THE DRAGON
A pair of Challenger 2s have just been re-armed from the ammunition pallets at the bottom of the picture and are about to start a battlerun on Range 2 at Castlemartin on Wednesday 8th March 2017
MARCH 2017
Branch Secretary \ Editor Paul Gandy (2350) 2 Maes Y Grug Church Village Pontypridd CF38 1UN paul.gandy@btinternet.com
Editorial
Repair/Recovery vehicles . They were all heading west, so there was a good chance that they were on their way to the Castlemartin Ranges. So, on Wednesday 8th March I went with fellow Branch members Dave Burton and Ollie Jones to the ranges. The one snag with Castlemartin is that the Public Spectator Area is quite a distance back from the tanks, but for obvious reasons when you hear them fire, although that’s about four seconds after you see the flash for the range nearest the car, and even further from the other main firing range. Even so, it’s a fascinating place to visit, and quite do-able in a day with a 2 hour journey each way from my home.
In this issue we’ve got the second part of Dennis Lunn’s excellent article about modelling the Jordanian Khalid tank. What I think is superb is that to make his model. Dennis went out on to the tank park and took measurements from an actual vehicle. How many of us can say something like that about their model? I just like Dennis’ style of writing which I find very easy on the eye, and brain. Just wait until you get to the part headed “NAAFI Break.” We also have an article from Haydn Nelms who is a new member of the branch. Haydn was previously with West Glamorgan IPMS and has made a number of aircraft models, and also a diorama about these little tankettes. Certainly a little heard of obscure part of military history (well, to me anyway).
Please remember that Father’s Day will again be the date for The MAFVA Nationals.. The poster for it is on the next page. Last year we all felt that the move away from Duxford to the Burgess Hall in St. Ives, Cambs was a good move as the facilities were so much better that being in a marquee on a wind-swept airfield. It looks like there will be a record number of South Wales MAFVA members attending the show this year, me included. I’ve said it on numerous occasions, but for me this is the best show of the year, with a good friendly atmosphere, more like a big family reunion than a “dog eat dog” style competition that you seem to get at some shows. I look forward to seeing you all there.
Four of us went to the On Track show in Folkestone on Saturday 25th February, and travelled up there on the Friday to set up that afternoon to split up the journey and just in case of any hold ups on the M4. It was also a good excuse for a get together over a Chinese meal and a few drinks on the Friday night. On the way there we passed first a convoy of various different MAN trucks, then one of four Oshkosh tank transporters with Challenger 2s on them, then a few mile gap between three more groups of Oshkosh transporters with Challenger 2s, and then one at the rear with ChARRV and Warrior
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KHALID - The Interesting Bit – The Model Build
Overhead View of Khalid As I said previously, the model was built in a hotel room with very few modelling tools so some parts of the construction may appear a bit crude, but it worked for me. I carried out the build ‘Sinatra-Style’, in other words ‘I did it my way’. I believe that an article has been written since I built my models and was published in an information sheet called ‘Covenantor’ which was the magazine of the Armour Information Service. What I think would be very useful to anyone contemplating this project would be to get the Information Pack of the Khalid from the Tank Museum at Bovington. It contains some very clear drawings of the engine and transmission decks, which are similar to, but not the same as, Challenger 1.
square and perpendicular to the centre line of the hull. The Challenger hull rear is cut at the forward edge of the flat part of the hull floor, 15mm forward of the centre line of the drive sprockets. Join the two parts to produce the hybrid hull bottom. The side wall angles are not an exact match, but a file and some filler will work wonders here. This should produce a hull bottom which measures 182mm from the centre line of the drive sprocket to the centre line of the idler wheel. Plenty of internal strengthening is recommended and possibly filling in the old motor holes in the base of the Chieftain.
The Hull Bottom I started to construct the model by first of all joining the front of the Chieftain hull bottom to the rear of the Challenger hull bottom. Once this was done then the hull top was constructed to fit the bottom, keeping the dimensions as close as possible. Measure along the ridge on the underside of the Chieftain hull 160mm from the front where the toe plate meets the hull floor. Cut the rear portion from the hull at this point, ensuring that the cut is
Underside of hull rear
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Next I added the Challenger rear wall to the hull. On Khalid this is pretty empty, just lights, gunclamp, spare tracklinks and towing bollards are fitted, so all other location holes need to be filled. Challenger drive sprockets and tracks are used.
