Once you seal yourself inside a metal box you lose a huge amount of senses, that said you are less likely to become a casualty to arty/mortar fire etc.
This isn't particularly surprising, but does perhaps indicate German crew should have been more willing to unbutton. /2
But again, there is this key cultural difference between British and German approaches - that underpins a).
Losing nerve is harder to judge, but numerous German tanks were KOed around Rauray so it's likely confidence was undermined & unexpected losses shook tank crews. /3
One of the key problems in military history, and history in general, is that researching/writing on new topics is exhaustively time and resource intensive.
At one stage my book's comprehensive biography (pre-edits) was something like 60+ pages of A4 in Times New Roman 10. /2
Hundreds upon hundreds of archival sources, tens of thousands of files within, and I suspect maybe a million pages of read material - before considering secondary sources.
Just to write a book about 53rd Welsh Division who were effectively erased from the Normandy campaign. /3
Issue No 54, July '09, appears to be N.V.A. News' final ed, core newsletter for the Normandy Veterans' Association.
E. Slater's (editor) comments are particularly poignant as ultimately legacy was lacking. /1 #WW2#SWW#History#DDay80
The NVA went from being a proud, national organisation to melting away like chaff in a handful of years by 2014 as age took the members & left no obvious successor organisation.
The NVA died a very slow death with some branches hanging on for several years after last parade.../2
this was further compounded by comparatively few branch collections ending up in regional or national archives, meaning many accounts have been lost a second time round.
The Spirit of Normandy Trust is a successor but lacks the clout of it's illustrious predecessor. /3