1.
M67 Flame Thrower Tank
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Flame Thrower Tank M67 is a postwar medium flame tank that was designed in the United States. It was designed in the years 1952–1954 on the M48 tank chassis, during the production, which lasted from 1955 to 1956 or 1959,109 M67 tanks were produced for the Marine Corps and US Army. R. P. Patton, A History of American Medium Tank Volume I
2.
M1919 Browning machine gun
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The M1919 Browning is a.30 caliber medium machine gun that was widely used during the 20th century, especially during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. The M1919 saw service as an infantry, coaxial, mounted, aircraft. Many M1919s were rechambered for the new 7. 62×51mm NATO round, the M1919 was an air-cooled development of the standard US machine gun of World War I, the John M. Browning-designed water-cooled M1917. The emergence of machine guns in the 1950s pushed the M1919 into secondary roles in many cases. The United States Navy also converted many to 7. 62mm NATO, many NATO countries also converted their examples to 7.62, and these remained in service well into the 1990s, as well as up to the present day in some countries. A similar conversion of the M1917 also produced the larger M2 Machine Gun, using the basic operating principles and layout. The M1919 is distinguished by its size and the use of a pierced cheese-grater-like guard around the barrel used on most versions. The M1919 originally fired the.30 cal M1906 ball cartridge, a metal M1 link was later adopted, forming a disintegrating belt. The cocking handle was pulled back with the palm of the hand facing up. This advanced the first round of the belt in front of the bolt for the extractor/ejector on the bolt to grab the first cartridge, the cocking handle was pulled and released a second time. This removed the first cartridge from the belt, advanced the next round into position to be grabbed and moved the first round down into the chamber of the ready for firing. As the bolt went into battery, the extractor grabbed the next round on the belt that was advanced and was resting in the feedway waiting to be loaded. If the trigger was held down, the gun would continue to fire in full automatic, the guns original design was as a water-cooled machine gun. When it was decided to try to lighten the gun and make it air-cooled, gunners were trained to manage the barrel heat by firing in controlled bursts of three to five rounds, with a delay between bursts to delay its heating. When the gun was ready to fire, a round would be in the chamber and the bolt and barrel group would be locked together, with the locking block at the rear of the bolt. As the assembly of bolt, barrel and barrel extension recoiled to the rear of the gun upon firing, the recoiling barrel extension struck the accelerator assembly, a half-moon shaped spring-loaded piece of metal pivoting from the receiver below the bolt and behind the barrel extension. The tips of the accelerators two curving fingers engaged the bottom of the bolt and caused it to move rapidly to the rear. The extractor-ejector was a mechanism that pivoted over the front of the bolt, the rearward movement of the bolt caused the rear end of the feed lever to pull to the right, causing the feeding pawl at the other end to move left over the belt
3.
Tank
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A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat, with heavy firepower, strong armour, and tracks providing good battlefield maneuverability. The first tanks were designed to overcome the deadlock of trench warfare, now they are a mainstay of ground forces. Modern tanks are versatile mobile land weapon platforms, mounting a large-calibre cannon in a rotating gun turret. In both offensive and defensive roles, they are units that are capable of performing tasks which are required of armoured units on the battlefield. As a result of advances, tanks underwent tremendous shifts in capability in the years since their first appearance. Tanks in World War I were developed separately and simultaneously by Great Britain and this was a prototype of a new design that would become the British Armys Mark I tank, the first tank used in combat in September 1916 during the Battle of the Somme. The name tank was adopted by the British during the stages of their development. While the British and French built thousands of tanks in World War I, Germany was unconvinced of the tanks potential, Tanks of the interwar period evolved into the much larger and more powerful designs of World War II. Tanks in the Cold War were designed with these weapons in mind, improved engines, transmissions and suspensions allowed tanks of this period to grow larger. Aspects of gun technology changed significantly as well, with advances in shell design, during the Cold War, the main battle tank concept arose and became a key component of modern armies. Modern tanks seldom operate alone, as they are organized into combined arms units which involve the support of infantry and they are also usually supported by reconnaissance or ground-attack aircraft. The tank is the 20th century realization of an ancient concept, the internal combustion engine, armour plate, and continuous track were key innovations leading to the invention of the modern tank. Many sources imply that Leonardo da Vinci and H. G. Wells in some way foresaw or invented the tank, leonardos late 15th century drawings of what some describe as a tank show a man-powered, wheeled vehicle with cannons all around it. However the human crew would not have power to move it over larger distance. In the 15th century, Jan Žižka built armoured wagons containing cannons, the caterpillar track arose from attempts to improve the mobility of wheeled vehicles by spreading their weight, reducing ground pressure, and increasing their traction. Experiments can be traced back as far as the 17th century and it is frequently claimed that Richard Lovell Edgeworth created a caterpillar track. It is true that in 1770 he patented a machine, that should carry and lay down its own road and his own account in his autobiography is of a horse-drawn wooden carriage on eight retractable legs, capable of lifting itself over high walls. The description bears no similarity to a caterpillar track, armoured trains appeared in the mid-19th century, and various armoured steam and petrol-engined vehicles were also proposed
4.
Flamethrower
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A flamethrower is a mechanical incendiary device designed to project a long, controllable stream of fire. They were first used by the Greeks in the 1st Century AD, in modern times, they were used during World War I, and more widely in World War II. Some flamethrowers project a stream of ignited flammable liquid, some project a long gas flame, most military flamethrowers use liquids, but commercial flamethrowers tend to use high-pressure propane and natural gas, which is considered safer. They are used by the military and by people needing controlled burning capacity and they can be designed to be either carried by the operator or mounted on a vehicle. Modern flamethrowers were first used during the trench warfare conditions of World War I and they can be vehicle mounted, as on a tank, or man-portable. The man-portable flamethrower consists of two elements, a backpack and the gun, the backpack element usually consists of two or three cylinders. In a two-cylinder system, one cylinder holds compressed, inert propellant gas, a three-cylinder system often has two outer cylinders of flammable liquid and a central cylinder of propellant gas to maintain the balance of the soldier carrying it. The gas propels the liquid out of the cylinder through a flexible pipe. The igniter can be one of several systems, A simple type is an electrically-heated wire coil, another used a small pilot flame. The flamethrower is a potent weapon with great impact upon unprepared soldiers. This has led to calls for the weapon to be banned. It is primarily used against battlefield fortifications, bunkers, and other protected emplacements, typically, popular visual media depict the flamethrower as short-ranged and only effective for a few meters. Flamethrowers pose many risks to the operator, the first disadvantage was the weapons weight, which impairs the soldiers mobility. The weapon is limited to only a few seconds of time since it uses fuel very quickly, requiring the operator to be precise. The weapon was very visible on the battlefield, which caused operators to become immediately singled out as prominent targets, Flamethrower operators were rarely taken prisoner, especially when their target survived an attack by the weapon, captured flamethrower users were in some cases summarily executed. Finally, the effective range was short in comparison with that of other battlefield weapons of similar size. To be effective, flamethrower soldiers must approach their target, risking exposure to enemy fire, vehicular flamethrowers also have this problem, they may have considerably greater range than a man-portable flamethrower, but their range is still short compared with that of other infantry weapons. The risk of an operator being caught in the explosion of his weapon due to enemy hits on the tanks is exaggerated in Hollywood films
5.
Combined arms
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Combined arms is an approach to warfare which seeks to integrate different combat arms of a military to achieve mutually complementary effects. The mixing of arms is sometimes pushed down below the level where homogeneity ordinarily prevails, combined arms operations dates back to antiquity, where armies would usually field a screen of skirmishers to protect their spearmen during the approach to contact. Especially in the case of the Greek hoplites however, the focus of military thinking lay almost exclusively on the heavy infantry. Philip II of Macedon greatly improved upon the combined arms tactics of the Greek city-states and combined the newly created Macedonian Phalanx with heavy cavalry. The Phalanx would hold the line in place, until the heavy cavalry could smash. The pre-Marian Roman Legion was a combined force and consisted of five classes of troops. Lightly equipped velites acted as skirmishers armed with light javelins, the fifth class were the equites, the cavalry, used for scouting, pursuit and to guard the flanks. The army of the Han Dynasty is also an example, fielding mêlée infantry, crossbowmen, civilizations such as the Carthaginians and Sassanids also were known to have fielded a combination of infantry supported by powerful cavalry. At the Battle of Hastings English infantry fighting from behind a wall were defeated by a Norman army consisting of archers, infantry. One of the used by the Normans was to tempt the English to leave the shield wall to attack retreating Norman infantry only to destroy them in the open with cavalry. Both Hastings and Falkirk showed how combined arms could be used to defeat enemies relying on one arm. The lightly protected longbowmen could down their French opponents at a distance and this is the crux of combined arms, to allow a combination of forces to achieve what would be impossible for its constituent elements to do alone. During the Middle Ages military forces used combined arms as a method of winning battles, some historians claim that during the Middle Ages there was no strategic or tactical art to military combat. Kelly DeVries uses the Merriam-Webster definition of combat “as a general military engagement. ”In the pursuit of a leaders goals and self-interest tactical and strategic thinking was used along with taking advantage of the terrain and weather in choosing when and where to give battle. The simplest example is the combination of different specialties such as archers, infantry, cavalry, at times, each force fought on its own and won or lost depending on the opposing military competence. During the Middle Ages leaders utilized a combination of skilled and unskilled forces to win battles. An army that has multiple skills available can engage a force that is comprised mainly of one or two types of troops. Each type of military formation –infantry, archers, cavalry, or peasant –has certain advantages that the other does not have
6.
Fortification
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Fortifications are military constructions or buildings designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and also used to solidify rule in a region during peace time. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs, the term is derived from the Latin fortis and facere. From very early history to modern times, walls have been a necessity for cities to survive in a changing world of invasion. Some settlements in the Indus Valley Civilization were the first small cities to be fortified, in ancient Greece, large stone walls had been built in Mycenaean Greece, such as the ancient site of Mycenae. A Greek Phrourion was a collection of buildings used as a military garrison. These construction mainly served the purpose of a tower, to guard certain roads, passes. Though smaller than a fortress, they acted as a border guard rather than a real strongpoint to watch. The art of setting out a camp or constructing a fortification traditionally has been called castramentation since the time of the Roman legions. Fortification is usually divided into two branches, permanent fortification and field fortification, there is also an intermediate branch known as semi-permanent fortification. Castles are fortifications which are regarded as being distinct from the fort or fortress in that they are a residence of a monarch or noble. Roman forts and hill forts were the antecedents of castles in Europe. The Early Middle Ages saw the creation of towns built around castles. Medieval-style fortifications were made obsolete by the arrival of cannons in the 14th century. Fortifications in the age of black powder evolved into much lower structures with greater use of ditches and earth ramparts that would absorb, Walls exposed to direct cannon fire were very vulnerable, so were sunk into ditches fronted by earth slopes. The arrival of explosive shells in the 19th century led to yet another stage in the evolution of fortification, steel-and-concrete fortifications were common during the 19th and early 20th centuries. However the advances in warfare since World War I have made large-scale fortifications obsolete in most situations. Demilitarized zones along borders are arguably another type of fortification, although a passive kind, many military installations are known as forts, although they are not always fortified. Larger forts may be called fortresses, smaller ones were known as fortalices
7.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
8.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
9.
Soviet Union
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The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a socialist state in Eurasia that existed from 1922 to 1991. It was nominally a union of national republics, but its government. The Soviet Union had its roots in the October Revolution of 1917 and this established the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and started the Russian Civil War between the revolutionary Reds and the counter-revolutionary Whites. In 1922, the communists were victorious, forming the Soviet Union with the unification of the Russian, Transcaucasian, Ukrainian, following Lenins death in 1924, a collective leadership and a brief power struggle, Joseph Stalin came to power in the mid-1920s. Stalin suppressed all opposition to his rule, committed the state ideology to Marxism–Leninism. As a result, the country underwent a period of rapid industrialization and collectivization which laid the foundation for its victory in World War II and postwar dominance of Eastern Europe. Shortly before World War II, Stalin signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact agreeing to non-aggression with Nazi Germany, in June 1941, the Germans invaded the Soviet Union, opening the largest and bloodiest theater of war in history. Soviet war casualties accounted for the highest proportion of the conflict in the effort of acquiring the upper hand over Axis forces at battles such as Stalingrad. Soviet forces eventually captured Berlin in 1945, the territory overtaken by the Red Army became satellite states of the Eastern Bloc. The Cold War emerged by 1947 as the Soviet bloc confronted the Western states that united in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1949. Following Stalins death in 1953, a period of political and economic liberalization, known as de-Stalinization and Khrushchevs Thaw, the country developed rapidly, as millions of peasants were moved into industrialized cities. The USSR took a lead in the Space Race with Sputnik 1, the first ever satellite, and Vostok 1. In the 1970s, there was a brief détente of relations with the United States, the war drained economic resources and was matched by an escalation of American military aid to Mujahideen fighters. In the mid-1980s, the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, sought to reform and liberalize the economy through his policies of glasnost. The goal was to preserve the Communist Party while reversing the economic stagnation, the Cold War ended during his tenure, and in 1989 Soviet satellite countries in Eastern Europe overthrew their respective communist regimes. This led to the rise of strong nationalist and separatist movements inside the USSR as well, in August 1991, a coup détat was attempted by Communist Party hardliners. It failed, with Russian President Boris Yeltsin playing a role in facing down the coup. On 25 December 1991, Gorbachev resigned and the twelve constituent republics emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union as independent post-Soviet states
10.
