I was wondering if anyone here has a copy of this book. First, what do you think of it overall? Second, would the book tell me e.g. the (exact) difference in size between different rounds of 17-pounder ammunition and how that affected stowage requirements? Thanks in advance, Chris
Chris I'm hopefully meeting Dick on Sunday. I'll ask him if I remember! Re your first question, I'm sure his answer will be 'brilliant book'. Re your second question,.......let's see! Steve PS: Dick is a member of the Forum but I don't think he has visited for some time.
Nice! I have his email address but I don't think it's right to pester authors. Not to mention I would want a reader's perspective.
Hi Chris I do own this book but am away from home until Friday. I’ll check the details out when I get back Fri pm if no one answers before then Cheers Mark
So to answer your first question, I'd recommend the book as a reference for anyone interested in British WW2 armour. It's a dry read as it's heavy on the technical side. Exact dimensions are not given for the 17pdr shells though the cartridge case standard length is given (586mm) and a side by side photographic comparison of the variations of 17pdr shells shows there wasn't a large variance size wise between the types. Not sure if this helps at all.
Yeah, he's the author of a whole bunch of armour-related books. I haven't seen him post here lately but he does sometimes post on the missing-lynx scale model forum.
I was in 2 RTR the same time as him. He was 3 RTR originally but in the 2nd after amalgamation in 1992. Dick was a gunnery god and was the Regimental Gunnery Officer at some point I’m sure. Alex.
That's the chap. Absolute Tankie genius - I'm sure he won't mind me saying that. Alex: if you were 2RTR, was that at the time Stephen White was the boss? Incidentally, the weather and other aspects conspired against us today so Dick and me didn't get to meet after all (reference post #2). :-(
Mr White was 4 RTR originally I believe ( they amalgamated with 1 RTR and I left before 1 and 2 RTR merged) My first CO was Arundal David Leakey, later the black Rod in parliament. His son got the VC with 2 Para(?) After that we had Simon Caraffi, then it’s a blur, can’t remember! Alex.
I ended up meeting Dick today! I asked him the question and his response was that sort of information wasn't part of the general plan for the book. He's now researching another book but it's got nothing to do with ammunition. Watch that space if you like tanks.
Hi Tim, There is a lot of great information there and thank you for that. I am not sure if it solves the question, though. It does show that the APCBC had a longer projectile, 12.5", but that is something like 317.5mm--it's not the length of the entire round of ammunition. Chris
