars, which in fairness seem pretty lightly armoured as they were only designed to keep out 7.92mm SmK rounds.

Quite. The German Aufklärungsabteilung was a miniature Kampfgruppe with integrated artillery, AT and infantry, so it was fully organised to punch people in the face, shove them off an objective and hold on to it unless the enemy really committed to kicking them off.

While this isn't the greatest picture, it shows clearly how much captured vehicles were integrated. Rear right appears to be a captured Quad, indicating the presence of a captured 25-pdr nearby, while rear-left looks like a 2-pdr portee. This would make it one of the German reconnaissance units.

How they came up with these numbers isn't clear to me, but it led to a request for an increased number of captured 2-pdr portee guns to be integrated into German recce formations to enable them to continue to prevail in fighting reconnaissance.

Heavily marked captured Humber armoured car in German service in North Africa, date and location unknown.

Another interesting 'under new management' picture. The Humber armoured car, arriving in late 1941 in the desert I think, was considered an important evolution by the Germans, as they believed the 15mm BESA could penetrate their armoured cars at 1,500m, while return fire wasn't effective over 800m.

Oh.

You're stealing all the inputs. Maybe the assumption is that you've eventually got to pay for them, and that will kill the economics even more than they are currently killed.

In order to be profitable you don't just need to generate revenue (easy), you also need to control cost (hard).

TBH I think a number of people will hold their noses and tick LD, and we're gonna be okay.

Current place is Con (incumbent) Refuk, LD all around 25, Labour and Greens around 10.

Ah, thanks for the heads-up!

Our old place (Hillier) is predicted to go Green. Our current one predicted Reform but I believe with tactical voting it will end up Lib Dem.

And this is how Bismarck’s career ended.

American newsreel on the hunt for and sinking of Bismarck in May 1941.

#history #ww2 #navalhistory

Ofw Schulz apparently had only four claims recognised, which was of course correct.

HMCS Charlottetown's embarked CH-148 Cyclone helicopter 'OSPREY' conducts wet hoist training near the ship while transiting the Mediterranean Sea during Operation REASSURANCE on 25 June 2024. Photo: Aviator Gregory Cole, CF Photo #RCN #Photos #History

The image shows the Thornborough Henges, a prehistoric monument complex located in North Yorkshire. Often called the "Stonehenge of the North," it consists of three giant circular earthworks, each over 200 metres in diameter. The structures date from the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, approximately 3500 to 2500 BC. They were part of a "ritual landscape" linked by walkways and likely used for ceremonies. The site is now managed by English Heritage and is open to the public. Image: Natural England CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

On a plateau above the River Ure in North Yorkshire stand the remarkable Thornborough Henges, three vast, identical Neolithic earthworks built around 2500 BC. Aligned north-west to south-east over more than 3 kilometres, each henge measures about 250 metres across The overall 1/6

I think a movie on Force Z would be worth it. But yeah, cannot see a Singapore one.

Douglas B-26C Invader photo by Jakub Vanek N26BP | Private owner | Douglas | B-26C Invader | In Flight - Florida, USA - Florida | Photo by Jakub Vanek

#Douglas #B-26C Invader, #Private owner (N26BP) by Jakub Vanek (#In Flight - Florida) #Warbirds (WW2 and before) #aviation #photography #avgeeks

Thoughts and prayers

The Performance of the Italian Army in North Africa Background The performance of the Italian army is still considered by many as a case of a badly led force that preferred to run away when faced with battle, couldn’t wait to get home to have spaghe…

Bottom line - infantry surrendering in large numbers in the desert was a matter of which way the battle turned, not some national characteristic. @alanallport.bsky.social @ima-naval-history.bsky.social

a man is drinking a glass of water from a clear bottle ALT: a man is drinking a glass of water from a clear bottle

Meanwhile, the South Africans…

Facebook W2 Chaos and Courage page - Picture of the day British Army Lieutenant General Arthur Percival and his party carrying the United Kingdom flag on their way to surrender Singapore to the Japanese, 15 February 1942.