Nazi Germany
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Nazi Germany is the common English name for the period in German history from 1933 to 1945, when Germany was governed by a dictatorship under the control of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Under Hitlers rule, Germany was transformed into a fascist state in which the Nazi Party took totalitarian control over all aspects of life. The official name of the state was Deutsches Reich from 1933 to 1943, the period is also known under the names the Third Reich and the National Socialist Period. The Nazi regime came to an end after the Allied Powers defeated Germany in May 1945, Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany by the President of the Weimar Republic Paul von Hindenburg on 30 January 1933. The Nazi Party then began to eliminate all opposition and consolidate its power. Hindenburg died on 2 August 1934, and Hitler became dictator of Germany by merging the powers and offices of the Chancellery, a national referendum held 19 August 1934 confirmed Hitler as sole Führer of Germany. All power was centralised in Hitlers person, and his word became above all laws, the government was not a coordinated, co-operating body, but a collection of factions struggling for power and Hitlers favour. In the midst of the Great Depression, the Nazis restored economic stability and ended mass unemployment using heavy military spending, extensive public works were undertaken, including the construction of Autobahnen. The return to economic stability boosted the regimes popularity, racism, especially antisemitism, was a central feature of the regime. The Germanic peoples were considered by the Nazis to be the purest branch of the Aryan race, millions of Jews and other peoples deemed undesirable by the state were murdered in the Holocaust. Opposition to Hitlers rule was ruthlessly suppressed, members of the liberal, socialist, and communist opposition were killed, imprisoned, or exiled. The Christian churches were also oppressed, with many leaders imprisoned, education focused on racial biology, population policy, and fitness for military service. Career and educational opportunities for women were curtailed, recreation and tourism were organised via the Strength Through Joy program, and the 1936 Summer Olympics showcased the Third Reich on the international stage. Propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels made effective use of film, mass rallies, the government controlled artistic expression, promoting specific art forms and banning or discouraging others. Beginning in the late 1930s, Nazi Germany made increasingly aggressive territorial demands and it seized Austria and Czechoslovakia in 1938 and 1939. Hitler made a pact with Joseph Stalin and invaded Poland in September 1939. In alliance with Italy and smaller Axis powers, Germany conquered most of Europe by 1940, reichskommissariats took control of conquered areas, and a German administration was established in what was left of Poland. Jews and others deemed undesirable were imprisoned, murdered in Nazi concentration camps and extermination camps, following the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, the tide gradually turned against the Nazis, who suffered major military defeats in 1943
11.
Italy
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Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
12.
Japan
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Japan is a sovereign island nation in Eastern Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies off the eastern coast of the Asia Mainland and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea, the kanji that make up Japans name mean sun origin. 日 can be read as ni and means sun while 本 can be read as hon, or pon, Japan is often referred to by the famous epithet Land of the Rising Sun in reference to its Japanese name. Japan is an archipelago consisting of about 6,852 islands. The four largest are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku, the country is divided into 47 prefectures in eight regions. Hokkaido being the northernmost prefecture and Okinawa being the southernmost one, the population of 127 million is the worlds tenth largest. Japanese people make up 98. 5% of Japans total population, approximately 9.1 million people live in the city of Tokyo, the capital of Japan. Archaeological research indicates that Japan was inhabited as early as the Upper Paleolithic period, the first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD. Influence from other regions, mainly China, followed by periods of isolation, from the 12th century until 1868, Japan was ruled by successive feudal military shoguns who ruled in the name of the Emperor. Japan entered into a period of isolation in the early 17th century. The Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937 expanded into part of World War II in 1941, which came to an end in 1945 following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan is a member of the UN, the OECD, the G7, the G8, the country has the worlds third-largest economy by nominal GDP and the worlds fourth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It is also the worlds fourth-largest exporter and fourth-largest importer, although Japan has officially renounced its right to declare war, it maintains a modern military with the worlds eighth-largest military budget, used for self-defense and peacekeeping roles. Japan is a country with a very high standard of living. Its population enjoys the highest life expectancy and the third lowest infant mortality rate in the world, in ancient China, Japan was called Wo 倭. It was mentioned in the third century Chinese historical text Records of the Three Kingdoms in the section for the Wei kingdom, Wa became disliked because it has the connotation of the character 矮, meaning dwarf. The 倭 kanji has been replaced with the homophone Wa, meaning harmony, the Japanese word for Japan is 日本, which is pronounced Nippon or Nihon and literally means the origin of the sun. The earliest record of the name Nihon appears in the Chinese historical records of the Tang dynasty, at the start of the seventh century, a delegation from Japan introduced their country as Nihon
13.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
14.
Commonwealth of Nations
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The Commonwealth of Nations, also known as simply the Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of 52 member states that are mostly former territories of the British Empire. The Commonwealth dates back to the century with the decolonisation of the British Empire through increased self-governance of its territories. It was formally constituted by the London Declaration in 1949, which established the states as free. The symbol of free association is Queen Elizabeth II who is the Head of the Commonwealth. The Queen is also the monarch of 16 members of the Commonwealth, the other Commonwealth members have different heads of state,31 members are republics and five are monarchies with a different monarch. Member states have no obligation to one another. Instead, they are united by language, history, culture and their values of democracy, free speech, human rights. These values are enshrined in the Commonwealth Charter and promoted by the quadrennial Commonwealth Games, the Commonwealth covers more than 29,958,050 km2, 20% of the worlds land area, and spans all six inhabited continents. She declared, So, it marks the beginning of that free association of independent states which is now known as the Commonwealth of Nations. As long ago as 1884, however, Lord Rosebery, while visiting Australia, had described the changing British Empire—as some of its colonies became more independent—as a Commonwealth of Nations. Conferences of British and colonial prime ministers occurred periodically from the first one in 1887, the Commonwealth developed from the imperial conferences. Newfoundland never did, as on 16 February 1934, with the consent of its parliament, Newfoundland later joined Canada as its 10th province in 1949. Australia and New Zealand ratified the Statute in 1942 and 1947 respectively, after World War II ended, the British Empire was gradually dismantled. Most of its components have become independent countries, whether Commonwealth realms or republics, there remain the 14 British overseas territories still held by the United Kingdom. In April 1949, following the London Declaration, the word British was dropped from the title of the Commonwealth to reflect its changing nature, burma and Aden are the only states that were British colonies at the time of the war not to have joined the Commonwealth upon independence. Hoped for success was reinforced by such achievements as climbing Mount Everest in 1953, breaking the four minute mile in 1954, however, the humiliation of the Suez Crisis of 1956 badly hurt morale of Britain and the Commonwealth as a whole. More broadly, there was the loss of a role of the British Empire. That role was no longer militarily or financially feasible, as Britains withdrawal from Greece in 1947 painfully demonstrated, Britain itself was now just one part of the NATO military alliance in which the Commonwealth had no role apart from Canada
15.
Churchill Crocodile
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The Churchill Crocodile was a British flame-throwing tank of late Second World War. It was a variant of the Tank, Infantry, Mk VI Churchill Mark VII, the Crocodile was introduced as one of the specialised armoured vehicles developed under Major-General Percy Hobart, informally known as Hobarts Funnies. It was produced from October 1943, in time for the Normandy invasion, from early in the war, there had been experiments with mounting flamethrowers on British vehicles, leading to vehicles such as the Cockatrice, Basilisk and the Wasp. The Churchill Oke, a flamethrower carrying Churchill Mark II developed by a Royal Tank Regiment officer, was tested operationally on the Dieppe Raid, parallel development work was carried out by the Petroleum Warfare Department, AEC and the Ministry of Supply on Valentine tanks. The Department of Tank Design preferred the Churchill, which was the Infantry tank successor to the Valentine, as a basis for further work. General Percy Hobart saw the Crocodile demonstrated in 1943 and pressured the MoS to produce a development plan, the flamethrower equipment was produced as a kit that REME workshops could fit in the field, converting any available Churchill Mk VII. The conversion kit consisted of the trailer, a pipe fitted along the underside of the tank, and the projector. The Crocodile was therefore able to function as a gun tank with its turret mounted Ordnance QF75 mm gun. Of the 800 kits produced,250 were held in reserve for possible operations against the Japanese, the remainder was sufficient for producing three regiments of tanks as well as training and replacements for battlefield casualties. The Crocodiles six and a ton, armoured trailer carried 400 imperial gallons of fuel as well as compressed nitrogen propellant. This was enough for eighty one-second bursts, the trailer, connected to the tank by a three way armoured coupling, could be jettisoned from within the tank if necessary. The thrower had a range of up to 120 yards, although some sources quote 150 yards, the fuel was projected at a rate 4 imperial gallons per second. The fuel burned on water and could be used to set fire to woods, the flamethrower could project a wet burst of unlit fuel, which would splash around corners in trenches or strongpoints, and then ignite this with a second burst. The Crocodile was a specialised weapon limited by the range of its flamethrower. On the other hand, it was used so successfully against bunkers that many surrendered after the first ranging shots. Aspects of the mechanism were considered by the British to be so secret that disabled units, if they could not be recovered, were destroyed by any means, even air strike. British Crocodiles supported the U. S. Army in the Normandy bocage, at the Battle for Brest, and during Operation Clipper, C Squadron also supported the 53rd Welch Division assault on sHertogenbosch in October 1944. 7th Royal Tank Regiment The flame projector was a psychological weapon
16.
Bunker
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A bunker is a defensive military fortification designed to protect people or valued materials from falling bombs or other attacks. Bunkers are mostly underground, compared to blockhouses which are mostly above ground and they were used extensively in World War I, World War II, and the Cold War for weapons facilities, command and control centers, and storage facilities. Bunkers can also be used as protection from tornadoes, trench bunkers are small concrete structures, partly dug into the ground. Many artillery installations, especially for coastal artillery, have historically been protected by extensive bunker systems, typical industrial bunkers include mining sites, food storage areas, dumps for materials, data storage, and sometimes living quarters. When a house is purpose-built with a bunker, the location is a reinforced below-ground bathroom with fibre-reinforced plastic shells. Bunkers deflect the blast wave from nearby explosions to prevent ear, nuclear bunkers must also cope with the underpressure that lasts for several seconds after the shock wave passes, and block radiation. A bunkers door must be at least as strong as the walls, in bunkers inhabited for prolonged periods, large amounts of ventilation or air conditioning must be provided. Bunkers can be destroyed with explosives and bunker-busting warheads. The word bunker originates as a Scots word for bench, seat, the word possibly has a Scandinavian origin, Old Swedish bunke means boards used to protect the cargo of a ship. A sense of earthen seat is recorded 1805, with the spelling boncure from whence the use to refer to sand traps in golf, all the early references to its usage in the Oxford English Dictionary are to German fortifications. This type of bunker is a concrete structure, partly dug into the ground. Such bunkers give the defending soldiers better protection than the open trench and they also provide shelter against the weather. The front bunker of a system usually includes machine guns or mortars. The rear bunkers are usually used as posts or Tactical Operations Centers, for storage. Many artillery installations, especially for coastal artillery, have historically been protected by extensive bunker systems, artillery bunkers are some of the largest individual pre-Cold War bunkers. The walls of the Batterie Todt gun installation in northern France were up to 3.5 m thick, typical industrial bunkers include mining sites, food storage areas, dumps for materials, data storage, and sometimes living quarters. They were built mainly by nations like Germany during World War II to protect important industries from aerial bombardment, industrial bunkers are also built for control rooms of dangerous activities, e. g. tests of rocket engines or explosive experiments. They are also built in order to perform experiments in them or to store radioactive or explosive goods
17.
