Mayenne liberation part two

 A month ago we celebrated the liberation of ville Mayenne, a photo dump of photos I have collected over the last ten years 

Panzer Lehr Southern Normandy & Pays de Loire

Panzer Lehr Normandy & Pays de Loire June -August 44

My main project this year is to complete my 130th Panzer Lehr division. I have already purchased the panzers, half tracks, armoured cars and guns. I will be using the Simons Soldiers and Elhiem ranges to complete my two battalions in panzer wraps, recon battalion and engineers for the division.


Panzer Lehr was part of the OKW operational reserve they joined the line near Caen and fought during several British and American operations. They were badly knocked around by operation cobra, withdrawing for rest north of Mayenne between Domfront and Alençon. They were thrown back in the line on the 5th August as the counterattacking force against the US 90th infantry division foothold across the Mayenne River at Mayenne , they then fell back under pressure to Alençon then retract north of Argentan through the Falaise gap. They feature in our walk the battlefield and Wargame in the afternoon tours, in two actions on our southern sector tour.

I plan to build my Lehr to represent fighting in Normandy for the whole period. 



I./Panzer-Regiment 6 (3. Panzer-Division)  panthers attached lehr panther D and some A

Panzer-Lehr-Regiment 130
Panzergrenadier-Lehr-Regiment 901
Panzergrenadier-Lehr-Regiment 902
Panzer-Artillerie-Regiment 130
Feldersatz-Bataillon 130
Panzeraufklärungs-Lehr-Abteilung 130
Heeres-Flak-Artillerie-Abteilung 311
Panzerjäger-Abteilung 130 JgPz IVs were the L48 models
Panzer-Lehr-Pionier-Bataillon 130
Panzernachrichten-Abteilung 130
Panzer-Versorgungstruppen 130


Panzer-Artillerie-Regiment 130: 8 Wespe 10,5cm SPGs, 4 Hummel 15cm SPGs, 12 10,5cm towed howitzers , 12 15cm towed howitzers


Panzer-Aufklärungs-Lehr Abteilung 130 (250 and 251 are SdKfz with the respective number): 25 234/2 Puma, 9 250/5 recon vehicle, 16 250/9 with 20mm, 44 250/1 APC with 6 Soldiers, 6 250/3 radio vehicle, 8 250/7 Mortar carrier, 6 250/8 with 7,5 cm short barrel, 6 251/1 APC, 9 251/3 radio vehicle, 7 251/7 Engineer vehicle with small bridge, 6 251/9 with 7,5 cm short barrel or 75mm IG , 4 251/17 with 20mm, 1 251/8 medic vehicle, 1x 251/11 radio vehicle with cable layer.



Panzerjäger-Abteilung 130: 

31 JgPz IV lang 48, 10 StuG III


Heeres-Flak-Artillerie-Abteilung 311

 18 towed 8,8cm AA Guns and approx. 4-8 towed 3,7cm AA guns



bergepanzer III and Bergpanther V type D (sdkfz 279), Famo 18 (sdkfz 9)

Cheers

Matt

Villers bocage panzer Lehr pziv 2nd battalion 

The markings are for the memorial of Major Wilhelm Prinz von Schönburg-Waldenburg, the Commander of the 2nd Battalion of Panzer Lehr.

Left Major Wilhelm Prinz von Schönburg-Waldenburg, Kdr. II./Pz.Lehr-Rgt. 130, right is Oberst Georg Scholze, Kdr. Pz.Gren.Lehr-Rgt. 901

Swedish Ford Bronco

 Swedish Ford Bronco 

Another repaint of a matchbox car for my Swedish Cold War army collection. I simple strip and repaint, add colour to lights and number plate and base. Quite happy with the result. 

Cheers

Matt

United Nations vehicles

 I picked these two matchbox vehicles up recently and the last two weeks I have been undercoating vehicles and figures. I am back painting Congo units and some insurgents.  I thought I should paint these vehicles with my current batch of technicals and vehicles that are on the workbench. The decals were purchased some time ago for UN vehicles from . Quite Happy with the job

Cheers
Matt

Insurgent Technicals

 Technicals 

You can never have enough technicals for insurgency type games. Some modern technicals for more recent conflicts, I picked up these two prints from eBay with some Elhiem figures, the prints were a bit rough being PLA but with a bit of work look quite serviceable for my current Middle East insurgent collection. I need to add pigments next week when I complete the other four vehicles. 

