Confirming the rule that armies always prepare to fight the previous war, the idea of tanks fighting tanks was an anathema to the U.S. Army of the 1930s, just as it had been to the combatants of the First World War, who used tanks supported by infantry to 
assault positions held by infantry, not to fight other tanks. Defense against massed enemy armor was just that – defense. Aggressive anti-tank tactics was a doctrine forced on the American army by the Wehrmacht's romp across Poland in September 1939. The German’s success forced the Americans to build from scratch an anti-tank capacity, which culminated in the formation of the Tank Destroyer Forces.
After being tested in the Fall 1941 maneuvers, the anti-tank concept won a certain independence from the infantry and field artillery. This independence was limited due to a continuous and rancorous debate of the doctrine and use of AT forces. While there was agreement on the necessity of such formations, the head of each of the existing combat arms, except Armor, wanted responsibility for these new units.
In early December 1941, putting an aggressive spin on the "anti-tank" function, the battalions were renamed Tank Destroyer, and a Tank Destroyer Tactical and Firing Center was activated at Ft. Meade, Maryland. The Center was moved shortly thereafter to Camp Hood, Texas, where it was enlarged in March 1942 to form the Tank Destroyer Command, whose mission was to coordinate the creation and training of the new units.
The aggressive spin that attached to the title "Tank Destroyer" was based on the mobility, speed, and tactics these units possessed in theory. Often, however, the practical function of motorized TD units was reconnaissance, a function inconsistent with two-thirds of their "Seek, Strike, Destroy" motto. Initially, lack of adequate firepower posed an unwarranted liability to the success of these units’ primary mission of combating enemy armor, and the Army's Ordnance Department never ceased its efforts to improve the armament of Tank Destroyer forces.
There were many high-level discussions of "light" and "medium" versions of tank destroyer vehicles and weapons. With their low velocities and small calibers, both the 37-mm and 57-mm rounds were totally inadequate against enemy armor; German armor, in particular, which was specially designed to resist larger-caliber penetrating rounds. Ordnance test results were embarrassing: the tiny 37-mm shells were unable to pierce relatively thin wood even at a range of less than 100 yards, yet 37-mm guns were ordered in large quantities, probably to appease influential congressmen. The 37-mm and 57-mm guns had limited success against Japanese armor. Incredibly, the 37-mm guns were installed in the rear decks of M-6 trucks ("Fargos"), which were little more than stretch Jeeps. North Africa proved how vulnerable and unsuccessful these armed M-6 trucks were. Ordnance even experimented with a 37-mm half-track jeep, but that combination never left the proving grounds. Towed-gun battalions were subsequently armed with 76-mm cannons.
Ultimately, a French 75-mm gun was installed in a half-track. The 75-mm gun was woefully outclassed by the infamous German 88-mm gun, which featured a 28" to 30" high-velocity round. The thinly-armored half-tracks were not as fast as German armor, and they presented very high silhouettes as targets. Additionally, the half-track had to face the target during firing: its gun could not traverse.
Gen. Lucian Truscott, who rose from command of the 5th Cavalry Regiment to command of the 5th Army during the war years, used the Kasserine Pass debacle to underscore the inadequacy of the TD units’ firepower:
"My Tunisian experience also provided me with an outstanding example of how American soldiers can be indoctrinated in training. Our tank destroyer battalions, organized only a few months previous, with no historical prototype, equipped with an improvised weapon – an almost unarmored half-track mounting an entirely inadequate 75-mm gun – had been taught during their training that it was their duty to seek out and destroy enemy tanks. The number of half-tracks which these gallant units left on the Tunisian deserts was mute testimony to the superiority of German armor, and antitank guns. It was also evidence of the efficacy of their indoctrination, a mark that I was to note among these units throughout the war."
We were startled for a moment, because the tank was outfitted with an extremely long 122-mm cannon.
Gribeauval designed waterproff ammunition wagons that were lighter than their predecessors. He developed specialized training for officers that incorporated aspects of career management. Gribeauval’s reforms made the French army a leader in the use of artillery. It remained a superior European fighting force into the nineteenth century.
The Caterpillar D7 series medium bulldozer began service with the U.S. military during World War II. With upgrades and changes, it has been a workhorse for the U.S. Military for over fifty years, fulfilling its primary earthmoving role as well as a host of other roles discovered for it, for example mine clearing with a special flail adapter kit.
This is one of those "afternoon" projects, well, at least the construction portion. The Allied Groupbuild hosted by Lu Rodriguez on ML is the push I needed to pull this little gem off of my shelf. I am using the MIG Productions 1/48 Dodge WC, and speaking of Lu, a big "hats off" on his wonderful rendition of the vehicle as shown on the box art.