Island
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An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, an island in a river or a lake island may be called an eyot or ait, and a small island off the coast may be called a holm. A grouping of geographically or geologically related islands is called an archipelago, an island may be described as such, despite the presence of an artificial land bridge. Example, Singapore and its causeway, or the various Dutch delta islands, there are two main types of islands in the sea, continental and oceanic. The word island derives from Middle English iland, from Old English igland, Old English ieg is actually a cognate of Swedish ö and German Aue, and related to Latin aqua. There is a difference between islands and continents in terms of geology, continents sit on continental lithosphere which is part of tectonic plates floating high on Earths mantle. Oceanic crust is also part of tectonic plates, but it is denser than continental lithosphere, Islands are either extensions of the oceanic crust or geologically they are part of some continent sitting on continental lithosphere. This holds true for Australia, which sits on its own continental lithosphere, continental islands are bodies of land that lie on the continental shelf of a continent. A special type of island is the microcontinental island, which is created when a continent is rifted. Examples are Madagascar and Socotra off Africa, the Kerguelen Islands, New Caledonia, New Zealand, another subtype is an island or bar formed by deposition of tiny rocks where water current loses some of its carrying capacity. While some are transitory and may disappear if the volume or speed of the current changes, others are stable, oceanic islands are islands that do not sit on continental shelves. The vast majority are volcanic in origin, such as Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean, the few oceanic islands that are not volcanic are tectonic in origin and arise where plate movements have lifted up the ocean floor above the surface. Examples are Saint Peter and Paul Rocks in the Atlantic Ocean, one type of volcanic oceanic island is found in a volcanic island arc. These islands arise from volcanoes where the subduction of one plate under another is occurring, examples are the Aleutian Islands, the Mariana Islands, and most of Tonga in the Pacific Ocean. The only examples in the Atlantic Ocean are some of the Lesser Antilles, another type of volcanic oceanic island occurs where an oceanic rift reaches the surface. There are two examples, Iceland, which is the second largest volcanic island, and Jan Mayen. A third type of oceanic island is formed over volcanic hotspots. A hotspot is more or less stationary relative to the tectonic plate above it
18.
Tarawa
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Tarawa is an atoll and the capital of the Republic of Kiribati, in the central Pacific Ocean. The atoll is best known by outsiders as the site of the Battle of Tarawa during World War II, Tarawa has a large lagoon,500 square kilometres total area, and a wide reef. Although naturally abundant in fish and shellfish of all kinds, marine resources are being strained by the large, drought is frequent, but in normal years rainfall is sufficient to maintain breadfruit, papaya and banana trees as well as coconut and pandanus. North Tarawa consists of a string of islets, with the most northern islet being Buariki, the islets are separated in places by wide channels that are best crossed at low tide. On South Tarawa, the construction of causeways has now created a strip of land from Betio in the West to Buota in the Northeast. The climate is pleasant from April to October, with predominant northeastern winds, from November to March, western gales bring rain and occasional cyclones. For example, the average is 3,000 mm in the north and 500 mm in the south of the Gilbert Islands. Most of these islands are in the dry belt of the oceanic climatic zone. Tarawa atoll has three subdivisions, Betio Town Council, on Betio Islet, Teinainano Urban Council, from Bairiki to Bonriki Eutan Tarawa Council. South Tarawa hosts the capital of the Republic of Kiribati, the House of Assembly is in Ambo, and the State House is in Bairiki. The offices of the ministries of the government range from Betio at the south-west extreme to Nawerewere. The settlements on Tarawa include, Marenanuka, Taborio, which has Immaculate Heart College, four resident diplomatic missions exist, the Embassies of Taiwan and Cuba and the High Commissions of Australia and New Zealand. In Kiribati mythology, Tarawa was the earth when the land, ocean, thus after calling the sky karawa and the ocean marawa, he called the piece of rock that Riiki had stood upon when he lifted up the sky as, Tarawa. Nareau then created the rest of the islands in Kiribati and also Samoa, people arrived on these islands thousands of years ago, and there have been migrations to and from Kiribati since antiquity. Evidence from a range of sources, including carbon dating and DNA analyses, the people of Kiribati are still excellent seafarers, capable of making ocean crossings in locally-made vessels using traditional navigation techniques. Thomas Gilbert, captain of the East India Company vessel Charlotte, was the first European to describe Tarawa and he named it Matthew Island, after the owner of his ship, the Charlotte. He named the lagoon, Charlotte Bay, Tarawa Post Office opened on 1 January 1911. Sir Arthur Grimble was an administrative officer based at Tarawa. and became Resident Commissioner of the Gilbert
19.
Iwo Jima
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The U. S. occupied Iwo Jima until 1968 when it was returned to Japan. The first European to arrive at Iwo Jima was Spanish sailor Bernardo de la Torre who named it Sufre Island, at that time Iwo Jima and other islands were the limit between the Spanish and Portuguese Empires in the far East. In 1779, the island was charted as Sulphur Island, the translation of its official name. The name Sulphur Island was translated into Late Middle Japanese with the Sino-Japanese rendering iwau-tau, from Middle Chinese ljuw-huang sulfur, the historical spelling iwautau had come to be pronounced Iwō-tō by the age of Western exploration, and the 1946 orthography reform fixed the spelling and pronunciation at Iō-tō. An alternative, Iwō-jima, modern Iō-jima, also appeared in nautical atlases, tō and shima are different readings of the kanji for island, the shima being changed to jima in this case. Japanese naval officers who arrived to fortify the island before the U. S. invasion mistakenly called it Iwo Jima, in this way, the Iwo Jima reading became mainstream and was the one used by U. S. forces who arrived during World War II. Moves to revert the pronunciation were sparked by the high-profile films Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima, the change does not affect how the name is written with kanji, 硫黄島, only how it is pronounced or written in hiragana, katakana and rōmaji. The island has an area of 21 km2. The most prominent feature is Mount Suribachi on the southern tip, named after a Japanese grinding bowl, the summit of Mount Suribachi is the highest point on the island. Iwo Jima is unusually flat and featureless for a volcanic island, Suribachi is the only obvious volcanic feature, as it is only the resurgent dome of a larger submerged volcanic caldera. 80 km north of the island is North Iwo Jima and 59 kilometres south is South Iwo Jima, just south of Minami-Iō-jima are the Mariana Islands. Iwo Jima has a history of volcanic activity a few times per year. Late 1779, Captain Cooks surveying crew landed on a beach which is now 40 m above sea level due to volcanic uplifting. Such uplifting occurs on the island at a rate of between 100 and 800 mm per year, with an average rate of 200 mm per year. Early 1945, USA armed forces landed on a beach which as of 2015 was 17 metres above sea level due to volcanic uplift,28 March 1957, Phreatic eruption without warning 2 km northeast of Suribachi, lasted 65 minutes and ejected material 30 m high from one crater. Another crater,30 m wide and 15 m deep, formed by collapse 50 minutes after the eruption ended,31 March 1957, Gas emissions increased. 9-10 March 1982,5 phreatic eruptions from vents on the northwest shore of Iwo-jima,21 September 2001, Submarine eruption from 3 vents southeast of Iwo-jima. It built a 10 m diameter pyroclastic cone,19 October 2001, A small phreatic eruption at Idogahama, made a crater 10 m wide and 2–3 m deep
20.
M4 Sherman
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The M4 Sherman, officially Medium Tank, M4, was the most numerous battle tank used by the United States and some of the other Western Allies in World War II. The M4 Sherman proved to be reliable, relatively cheap to produce, thousands were distributed through the Lend-Lease program to the British Commonwealth and Soviet Union. The tank was named by the British for the American Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman, the M4 Sherman evolved from the interim M3 Medium Tank, which had its main armament in a side sponson mount. The M4 retained much of the mechanical design, but put the main 75 mm gun in a fully traversing turret. The designers stressed mechanical reliability, ease of production and maintenance, durability, standardization of parts and ammunition in a number of variants. These factors, combined with the Shermans then-superior armor and armament, outclassed German light, the M4 went on to be produced in large numbers. It spearheaded many offensives by the Western Allies after 1942, for this reason, the US Army believed that the M4 would be adequate to win the war, and no pressure was exerted for further tank development. Logistical and transport restrictions, such as limitations imposed by roads, ports, Tank destroyer battalions using vehicles built on the M4 hull and chassis, but with open-topped turrets and more potent high-velocity guns, also entered widespread use in the Allied armies. Even by 1944, most M4 Shermans kept their dual purpose 75 mm gun, some Shermans were produced with a more capable gun, the 76 mm gun M1, or refitted with a 17-pounder by the British. These factors combined to give the Allies numerical superiority in most battles, the U. S. Army Ordnance Department designed the M4 medium tank as a replacement for the M3 medium tank. The M3 was a development of the M2 Medium Tank of 1939. The M3 was developed as a stopgap measure until a new turret mounting a 75 mm gun could be devised, though reluctant to adopt the British army weapons in their entirety the American designers were prepared to accept proved British ideas. British ideas, as embodied with in a designed by the Canadian General Staff. Before long American Services and designers had accumulated sufficient experience to forge ahead on several points, in the field of tank armament the American 75mm and 76mm dual-purpose tank guns won the acknowledgement of British tank experts. On 18 April 1941, the U. S, Armored Force Board chose the simplest of five designs. Known as the T6, the design was a modified M3 hull and chassis and this would later became the Sherman. The goals were to produce a fast, dependable medium tank able to support infantry, provide breakthrough striking capacity, the T6 prototype was completed on 2 September 1941. The T6 upper hull was a large casting
21.
Panzer II
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The Panzer II is the common name used for a family of German tanks used in World War II. The official German designation was Panzerkampfwagen II, the Panzer II was the most numerous tank in the German Panzer divisions beginning with the invasion of France. It was used in both North Africa against the Western Allies and on the Eastern Front against the Soviet Union, the Panzer II was supplanted by the Panzer III and IV by 1940/1941. By the end of 1942, it had largely removed from front line service and it was used for training. The turrets of the then-obsolete PzKpfw Is and PzKpfw IIs were reused as gun turrets on specially built defensive bunkers, in 1934, delays in the design and production of the Panzer III and Panzer IV medium tanks were becoming apparent. Designs for a tank were solicited from Krupp, MAN, Henschel. The final design was based on the Panzer I, but larger, production began in 1935, but it took another eighteen months for the first combat-ready tank to be delivered. The Panzer II was designed before the experience of the Spanish Civil War of 1936–39 showed that shell-proof armor was required for tanks to survive on a modern battlefield, prior to that, armor was designed to stop machine gun fire and high-explosive shell fragments. The Panzer II A, B, and C had 14 mm of slightly sloped homogenous steel armor on the sides, front, many IIC were later given increased armor in the front of the vehicle. Starting with the D model, the front armor was increased to 30 mm, the Model F had 35 mm front armor and 20 mm side armor. This amount of armor could be penetrated by towed antitank weapons, such as the Soviet 45mm and French canon de 25, most tank versions of the Panzer II were armed with a 2 cm KwK30 L/55 autocannon. Some later versions used the similar 2 cm KwK38 L/55 and this autocannon was based on the 2 cm FlaK30 anti-aircraft gun, and was capable of firing at a rate of 600 rounds per minute from 10-round magazines. A total of 180 shells were carried, the Panzer II also had a 7.92 mm Maschinengewehr 34 machine gun mounted coaxially with the main gun. The 2 cm autocannon proved to be ineffective against many Allied tanks, and experiments were conducted with a view to replacing it with a 37 mm cannon, but nothing came of this. Prototypes were built with a 50 mm tank gun, but by then the Panzer II had outlived its usefulness as a tank regardless of armament, all production versions of the Panzer II were fitted with a 140 PS, gasoline-fuelled six-cylinder Maybach HL62 TRM engine and ZF transmissions. Models A, B, and C had a top speed of 40 km/h, all versions had a range of 200 km. The Panzer II had a crew of three men, the driver sat in the forward left hull with the gearbox on the right. The commander sat in a seat in the turret, and was responsible for aiming and firing the cannon and co-axial machine gun and he had a radio on the left and several 20mm ammunition storage bins
22.