Cheers

Matt

USAAF C-47 Para Packs

C-47 Para Packs and Pod

The USSAF Aerial Delivery Container were containers that were used by the Airborne Divisions to deliver arms, medical supplies and food. The C-47 "Skytrain" could carry up to six Parapacks in the Paracaissons underslung per flight. 

FORM B PARACHUTE, above photo.
The section pictured above is from the original manifest for C-47A 43-15137 for June 6th 1944. This manifest was known as the Form B Parachute. The document contained the aircraft number, chalk number, mission, crew, date, paratrooper names and cargo. It is signed by the chalk leader Lt. James F. Clarke.

"Chalk 40" carried four containers on June 6th 1944.
Container 1: Light Machine Gun (LMG) & Ammunition, 230 pounds
Container 2: LMG Ammunition & Anti-Tank (AT) Grenades, 220 pounds
Container 3: LMG Ammunition & Anti-Tank (AT) Grenades, 221 pounds
Container 4: S-4 Bundle (Rations), 150 pounds

All containers were cushioned by Griswold bags that were packed with cotton, horsehair or more Griswold bags for breaking down the loads into carry bags. 

Then wrapped in an outer canvas bag for slinging under the aircraft , these could have coloured ends to aid in identification (Arnhem campaign) 

A-4 delivery container 1m long by 60cm Width x 60cm depth 24KG capacity 

This pictures shows some of the combined equipment that would have been carried in the four delivery containers on "Chalk 40" during June 6th 1944: M-1919A4 Light Machine Gun, .30 Caliber Ammunition and M9A1 Anti-Tank Rifle Grenades.

A-5 Delivery container 113cm x 60cm x 60  90KG capacity 

The A-5 Delivery Container consisted of a left end and a right end. The center section consisted of parachute webbing that would be secured over the cargo or a modified Griswold pack at either end to cushion the weapons or ammunition center section. The markings on each end state: TYPE A-5 AERIAL DELIVERY CONTAINER CAUTION MUNITIONS. 

The end of one cover is marked: CO. F for Company F, 2nd Battalion.

A6 delivery container 

The A-6 delivery container was heavy duty cavas packed with stiff Cardboard boxes inside for specialist ammunition, 37mm antitank ammunition, bazooka ammunition, small arms ammunition or mortar rounds . Max weight 90 kg 70cm x 60 x 60cm 

A7 Special delivery container 

A-7 delivery container is a heavy duty canvas bag, and heavy cardboard packs for special weapons, 81mm mortar, tripod, bazooka, 30 cal and  50 cal machine guns. 2m x 60 x 60 max weight 90 kg

Type A-1 Aerial Delivery Container Identification Lamp Assembly, above photo.
The Type A-1 Lamp was used to mark the Parapack when deployed at night. The lamp, or light, aided the paratroopers to find and identify the equipment on the ground. Green lights were used for Quartermaster Corps Class III items - rations, water, clothing; Amber or Yellow lights were used for Ordnance Corps items - ammunition, weapons, spare parts; Red lights were used for Engineer Corps items - mines, explosives; and Blue lights were used for Chemical Warfare Corps items - gas related 

items, chemical grenades (AN-M8 Smoke, M-14 Thermite, etc) smoke shells, and the 4.2" Chemical Mortar and shells.

The Type A-1 Lamp was held to the parapack via two metal loops that could be tied to any part of the pack. A small piece of
plastic was placed between two metal electrical contacts, and when removed, the lamp would illuminate. The lamp was
powered by two BA-30 Batteries or Type "C" cell.

The lamp corresponded to the parachute color for visual identification, when the parapack was descending. Ordnance cargo would have a yellow parachute and yellow lamp. These colors were also used on the crates for shipping these items overseas. These markings were known as "corner markings". An Ordnance Corps crate would have yellow corner markings.

This restored 1943 M3A4 Hand Cart, Utility, in the QuestMasters Museum collection, was made by John Wood Manufacturing Company, Serial Number 19602. The cart is shown with an A-5 Aerial Delivery Container with A-1 Lamp with yellow lens and yellow parachute. The yellow color denoted that the contents of this container contained ordnance supplies, such as ammunition. Colored lamps and parachutes
were used for easy recognition of parapacks or containers during recovery.

The Merville Battery C-47 Skytrain is the only Snfau  Dday aircraft is the only one I have seen fitted with the containers and Cassions 

The only manufacturer of 1/72 racks and containers is the Aero Line brand. 

Cheers

Matt