Bruce Newsome

Can someone tell me when the regular army's first AA brigades were established, from 1st to 6th? I understand from Wikipedia that 1st AA Brigade was established in June 1935, 6th AA Brigade in September 1935, but I can't find information on the other formations.

Can someone tell me when the regular army's first AA brigades were established, from 1st to 6th? I understand from Wikipedia that 1st AA Brigade was established in June 1935, 6th AA Brigade in September 1935, but I can't find information on any in between.

Hi - I discovered a reference to the salary of a subaltern (230 per year) and a Major-General (1,100 per year) around 1935. Can anyone fill in the salaries for the missing ranks: captain, major, Lt-Colonel, colonel, brigadier? (as of 1935 or thereabouts; I don't think inflation was significant)

Has anyone seen data on the reliability of any Soviet, German, Italian, Japanese tanks in WW2? I want to avoid the speculation on online fora; I'm looking for user reports or memoirs or manuals. Useful types of data would be: availability rates, overhaul schedules, average life, mean distance/time between failures.

Does anybody know what is meant by “Troop and Battery Commanders Chargers”? The term was found in a report by 21st Army Group at the end of WW2, reporting on the use of tanks of various models as “Troop and Battery Commanders Chargers” during the previous campaign from D-Day to Germany. Apparently the Stuart was the best in this use.

I am looking for any published memoirs by persons directly involved in the design or production of tanks up to 1945? Say an engineer at Vickers or Metropolitan Carriage recalling their involvement in designing or assembling tanks, or a government inspector of tank deliveries, or a procurer at the Ministry of Supply. I have Macleod Ross' "The Business of Tanks" from 1976 as one example. Does anyone know of any similar memoirs?

Just found in the Leyland Journal of 1935 the cost of a Leyland Octopus lorry when first introduced: 1,225 quid for the short wheelbase, 1,250 for the long wheelbase, plus another 100 for the 8x4 drive and another 150 for a diesel engine. Does anybody have contemporaneous prices for other lorries of the time, like Leyland Hippo?

This could be John Burnett-Stuart (Brooke often misspelt names), but he retired in 1938. Does anyone know if he was recalled?

Can anyone identify a person named "Stuart" of the RAC who Alan Brooke (CIGS) dmissied from his job on 9 December 1941? Brooke refers to "Stuart of the Armoured Corps" in his diaries; the editors indexed the person as "General Stuart".

The Tank Museum holds contract index cards, some of which refer to emergency armoured vehicles and some of these were based on requisitioned vehicles.

I found reference to a trial in early 1942 of "Jefferis multiple bombs" dropped from Blenheim bombers on captured tanks - does anyone know what are these weapons? I guess that Jefferis refers to Millis Jefferis of the R&D department known as MD1.

that's a supposition that deserves confirmation

that's not what it said

so would I, but the War Office listed the AC at 5.75 tons and the lorry at 6 tons for its demonstration of 1926

Thanks Tim. I am still confused why the Peerless armoured car weighed less (5.75 tons) than the unarmoured lorry (6 tons).

Can someone please clarify the different classes of Peerless chassis used for fighting vehicles. Tank Museum says that the Peerless armoured car was built on a TC4 chassis classed as 2.5 ton. An American site lists no 2.5 ton chassis, but a 3-ton chassis, which would convert to 2.7 British tons. I have British documents showing that a "4-ton" chassis was used to mount 3-inch AA guns during ww1 and after ww1 to carry a 18-pounder gun. The 3-inch mount seems to have been converted after ww1 into an armoured personnel carrier too. The chassis look similar in photographs. Does anyone know for sure what different classes were imported and were used for these different variants?

From what document was that drawing of a sectioned final drive?

I wonder when did the British army first acquire vehicles with searchlights mounted for use from the vehicle (as opposed to sometimes carried as a temporary load)? I see from photographs that the British Army went into WW2 with searchlights on the back of Guy FBAX 3-ton lorries, but don't know when that combination was first acquired or what the precedents were for such a combination.

The fastest tanks actually achieved their top speeds on wheels. The Christie M1928 was clocked at 69.23 mph on its road wheels and 42.55 mphon tracks, under perfect conditions. (The Christie “convertible” tanks differedtechnologically by using the same wheels to run on the tracks or directly onthe ground. Other hybrids raised and lowered pneumatic wheels.) The M1930 wasdemonstrated in Britain at 64 mph on wheels, with the wind behind it, and 30 mphon tracks. Christie’ssmaller and final convertible, the M1932, achieved 65 miles per hour on wheelsand 36 miles per hour on tracks. The related Soviet BT2 tank was rated for roadspeeds up to 100 kilometers (62 miles) per hour. The speed records set by Christie tanks in the1930s were not surpassed during the Second World War, but their speed recordswere achieved without turrets, weapons, ammunition, or any stowed equipment.The Soviet BT tanks, based on the Christie M1930, were the fastest tanks to see action during theSecond World War, but only on their wheels. The evolutionary Soviet T34 and itsdescendants and the British Cruiser tanks, with adapted Christie suspension, ranon their tracks only. The British Cromwell was the fastest proper tank at 40 mph although speed was governed to 32 mph on the main models. The Vickers Tetrarch light tank reached 40 mph and was technically convertible although I haven't seen any reference to conversion during operations. The US M18 Hellcat tank destroyer was the fastest effective tank, at 45 mph. The Leopard 2 is the fastest off-the-shelf main battle tank, at 45 mph, although competitors have demonstrated at higher speeds.

I am confused by different claims about the origins of the design of the US M4 medium tank. Chamberlain and Ellis (1969) and David Fletcher (1989) dismissed any claim that the Canadian Ram influenced the similar US M4, but the archives certainly show that the Americans had eyes on the Ram during development several times from March 1941 and the British stated a common requirement from May. The M4 was piloted in September. Does an one know of an American source confirming the influence?

the superstructure is constructed with armor plate and AFV hatches so it's an ARV not a civilian conversion