Lu’s work, however, posed a bit of a problem for me. Although I wanted to do this vehicle I didn’t want to replicate, nor have my work compared to his fine example…yep, I’m chicken. So, while busy trying to avoid replicating Lu’s work I hit upon the idea of asking for his help. I’m lazy, afterall, and if he had done research for the box art then perhaps he would have some inspiration references he would be willing to share. Lu, who is also an admitted "lazy" modeler had a nice chuckle 
and then produced a beatuiful reference vehicle from his collection. The vehicle is shown in a sand finish sporting twin .50 caliber weapons mounted in the rear bed. As an added touch a field modified fuel can rack is mounted to the rear. Perfect.
After the British Expeditionary Force had been evacuated at Dunkirk, having lost most of their equipment in the process, the British Army was in dire need of replacements. This was especially so for Tanks, of which there were only about 100 in the British Isles at that time. To accommodate this, the British government pushed forward a tank design that predated the onset of the Second World War, the A20.
The rear ones acted in part as track tensioners. The twin engines were connected through a common crankshaft feeding a regenerative transmission steered by a tiller bar rather than levers or steering wheel. The interior was comparatively roomy and the large hatches in the sides made escape easy. They were also to be one of the reasons for its later conversion into the AVRE. The first turrets were cast with a rounded shape – sufficient for the relatively small 2-pdr gun, but when a larger gun (6-pdr) was required the turrets became larger with welded construction. To fulfil its role as an infantry support vehicle the first models were equipped with a 3 inch howitzer in the hull and although this could deliver a useful HE round complementing the weakness of the 2-pdr in that area it was limited by a poor fire arc, due to the way the tracks extended in front of the hull.
Since then, Somalia has had as many as thirteen governments attempting to rule the region with little success. In 2006, the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC),
a militia the US alleges is an al Qaida affiliate, were ousted from power after 6-months of Taliban-style rule. The UIC has sworn to launch an Iraqi inspired insurgency against the government. The current government was brought to power after US trained Ethiopian forces working with US Special Forces raided the capital. The current government declared victory around the end of April and the capital city has been in relative calm since then.
As almost taken from a scene from a Mad Max movie, militias across the world have converted civilian vehicles into all manner of armed war wagons. The technical is usually a four wheel truck or a formidable heavy vehicle equipped with a machine gun or another type of unforgiving weapon. The name originated when Red Cross members in Somali were forced to pay local militias or they would be attacked or robbed, these were "technical" expenses. The concept of the technical has been around for a long time, an adequate craft with a gun. It was in Mogadishu, Somalia 
that it gained widespread use. It was the militia’s vehicle of choice. It was the perfect weapon for the Militia Forces since they could not afford tanks and other more famous weapons of war. Technicals were quick, light, and cheap. Any truck could be turned into one with the right gun. Any truck could be turned into one with the right gun. In the Battle of Mogadishu many technical’s were stationed at roadblocks and acted as turrets against the U.S. Forces. It was usually painted to tell it was a war vehicle. It served useful as a carrier because of the bed space in the back of trucks. These armed, light duty trucks were perfect in traveling long distances and harsh conditions since they were trucks already meant for going off road.
The Aden Emergency was an insurgency against British crown forces in what is now the country of Yemen. The conflict lasted from 10 December 1963 when a "State of Emergency" was declared until 30 November 1967 when British forces left. The emergency began when members of the National Liberation Front (NLF) carried out a grenade attack against the British High Commission. This attack killed one person, injured fifty, and caused the British Government to declare a "state of emergency".
The Staghound began as a 1941 US concept for a medium to heavy armored car, and was the 4 x 4 GM (Chevrolet) contender as the T17E1 versus a 6 x 6 vehicle dubbed the T17 from Ford. The T17E1 was determined to be the winner, but as it weighed nearly 14 tons (or more than the M3 light tank) it was considered as a "wheeled tank" by the Ordnance Board in November 1942.
The British, thus far unable to come up with a suitable heavy armored car design, liked what they saw and while under test order 2000 of them in February 1942. Overall, the British order ran to 2,687 Staghound armored cars and 789 Staghound AA vehicles (T17E2) with an open turret and twin M2HB .50 caliber machine guns. These were delivered between October 1942 and December 1943.
The British developed four versions of the Staghound on the Chevrolet chassis: the Staghound I, armed with a 37mm gun in a three-man turret; the Staghound II, which replaced the 37mm gun with a British 3" howitzer; an American variant dubbed the T17E3 which was not further developed, which replaced the enclosed turret with the open turret from the M8 HMC with its 75mm howitzer; and the Staghound III, which swapped the 37mm turret for the complete turret from a Crusader Mk. III tank fitted with a 75mm gun.