Whats going on here?

You don't think it's "gizzets" as we used to call it, on the way home.

Ken.

 

I wonder if it is meant to designate "OPFOR" for Tank on Tank engagement

 

Is it the original definition of body armour?

regards
Robert

 

Adam

Once you have slept IN a Tank - you can sleep anywhere - the last place you would sleep is UNDER a Tank and I would emphasise the LAST PLACE - especially a 40 ton Tank with wet soil

Cheers

 

Seeing that on the AFV reminds me of the AFV432 when we had a problem with externally stowed kit. Around the top deck of the 432 we had the pull up flotation screen boxing which was handy to lay out the vehicles camouflage netting ready to pull down around the vehicle. The exhaust box and stack ran along the side of the vehicle and would glow cherry red. I felt a frantic tugging at my leg standing in the cupola as I looked down a cloud of smoke wafted up coming through the air system - the driver slammed the tillers back and decided another place would be healthier and debussed as I saw the guys had the rear crew door open and had bailed out. I not wishing to be alone leapt over the side. The Platoon Sergeant's vehicle pulled up and he invited me to get the ammo out and get the smouldering netting off, we got the netting off. The theory put forward was we had hit some branch overhang and it had pulled some of the netting onto the stack. The REME lads would not allow me to use the vehcle until they had checked it over, the Platoon Sergeant and the other vehicles moved out to his order - which was get all your kit and tab along on foot. That sergeant lost a battle with cancer just before Christmas last - I confess to shedding a tear.

 

Had a somewhat similar experience with 432. We were pretending to be a whole company withdrawing and reporting enemy advances. We had previously stopped for a while and had thrown dead leaves onto the vehicle as camouflage. Driving along, I was in the back with my CSM commanding. Suddenly the anchors go on hard and I hit the back of the engine bulkhead. Coming out of the top to see what had happened, I see the driver with a blackened face clutching his right arm as if in serious pain and the CSM nowhere to be seen. I thought the batteries (beside the driver) must have blown up.

What was it? Some of the leaves had gone down beside the exhaust pipe and were smouldering, so the driver had stopped quickly in case the fire was serious. His face was black because of the usual road dust (no windscreen) and on the way out he had hit his funnybone on something, so was clutching his arm. And the CSM, somewhat diminutive, was round by the exhaust pipe making sure the situation was not serious! I breathed again!

On the other hand, when the desert cam nets caught fire at Suffield (Canada) in a Mk 1 (petrol) 432 we chopped them off in pretty quick time as chemical fire extinguishers had very little effect and water was too precious.

Chris

 

"хим.нападения" refer to gas (chemical) attack (химических нападений).

It could be a group of these:

 

Another candidate would be the disposable cape; made of oiled fabric, paper and later on, plastic. On issue probably at least into the 1990s to protect against spray.

- Pete

 

I think you are right

 

I think that Blue Peter projects with sticky backed plastic would be an improvement. Father's Day present idea perhaps?

 

looking at the shapes I could well believe there is a section of infantry catching a ride on the tank in these CBRN (NBC) suits/ bags....
each "bag" contains a poor infantryman trying to protect themselves from a nasty substance.

My only other thought is if this was late ww2, could it be really crude efforts to pre-detonate panzerfäuste before they hit the sides of the tank... but not really practical!

 

My tuppenceworth is that this is improvised waterproofing of the turret ring for wading.

 

I've also got an uncanny feeling that this piccy was taken in Vietnam. Probably something to do with the foliage.

 

OK, I think I know what this is now.

I think it is ballast.

Certainly the British used to add ballast to their tanks when subjecting them to field trials, but they did it using weights that were bolted to the armour. This was to represent the weight of the stowage and full crew if these were absent.

I don't know what the ballast is being used for here - maybe to represent the weight of external stowage + infantrymen in certain ground conditions.