Having fitted drive sprockets, idlers, the suspension complete with return rollers and roadwheels, side-skirt mounting arms and tracks, it is time to make the hull top – oh joy!
The suspension requires considerable alteration. The Chieftain suspension units are mounted on the same location points as for the Chieftain model, but the spacing between the (Chieftain) roadwheels is different from a normal Chieftain. Chieftain idler wheels were also used. I measured a Khalid from wheel centre to wheel centre.
The first thing to do is to remove the wading rail from the front of the hull top as it was not needed in Jordan.
Hull Top
As said previously the rear decks of the Khalid are similar to, but not quite the same as, Challenger 1. I must reiterate that the Tank Museum Pack for Khalid is invaluable for this stage. I started with the front (Chieftain) end of the hull top. A cut was made square to the trackguards at a point 109mm rearwards from the very front of the trackguard.
This was extended inboard as far as the outer edge of the ‘Turret Ring’. A similar cut was made on the opposite side of My rough Tank Park sketch of the suspension layout the hull. The cut was then taken Please bear in mind that the spacing may around the rear circumference of the Turret differ slightly if the ground is uneven, the allRing, so keeping the Chieftain turret ring up weight differs (ie, if the MBT is full of fuel, whole so that the Chieftain turret would fit ammunition etc) or if the position of the idler securely. This half-hull was then temporarily wheel is altered to take up any slack in the fitted to the front of the hull bottom using the track. The dimensions which I measured location pins on the original model. The were as follows: Challenger hull top was then cut to suit. A cut was made approximately 55mm forward of Idler wheel to 1st roadwheel 80cm the leading edge of the exhaust outlets (this 1st roadwheel to 2nd roadwheel 110cm would leave some material to be removed to 2nd roadwheel to 3rd roadwheel 83cm obtain a good fit). This was extended right 3rd roadwheel to 4th roadwheel 110cm across the (Challenger) turret ring. Then the 4th roadwheel to 5th roadwheel 83cm remains of the turret ring left in the rear half 5th roadwheel to 6th roadwheel 110cm of the new hull top were removed. This would 6th roadwheel to drive sprocket 86cm allow the front half to mate roughly with the rear half. The rear half was temporarily fitted Remember these are all wheel-hub centre to to the rear wall of the hull and the joint wheel-hub centre measurements. A bit of between the front and rear halves was fettled cutting and spacers are required to position (A REME term for ‘File to Fit – Paint to the axle arms in the relevant correct Match’) until a satisfactory joint was positions. obtained. Bracing struts were fitted between 5
expensive way whereby you spend a fortune and buy and drink a dozen Big Greenies, or the cheap way when you buy just one Greenie, drink the contents and beat yourself severely over the head with the empty bottle, the effect is just the same, a really stonking head the next morning.. The Turret The turret is basically a Chieftain turret with a couple of changes. The The joint between the two halves before final cleaning up most obvious change is the lack of searchlight, but a brush guard and the two halves and when all appeared stowage bin is fitted instead. Also on the satisfactory the joint between the two halves Commander’s Cupola a ‘Condor’ Image was made good with filler. The two Intensified Sight is fitted instead of the Nº 37 ‘Transition Plates’ were fitted above the Sight. The rest of the turret is as for a trackguard to help disguise the joint. The real Chieftain fitted with a TLS (Tank Laser Khalid had plates fitted in exactly the same Sight), MRS (Muzzle Reference System) and manner. Clansman Radio Fit. The remains of the bits and bobs for the hull The usual modifications to the turret are top were fitted, including single headlights, required to produce a late version of the and the hull was set aside. One small point Chieftain. A new Commander’s cupola with which may get overlooked is the fact that sloping faces of the episcopes and a new full Khalid