Markings and Insignia for Armour in the BEF

I ''Then & Nowed'' that crashed Vickers in Cany-Barville back in 2007.

http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/113103-post8.html

Not sure if this picture of the same tank off ebay some time ago has been posted.

http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=48108&stc=1&d=1301134092

Andrew

 

That wall looks like this, 3rd Division 15/19 Hussars, Crossed Keys is an interesting name.





And another view of the building crash.

 

In case anybody ever wondered what happened to all these Mk VI tanks, they were all sent to the Heimat:



Jan

 

Deleted

 

Hi Nick,

Sorry, I thought that everybody knew this word... The "Heimat" is to the Germans what "Blighty" is to the English.

I have no idea where they were taken to in Germany. My guess would be one of the steel factories in the Ruhr area. Not sure though...

Jan

 

Jan showed me this image a while ago. At least one trophy Mk1 Cruiser ended up at the Leipziger Messe (they thought that it was French though !)



Presumably a 3 RTR vehicle from Calais again ?

 

Certainly 3rd RTR and if I remember correct some made it as far as Gravelines.

The only 1st AD regiment that came close to the BEF proper. Not sure if the Cruisers would have made much of a difference anyway, the French certainly had no problem sending the rest of the division off to its doom ordering Cruisers to break fortified bridgeheads over the Somme, a role they were not designed for.

-Bob

 

Is this a Belgian tank made by Vickers as the tracks look british.

 

That wall looks like this, 3rd Division 15/19 Hussars, Crossed Keys is an interesting name.



Bob

Again, excellent pictures thank you. While the wall looks similar I guess it is unlikley to be the same location. Cany Barville is near St Valery en Caux where I assume 1st Lothians were with 51st Division. Isn't Cross(ed?) Keys likely to be somewhere near Asse where 15/19 Hussars suffered such terrible losses?

Andrew

 

I didn't see the name Blue Bonnet anywhere but I assume the picture of this tank was correctly captioned on the 1st Lothians site. Here is one of the back of it which I saw on ebay and appears to show a hollow square tactical marking on the turret rear - representing B squadron perhaps.


http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=48317&stc=1&d=1301510587

But how about this second picture? Is it of another tank nearby? Some of the Germans could be the same. The brick arch behind them must be identifiable if it is in Cany Barville ... or maybe it is near Abbeville as the filename indicates.


http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=48318&stc=1&d=1301510587

Andrew

 

Andrew, the now and then certainly confirms location. When I saw the wall I thought how it looked like that 3rd Division Light Mk VI which certainly had no bussiness that far south.

Cross Keys may have been an inn or tavern and there was another photo once on eBay showing a similar name so it could have been on more than one tank or the same tank moved.

 

The 'crossed keys' sign seems almost guaranteed to cause confusion with 2nd Division, although the keys are the other way up. Some of the Divisional formation signs were chosen on mobilisation. I believe that 2nd Infantry Division's was one of these. I wonder if the sign was already in use elsewhere ?

'St Peter's Keys' were of course also on the arms of the city of York and 15th/19th Hussars were based in York with 3rd Division in 1939. Could there be some tenuous connection there ?

 

Here is a 15/19 Hussars Mk VI without any name. When I first saw the photo I thought it was 2nd Division then after a 1200 dpi scan I noticed the 3rd Division sign and the name. I wish I had the other photo and not just the eBay scan then I could compare them better.

 

Deleted

 

Just found another Matilda on eBay:



Unfortunately the name is a bit obscured, but I'm sure somebody will be able to identify it...

Jan

 

Jan, The A12 belongs to 7th Battalion Royal Tanks and is:

T-6751 PMV-107 GOOD LUCK

Should be Sergeant B.T. Doyle's tank in B-Coy

 

Jan, The A12 belongs to 7th Battalion Royal Tanks and is:

T-6751 PMV-107 GOOD LUCK

Should be Sergeant B.T. Doyle's tank in B-Coy

I just received my copy of the Echelon decals for Matilda IIs with the BEF, which you researched. A very good reference for these markings thank you - and of course Good Luck is there.

Andrew

 

Hi - I believe this is an AMR (Automitrailleuse de Reconnaissance) made by Renault - hopefully someone will put me right if I have mis-identified it. There were several models. I don't know if the Belgians had any.

Nick

I would reckon this is an AMR35 ZT1 or ZT2, made by Renault as above and used in small numbers by the French. The Belgians had a number of AMC35 (ACG1) which is similar but not quite the same.

Chris

 

Andrew, Larry is a good artist and really captured the various fonts. Missing from the sheet is GOLDEN MILLER which showed up too late to be included and also missing is the 23rd tank that I have yet to find.

As to how GOOD LUCK ended up, she became a Swiss cheese on the beach at Lombardsijde, Belgium.