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Anniversaries for today :
Welcome to Clash of Steel!
Featured battle : Collioure
Part of The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
Date : 20 December 1793
Not only were they outnumbered but the French troops had poor discipline. Although total casualties looks high many simply surrendered.
Featured image :
British MOBAT anti-tank weapon
An artillery piece looked after by members of the 20th Century Revisited group. It was a prominent infantry fire support weapon from the 1960's. It was a 120mm recoilless rifle and had a range of between 800 and 1000 yards. It fired a HESH round which was pretty effective against most tanks of the period but was heavy and had an immense back-blast which could quickly give away it's position, as well as being hazardous to it users. It could be towed behind an Austin Champ, or Land Rover. It was a lighter weight development of the BAT weapon which had a protective screen for the gun-team, and was phased out in favour of the later WOMBAT which was of magnesium construction and much lighter. Displayed by the 20th Century Revisited group.
Gallery updated : 2022-04-04 08:33:43
Featured review :
Hitler's War in Africa 1941-42
David Mitchelhill-Green
This is a quality read which I am sorry to say, by ending just after Alamein, finishes too soon. It is clear from the massive bibliography and extensive footnotes that a great deal of research has gone into the writing of this book. There is sufficient information about the strategic position of the North African theatre to give context to the tactical events. However the real life of the book is in the quotations from individuals on both sides of the conflict. The reader isn’t spared from the truth about war and some of the more gruesome passage make quite uncomfortable reading. One British soldier’s comment on burying German dead has stuck with me he wrote ‘apart from the uniform they are just like us.’
There are a few useful maps most of which have scales and keys. There are sixteen pages of appropriate photographs but incidentally there are many more in David Mitchelhill-Green’s Images of War books from this same publisher.
This book is both informative and gripping, a jolly good read, which we highly recommend and hope that a further book, Alamein to the end, is on the way.
Pen & Sword Military, 2021
Reviewed : 2021-09-12 10:00:30
