Medium Mark C “Hornet”

United Kingdom (1918) Medium Tank – 50 Built Photo: IWM An even better Whippet Sir William Tritton had designed the original ‘Chaser’ tank; the Medium Mark A popularly known as the Whippet. Tritton had personally visited the Western Front in 1917 to speak with crew of his tanks and get their reflection and suggestions. He …

The Tanks of Pawel Chrobok

Republic of Poland (1940-1943) Tank/Armored Personnel Carrier – None Built The Enigmatic Colonel Chrobok Of the many Polish tank designs prior to 1945, those from the pen of Pawel Chrobok are perhaps some of the most unusual. Very little is known of Chrobok, save for a few patents submitted in his name while living in …

Medium Mark B “Whippet”

United Kingdom (1918) Medium Tank – 102 Built A more suitable Whippet The Medium Mark A Whippet was still in production when serious thought was being given regarding a new improved machine. The British War Office desired a new machine for service in summer 1918, to embody the role of the Medium Mark A but …

ACEC Cobra Tank – Cobra 25 and 90

Kingdom of Belgium (1977-1990) Light Tank – 1 Built From AFV to tank Despite the lack of successful orders for the APC/AFV version of the Cobra, the ACEC Cobra’s powertrain was successful and compact enough to warrant a further attempt to enter the armoured vehicle market, this time in the light tank category. In order …

ACEC Cobra IFV

Kingdom of Belgium (1977-1990) Infantry Fighting Vehicle – 4 Built Belgium is not the first country to leap to mind for most people when they think of tanks or armored fighting vehicles, yet it has produced a few particularly interesting designs over the years. One of the these, which is virtually unknown, is the ACEC …

Ansaldo MIAS/MORAS 1935

Kingdom of Italy (1935) Mobile Shield – 2 Prototypes Built MIAS and MORAS. Background The Motomitragliatrice blindata d’assaulto ‘MIAS’ was a vehicle borne out the Italian slaughter in WWI. Instead of the infantry facing withering machine gun fire unprotected, the MIAS would provide them with a mobile shield to cover them from fire. This is …

Medium Mark A “Whippet”

United Kingdom (1917-1918) Medium Tank – 200 Built From idea to production The Whippet tank is what its name implies; a Whippet, a breed of fast hunting dogs used for chasing prey down and catching it. ‘Fast’ here being comparative. Compared to the much larger and heavier British tanks of WW1, the famous ‘rhomboid’ shaped …

Bob Semple Tractor Tank

New Zealand (1940-1942) Tractor Tank – 3 Built Few tanks have achieved the level of notoriety and even scorn which has been cast upon the ‘Bob Semple Tank’. Few lists of ‘Worst ever tanks’ miss it out and it does seem perhaps a little ungainly at first glance. As such it is ignored for what …

Tritton Chaser – Whippet Prototype

United Kingdom (1916) Medium Tank – 1 Built Inspiration The tank concept itself was new to war having been unleashed on the Germans on the 15th September 1916 at Flers-Courcelette. William Tritton (knighted February 1917 for his services relating to tanks) was at the front in person less than a week after this first use …

US Work on Anti-magnetic Coatings

Magnets in the Pacific Of the major combatants of WW2, only Germany and Japan made any significant use of magnetic anti-tank charges. The Japanese in particular had been making good use of the Model 99 Turtle mine and had inflicted many casualties upon American and Commonwealth troops with them. From Japan, the Model 99 Turtle …

British Work on Zimmerit

Something New on the Western Front Zimmerit had been deployed ostensibly by the Germans as a counter to magnetic mines. Whether Zimmerit actually worked or not is hard to tell, as neither the US, Soviets or British made any notable use of magnetic charges. The British did have the ‘Clam’ magnetic charge from 1939 and …

Zimmerit in Soviet and German tests

An unusual substance The Soviets first encountered Zimmerit late in 1943 on Tiger tanks and Panzer IVs. Examining 5 Tiger and 15 Panzer IVs, the Soviets found that the Tigers were covered across the glacis, lower plate, hull sides, turret sides and even the track guards with this grey substance. Measuring it though they found …

Zimmerit in German Use

Origins Probably one of the more unusual elements of German tanks of WW2 is the substance known as ‘Zimmerit’. This unusual material which many tank enthusiasts and modellers have heard of but do not really know much about is as interesting as it is complicated. The substance known as Zimmerit is referred to as a …