does not have scrim loops on the side -width NBC pack are the main components skirts, so these were filed off. Some of the to be changed. Also a new gun barrel with vehicles do have small horizontal slots at the MRS Upstand is required along with a MRS bottom of the side skirts, and all have a Light Source fitted to the turret top. footloop cut out of the third skirt on each side. As I was using the Challenger side skirts these footloops were already in the skirts. NAAFI Break If you are still with it at this stage I suggest you do as I did and go and have a beer. Alcohol is permitted in Jordan, but you need to know where to go to find it, rather like buying condoms in the nineteen-fifties. The beer in Jordan is ‘Amstel’, but the only similarity to the nectar which is brewed in Amstelveen in Holland is that it comes in large green glass bottles, known locally as ‘Big Greenies’. There are two ways of drinking in Jordan, the
Khalid showing Challenger Rear End 6
and rear of the hull and on the sides of the turret. The paint I used to finish the Khalid was Humbrol e n a m e l purchased in a local stationery supply store in Amman (the capital of Khalid Turret (mostly Chieftain) Jordan where I was staying). As stated before, this model Finishing the model was built in a hotel room, and obviously I did not have an airbrush to use, so hand There were several camouflage schemes brushing was required. However I did used by JAF (Jordanian Armed Forces). manage to find some grey undercoat in a Most were painted in plain sand coloured rattle can to use. The base colour I used was paint. Some had broad stripes or large Humbrol 94 Matt Brown Yellow. I attempted patches of red lead overpainted on the sand. to represent the patches, but not the green Some had these red lead stripes outlined edging. Colours to use for these patches with green. Some were in the original factory would be Humbrol 70 Matt Brick Red outlined green finish, especially the newer Britishin irregular strips of Humbrol 86 Matt Light supplied vehicles. These colour schemes Olive. I have recently refurbished the original applied to all the vehicles operated by JAF, model built in Jordan. This time I sprayed the wheeled as well as tracked. It did not really base coat and the red cam patches, using matter what the colour was because as soon the same tin of Humbrol Brick Red paint that as they were deployed to the desert they I purchase in Jordan in 1988. became covered in a sandy dust. At a later date, early 2000s, a splinter scheme was If anyone fancies a crack at this conversion adopted. This scheme was mostly in sand and if you have any questions you know with small patches in black. If you look where to find me on the first Monday evening carefully at one of these vehicles it is of any month. possible to pick out the map of Jordan incorporated into the scheme, the Khalid at Dennis Lunn Bovington is now painted like this, and the map of Jordan appears on each side, front
Khalid MBT 7
The First Tank Ace of WW2
Edmund Roman Orlik
In the late 30’s when Europe was in turmoil a young Pole, Edmund Roman Orlik was studying Architecture after graduating from school. When he realised that war was inevitable he enrolled in the armed services as a volunteer and ended up in the Wojska Lądowe, or land forces of the Polish Army. He completed military training at the Armoured Warfare Training Centre in the village of Modlin, in 1937 to become a tank commander. He was to become arguably the first and most unlikely armed Tank Ace of the Second World War destroying 13 German tanks in a matter of days. In the August of 1939 Orlik was the commander of a TKS tankette having reached the rank of the Polish equivalent of Sergeant First Class at the ripe old age of 19. He was mobilized shortly before the German invasion of Poland and was in the 71 Dywizjon Pancerny, or 71st Armoured Division. By the time war broke out between Poland and Germany on September 1st, 1939. Although maybe not as famous as some of World War Two's most known tank aces such as Kurt Knispel, Michael Wittmann or Otto Carius, Orlik's actions were still impressive and noteworthy. The TKS was a small fighting vehicle and only weighed around 2.5 tons. Together