The ancient tome is "Peter Chamberlain & Chris Ellis/Pictorial History of Tanks Of The World 1915-45. A&AP" (Arms & Armour Press), SBN 85368 497 9. It was the first "serious" tank book given to me by my late parents as a birthday (or possibly a Xmas) present and has long since shed it's glossy cover.
Surprisingly for a 1972 book it can still be bought, https://www.amazon.com/Pictorial-History-Tanks-World-1915-45/dp/0853684979
As for my avatar, the kitten (Halo) on my shoulder is 7 years old now and very much still alive. That photo was taken 22/07/2010 00:19, so unless I have some secret facility to "rebirth" myself, I doubt that is a childhood photograph. As for super computer, my recently purchased laptop is a super computer compared to those that I worked on, but nowadays is merely a somewhat higher end consumer product. The days when men could count to 0 to 21 (and women -1 to 20) only are long gone.
What caught my eye was the empty turret MG mount, that first triggered my suspicion of French origin and I then said "Yeah, that's looking like the Renault AMR 33/35 turret". A few months ago in this thread there was an Italian copy of the Daimler "Dingo" which I though was a Daimler, until I noticed its MG mount which led me down the path to the Autoblinda Lince clone.
As well, pre-WW2 French AFV development was a bit weird. Hulls, engine and chassis would be designed by a single company but the turret and armament normally by another company (usually APX). That is why turrets of French tanks look so similar, eg R35 shared the turret with the H35/39, S35 with B1bis, etc. Now the Germans did the same with the Tiger I & II (the Tiger I (H) and (P) used the same Krupp turret, ditto the Tiger II (H) and (P)) and the original Tiger I (H) with a 7.5cm squeeze bore used a turret that was very much like the later Panther turret, but that was not the norm.
Often minor details can trigger memories like a tune or the smell of food wafting from a resturant.
Surprisingly for a 1972 book it can still be bought, https://www.amazon.com/Pictorial-History-Tanks-World-1915-45/dp/0853684979
OK, OK, I get it, I am ugly, no need to rub it in!His avatar picture is a true picture of him, but from when he was a child. There is no known current photo of him, and attempts to digitally "age" him (as they do with missing children) have produced images so hideous that anyone who views them has had to spend time in a psych ward. One poor soul has been in care for fifteen years.
As for my avatar, the kitten (Halo) on my shoulder is 7 years old now and very much still alive. That photo was taken 22/07/2010 00:19, so unless I have some secret facility to "rebirth" myself, I doubt that is a childhood photograph. As for super computer, my recently purchased laptop is a super computer compared to those that I worked on, but nowadays is merely a somewhat higher end consumer product. The days when men could count to 0 to 21 (and women -1 to 20) only are long gone.
What caught my eye was the empty turret MG mount, that first triggered my suspicion of French origin and I then said "Yeah, that's looking like the Renault AMR 33/35 turret". A few months ago in this thread there was an Italian copy of the Daimler "Dingo" which I though was a Daimler, until I noticed its MG mount which led me down the path to the Autoblinda Lince clone.
As well, pre-WW2 French AFV development was a bit weird. Hulls, engine and chassis would be designed by a single company but the turret and armament normally by another company (usually APX). That is why turrets of French tanks look so similar, eg R35 shared the turret with the H35/39, S35 with B1bis, etc. Now the Germans did the same with the Tiger I & II (the Tiger I (H) and (P) used the same Krupp turret, ditto the Tiger II (H) and (P)) and the original Tiger I (H) with a 7.5cm squeeze bore used a turret that was very much like the later Panther turret, but that was not the norm.
Often minor details can trigger memories like a tune or the smell of food wafting from a resturant.