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Glad to see you posting, Don. I was beginning to worry about you! Best recovery to your wife and here's looking forward to your more than welcome return here!
Chris |
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Much of the attitude governing which vehicles ended up serving in the desert was dictated by the somewhat patronising outlook of most European nations fielding armies in North Africa. The British War Dept, for example, pretty-much took the view :"it will be good enough to deal to the wogs with" with most equipment they issued until about mid 1941. The same phrase would today be rendered as :"Sufficient to meet the needs of operations among indigenous populations". The view taken necessarily included vehicles, and as such, "orphan" vehicles were reasonably common in Nth Africa, as exemplified by the DAK employing two Tank-Destroyer halftracks. Both were prototypes, and both used, but series production was not undertaken after the "operational testing" phase and I don't recall either vehicle surviving the war, though the chassis design went on to be employed elsewhere, such as at Peenemunde.
The result of this confused and patronising European thinking, was that odd vehicles continually appear, and soon become orphans due to lack of spare parts, and component commonality. Among the French AC's are several orphan vehicles (and among those, a couple of Kegresse Half tracks, and at least one Kegresse Armoured Half Track) seen in Morocco and further east, and similarly, the Italian vehicles reflect the same thinking to a lesser degree. The British, meanwhile, made-do with whatever had been available, or built during the 1920's and early 1930's, and had never made efforts to build task-specific desert vehicles, apart from those intended for use in India. There are instances of vehicles operated during the "Palastine International Mandate" period of the 1920's through 1930's era turning up in Egypt, such as at Alexandria and Cairo, along with the usual locales of Port Said, Suez Port Authority, Jaffa (close-enough to Haifa these days) Damacus, etc.during the early 1940's. I hope the info, though generalised, helps your research Chris my friend. Kind and Respectful Regards Chris my friend, Uyraell. _________________________________________________ Don Boose: I hope your wife recovers well my friend, and my Best wishes to her. Kind and Respectful Regards Don my friend, Uyraell. Last edited by Uyraell; 08-18-2011 at 02:14 AM. Reason: Typographic error. |
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