with armoured cars and poor quality light tanks the TKS made up the backbone of the Polish armoured divisions. Based on a British Vickers chassis these made up the bulk of the defensive armour. Classed as a tankette and not a tank, the TKS had minimal armour; (10 millimetres maximum). Most TKS were only armed with a single machine gun but a handful were upgraded with a 20mm cannon. Polish armoured forces at the beginning of World War Two had around 575 of these vehicles, around 25 of which were armed with the 20mm auto cannon. Although Poland did have a few world class tank designs available such as the 7TP and the 9TP, only small numbers of these were ever produced and the TKS remained the main armoured vehicle of the Polish Army by the time of the German Invasion of Poland. Showing himself to be a good tactician as well as an apt pupil, Edmund Orlik was put in command of one of the rare TKS armed with the 20mm auto cannon. With this small highly manoeuvrable machine he managed to score his first few kills on September 14th, 1939. While supporting the 7th Mounted Rifle Regiment on its attempt to take back control of the village of Brochów, Orlik scored 3 kills on German tanks. It is believed the destroyed German tanks were from Panzer-Regiment 36 from the 4. Panzer-Division. Fighting around Brochów on September 14th resulted in a Polish victory, with Polish forces temporarily recapturing Brochów. During this encounter Orlik and his driver practised his tactics of hide, hit and run, repeat! By ambushing from cover and using its nimbleness and manoeuvrability reposition the TKS in another vantage point before the enemy could get a bead on him. The picture above shows Orlik and his driver kapral BronisÅ‚ aw Zakrzewski in front of their TKS
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Days later, on September 18th Orlik together with two machinegun-armed TKS under his command were patrolling an area in the Kampinos Forest east of Warsaw. Hearing German vehicles approaching Orlik ordered the other two tankettes to take cover while he lay an ambush for the approaching vehicles with his 20mm auto cannon. He took position in the woods covering the crossroad, waiting for the enemy to drive into his sights. The sketch is by Orlik himself and shows the conflict in the Kampinos Forest. An Austrian Prince, Victor IV Albrecht Von Ratibor, was in charge of the convoy. The German patrol of the 11th Panzer Regiment was headed by a pair of Panzer 35t tanks built in the Skoda factory in occupied Czechoslovakia, followed by a Panzer IVb and various other vehicles and horse-drawn carts. The fist tank arrived at the crossroads and Orlik set sights on it and opened fire. The first bullet hit the turret perfectly. As it was engulfed in the smoke, the crew began to run, then the other TKS opened fire on them. Orlik did not have time to enjoy the victory because on came another tank. He repositioned his TKS to another vantage point and when the second Pz 35t came into his sights Orlik opened fire. However, this time the bullets didn’t make the same impression. The Germans began to return fire, but – fortunately for the Polish crew – inaccurately. The Poles gave another series of shots and they were able to hit the enemy Pz 35(t) in the ammunition chamber. From inside tongues of fire began to emit and thick smoke enveloped the vehicle – the crew died in the middle. The last tank, the Panzer IV, with the prince in command and, according to Orlik, firing from all barrels, began to run. Orlik, however, had again moved position. When the Panzer IVb passed the immobilized Pz 35t's the TKS had already taken a new position for a shot. The German vehicle was approx. 60 meters in front of the barrel of the 20millimetre cannon. A short series of shots ended the escape. He also destroyed several motorized vehicles during that combat Orlik took two prisoners and attempted to help a few German crew members out of their burning tanks. Among one of the Germans that later died was the Austrian nobleman and descendant of royalty the 23-year-old lieutenant Viktor IV Albrecht von Ratibor – the last prince raciborski. Picture shows one of the tanks destroyed by Orlik in this action.