Panzer III
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The Panzerkampfwagen III, commonly known as the Panzer III, was a medium tank developed in the 1930s by Germany, and was used extensively in World War II. The official German ordnance designation was Sd. Kfz, the Panzer III effectively became obsolete in this role and was supplanted by the Panzer IV. From 1942, the last version of Panzer III mounted the 7.5 cm KwK37 L/24, production of the Panzer III ended in 1943. However, the Panzer IIIs capable chassis provided hulls for the Sturmgeschütz III assault gun until the end of the war, the first task was direct combat against other tanks and other armoured vehicles, requiring the tank to fire armour piercing shells. On January 11,1934, following specifications laid down by Heinz Guderian, the Army Weapons Department drew up plans for a tank with a maximum weight of 24,000 kg. Such supportive tanks designed to operate with friendly infantry against the enemy generally were heavier, the direct infantry-support role was to be provided by the turret-less Sturmgeschütz assault gun, which mounted a short-barrelled gun on a Panzer III chassis. Daimler-Benz, Krupp, MAN, and Rheinmetall all produced prototypes, testing of these took place in 1936 and 1937, leading to the Daimler-Benz design being chosen for production. The first model of the Panzer III, the Ausführung A. came off the line in May 1937, ten. Between 1937 and 1940, attempts were made to standardize parts between Krupps Panzer IV and Daimler-Benzs Panzer III, much of the early development work on the Panzer III was a quest for a suitable suspension. Several varieties of leaf-spring suspensions were tried on Ausf, D, usually using eight relatively small-diameter road wheels before the torsion-bar suspension of the Ausf. E was standardized, using the six wheel design that became standard. The Panzer III, along with the Soviet KV heavy tank, was one of the tanks to use this suspension design first seen on the Stridsvagn L-60 a few years earlier. A distinct feature of the Panzer III, influenced by British Vickers tanks, was the three-man turret and this meant that the commander was not distracted with another role in the tank and could fully concentrate on maintaining awareness of the situation and directing the tank. Most tanks of the time did not have this capability, providing the Panzer III with a combat advantage versus such tanks, for example, the French Somua S-35s turret was manned only by the commander, and the Soviet T-34 originally had a two-man turret crew. The Panzer III, as opposed to the Panzer IV, had no turret basket, the Panzer III was intended as the primary battle tank of the German forces. However, when it met the KV-1 and T-34 tanks it proved to be inferior in both armour and gun power. As a result, production of self-propelled guns, as well as the up-gunning of the Panzer IV was initiated, in 1942, the final version of the Panzer III, the Ausf. N was equipped with rounds of HEAT ammunition that could penetrate 70 to 100 millimetres of armour depending on the rounds variant, the Japanese government bought two Panzer IIIs from their German allies during the war
23.
Assault gun
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The term is a literal translation of the German word Sturmgeschütz. Nazi Germany introduced the first purpose-built assault gun, the StuG III, in 1940, historically, the custom-built fully armoured assault guns usually mounted the gun or howitzer in a fully enclosed casemate on a tank chassis. In most cases, these vehicles also presented a lower profile as a target for the enemy. The assault gun looks and works in the way as the similar tank destroyer. This was contrasted with the destroyer, which utilized higher velocity. Therefore, these vehicles often sacrificed being able to fire a good high-explosive shell in exchange for maximal armour penetration characteristics. Towards the beginning of the war, a vehicle could generally be used in both roles, but that changed as the classes became increasingly specialized as the war progressed. Assault guns were used during World War II by the forces of Nazi Germany. Early in the war, the Germans began to create makeshift assault guns by mounting their infantry support weapons on the bed of a truck or on obsolete tanks with the turret removed. Later in the war, both the Germans and the Soviets introduced fully armoured assault guns into their arsenals. Early on, the Soviets built the KV-2, a variant of the KV-1 heavy tank with a short-barrelled 152 mm howitzer mounted in an oversized turret, the primary German assault gun was the Sturmgeschütz III. The Germans also built a number of fully armoured turretless assault guns, including the StuG IV, Brummbär. The latter two were heavy vehicles, and were built only in small quantities. Independent battalions were deployed as stiffeners for infantry divisions. US and UK forces also deployed vehicles designed for a support role. Two versions of the American Sherman tank were armed with the M4105 mm howitzer, the M4 and the M4A3, these were designated assault guns in US usage of the term. The Churchill, Centaur and Cromwell tanks were all produced in versions armed with 95 mm howitzers, the Churchill Mark V and Mark VIII, the Centaur Mark IV, American tank destroyer units were often used in the assault gun role for infantry support. The AVRE version of the Churchill Tank was armed with a Spigot mortar that fired a 40 lb HE-filled projectile 150 yards and its task was to attack fortified positions such as bunkers at close range
24.
Tank destroyer
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The tank destroyer on the other hand is specifically designed to take on enemy armour. Many are based on a tank chassis, while others are wheeled. Since World War II, gun-armed tank destroyers have fallen out of favor as armies have favored multirole main battle tanks, however, lightly armored anti-tank guided missile carriers are commonly used for supplementary long-range anti-tank work. Dedicated anti-tank vehicles made their first major appearance in the Second World War as combatants developed effective armored vehicles, some were little more than stopgap solutions, mounting an anti-tank gun on a tracked vehicle to give mobility, while others were more sophisticated designs. Except for most American designs, tank destroyers were all turretless and had fixed or casemate superstructures, the turretless design allowed accommodation of a more powerful gun, typically a dedicated anti-tank gun that had a longer barrel than could be mounted in a turreted tank on the same chassis. The lack of an increased the vehicles internal volume, allowing for increased ammunition stowage. Eliminating the turret allowed the vehicle to carry thicker armor than would otherwise be the case, sometimes there was no armored roof to keep the overall weight down to the limit that the chassis could bear. Variants of the Polish TKS and TK-3 tankettes up-armed with 20 mm gun were operationally deployed in the invasion of Poland and they were used as an anti-tank component of the reconnaissance units. Due to the defeat of France, few French vehicles were built. The Laffly W15 TCC was an attempt to build a light tank destroyer by mounting a 47 mm SA37 anti-tank gun onto a lightly armored Laffly W15T artillery tractor. Other French tank destroyers were being developed, including the SOMUA SAu-40, ARL V39, for instance,202 obsolete Panzer I light tanks were modified by removing the turret and were rebuilt as the Panzerjäger I self-propelled 4.7 cm PaK. Similarly, Panzer II tanks were used on the eastern front, captured Soviet 76.2 mm anti-tank guns were mounted on modified Panzer II chassis, producing the Marder II self-propelled anti-tank gun. The most common mounting was a German 75 mm anti-tank gun on the Czech Panzer 38 chassis to produce the Marder III, the Panzer 38 chassis was also used to make the Jagdpanzer 38 casemate style tank destroyer. The Panzerjäger series continued up to the 88 mm equipped Nashorn, German tank destroyers based on the Panzer III and later German tanks were unique in that they had more armor than their tank counterparts. One of the more successful German tank destroyers was actually designed as an artillery gun. Based on the Panzer III tank chassis, the Sturmgeschütz III was originally fitted with a low-velocity gun, later, after encountering Soviet tanks, it was refitted with a comparatively short-barreled high-velocity anti-tank gun, usually with a muzzle brake, enabling it to function as a tank destroyer. The Sturmgeschütz III from its 1938 origin used a new superstructure with an integrated design similar to the later Jagdpanzer to completely enclose the crew. It was employed in support and offensive armored operations as well as in the defensive anti-tank role
25.
Panzer IV
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The Panzerkampfwagen IV, commonly known as the Panzer IV, was a German medium tank developed in the late 1930s and used extensively during the Second World War. Its ordnance inventory designation was Sd. Kfz, the Panzer IV was the most widely manufactured German tank of the Second World War, with some 8,500 built. The Panzer IV saw service in all combat theaters involving Germany and was the only German tank to remain in production throughout the war. Upgrades and design modifications, intended to counter new threats, extended its service life, the Panzer IV was the most widely exported tank in German service, with around 300 sold to Finland, Romania, Spain and Bulgaria. After the war, Syria procured Panzer IVs from France and Czechoslovakia, the Panzer IV was the brainchild of the German general and innovative armored warfare theorist Heinz Guderian. In concept, it was intended to be a tank for use against enemy anti-tank guns and fortifications. Ideally, each battalion in a panzer division was to have three medium companies of Panzer IIIs and one heavy company of Panzer IVs. On 11 January 1934, the German army wrote the specifications for a medium tractor, development was carried out under the name Begleitwagen, or BW, to disguise its actual purpose, given that Germany was still theoretically bound by the Treaty of Versailles ban on tanks. MAN, Krupp, and Rheinmetall-Borsig each developed prototypes, with Krupps being selected for further development, the chassis had originally been designed with a six-wheeled Schachtellaufwerk interleaved-roadwheel suspension, but the German Army amended this to a torsion bar system. Permitting greater vertical deflection of the roadwheels, this was intended to improve performance, in the turret, the tank commander sat beneath his roof hatch, while the gunner was situated to the left of the gun breech and the loader to the right. The turret was offset 66.5 mm to the left of the center line. Due to the layout, the right side of the tank contained the bulk of its stowage volume. Accepted into service as the Versuchskraftfahrzeug 622, production began in 1936 at Fried, Krupp Grusonwerk AG factory at Magdeburg. The first mass-produced version of the Panzer IV was the Ausführung A and it was powered by Maybachs HL 108TR, producing 250 PS, and used the SGR75 transmission with five forward gears and one reverse, achieving a maximum road speed of 31 kilometres per hour. As main armament, the vehicle mounted the short-barreled, howitzer-like 75 mm Kampfwagenkanone 37 L/24 tank gun, against armored targets, firing the Panzergranate at 430 metres per second the KwK37 could penetrate 43 millimetres, inclined at 30 degrees, at ranges of up to 700 metres. A7.92 mm MG34 machine gun was mounted coaxially with the weapon in the turret. The main weapon and coaxial machine gun were sighted with a Turmzielfernrohr 5b optic while the machine gun was sighted with a Kugelzielfernrohr 2 optic. A was protected by 14.5 mm of armor on the front plate of the chassis
26.
Infantry
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Infantry is the general branch of an army that engages in military combat on foot. As the troops who engage with the enemy in close-ranged combat, infantry units bear the largest brunt of warfare, Infantry can enter and maneuver in terrain that is inaccessible to military vehicles and employ crew-served infantry weapons that provide greater and more sustained firepower. In English, the 16th-century term Infantry describes soldiers who walk to the battlefield, and there engage, fight, the term arose in Sixteenth-Century Spain, which boasted one of the first professional standing armies seen in Europe since the days of Rome. It was common to appoint royal princes to military commands, and the men under them became known as Infanteria. in the Canadian Army, the role of the infantry is to close with, and destroy the enemy. In the U. S. Army, the closes with the enemy, by means of fire and maneuver, in order to destroy or capture him, or to repel his assault by fire, close combat. In the U. S. Marine Corps, the role of the infantry is to locate, close with, and destroy the enemy fire and maneuver. Beginning with the Napoleonic Wars of the early 19th century, artillery has become a dominant force on the battlefield. Since World War I, combat aircraft and armoured vehicles have become dominant. In 20th and 21st century warfare, infantry functions most effectively as part of a combined arms team including artillery, armour, Infantry relies on organized formations to be employed in battle. These have evolved over time, but remain a key element to effective infantry development and deployment, until the end of the 19th century, infantry units were for the most part employed in close formations up until contact with the enemy. This allowed commanders to control of the unit, especially while maneuvering. The development of guns and other weapons with increased firepower forced infantry units to disperse in order to make them less vulnerable to such weapons. This decentralization of command was made possible by improved communications equipment, among the various subtypes of infantry is Medium infantry. This refers to infantry which are heavily armed and armored than heavy infantry. In the early period, medium infantry were largely eliminated due to discontinued use of body armour up until the 20th century. In the United States Army, Stryker Infantry is considered Medium Infantry, since they are heavier than light infantry, Infantry doctrine is the concise expression of how infantry forces contribute to campaigns, major operations, battles, and engagements. It is a guide to action, not a set of hard, doctrine provides a very common frame of reference across the military forces, allowing the infantry to function cooperatively in what are now called combined arms operations. Doctrine helps standardise operations, facilitating readiness by establishing common ways of accomplishing infantry tasks, doctrine links theory, history, experimentation, and practice
27.
Anti-tank rifle
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An anti-tank rifle is a rifle designed to penetrate the armor of vehicles, particularly tanks. The usefulness of rifles for this purpose ran from the introduction of tanks in World War I until the Korean War, anti-materiel rifles of today, such as the Barrett M82, are a development of the Second World War technology. The tug of war between armor and projectiles had been developing for a long while among naval vessels, since the advent of the Ironclad and it wasnt until soldiers met armored vehicles that the conflict of infantry firearms and armor began. The introduction of armored cars and tanks resulted in the development of the first anti-tank weapons and these had appeared in the 19th century for big-game hunting. The anti-tank rifle followed the route, a large bullet with a high velocity. The first tanks, beginning with the British Mark I launched against the German trenches in World War I, were nearly impregnable to ordinary rifle fire. Most armored cars were protected, but troops rarely faced armored cars. In the direct fire mode, this weapon was manhandled by German infantry over the front of a trench wall, though somewhat effective, these actions were obviously very hazardous to any desperate mortar crew as their exposure could attract enemy fire. The first attempt at boosting penetrating power was the so-called reversed bullet and this used the same cartridge and bullet as the regular round, but the bullet was reversed and an increased propelling charge was used. The next development was a special armor-piercing bullet, the K bullet and it had an increased propelling charge and a steel core bullet. This had about a 30% chance of penetrating the 8 mm armour of contemporary tanks if it struck the armor at a perpendicular angle. The strain of firing the charge could also burst the chamber of weaker and older rifles, at best destroying the rifle. For these reasons, the K bullet and reversed bullet were not popular with the troops, nevertheless, it gave the infantry a chance to stop a tank in an emergency, or at least injure or kill some of the crew if a bullet penetrated. Hence, a weapon was required to counter the newer tanks. The first purposely-designed infantry anti-tank rifle was designed by Germany, the Mauser 1918 T-Gewehr large-calibre rifle was capable of penetrating the armor of the newer generations of tanks and allowed a chance at stopping them. The high recoil of the rifle was very hard on the firer, although the rifle was unique to its role, it was a development of the Mauser rifles and high-powered British sporting rifles that had preceded it. The 13. 2x92mm cartridge was not unusual either, as some 0. 50in firearms have already been fielded in land warfare with the relatively new, at the same time, in the US, a half-inch high velocity round was being developed for use against aircraft. It would be used with the Browning-designed.50 caliber machine gun and this round was based on current US. 30-06 caliber infantry ammunition
28.
