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Raimondo L. Torell wrote:
>><< I dont know about "Plastic" MBT's... but didnt Dunlop produce them in
>rubber during WW2 ?
>>
>>Quite true... talk about mileage! lol The rubber tanks were also joined by
>>plywood versions mounted over a car or lorry chassis, none of these ploys
>was
>>ever shown to be effective and I think their careers were pretty short
>lived.
>
>Yes! Also the Germans in WWII made a lot of them (perhaps of wood) a sort
>of sovrastructure mounted on kuebelwagen cars. The purpose was to let the
>aircraft recognition believe about a "lot" of tanks available from the
>enemy...
Raimondo, the Kuebelwagen-based "panzerattrappe" was not made to fool
aerial recognition, but as a trining aid for the Army, as it was cheaper to
run a Kuebel than to run a tank.
its because of this use in training that it was fitted with a machine gun
that however could not be aimed; it was there only to make noise.
And IIRC, there was only one of these produced by Volkswagen (K823 body on
a Type 2 frame)
These Panzerattrappe" had first been used in the aftermath of the
Versailles treaty, which forbade Germany to have tanks; so to train the
troops, the German Army used tank mock-ups monted on motor-car chassis, or
even on bicycles wheels !
We had a similar thing when I was a Cadet at the Saint Cyr Military
Academy: rether than spend a fortune in fuel running a Panhard EBR to train
us in avoiding armour, they used what was officially known as VAI (Véhicule
Armé d'Instruction) which consisted of a Renault 2087 4x4 lorry, on which
was installed a faked armoured body, complete with a turret and a
blank-firing AA52 machine gun; there were two of these contraptions, which
had been christened "Calomnie" and "Médisance".
Cheers,
Ron the Frog, shivering in a cold spell on the banks of the Paraguay River.
MVT 886 Listmaster : WW II Wolkswagen List
http://personales.conexion.com.py/~rolgiati/kubel/kubele.htm
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