Leave a comment Posted on Enfield, Firearms, Hero, Military History, Rifles, SMLE, Soldiers, Troops, WWII

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British Home Guard personnel demonstrating the use of an EY rifle with a No. 68 AT grenade, Dorking, Surrey, England, United Kingdom, 3 Aug 1942

British Home Guard personnel demonstrating the use of an EY (Emergency Use) SMLE with a No. 68 AT grenade, Dorking, Surrey, England, United Kingdom, 3 Aug 1942

Leave a comment Posted on Getting stuff done, Just plain cool, Pen Turning, Wood turning, Wood working

I learned something new last week…

After months of watching videos on wood turning and pen turning, I turned my first pen last week:

487DCBBA-2A69-4888-9B9F-731D4899E162.jpeg

Mesquite with “gold” hardware. Neither is my first choice of color but it’s what was provided in the class.  There are a couple of things I’m not entirely satisfied with on this one but for a first effort I’m happy with the result.

I hope to have the time to cut some blanks out of scrap 2×4 in my garage and do some practice turning and drilling this weekend.

Leave a comment Posted on Artillery, First World Technical, Gun Bus, Just plain cool, Military History, Weapons, WWII Germany

Is that a gun in your bus or are you just happy to see me?

I don’t remember what I was searching for a picture of when I started running across these, but my fetish for unusual weapon/vehicle combinations  and “gun trucks” in general took over and I went down a different path than what I was intending.

flak_88_cm_auf_vomag_fahrgestell

Flak 8,8 cm auf Vomag Fahrgestell

selbstfahrlafette auf fahrgestell vomag 7 or 660 mit 8,8cm flak in service with i.flak regiment 42

Selbstfahrlafette auf Fahrgestell VOMAG 7 OR 660 mit 8,8cm Flak in service with I.Flak Regiment 42

vomag_88mm_flak_18_waffentrager

Vomag 88mm Flak 18 Waffentrager

VOMAG_targeting_truck

VOMAG targeting truck

8.8 cm FlaK on bus chassis Vomag Omnibus Typ 7. Budapest 1945

8.8 cm FlaK on bus chassis Vomag Omnibus Typ 7. Budapest 1945

8.8 cm FlaK on bus chassis Vomag

8.8 cm FlaK on bus chassis Vomag Omnibus Typ 7. Budapest 1945

 

Turns out there were 21 – 24 of these Selbstfahrlafette auf Fahrgestell VOMAG 7 OR 660 mit 8,8cm Flak probably built for the Führerbegleitbrigade (FBB: Führer escort brigade) which was tasked with protecting Hitler’s military headquarters and accompanying him on those occasions he wanted to tool around the front.

Only assigned to 1. Bataillon of Flak Regiment 42 which appears to have initially served around Dresden, they ended up on the Ostfront and the unit was essentially wiped out in the fighting in and around Budapest in late 1944 with none of the vehicles surviving.

More info and pics here: www.kfzderwehrmacht.de and although I don’t really understand or get reddit, here’s a link with a bunch of pics and .gifs involving 88’s:  https://www.reddit.com/r/88mm