Bazooka
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Bazooka is the common name for a man-portable recoilless anti-tank rocket launcher weapon, widely fielded by the United States Army. Also referred to as the Stovepipe, the bazooka was among the first generation of rocket-propelled anti-tank weapons used in infantry combat. Near the end of the war, the Japanese developed a weapon, the Type 470 mm AT Rocket Launcher. The term bazooka still sees use as a generic term referring to any ground-to-ground shoulder-fired missile weapon. The development of the bazooka involved the development of two lines of technology, the rocket-powered weapon, and the shaped-charge warhead. It was also designed for easy maneuverability and access, the rocket-powered weapon was the brainchild of Dr. Robert H. Goddard as a side project of his work on rocket propulsion. He and his co-worker, Dr. Clarence N, the delay in the development of the bazooka was as a result of Goddards serious bout with tuberculosis. Goddard continued to be a consultant to the US government at Indian Head, Maryland, until 1923. Hickman later became head of the National Defense Research Committee in the 1940s where he guided rocket development for the war effort, including completing the development of the bazooka. Shaped charge technology was developed in the US into a shaped charge hand grenade for use by infantry, the grenade was standardized as the M10. However, the M10 grenade weighed 3.5 lb, was difficult to throw by hand, the only practical way to use the weapon was for an infantryman to place it directly on the tank, an unlikely means of delivery in most combat situations. A smaller, less powerful version of the M10, the M9, was then developed and this resulted in the creation of a series of rifle grenade launchers, the M1, the M2, the M7, and the M8. The combination of motor and shaped charge warhead would lead to Army development of light antitank weapons. In 1942, U. S. Army Colonel Leslie Skinner received the M10 shaped-charge grenade which was capable of stopping German tanks and he gave Lieutenant Edward Uhl the task of creating a delivery system for the grenade. Uhl created a small rocket, but needed to protect the firer from the rocket exhaust, according to Uhl, I was walking by this scrap pile, and there was a tube that. Happened to be the size as the grenade that we were turning into a rocket. Put the tube on a shoulder with the rocket inside. By late 1942, the improved Rocket Launcher, M1A1 was introduced, the forward hand grip was deleted, and the design simplified
29.
Panzerschreck
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Panzerschreck was the popular name for the Raketenpanzerbüchse, an 88 mm calibre reusable anti-tank rocket launcher developed by Nazi Germany in World War II. The Panzerschreck was designed as a lightweight infantry anti-tank weapon, the weapon was shoulder-launched and fired a fin-stabilized rocket with a shaped-charge warhead. It was made in numbers than the Panzerfaust, which was a disposable recoilless gun firing an anti-tank warhead. It was a copy of the American bazooka. The Panzerschreck was developed as a copy from captured bazookas of American origin, the American bazookas also spurred the development of the Faustpatrone and successor Panzerfaust anti-tank grenade launchers that each also used a high-explosive anti-tank warhead. Calibre 88 mm was selected as existing RPzB, gr.4312 for 8.8 cm Raketenwerfer 43 was reused for Panzerschreck. Warhead and fuzing was carried over but engine section needed lengthening from 490 mm to 650 mm to accommodate the rocket motor. Raketenwerfer 43 had percussion firing, whereas for Panzerschreck an electrical priming was selected, other munitions were developed, including drill dummy, practice live rocket with inert warhead and standard grenade with improved contact system. The first model was the RPzB43, which was 164 centimetres long, operators of the RPzB43 had to wear a protective poncho and a gas mask without a filter to protect them from the heat of the backblast when the weapon was fired. In October 1943, it was succeeded by the RPzB54 and this was followed by the RPzB 54/1, which had an improved rocket, a shorter barrel, and a range increased to about 180 meters. Firing the RPzB generated a lot of both in front and behind the weapon. Because of the tube and the smoke, the German troops nicknamed it the Ofenrohr. This also meant that Panzerschreck teams were revealed once they fired, making them targets and, therefore and this type of system also made it problematic to fire the weapon from inside closed spaces, filling the room with toxic smoke and revealing the firing location immediately. The Panzerschreck could penetrate 100 mm of armor using early war rockets, late war German tactical doctrine called for Panzerschreck and/or Panzerfaust teams to set up in staggered trenches no further than 115 metres apart. In this way, attacking armor would face anti-tank fire from multiple directions at a distance of no more than 69 metres, anti-tank teams were instructed to aim for the thinner side or rear armor whenever possible. Allied armored units frequently attempted to add improvised protection to their tanks, e. g. sandbags, spare track units, logs, most of this makeshift protection had little protective effect, and overtaxed the vehicles engine, transmission, and suspension systems. Another defense was to rig metal mesh and netting around the tank, the Panzerschrecks combat success caused the Bazooka to be completely redesigned at the close of World War II. A larger,90 mm model was adopted, hence, the M20 Super Bazooka, though bearing a superficial resemblance to the Panzerschreck, the M20 had greater effective range and penetrating capability, and was nearly 20% lighter than its former counterpart
30.
PIAT
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The Projector, Infantry, Anti Tank Mk I was a British man-portable anti-tank weapon developed during the Second World War. The PIAT was designed in 1942 in response to the British Armys need for an effective infantry anti-tank weapon. The PIAT was based on the mortar system, that launched a 2.5 pound bomb using a cartridge in the tail of the projectile. It possessed a range of approximately 115 yards in a direct fire anti-tank role. The PIAT was first used during the Allied invasion of Sicily in 1943, PIATs were supplied to or obtained by other nations and forces, including the Soviet Union, the French resistance, the Polish Underground, and the Israeli Haganah. Six members of the British and Commonwealth armed forces received Victoria Crosses for their use of the PIAT in combat. At the beginning of the Second World War, the British Army possessed two primary weapons for its infantry, the Boys anti-tank rifle and the No.68 AT Rifle Grenade. However, neither of these was particularly effective as an anti-tank weapon, the Boys was also inadequate in the anti-tank role. Due to these limitations, a new infantry weapon was required. This phenomenon is known as the Munroe effect, the German scientist Egon Neumann, found that lining the recess with metal enhanced the damage dealt even more. By the 1930s Henry Mohaupt, a Swiss engineer, had developed this technology even further and this consisted of a recessed metal cone placed into an explosive warhead, when the warhead hit its target, the explosive detonated and turned the cone into an extremely high-speed spike. It was this technology that was utilized in the No.68 anti-tank grenade, however, rather than using the conventional system of firing the mortar shell from a barrel fixed to a baseplate, Blacker wanted to use the spigot mortar system. Instead of a barrel, there was a rod known as a spigot fixed to a baseplate. When the mortar was to be fired, the bomb was pushed down onto the spigot, by effectively putting the barrel on the inside of the weapon, the barrel diameter was no longer a limitation on the warhead size. Blacker eventually designed a mortar that he named the Arbalest and submitted it to the War Office. Blacker called the weapon the Baby Bombard, and presented it to the War Office in 1941. Shortly after the trial of the Baby Bombard, Blacker was posted to other duties, Jefferis then had a small number of prototype armour-piercing HEAT rounds made, and took the weapon to be tested at the Small Arms School at Bisley. Jefferis himself then took the place of the Warrant Officer and fired off several more rounds, all of which pierced the armoured target, production of the PIAT began at the end of August 1942
31.
Brest, France
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Brest is a city in the Finistère département in Brittany in northwestern France. The city is located on the edge of continental Europe. Although Brest is by far the largest city in Finistère, the préfecture of the department is the much smaller Quimper, during the Middle Ages, the history of Brest was the history of its castle. Then Richelieu made it a military harbour, Brest grew around its arsenal, until the second part of the 20th century. Heavily damaged by the Allies bombing raids during World War II, at the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century, the deindustrialization of the city was followed by the development of the service sector. Nowadays, Brest is an important university town with 23,000 students, Brest is also an important research centre, mainly focused on the sea, with among others the largest Ifremer centre, le Cedre and the French Polar Institute. Brest’s history has always been linked to the sea, the Académie de Marine was founded in 1752 in this city, the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle was built there. Every four years, Brest hosts the festival of the sea, boats and sailors. Nothing definite is known of Brest before about 1240, when a count of Léon ceded it to John I, in 1342, John IV, Duke of Brittany, surrendered Brest to the English, in whose possession it was to remain until 1397. The importance of Brest in medieval times was great enough to rise to the saying. With the marriage of Francis I of France to Claude, the daughter of Anne of Brittany, the advantages of Brests situation as a seaport town were first recognized by Cardinal Richelieu, who in 1631 constructed a harbor with wooden wharves. This soon became a base for the French Navy, jean-Baptiste Colbert, finance minister under Louis XIV, rebuilt the wharves in masonry and otherwise improved the harbour. Fortifications by Vauban followed in 1680–1688 and these fortifications, and with them the naval importance of the town, were to continue to develop throughout the 18th century. In 1694, an English squadron under Lord Berkeley, was defeated in its attack on Brest. In 1917, during the First World War, Brest was used as the port for many of the troops coming from the United States. Thousands of such men came through the port on their way to the front lines, the United States Navy established a naval air station on 13 February 1918 to operate seaplanes. The base closed shortly after the Armistice of 11 November 1918, in the Second World War, the Germans maintained a large U-boat submarine base at Brest. In 1944, after the Allied invasion of Normandy, the city was almost totally destroyed during the Battle for Brest, with only a tiny number of buildings left standing
32.
Canada
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Canada is a country in the northern half of North America. Canadas border with the United States is the worlds longest binational land border, the majority of the country has a cold or severely cold winter climate, but southerly areas are warm in summer. Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its territory being dominated by forest and tundra. It is highly urbanized with 82 per cent of the 35.15 million people concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, One third of the population lives in the three largest cities, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Its capital is Ottawa, and other urban areas include Calgary, Edmonton, Quebec City, Winnipeg. Various aboriginal peoples had inhabited what is now Canada for thousands of years prior to European colonization. Pursuant to the British North America Act, on July 1,1867, the colonies of Canada, New Brunswick and this began an accretion of provinces and territories to the mostly self-governing Dominion to the present ten provinces and three territories forming modern Canada. With the Constitution Act 1982, Canada took over authority, removing the last remaining ties of legal dependence on the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II being the head of state. The country is officially bilingual at the federal level and it is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many other countries. Its advanced economy is the eleventh largest in the world, relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources, Canadas long and complex relationship with the United States has had a significant impact on its economy and culture. Canada is a country and has the tenth highest nominal per capita income globally as well as the ninth highest ranking in the Human Development Index. It ranks among the highest in international measurements of government transparency, civil liberties, quality of life, economic freedom, Canada is an influential nation in the world, primarily due to its inclusive values, years of prosperity and stability, stable economy, and efficient military. While a variety of theories have been postulated for the origins of Canada. In 1535, indigenous inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct French explorer Jacques Cartier to the village of Stadacona, from the 16th to the early 18th century Canada referred to the part of New France that lay along the St. Lawrence River. In 1791, the area became two British colonies called Upper Canada and Lower Canada collectively named The Canadas, until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, Canada was adopted as the name for the new country at the London Conference. The transition away from the use of Dominion was formally reflected in 1982 with the passage of the Canada Act, later that year, the name of national holiday was changed from Dominion Day to Canada Day
33.
