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Jonathan Ware Profile picture
@ReassessHistory
Jan 24, 2022 • 6 tweets • 5 min read • Read on X
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I thought this SdKfz 250 neu numbered '416' looked familiar (or at least IDable given numbers), so dropped the amazing @Niels_1944 a line.

There's a SdKfz 251 behind it as well...

Turns out 416 is from 12th SS-Panzer-Aufklärungs, 12th SS-Panzer's recce. /1
#WW2 #SWW #History ImageImageImage
Niels recognised it standing out in this @BritishPathe footage, in a rare full close up.

04.36 onwards, about 12 seconds. /2
britishpathe.com/video/invasion…
The Missing Lynx members did a project trawling through British Pathe footage to ID vehicles/units etc back in 2002 - 2004.

Thanks to vehicle mods, this ties it to 12th SS-Panzer-Aufklärungs, KOed between St. Lambert & Chambois. /3
tapatalk.com/groups/archive… ImageImage
416 was the sixth vehicle of 1 platoon, 4 company.

Furthermore... we know the name 'Innsbruck' was added to 416, probably by a crew member from the town. /4 ImageImage
This image is from a series appearing to relate to a soldier in 4th Armoured Brigade.

It highlights the Killing Ground's brutal, uncompromising nature. The cataclysm besetting Army Group B as 21st Army Group attempted to ruthlessly run them to ground. /thread Image
Final post.

Megashout & thanks out to @Niels_1944, ab absolutely gold standard, exceptionally talented historian.

Please give him a follow as this is *very much* his bread & butter, plus... so, so much more.

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More from @ReassessHistory

Jonathan Ware Profile picture
May 31
Safe as Houses
Cracking defences in Normandy

Norman buildings are built well, especially churches and farmhouses - as both sides discovered in Normandy.

This required creativity. /1
#WW2 #SWW #History
#DDay80


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In short, there was no magic solution to cracking defences in Normandy, sure AVREs had massive 290mm petard mortars but these were specialist assets.

Not always available, or in the right place at the right time. /2


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German troops had better mortars than Second Army, and integral infantry guns in each Regiment. Due to problems developing 95mm the British lacked this capability & came to use attached Churchill V or other 95mm gun tanks to achieve this role.

But again, not common. /3
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Read 19 tweets
Jonathan Ware Profile picture
Apr 19
4 August 1944
“PIAT! PIAT! PIAT!"
Lt Donald Harvey, 244 Field Company Royal Engineers, alongside D Coy 1 Oxf & Bucks.

Probably the best PIAT related quote of the Normandy campaign, said as a Waffen-SS battlegroup appeared behind a British battalion. /1
#WW2 #SWW #History #DDay80


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I could go into this action in much more detail, but it's almost unbelievable - saving it for another day...

Soon.

A genuinely ridiculous scrap.

Moving on... /2 Image
PIAT was the infantry platoon's principle manhandled anti-tank weapon. 1 per platoon. A real marmite weapon, most complaints stem from poor handling & faulty munitions.

Range: 350 yds.
Effective : 40 - 70 (maybe 100) yds.
Weight: 32 Lbs (15 kg)
Pen: 75 – 100mm of armour /3
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Read 10 tweets
Jonathan Ware Profile picture
Apr 18
Rhino Barges

One of the dullest, coolest, more bizarre and fascinating pieces of kit used in Normandy.

Which no one *really* cares abou5.

But I do, and you should too... /1
#WW2 #SWW #History #DDay80


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Planning for Overlord and Neptune had a serious snag, how to get troops from LSTs onto the beach as simply ramming them up onto the beaches and dropping the ramp was known to damage the exceptionally vulnerable LSTs and felt to be unsustainable in the mid to long term. /2 Image
LSTs were essential in sustaining Overlord's progress and were a subject of major headaches in the planning phase, and a real subject of friction when it came to launching additional amphibious operations such as Op Dragoon.

Loss of a single LST represented a capability nick. /3 Image
Read 14 tweets
Jonathan Ware Profile picture
Apr 17
Heavy plant is boring right?

I mean surely a bulldozer can't be a key component of Allied victory?

Wrong!

Let's have a look at the D-7 Dozer & Allied logistics in Normandy. /1
#WW2 #SWW #History #DDay80 Image
First off, Normandy was a bit of a rural backwater.

The road network was no where near as developed as today, which incorporates many routes constructed/improved by Allied forces.

The land of William the Conqueror place for farming, fishing, market towns with a few railways. /2

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21st Army Group had arguably the most enviable engineering services in the world, able to throw up bridges in under a day, construct massive hospitals, water points, fuel depots, pipelines, bypasses (frankly mini-motorways), airfields, command complexes... and much more. /2

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Read 15 tweets
Jonathan Ware Profile picture
Apr 16
Snapshots of Hill 112
The Pivotal Normandy Battle

What was it to fight in a 6 week battle of pure attrition, where all that mattered was the complete destruction of the enemy?

A battle where any movement could get you & your mates killed?

Well... /1
#WW2 #SWW #History #DDay80 Image
Marksmen played a major role, as Ran Williams discovered when his 13 Platoon took over 7 Seaforths most exposed position.

Upon seeing the fresh lieutenant, the sergeant pulled out a machete, slicing off Ran's epaulettes and shoulder titles... /2 Image
Snipers developed a particularly dangerous reputation, and Brigadier Michael Carver stamped on what he felt was 'particularly jittery' behaviour from 53rd Welsh early on, ordering that marksmen were now to be called 'isolated enemy riflemen'.

Remove skill
Insert vulnerability /3 Image
Read 20 tweets
Jonathan Ware Profile picture
Apr 12
The Universal Carrier (Part One)

How did this piece of open topped herp-a-derp become the coolest piece of kit in infantry battalions scrapping their way through liberating North West Europe?*

I know you're curious...

Read on. /1
#WW2 #SWW #History #DDay80 Image
The Universal Carrier came about in 1940 as a desire to streamline production processes & merge the Bren Gun and Scout Carriers' roles into a single AFV.

The former's name stuck and gained popular traction.

Bren Carrier (below) for Infantry Battalions' Carrier Platoons. /2
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The Scout Carrier was intended to operate alongside Vickers Mk VI Light Tanks for Divisional Reconnaissance Regiments etc.

Various traits of both vehicles, bar the obvious Horstmann suspension, that carried over into the Universal Carrier are quite evident. /3

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Read 23 tweets

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