Tag Picture Quiz

[Marty]

hi Jon--pretty sure the markings are French so I would guess this is in Indo China??--at work so cant get to refs to be sure which unit though???
Marty

 

[Tim Marlow]

Good call Marty.....wonder what the French used in Vietnam?

 

[Jakko]

the whole idea is to keep us going and doing a little research.

Though I agree, the problem as I see it, is that many things are almost impossible to research if you’re not already up to speed on the subject. The only way I can even begin to try and find out what this box is, is to google for something like “V2 heated box” — and that only because it was you who posted it, so I figured it was V2-related, and I speak German so (unlike probably most here) I spotted easily that there’s a heating element in it. This kind of search gets you absolutely nowhere, however.

I just hope we don't end up hating each other over one another's postings. It is the same as me trying to identify someone from a painting that is 200 years old or a weapon from 2000 years ago. Hell, I wasn't there and for me it wasn't easy either.

I think the difference is that things like (subjects of) paintings or weapons are much easier to find out about even if it’s not your specialist subject. Hardly anyone writes about crates used to carry stuff in, even those for a high-profile subject like the V2, but a lot of people write about uniforms, battles, tanks, aeroplanes, cars, or whatever.

I think each of us have a pet subject or topic and when we post something we all learn a bit.

Sorry if I caused any bad feelings with my post….

No bad feelings as far as I’m concerned — I certainly learned something, and will be able to recognise boxes like this if I see them in future

Long time since I did chemistry, so I may be way off beam.....I did get a first though, so hope I haven’t forgotten too much LOL....

I actually studied chemistry about 25 years ago, but quit after two years Assuming that study ever even covered this particular subject before I left, I must have forgotten it entirely.

 

[Jakko]

Who's operating this and where?
View attachment 315174

They're tanks of the Foreign Legion’s 4e Escadron, 1er Régiment Étranger de Cavalerie, probably during Operation Sauterelle in August 1952, near a place called “RC1” in Indo-China.

There’s another photo of these tanks on page 9 of Vietnam Tracks by Simon Dunstan (Osprey, 1982), which shows the same tank No. 1, with the same stowage and by the looks of it, two of the same men on the vehicle.

 

[Jon Heptonstall]

Well done Marty for very nearly getting it.
And another excellent and complete answer from you Jakko.
RC-1 was the Route Coloniale 1, the north-south coastal road and main supply route for the french in Vietnam and under constant attack and ambush by the Viet Minh.Sauterelle was an operation designed to clear the route by H and I.
The 1er Régiment Étranger de Cavalerie was the Foreign Legion's only cavalry regiment.
Over to you Jakko.
Jon.

 

[Jakko]

wonder what the French used in Vietnam?

Incomplete list off the top of my head, because I don’t feel like retrieving any books on the subject:

• M5A1 light tank
• M5 half-track
• LVT(4) (plus variants, including the famous one with 40 mm Bofors gun)
• M29 Weasel
• WC-62 1.5-ton truck (including armoured “gun trucks”)
• M24 Chaffee

And another excellent and complete answer from you Jakko.

Only due to the photo looking familiar, and a caption in Vietnam Tracks providing all the detail for the very similar one in there

RC-1 was the Route Coloniale 1

Ah, yes, of course — I should have remembered that.

Hmm … now what do I post, though?

There’s a military vehicle somewhere in this photo:

Which type is it?

 

[Jon Heptonstall]

Is there a Series IIa or III Landrover in there somewhere?
Jon.

 

[Lee W]

Sdfkz 250

Lee

 

[Tim Marlow]

I can’t see anything at all, so I’m going with an antitank vehicle on ambush, and it’s small so I’ll call a Hetzer...

 

[Jon Heptonstall]

Oh I can see a road wheel and sprocket.(or idler)

 

[Jon Heptonstall]

Is it a StuG III?
Jon.

 

[Jakko]

Is there a Series IIa or III Landrover in there somewhere?

No, the photo is rather older than those.

Sdfkz 250

Where?

I can’t see anything at all, so I’m going with an antitank vehicle on ambush, and it’s small so I’ll call a Hetzer...

The vehicle isn’t in an ambush, and it isn’t a JPz 38(t).

Oh I can see a road wheel and sprocket.(or idler)

Where?

 

[Jakko]

Is it a StuG III?

This just crossed my last reply, and no, it’s not a StuG either.

I will add that I initially didn’t spot the vehicle either, and when I did, I couldn’t work out what it was until something clicked.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Sorry Jakko, I need to ask if this vehicle is intact and hidden, or is this the aftermath of its destruction? I really can’t see anything apart from what looks like ammo cans and rounds....and scrap that looks shaped like a Panther glacis....I can also see what Jon took to be an idler wheel as well....

 

[Lee W]

To the left of the tree next to the wall

Lee

 

[Jakko]

I need to ask if this vehicle is intact and hidden, or is this the aftermath of its destruction?

It’s not intact and it’s not hidden. I don’t think it’s the aftemath of its destruction per se, though.

To the left of the tree next to the wall

Do you mean that’s where you see an SdKfz 250, or have you spotted the real vehicle there? (That is to say: it’s not a 250 ) Also, which of the two trees do you mean?

 

[Jon Heptonstall]

There's something right in the middle which, with a huge leap of faith, could be a handle-bar.
So........Kettenkrad?
Jon.

 

[Lee W]

Right tree, to the left of it... maybe a 251?

Lee

 

[Lee W]

Looking again I'm wondering if it's a sdfkz 7 on it's side... possibly... maybe?

Lee

 

[rickoshea52]

There's something right in the middle which, with a huge leap of faith, could be a handle-bar.
So........Kettenkrad?
Jon.

That would be my shout too.