Netherlands
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The Netherlands, also informally known as Holland is the main constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a densely populated country located in Western Europe with three territories in the Caribbean. The European part of the Netherlands borders Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, sharing borders with Belgium, the United Kingdom. The three largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague, Amsterdam is the countrys capital, while The Hague holds the Dutch seat of parliament and government. The port of Rotterdam is the worlds largest port outside East-Asia, the name Holland is used informally to refer to the whole of the country of the Netherlands. Netherlands literally means lower countries, influenced by its low land and flat geography, most of the areas below sea level are artificial. Since the late 16th century, large areas have been reclaimed from the sea and lakes, with a population density of 412 people per km2 –507 if water is excluded – the Netherlands is classified as a very densely populated country. Only Bangladesh, South Korea, and Taiwan have both a population and higher population density. Nevertheless, the Netherlands is the worlds second-largest exporter of food and agricultural products and this is partly due to the fertility of the soil and the mild climate. In 2001, it became the worlds first country to legalise same-sex marriage, the Netherlands is a founding member of the EU, Eurozone, G-10, NATO, OECD and WTO, as well as being a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union. The first four are situated in The Hague, as is the EUs criminal intelligence agency Europol and this has led to the city being dubbed the worlds legal capital. The country also ranks second highest in the worlds 2016 Press Freedom Index, the Netherlands has a market-based mixed economy, ranking 17th of 177 countries according to the Index of Economic Freedom. It had the thirteenth-highest per capita income in the world in 2013 according to the International Monetary Fund, in 2013, the United Nations World Happiness Report ranked the Netherlands as the seventh-happiest country in the world, reflecting its high quality of life. The Netherlands also ranks joint second highest in the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index, the region called Low Countries and the country of the Netherlands have the same toponymy. Place names with Neder, Nieder, Nether and Nedre and Bas or Inferior are in use in all over Europe. They are sometimes used in a relation to a higher ground that consecutively is indicated as Upper, Boven, Oben. In the case of the Low Countries / the Netherlands the geographical location of the region has been more or less downstream. The geographical location of the region, however, changed over time tremendously
34.
Universal Carrier
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The vehicle was used widely by British Commonwealth forces during the Second World War. Universal Carriers were usually used for transporting personnel and equipment, mostly support weapons, with some 113,000 built by 1960 in the United Kingdom and abroad, it is the most produced armoured fighting vehicle in history. The origins of the Universal Carrier family can be traced back generally to the Carden Loyd tankettes family, which was developed in the 1920s, and specifically the Mk VI tankette. In 1934, Vickers-Armstrongs produced, as a venture, a light tracked vehicle that could be used either to carry a machine gun or to tow a light field gun. The VA. D50 had a box at the front for driver. The War Office considered it as a replacement for their Dragon artillery tractors. One was built as the Carrier, Machine-Gun Experimental carrying a machine gun, a small number of this design as Carrier, Machine-Gun No 1 Mark 1 were built and entered service in 1936. Some were converted into pilot models for the Machine gun Carrier, Cavalry Carrier, the carrier put the driver and commander at the front sitting side-by-side, the driver to the right. The Ford Flathead V8 engine that powered it was placed in the centre of the vehicle with the drive at the rear. The suspension and running gear were based on that used on the Vickers light tank series using Horstmann springs, directional control was through a steering wheel. Small turns moved the front road wheel assembly warping the track so the vehicle drifted to that side, further movement of the wheel braked the appropriate track to give a turn. The hull in front of the commanders position jutted forward to give room for the Bren gun to fire through a simple slit, to either side of the engine were two areas in which passengers could ride or stores could be carried. Initially, there were several types of Carrier that varied slightly in design according to their purpose, Medium Machine Gun Carrier, Bren Gun Carrier, Scout Carrier and Cavalry Carrier. However, production of a model came to be preferred and the Universal design appeared in 1940. It differed from the models in that the rear section of the body had a rectangular shape. Production of Carriers began in 1934 and ended in 1960, with the introduction of the Universal, production in the UK was undertaken by Aveling-Barford, Ford, Sentinel, Thornycroft, and Wolseley Motors. By 1945 production amounted to approximately 57,000 of all models, the Universal Carriers, in different variants, were also produced in allied countries. Ford Motor Company of Canada manufactured about 29,000 vehicles known as the Ford C01UC Universal Carrier, smaller numbers of them were also produced in Australia, where hulls were made in several places in Victoria and by South Australian Railways workshops in Adelaide, South Australia
35.
Germans
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Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe, who share a common German ancestry, culture and history. German is the mother tongue of a substantial majority of ethnic Germans. The English term Germans has historically referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages, before the collapse of communism and the reunification of Germany in 1990, Germans constituted the largest divided nation in Europe by far. Ever since the outbreak of the Protestant Reformation within the Holy Roman Empire, of approximately 100 million native speakers of German in the world, roughly 80 million consider themselves Germans. Thus, the number of Germans lies somewhere between 100 and more than 150 million, depending on the criteria applied. Today, people from countries with German-speaking majorities most often subscribe to their own national identities, the German term Deutsche originates from the Old High German word diutisc, referring to the Germanic language of the people. It is not clear how commonly, if at all, the word was used as an ethnonym in Old High German, used as a noun, ein diutscher in the sense of a German emerges in Middle High German, attested from the second half of the 12th century. The Old French term alemans is taken from the name of the Alamanni and it was loaned into Middle English as almains in the early 14th century. The word Dutch is attested in English from the 14th century, denoting continental West Germanic dialects, while in most Romance languages the Germans have been named from the Alamanni, the Old Norse, Finnish and Estonian names for the Germans were taken from that of the Saxons. In Slavic languages, the Germans were given the name of němьci, originally with a meaning foreigner, the English term Germans is only attested from the mid-16th century, based on the classical Latin term Germani used by Julius Caesar and later Tacitus. It gradually replaced Dutch and Almains, the latter becoming mostly obsolete by the early 18th century, the Germans are a Germanic people, who as an ethnicity emerged during the Middle Ages. Originally part of the Holy Roman Empire, around 300 independent German states emerged during its decline after the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 ending the Thirty Years War and these states eventually formed into modern Germany in the 19th century. The concept of a German ethnicity is linked to Germanic tribes of antiquity in central Europe, the early Germans originated on the North German Plain as well as southern Scandinavia. By the 2nd century BC, the number of Germans was significantly increasing and they began expanding into eastern Europe, during antiquity these Germanic tribes remained separate from each other and did not have writing systems at that time. In the European Iron Age the area that is now Germany was divided into the La Tène horizon in Southern Germany and the Jastorf culture in Northern Germany. By 55 BC, the Germans had reached the Danube river and had either assimilated or otherwise driven out the Celts who had lived there, and had spread west into what is now Belgium and France. Conflict between the Germanic tribes and the forces of Rome under Julius Caesar forced major Germanic tribes to retreat to the east bank of the Rhine, in Roman-held territories with Germanic populations, the Germanic and Roman peoples intermarried, and Roman, Germanic, and Christian traditions intermingled. The adoption of Christianity would later become an influence in the development of a common German identity
36.
Battle of the Scheldt
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Led by Guy Simonds, the battle took place in northern Belgium and southwestern Netherlands during World War II from October 2 to November 8,1944. The well-established Wehrmacht defenders staged an effective delaying action, during which the Germans flooded the Scheldt Estuary, both land and water were mined, and the Germans defended their line of retreat with artillery and snipers. But the advance halted with the British in possession of Antwerp, little was done about the blocked port of Antwerp during September because Operation Market Garden was to form a buffer between Germany and Antwerp, which it succeeded in doing. In the meantime, German forces in the Scheldt were able to deploy defensively, the first attacks occurred on September 13. In early October after operation Market Garden, Allied forces led by the Canadian First Army set out to bring the give the port of Antwerp access to the sea, Montgomery then decided that the importance of Antwerp was such that the actual capture of Dunkirk could be delayed. Under command at that time was Canadian II Corps, with the Polish 1st Armoured Division, 49th and 52nd Divisions attached, Montgomery promised the support of RAF Bomber Command in attacking the German fortifications and that of the USAAF 8th Air Force On the day concerned. The 51st Infantry Division was to give up its transport to enable the movement of forces into position for the battle, abandoning the capture of Dunkirk freed the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division. The plan for opening the Scheldt estuary involved four main operations conducted over daunting geography, the first task was to clear the area north of Antwerp and secure access to South Beveland. Second was to clear the Breskens pocket north of the Leopold Canal, third, dubbed Operation Vitality, was the capture of South Beveland. The final phase would be the capture of Walcheren Island, which had been fortified into a powerful German stronghold, as part of the Atlantic Wall, Walcheren Island was considered to be the strongest concentration of defences the Nazis had ever constructed. The Polish 1st Armoured Division headed for the Dutch-Belgian border further east, an attack was mounted in the vicinity of Moerkerke, crossing the canals and establishing a bridgehead before counter-attacks forced a withdrawal with heavy casualties. The 1st Polish Armoured Division enjoyed greater success to the east as it advanced northeast from Ghent, on October 2, the Canadian 2nd Division began its advance north from Antwerp. Stiff fighting at Woensdrecht ensued on October 6, the objective of the first phase, the Germans—reinforced by Battle Group Chill—saw the priority in holding there, controlling direct access to South Beveland and Walcheren Island. There were heavy casualties as the Canadians attacked over open, flooded land, driving rain, booby traps and land mines made advance very difficult. On October 13, what would come to be known as Black Friday, the Calgary Highlanders were to follow up with a more successful action, and their Carrier Platoon succeeded in taking the rail station at Korteven. Heavy fighting at Hoogerheide also ensued, but by October 16, Woensdrecht was secured, cutting the link to South Beveland. The Canadians had achieved their first objective, but suffered heavy casualties, at this point, recognizing the opportunity, Field-Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery issued a directive that made the opening of the Scheldt estuary the top priority of 21st Army Group. To the east, the British Second Army attacked westward to clear the Netherlands south of the Maas River, meanwhile, Simonds concentrated forces at the neck of the South Beveland peninsula
37.
4th Canadian Division
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The 4th Canadian Division is a formation of the Canadian Army. The division was first created as a formation of the Canadian Corps during the First World War, during the Second World War the division was reactivated as the 4th Canadian Infantry Division in 1941 and then converted to armour and redesignated as the 4th Canadian Division. Beginning in 1916 the division adopted a distinctive green-coloured formation patch as its insignia, in 2013 it was announced that Land Force Central Area would be redesignated 4th Canadian Division. It is currently responsible for Canadian Army operations in the Canadian province of Ontario and is headquartered at Denison Armoury, the 4th Canadian Division was formed in the Britain in April 1916 from several existing units and others scheduled to arrive shortly thereafter. Under the command of Major-General David Watson, the Division embarked for France in August of that year where they served both in the Western Front in France and in Flanders until Armistice Day. The 4th Canadian Division was a part of the Canadian Corps in the Battle of Vimy Ridge, as a result, the Canadians became known as masters of offensive warfare and an elite fighting force. In the Battle of Vimy Ridge in April 1917, the 4th Canadian Division was given the job of capturing Hill 145, however, when they attempted to capture the hill, they were hampered by fire from the Pimple, which was the other prominent height at Vimy Ridge. To capture Hill 145, forces which were supposed to attack the Pimple were redeployed and captured Hill 145, 10th Canadian Brigade, 44th Battalion Canadian Infantry. April 1916 –11 November 1918, April 1916 –11 November 1918, 47th Battalion Canadian Infantry. April 1916 –11 November 1918, April 1916 –11 November 1918. 11th Canadian Brigade, 54th Battalion Canadian Infantry, April 1916 –11 November 1918, 75th Battalion Canadian Infantry. April 1916 –11 November 1918, 87th Battalion Canadian Infantry, june 1916 –11 November 1918, 102nd Battalion Canadian Infantry. April 1916 –11 November 1918, 12th Canadian Brigade, 38th Battalion Canadian Infantry. June 1916 –11 November 1918, 51st Battalion Canadian Infantry, April 1916 –13 November 1916, 72nd Battalion, CEF. April 1916 –11 November 1918, 73rd Battalion Canadian Infantry, April 1916 –19 April 1917, 78th Battalion Canadian Infantry. April 1916 –11 November 1918, 85th Battalion Canadian Infantry, April 1917 –11 November 1918, 87th Battalion Canadian Infantry. Pioneers, 67th Pioneer Battalion Canadian Infantry, the division proceeded overseas in 1942, with its two main convoys reaching the United Kingdom in August and October. The division spent almost two years training in the United Kingdom before crossing to Normandy in July 1944, the division participated in the later stages of the Battle of Normandy at the Falaise Pocket, the advance from Normandy and spent almost two months engaged at the Breskens Pocket
38.
Maldegem
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Maldegem is a municipality located in the Belgian province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the villages of Maldegem, Adegem and Middelburg, kleit and Donk have always been separate hamlets of Maldegem. On January 1,2006, Maldegem had a population of 22,289. The total area is 94.64 square kilometres gives a population density of 236 inhabitants per km². The Stoomcentrum Maldegem is located at the former NMBS railway station at Maldegem
39.