British grogs on the Italians: “haha, Italian rifle, only dropped once, they run so fast, always surrendering in droves! Tanks with five gears, four in reverse. Would never happen to the British Army!”

British grogs when you mention Singapore to them: “Well that was entirely different!”

(February 1945, Nijmegen area.) Operation Veritable. A Universal carrier boarding a Landing Vehicle Tracked or Buffalo. #WW2 #HISTORY

bsky.app/profile/crus...

Why Mason took his flight down to the deck, exposing himself attacks by Bf 109s is a mystery. Maybe he thought it was late and no defensive flight would be up, maybe he overrated the ability of the Kittyhawk to engage with the Bf109. In any case, he and his flight paid with their lives for it.

15/2 10 scrambled at midday but did not make contact. In a wing fighter sweep at 17.00 hours 6x 109Fs made dive attacks on formation from a low cloud base successfully. SGT MCQUEEN being shot up and wounded but he made it back to base. There was no definite fight. Squadron moved to EL ADEM.

Their Kittyhawks were AK601 (Belcher), 733 (Weightman), 801 (Mason) and 858 (Marshall). The fifth victim of Schulz was Sgt McQueen of No. 112 Squadron. The confusion of the fight can be seen in that 112 thought they were being attacked by six Bf 109s.

The mystery of the Polish markings is probably explained by this, showing Sgt Phillips' plane in March 1942. From: https://www.eduard.com/eduard/plastic-kits/limited-edition/aircraft/1-48/kittyhawk-dual-combo-1-48.html

All four British pilots were killed and are commemorated on the Alamein memorial. A German tank commander was apparently an eyewitness, reporting that three of the four were shot down in flames, and the last cartwheeled into the ground. It was a disastrous day for the squadron.

On the evening of the same day [15 Feb 42] very suddenly 20 English planes raced over the airfield. Otto Schulz ran to his plane that was being maintained at the time. The hoods were all open. Every around raced towards it as well, closing the hoods., two men started the engine, one helped "Otto" to get into his parachutes and within half a minute the Me 109 was on its way. After ten minutes he came back and dipped his wings once. Everyone was happy for his victory, then he came again dipping his wing as he crossed the airfield and then three more times again. All five Curtiss had the Polish national ensign on the tail and seem to have been on an instructional mission. With his 44 victories Schulz was now due the Knights Cross. But that could take a while and so his squadron decided to issue one to him themselves. From sheet metal they made a giant cross, 20cm diameter, and the next morning it was put around his neck in a ceremony. The following day Kesselring brought the real Knights Cross in person.

The typescript history of JG27 confirms that this was an evening event however and provides detail on the losses. Translation in ALT. These were victories 97-101 of II./JG27 and 238-242 of JG27. Usual healthwarning applies.

II./JG27 aerial victory list for 15 February 1942, showing the five victories of Oberfeldwebel Schulz.

94 Sqn had been re-equipped with Kittyhawks, and had just transferred to Gambut LG. This was their first op with the new type. The loss of the four pilots matches with four out of five(!) claims submitted by Oberfeldwebel Schulz for this day, although not sure the time does match.

SLdr Mason was not the only loss of No. 94 Sqn on 15 Feb. His flight was wiped out almost entirely.

@jamiemctrusty.bsky.social @airminded.org @airpowerarchaeo.bsky.social @airpowerhistory.bsky.social @rafhistory.bsky.social @rafmuseum.bsky.social @smoorebofb1940.bsky.social @navalairhistory.com

15 February 1941: Parade Day And we’re moving on with the war diary of the D.A.K. Meeting of Commanding General with General Raotta[1]. At 13.00 hours parade of A.A.3 and Panzerjägerabteilung 39 ready in front of the Cas…

On 15 February, the newly arrived combat troops are parading through Tripoli (no tanks at this parade, that came almost a month later) and then marched off to the front, to reinforce the Italian army's forward positions.