Manilianus and Vehicles/Ordnance IRL thread

[Manilianus]

Hi guys, I've been visiting Tomaszów Mazowiecki, my grandparents' town, and decided to go to the town's museum. Hidden inside museum's barn (due to weather conditions) is a "little" treasure - Sd.Kfz. 251/4. I do not recall of any other types of the 251/4 out there, so AFAIK this is the only vehicle remaining. The 4 type didn't have any Ausf., it was used primarly as a gun-towing half-track - the type presented at the photos below belonged to 2. Kompanie of the Panzer-Nachrichten-Abteilung 19 of the 19. Panzer-Division, and was equipped with radiostation to communicate with Luftwaffe planes. In the photo showing the interior you can see deeper on the right also a small stove for the crew to warm themselves up inside. Ok, maybe you cannot see it, but believe me it's there...

Manufactured in 1944, vehicle was lost during crossing the Pilica river 18 I 1945 during the Wehrmacht retreat - it supposedly fell of the bridge and was miraculously undamaged and preservered from erosion (due to being under water and river silt). It was recovered at 26 VII 1996 and year later restored (I remember when they were pulling it out of the water, sadly I didn't make it to see it with my own eyes).

Besides the vehicle itself, also the uniforms and crew's personal things were recovered and restored. They are to be seen in the museum - sadly I didn't photograph them this time, I'll do it next time.

The name "Rosi" ("Rosie") was given to this work of beauty and painted on it by the crew themselves.

It's fully functional right now and is borrowed from time to time by historical groups for historical reconstructions.

The man that you see on some of the photos is your Manly Anus... Ekhem, Manilianus.

I promise that I'll post some new vehicles/ordnances here from time to time, with me as a happy size comparison.

I'll conclude with a paraphrase of Spencer Armstrong's quote about StuG's - "If loving Sd.Kfz. 251/4 is wrong, I don't want to be right".

PS Mods, feel free to move this thread to Chit-Chat section or WWII History, Weapons and Tactics if you see it fit better there.

 

[Houlie]

Spectacular. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Yuri0352]

Thank you for the detailed photos of this excellent restoration! I especially appreciate the close up pictures of the exterior armor plate, I never realized that the 251 series had so much 'texture' on the armor surface. This information will be very useful if I build a model of this vehicle in the future.

 

[Houlie]

I am guessing some of that was pitting from corrosion due its exposure to the elements -- ?

 

[Manilianus]

I am guessing some of that was pitting from corrosion due its exposure to the elements -- ?

Yes, that would be my guess, too. Those are the sample photos taken the day "Rosi" was pulled out of the water:

 

[Yuri0352]

I am guessing some of that was pitting from corrosion due its exposure to the elements -- ?

Very possibly. That's what I thought until I noticed that the interior components did not seem to affected in the same way. At any rate it is an amazing restoration considering how long that vehicle had been submerged.

 

[JRKrejsa]

Is the paint job speculation, or could theysee enough of the original paint/ camo to try to re create it?

Either way, they did a fine job.

Interesting post.

 

[Manilianus]

Is the paint job speculation, or could theysee enough of the original paint/ camo to try to re create it?

This is an interesting question, frankly I have no idea. The half-track was lost to Wehrmacht in the middle of winter of '45, so it would be somewhat logical for the vehicle to be painted originally in winter camouflage, but maybe people working on a restoration wanted it to have more "universal" look. On the other hand I don't think that in 1945 Germans had time and resources to re-paint every vehicle that they had already on the run. So I wouldn't be especially surprised if this particular half-track would be in summer camo in the middle of winter.

 

[Philippe D.]

Wow. So this spent more than 50 years in water and silt before being dragged out and restored?

Very nice indeed.

 

[Old Noob]

Near Mint condition!

 

[Kevin Kenneally]

Great pictures. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Manilianus]

So, to continue, I went to the Museum Of The Polish Military Technology in Warsaw and took some pictures of T-34/76 (there was also an 85 version, part of it visible on the first photo, but in bizarre camo/paint), Su-85 and 152, and IS-2 with post-war type 3 - each one of them belonging to the 1st Polish Army, known as Berling's Army. Photos below, with your humble Manilianus as a size comparison (remove ~25kg to have an image of a human being).

 

[Manilianus]

So, to continue the thread, a bit of a film history. There's this Polish TV series from the 60's, "Czterej pancerni i pies", "Four Tank-Men and a Dog", based on the book by late Janusz Przymanowski, former military officer and WW2 veteran. The series revolve around the crew of T-34 tank in service of Polish Berling Army, 1st Tank Brigade, from 1943 to 1945. In terms of history it's more of a "Saving Private Ryan" than "Band of Brothers" in that while it's generally historically accurate, there's some fantasy added here and there - plus it has this occassional tendentious propaganda tone (good Soviets, caricatural Germans). Nevertheless it's very good story and was a huge hit in the eastern block. I highly recommend it, if you can find a translation/subtitles. Just do yourself a favour and don't watch the much later coloured version.

So, the tank used in the movies came in three copies - as T-34/85 series were pretty common in the Polish army during 60's, it wasn't a problem to find one and use it on plan (alongside with soldiers used as stunts for battles, for the record). Harder to find were T-34/76, so the 85 version "plays" also the 76 one early in the series. The tank used by the crew was called "Rudy" ("Ginger"), as presented here in a shot from the series:



As I've mentioned, there were actually a three of him - one to be found IIRC in Żagań, one in museum in Otrębusy and one in open-air museum in Mniszew near Studzianki Pancerne, a village named "Pancerne" (Armoured/Tank/Panzer) after a tank battle that took place there, and was one of the battles presented in the book/TV series. The museum in Mniszew is a wonderful place to visit, because it's constructed like an outpost in the forest, with trenches, ordnance and vehicles of various sort put here and there. And there's a tower in the middle of this forest, where you can climb and have a look on the battlefield. I didn't, because my mind decided couple of years ago that fear of heights is a cool feature to acquire.

Anyways, presented here are two of the three "Rudy"'s, first three pictures from Mniszew (you can even enter the tank from Mniszew, if you feel like it) and last two from Otrębusy, the second town which I've visited while biking and it was cold, hence the outfit. I've put myself traditionally as a scale for comparison (as if any of you ever needed one, really...).












Attached you will also find me on a T-34 tank-monument in Mniszew, doing a reconstruction of a scene from the series, of a girl named Honorata riding a tank rather helplessly. Don't judge me, I'm 12.

 

[Vic Provost]

Awesome pics my friend, Thanks for sharing! Vic.

 

[GeorgeBates]

Rudy can't fail.