Sixpence (British coin)
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The sixpence, sometimes known as a tanner or sixpenny bit, was a coin worth one-fortieth of a pound sterling, or six pence. It was first minted in the reign of Edward VI and circulated until 1980, following decimalisation in 1971 it had a value of 2 1⁄2 new pence. The coin was made from silver from its introduction in 1551 to 1947, prior to Decimal Day in 1971 there were 240 pence in one pound sterling. Twelve pence made a shilling, and twenty shillings made a pound, values less than a pound were usually written in shillings and pence, e. g.42 old pence would be three shillings and sixpence, often pronounced three and six. Values of less than a shilling were simply written in terms of pence, the first sixpences were minted in 1551, during the reign of Edward VI. They came about as a result of the debasement of coinage in the 1540s, in particular the silver testoon. The debased testoon was likely useful in everyday transactions, and it was decided that new coinage should be introduced with the denomination of six pence. Sixpences were minted during the reign of every British monarch after Edward VI, an alternative explanation for the nickname is that it comes from Romany Gypsy word tawno meaning small thing. The Royal Mint undertook a massive programme in 1816, with large quantities of gold. Previous issues of silver coinage had been irregular, and the issue, minted in 1787. New silver coinage was to be of.925 standard, with coins to be minted at 66 shillings to the pound weight. Hence, newly minted sixpences weighed 43.636 grains or 2.828 grams, the Royal Mint debased the silver coinage in 1920 from 92. 5% silver to 50% silver. Sixpences of both alloys were minted that year and this debasement was done because of the rising price of silver around the world, and followed the global trend of elimination, or reduction in purity, of the silver in coinage. The minting of coinage of the pound sterling ceased completely in 1946 for similar reasons. New silver coinage was minted in cupronickel, an alloy of copper. Beginning with Lord Wrottesleys proposals in the 1820s, there were attempts to decimalise the pound sterling over the next century. These attempts came to nothing significant until the 1960s when the need for a currency more suited to simple monetary calculations became pressing, the decision to decimalise was announced in 1966, with the pound to be divided into 100, rather than 240, pence. Decimal Day was set for 15 February 1971, and a range of new coins were introduced
40.
Panzer I variants
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The Panzerkampfwagen I was a light tank produced in Germany in the 1930s. It was built in several variants and was the basis for a number of variants listed below, Panzerkampfwagen I Ausf A Originally known as MG Panzerwagen and given the Sonderkraftfahrzeug designation Sd. Kfz.101, the Ausf A was armed with two machine guns in a small turret. The 450 production tanks saw service from 1934 to 1941, last seeing action in Finland, a more powerful engine was fitted and the superstructure transferred to the longer chassis of the kl Pz Bef Wg to produce the Ausf B, a. k. a. LaS Maybach, seeing service from 1935-1943, latterly as a command tank, Panzerkampfwagen I Ausf C The Ausf C light tracked reconnaissance vehicle, a. k. a. PzKpfW I nA or VK601, was a comprehensive re-design of the Pz I, forty Ausf C were built, two being sent to the Eastern Front for evaluation, the remainder were in action during the Normandy invasion of 1944. Panzerkampfwagen I Ausf F The Ausf F heavily armoured infantry assault tank, pzKpfW I nA verstärkt or VK1801, was an up-armoured Pz I with the Schachtellaufwerk of the Ausf C, and a turret mounting two machine-guns. Thirty Ausf F tanks were built between April and December 1942, eight of which were sent to the Eastern Front for evaluation, the Ausf A ohne Aufbau was a Panzer I hull without any superstructure or turret. The vehicle was crewed by a student driver and instructor, with room for three student observers behind them, the suspension and hull were identical to the Ausf A, but total weight was reduced to 3.5 tons and height to 1.15 m. 51 examples were converted from older Ausf A tanks in September 1939, the conversion involved removing the turret and providing a two-piece armor plate cover over the resulting opening. This crude conversion served in Poland and France with Panzer units, total weight was a little less than the Ausf A, at 5.0 tons, and the height was reduced to 1.4 m. Since some fuel capacity was removed, range was cut to 95 km, the idea came from an experiment during the Spanish Civil War, and was intended to give the Panzer I more firepower against close targets. The conversion was not permanent, and was reported to be used in the Battle of Tobruk by the German 5th Light Division. Kleiner Panzerbefehlswagen Given the designation SdKfz 265, the kl Pz Bef Wg was a modification of the Ausf A designed to provide a vehicle for Panzer units. This required lengthening the chassis and upgrading the engine, ultimately, this chassis would be the basis for the improved Ausf B version. The klPzBefWg had a superstructure in place of the turret, affording more interior room for command equipment. A single MG13 or MG34 in a mount on the front of the superstructure was provided. Slightly heavier and taller than the Ausf B, the served with all Panzer units into the early war years. It received an additional 15 mm of armor later, and was moved to auxiliary duties by 1942,184 were built by Daimler-Benz at the same time as Ausf B production, and six examples were built from Ausf A tanks
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North African Campaign
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The North African Campaign of the Second World War took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943. It included campaigns fought in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts and in Morocco, the campaign was fought between the Allies and Axis powers, many of whom had colonial interests in Africa dating from the late 19th century. The Allied war effort was dominated by the British Commonwealth and exiles from German-occupied Europe, the United States entered the war in December 1941 and began direct military assistance in North Africa on 11 May 1942. Fighting in North Africa started with the Italian declaration of war on 10 June 1940, on 14 June, the British Armys 11th Hussars crossed the border from Egypt into Libya and captured the Italian Fort Capuzzo. Information gleaned via British Ultra code-breaking intelligence proved critical to Allied success in North Africa, victory for the Allies in this campaign immediately led to the Italian Campaign, which culminated in the downfall of the fascist government in Italy and the elimination of a German ally. On 10 May 1940, the Wehrmacht had started the Battle of France, one month later, it was plain to see that France would have to surrender within two weeks. On 10 June 1940, the Kingdom of Italy aligned itself with Nazi Germany and declared war upon France, British forces based in Egypt were ordered to undertake defensive measures, but to act as non-provocatively as possible. However, on 11 June they began a series of raids against Italian positions in Libya, following the defeat of France on 25 June, Italian forces in Tripolitania—facing French troops based in Tunisia—redeployed to Cyrenaica to reinforce the Italian Tenth Army. Italian dictator Benito Mussolini ordered the Tenth Army to invade Egypt by 8 August, two days later, no invasion having been launched, Mussolini ordered Marshal Graziani that, the moment German forces launched Operation Sea Lion, he was to attack. The battle plan was to advance along the road, while limited armoured forces operated on the desert flank. To counter the Italian advance, Wavell ordered his forces to harass the advancing Italians, falling back towards Mersa Matruh. Positioned on the flank was the 7th Armoured Division, which would strike the flank of the Italian force. By 16 September, the Italian force had advanced to Maktila, around 80 mi west of Mersa Matruh, in response to the dispersed Italian camps, the British planned a limited five-day attack, Operation Compass, to strike at these fortified camps one by one. The British Commonwealth force, totalling 36,000 men, attacked the forward elements of the 10-division-strong Italian army on 9 December, following their initial success, the forces of Operation Compass pursued the retreating Italian forces. In January, the port at Bardia was taken, soon followed by the seizure of the fortified port of Tobruk. Some 40,000 Italians were captured in and around the two ports, with the remainder of the Tenth Army retreating along the coast road back to El Agheila. Richard OConnor sent the 7th Armoured Division across the desert, with a reconnaissance group reaching Beda Fomm some ninety minutes before the Italians. Although desperate attempts were made to overcome the British force at the Battle of Beda Fomm, the Italians were unable to break through, and the remnants of the retreating army surrendered
42.
Hetzer
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The Jagdpanzer 38, later known as Hetzer, was a German light tank destroyer of the Second World War based on a modified Czechoslovakian Panzer 38 chassis. The project was inspired by the Romanian Mareşal tank destroyer, the name Hetzer was at the time not commonly used for this vehicle. It was the designation for a prototype, the E-10. However, there exists a briefing paper from Heinz Guderian to Hitler claiming that an unofficial name, Post-war historians basing themselves on this statement made the name popular in their works, though the vehicle was never named as such in official documents. The Jagdpanzer 38 was intended to be more cost-effective than the more ambitious Jagdpanther and Jagdtiger designs of the same period. Using a proven chassis, it avoided the problems of the larger armoured vehicles. It was built on the Panzerkampfwagen 38s widened and lengthened chassis with modified suspension, the new engine was 160 PS Praga AC/2 6-cylinder engine controlled by Praga-Wilson gearbox. The chassis was modified in order to accommodate a larger gun and its combat weight was 16 metric tons and it could travel at a maximum speed of 42 km/h. It was also cheap to build, the Jagdpanzer 38 succeeded the open-top Marder III. In production from April 1944, about 2584 were built until the end of the war, the older Marder III Panzerjäger series retained the same vertically sided chassis as Panzer 38. In the Jagdpanzer 38, the hull sides slope 15 degrees outward to make a roughly hexagonal shape when viewed from front or rear. This increased the interior space and enabled a fully enclosed casemate-style fighting compartment. Because of the fully enclosed armor, it was 5 tonnes heavier than the Marder III, to compensate for the increased weight, track width was increased from 293 mm to 350 mm. Initial production Jagdpanzer 38 did not sit even with the ground because gun, transmission, leaf springs were strengthened from June 1944 which leveled the posture of the vehicle. From August 1944 lighter inner and outer mantle reduced the weight by 200 kg and these are more conical looking mantle than half cone shaped initial mantles. Also from August 1944, new rear idler wheels were introduced and these had 8,6, and 4 lightening holes instead of 12. In September 1944, front 16 spring leaves were increased in thickness to 9mm per leaf, also in September side Schurtzens front and rear tips were bent inward to prevent them from catching bushes and get dismounted. It was discovered that drivers periscope housing acted like a shot trap, the protruding housing was removed, instead periscope was inserted into vertical cuts to the front armor from October 1944
43.
Char B1
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The Char B1 was a French medium tank manufactured before World War II. Although a second uparmoured version, the Char B1 ter, was developed, after the defeat of France captured Char B1 would be used by Germany, with some rebuilt as flamethrowers or mechanised artillery. It had to be a Battle Tank that would be able to accomplish a breakthrough of the line by destroying fortifications, gun emplacements. In January 1921 a commission headed by General Edmond Buat initiated a project for such a vehicle, to limit costs, it had to be built like a self-propelled gun, with the main weapon in the hull. To minimise the vehicle size this gun should only be able to move up, two versions should be built, one a close support tank armed with a 75 mm howitzer, the other an antitank-vehicle with a 47 mm gun instead. French industry was interested in the project. In the past this had led to much non-constructive rivalry, Estienne, who in the war had personally witnessed the dismal effects of such a situation, was determined to avoid a repetition. To be allowed to join they had to agree beforehand to relinquish any patents to the Army, in exchange industry were promised very large orders of no less than a thousand vehicles. On these conditions four projects were started in 1921, two by a cooperation between Renault and Schneider, the SRA and the SRB, one by FAMH and the last by FCM, Renault and Schneider would each get to produce 250 units, FAMH and FCM each 125. A fifth producer, Delaunay-Belleville, whose project had been rejected beforehand, would be allowed to make 83 tanks, on 13 May 1924 the four prototypes were presented at the Atelier de Rueil, where they were compared, each having to drive over a twenty kilometre test course. Immediately it became evident that their development had been insufficient, most breaking down. Maintenance was difficult because the engines were inaccessible, all projects used a three-man crew but differed considerably in size, form and the solution chosen to laterally point the gun. The SRA was the heaviest vehicle at 19.5 metric tonnes and its length was 5.95 metres, its height 2. 26m and its width 2. 49m. It had a 75 mm howitzer in the side of the hull. It was steered by an epicyclical transmission combined with hydraulically reinforced brake disks, a Renault six-cylinder 180 hp engine allowed for a maximum speed of 17.5 km/h, a four hundred litre fuel tank for a range of 140 kilometres. The SRB, also using leaf springs, was a larger vehicle. It was nevertheless lighter at 18.5 tonnes, a result of having a smaller 47 mm gun—it thus was the antitank version, using the same engine, its speed was accordingly slightly higher at 18 km/h. More limited fuel reservoirs holding 370 litres decreased the range to 125 kilometres and it used an advanced hydraulic suspension system and the hydraulic Naeder-transmission from the Chaize company combined with a Fieux clutch and Schneider gear box
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Sd.Kfz. 251
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251 half-track was a WW2 German armored fighting vehicle designed by the Hanomag company, based on its earlier, unarmored Sd. Kfz. 251 was designed to transport the panzergrenadiers into battle, there were four main model modifications, which formed the basis for at least 22 variants. In addition, the mounting of at least one MG34 or MG42 machine gun allowed the vehicle to provide suppressive fire for the rifle squad both while they dismounted and in combat. The armour plates were designed to provide protection against standard rifle/ machine gun bullets, the front-facing plates were 14. 5mm thick, the sides were steeply angled, V-shape 8mm thick plates. This level of armour provided protection against normal rifle AP round, the first two models were produced in small numbers from 1939. Ausf A and B models can be identified by the structure of the nose armor, the B model, which began production in 1940, eliminated the fighting compartments side vision slits. The C model, which started production in mid-1942, featured a simplified hexagonal-shaped forward armored plate for the engine, models A through C had rear doors that bulged out. The C model had a production run, but was quite complex to build. From early 1943, the D model was developed with the purpose of halving the number of angled body plates, simplifying the design, D models can be easily recognized by their single piece sloping rear, with flat doors. The standard personnel carrier version was equipped with a 7.92 mm MG34 or MG42 machine gun mounted at the front of the compartment, above. A second machine gun could be mounted at the rear on an anti-aircraft mount, a strong design feature of the Sd. Kfz.251 was the large track area, with the characteristic slack track design with no return rollers for the upper run of track. The SdKfz 251 also had the Schachtellaufwerk system of overlapping and interleaved road wheels common to virtually all German halftracks of the period. This lowered the pressure and provided better traction, at the cost of much greater complexity in maintenance. The 251 also had tank steering, whereby the steering wheel moved the front wheels, but after more turning of the steering wheel. The early production models of this vehicle were issued to the 1st Panzer Division in 1939 and these vehicles were meant to enable panzergrenadiers to accompany panzers and provide infantry support as required. In practice, there were never enough of them to go around, there were 23 official variants, and sundry unofficial variants. Each variant is identified by a suffix to the number, however. Made with plain steel 5mm plates instead of armour, to make up numbers due to slow initial 251 production, around 350 made up to mid 1940
45.
Half-track
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A half-track is a civilian or military vehicle with regular wheels at the front for steering and continuous tracks at the back to propel the vehicle and carry most of the load. The purpose of this combination is to produce a vehicle with the capabilities of a tank. It is not difficult for someone who can drive a car to drive a half-track, half-tracks thus facilitate moving personnel and equipment successfully across varying terrain. The main disadvantage is the maintenance to maintain track tension. The French engineer Adolphe Kégresse converted a number of cars from the car pool of the Tsar of Russia to half-tracks in 1911. His system was named after him, the Kégresse track, which used a belt rather than interlocking metal segments. He applied it to vehicles in the imperial garage, including Rolls-Royce cars. The Russian army also fitted the system to a number of their Austin Armoured Cars, from 1916 onward, there was a Russian project by the Putilov plant to produce military half-tracks, along the same lines, using trucks and French track parts. After the Russian Revolution, Kégresse returned to his native France, the concept originated with the hauling of logs in the northeastern US, with the Lombard Steam Log Hauler built by Alvin Lombard of Waterville, Maine, from 1899 to 1917. The vehicle resembled a railway locomotive, with sled steering in front and at the rear. By 1907, dog and pony show operator H. H, by 1909 this was replaced by a smaller machine with two wheels at the front and a single track behind, since rural wooden bridges presented problems. Lombard attempted to follow but, for the most part, remained a pulling machine, linn would later register Haftrak and Catruk as trademarks, the latter for a halftrack meant to convert hydraulically from truck to crawler configuration. In the early days of bulldozers, Holt tractors had tricycle steering, owing to engineering difficulties with the tracks, the companys initial products focused on agricultural machinery and were distributed internationally. During World War I, its capacity became focused on military needs. Its tractors replaced horses and were used by the Allies as artillery tractors. The Holt tractor went on to become the basis for the Mark I, the Schneider CA1, the Holt would be renamed the Caterpillar 60, after merging with C. L. Best Company of California, in 1925, the Holt Manufacturing Company went on to form the company that would become known as Caterpillar. Tractors used to tow artillery and designs with front wheels and tracks at the rear began to appear prior to the outbreak of war, the basic half-track concept was originally showcased by the British during the war
46.
L3/35
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The L3/35 or Carro Veloce CV-35 was an Italian tankette that saw combat before and during World War II. Although designated a tank by the Italian Army, its turretless configuration, weight. The L3/35 was developed from the Carden Loyd Mark VI tankette, the first vehicle developed by the Italians from the Carden Lloyd tankette was designated CV-29, CV being an abbreviation of Carro Veloce and 29 as the year of adoption. In 1933, a new design was built jointly by the Fiat Company of Turin and this vehicle was introduced as the Fiat-Ansaldo CV-33. In 1935, an improved model of the CV-33 was introduced and designated CV-35. The primary differences were that the armour was bolted rather than riveted, many older CV-33s were retrofitted to meet the specifications of the CV-35. In 1938, the vehicles were redesignated L3/33 and the L3/35, in 1938, a further development of the L3 design was designated L3/38. The L3/38 had torsion bar suspension and two versions of a single mounted 13.2 mm machine gun, in 1937 Brazil bought 24 L3/38s which arrived in 1938. The L3/38s exported to Brazil were designated CV33/II, the Roman numeral II represents the second version of the original L3/33 version. The L3/35 version exported to Brazil would be CV33/I, the CV33/II Brazilian export was armed with a single 13.2 mm Madsen machine gun. Italy retrofitted at least 12 L3/35s to meet the specifications of the L3/38, the converted L3/35s with the L3/38s torsion bar suspension saw limited service in September 1943 until June 1944. These L3/38s versions of the L3/35s were armed with a single 13.2 mm Breda M31 machine gun, the L3/35 was a lightly armoured two-man vehicle typically armed with twin 8 mm machine guns, though variants were developed with other armament. Other than the number and type of guns, the differences between the L3/35 and the L3/33 were few. Both featured riveted and welded construction, the vehicles commander/gunner sat on the left and the driver sat on the right. The engine was mounted transversely in the rear, a circular radiator was mounted behind the engine. The transmission went to the front to the final drive, the Vickers-Carden-Lloyd type suspension had two three-wheel bogies on leaf spring and a single unsprung wheel on each side. There was a wood rail that the top run of the tracks went on. Between 2,000 and 2,500 L3 tankettes were built in different models and variants for the Royal Italian Army, twenty L3/33 tankettes were sold to China
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Tankette
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A tankette is a tracked armoured fighting vehicle that resembles a small tank, roughly the size of a car. It is mainly intended for infantry support and scouting. Colloquially it may simply mean a small tank. Several countries built tankettes between the 1920s and 1940s, and some saw limited combat in the phases of World War II. The vulnerability of their armor, however, eventually led armies to abandon the concept. Tankettes were made both in two- and three-man models, some were so low that the occupant had to lie prone. Some models were not equipped with turrets, or just a simple one that was traversed by hand or leg. They were significantly smaller than light tanks and did not have a tank gun, the genesis of the tankette concept was the armoured warfare of World War I. The breakthrough tanks were isolated and destroyed and reinforcements plugged the hole in the trench line. The tankette was conceived in the early interwar period to solve this problem. The first designs were a sort of mobile, one-man machine gun nest protected against small arms fire and this idea was abandoned and the two man-model, mainly intended for reconnaissance, was produced instead. The moving up of infantry while protecting them was solved with the personnel carrier. In 1925 British tank pioneer Giffard Le Quesne Martel built a tank, the Morris-Martel, in his garage and showed it to the War Office. The publicity caused John Carden and Vivian Loyd to produce their own, both types were developed further, but the two-man Carden Loyd tankette was considered the classic and most successful design, with many other tankettes modeled after it. While the design was influential, few Carden Loyd tankettes saw combat, however, the design did lead to the universal carrier, which had an extensive operational history in the Second World War. The Italian Royal Army equipped three armoured divisions and three fast divisions with L3/33 and L3/35 tankettes, the L3s were used in large numbers during the Italian invasion of Ethiopia, the Spanish Civil War, and almost every place Italian soldiers fought during World War II. Some L3s went with the Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia as late as Operation Barbarossa, the French armoured reconnaissance type of the 1930s was essentially a tankette in form, specifically intended for scouting ahead of the main force. In 1935, the Soviets experimented with transporting T-27s by air, the Imperial Japanese Army became one of the most prolific users of tankettes, producing a number of designs intended for jungle warfare
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Fiat L6/40
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The Fiat L6/40 was a light tank used by the Italian army from 1940 through World War II. It was designed by Fiat-Ansaldo as a product, and was adopted by the Italian Army when officials learned of the design. It was the main tank employed by the Italian forces fighting on the Eastern Front alongside the L6/40-based Semovente 47/32 self-propelled gun, L6/40s were also used in the North African campaign. The official Italian designation was Carro Armato L6/40 and this designation means, L for Leggero, followed by the weight in tons and the year of adoption. The L6/40 was a light tank design of riveted construction. A one-man turret in the centre mounted a single Breda Modello 3520 mm main gun, the driver sat in the front right of the hull. The riveted armour was six to 30 mm in thickness, which was equivalent to existing Allied light tanks. A further development of the Fiat L3 light tank, the L6 went through a number of prototypes during the late 1930s, the first was armed with a sponson-mounted 37 mm main gun and a machine-gun armed turret. A later version featured a turret mounted 37 mm gun and yet another version had only twin 8 mm machine guns, ultimately, the production configuration, named Carro Armato L6/40, was put into production in 1939, with 283 finally produced. The L6 Lf flame tank variant was developed in which the gun was replaced by a flamethrower with 200 litres of fuel. A command-tank variant carried extra radio gear and had an open-topped turret, the most successful of the L6 variants was the Semovente 47/32, which eliminated the turret and substituted a 47 mm antitank gun in the open-topped hull. A final version late in the war was an ammunition carrier armed only with a single 8 mm Breda machine gun and it was used alongside the Semovente 90/53, carrying 26 extra 90 mm rounds, as the Semovente 90/53 itself could only carry six rounds. L6/40 light tanks were used by the Italians in the Balkans Campaign, in the war against the Soviet Union, in the stages of the North African campaign. The L6/40 was the main tank employed by the Italian forces fighting on the Eastern Front, the L6 fought alongside the L6/40-based Semovente 47/32 self-propelled gun. Although a good light tank for its size and an improvement over the tankettes that were common within the Italian army, the low silhouette of the vehicle made it useful for reconnaissance, and its armament was effective against any light vehicles it might encounter. However, due to a lack of a medium tank, it was often employed in a combat role. The L6 was also used by the German Army and the Croat Ustaše militia, the L6/40 was used postwar by the Italian militia until it was phased out during the early 1950s. Three L6/40s survive, one is kept in Legnano near the Cadorna barracks, one is in the inventory of the Kubinka Tank Museum, obstacle clearance, Water fording,0.8 m Gradient, 60% Vertical obstacle,0.7 m Trench,1
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Light tank
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Early light tanks were generally armed and armored similar to an armored car, but used tracks in order to provide better cross-country mobility. The fast light tank was a feature of the pre-World War II buildup. Numerous small tank designs and tankettes were developed during this period and known under a variety of names, modified IFVs are assuming these roles in many militaries due to their immediate availability, and as a cheaper alternative to developing and fielding a pure light tank. In World War I industrial initiative also led to swift advances and it would be Renaults small tank design the FT, incorporating a proper climbing face for the tracks, that was the first tank to incorporate a top-mounted turret with a full rotation. Previous models had been box tanks, with a crowded space combining the role of engine room, fighting compartment, ammunition stock. The FT would have the largest production run of any tank of the war - with over 3,700 built it was more numerous than all British, the Carden Loyd tankette and its derivatives were adopted by several nations as small tracked vehicles carrying a machine gun for armament. In 1928, the British firm of Vickers-Armstrong started promoting another design by John Carden and Vivien Loyd as the six-ton tank, although rejected by the British Army, it was bought by a large number of nations in small numbers. It formed the basis of the Soviet T-26 and the Polish 7TP tank, as the only tank fit for immediate manufacture, it was a key element in the expansion of the British Army in the period leading up to the outbreak of war. In general, French tanks of the 1930s were well-armored, innovative vehicles that owed little to foreign designs, the lack of radios with the light tanks was not seen as a major drawback, since French doctrine called for slow-paced, deliberate maneuvers in close conformance to plans. The role of small unit leaders was to execute plans, not to take the initiative in combat, in 1939, a belated effort was made to improve flexibility and increase the number of radios. Throughout the interwar period the US produced only a few hundred tanks, from the end of World War I to 1935, only 15 tanks were produced. Most were derivatives or foreign designs or very poor quality private designs, the Christie designs were among the few better examples, but the US Army acquired only three Christies and did not pursue the idea any further. Budget limitations and the low priority given to the army meant that there were few resources for building tanks, the US Army instead developed and tested tank components such as suspensions, tracks, and transmissions. This paid off when production had to be initiated on the outbreak of war, the Soviet BT tanks were the most advanced in the 1930s, extremely fast and mounting high velocity 45 mm cannons. Their only drawback were their petrol engines which caught fire often, the Japanese Type 95 Ha-Go light tank was equipped with a diesel engine, and although mounting a 37 mm cannon, it was a low velocity gun with a maximum effective range of about 700 meters. However, this conflict would be instrumental in developing the famous T-34 medium tank, germanys armored Panzer force was not especially impressive at the start of the war. In the invasions of Poland and France, the German forces were made up of the Panzer I. The Panzer I was little more than a vehicle armed only with machine guns
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