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The next day, September 19th, the three TKS helped defend Sieraków village against German armoured units making their way into the area after taking part in the Battle of the Bzura, the largest battle of the German Invasion of Poland. Supported by artillery and infantry, 20 German tanks were destroyed during the Battle of Sieraków, seven of which were by Orlik and the rest by anti tank and artillery fire. He eliminated 7 German tanks (from Panzer-Abteilung 65. or from I. battalion of Panzer-Regiment 11.) during the battle of Sierakow. Most of those 7 tanks eliminated (most probably 6 of them) were Pz-35(t) tanks. His TKS was one of 2 tankettes from 71. armoured dyon of Wielkopolska Cavalry Brigade (both of them with 20mm automatic guns) which broke through to Warsaw during the night from 20th to 21st of September 1939. He was later fighting in Warsaw until 28th of September 1939. Eventually, Orlik's tankette and the defenders of the village were forced to retreat due to lack of ammunition. Orlik had in 3 encounters amassed 13 German tank kills, becoming one of the first tank aces of the Second World War. After Orlik's actions at Sieraków, he retreated to Warsaw and took part in the defence of the city. Although the defence of Warsaw was ultimately not successful and Poland as a whole fell to Germany. Orlik survived the initial German invasion and according to some sources, joined the Armia Krajowa, or Polish Home Army and actively fought against the German occupation of Poland. Edmund Roman Orlik survived World War Two and took up building design and architecture after the war ended. He lived out the rest of his life in peace until his death in a traffic accident in 1982. In Pociecha, Poland, a memorial stone was erected and dedicated to Orlik. He was also awarded the Krzyż Walecznych or Cross of Valor for his actions. Although Edmund Orlik is a seldom heard name when mentioning famous World War Two tank aces, Orlik's actions were still significant and are deserving of praise, becoming one of the first tank aces of the Second World War. The photo on the left was taken in 1969 and the sketch on the right was made in 1980.
A few Facts & trivia Birth: January 26th 1918, Rogoźno, Poland
Death: April 8th 1982, Opole, Poland
Position or Rank: Podchorąży, or officer cadet, in the Polish army at the outbreak of World War Two and commander of a TKS tankette. Orlik later joined the Armia Krajowa or Polish Home Army, and helped the resistance during the German Occupation of Poland. Orlik was part of Armored Squadron 71 Polish army, which in 1939 consisted of 13 TK-3 (including 4 with 20 mm cannon) and 8 wz.34 armored cars. His driver was kapral BronisÅ‚aw Zakrzewski,
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The cannon-armed TKS were actively used during the German invasion in September 1939, but there is no specific information available on most of them, many tankettes were captured and used by the Germans.
Markings From the early 1930s until 1939, the Polish armoured vehicles carried no nationality signs in any form. Before the war tactical signs of metal sheet were attached for training purpose – discs (the 1st platoon), triangles (the 2nd) or squares (the 3rd). The signs were white with a vertical red stripe for a platoon commander, or with a small red disc, triangle or square inside for the 2nd in command. Squadron commanders had a sign of a triangle in a circle in a square. Their colours could also be inverted. In September 1939, the tankettes generally carried no insignia at all. Usage of any insignia was forbidden in case of war by the regulation from 1938, nonetheless there are several photos known of tankettes captured in September 1939, still carrying tactical signs. The photos from 1939 also show a few cases of unofficial unit and possibly individual insignia painted on tankettes (Pomerania's Griffon for TK-3s of the 81st Armoured Unit, arrows for TK-3 of an unknown unit, rocking horse – possibly on a tank of the 10th Cavalry Brigade, and one photo of a sword-armed hand on TK-3). Four-digit registration numbers were painted on front plates only until 1936, then registration plates with new numbers were carried inside. There is a memorial stone erected in the forest of Kampinos in honour of Roman Orlik, not far from his encounter with the prince. Here are some pictures, Orlik with his tankette. the prince and a rare picture of the tankettes with their German adversary. The exploits of the Polish airmen during WW2 are well documented. I believe that Orlik should also be remembered, that’s the reason I built a Diorama to show his acts wherever I can. I’ve also made a YouTube video about his encounter in the woods.
Haydn Nelms
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On Friday 24th February four of us went in my car to the On Track model show in Fokestone. Whilst travelling along the M4 we passed a convoy of various types of MAN trucks, followed by several convoys of four Oshkosh tank transporters loaded with Challenger tanks, each a few miles apart. It was a fairly good guess that they were going to Castlemartin, so on Wednesday 8th March three of us from South Wales MAFVA went along to the Public Spectator Area at the Castlemartin Ranges to have a look. It was a damp drizzly day, and we hadn’t heard any tank gunfire as we got closer to the ranges, but right on cue a Challenger 2 opened fire just as we got out of the car. You are about 1/4 mile away from the one range in front of you (as in the front cover photo) and about 3/4 mile away from the photo at the top of this page, so you see a flash of the gun firing, and then wait several seconds before you hear the sound. I have never ever managed to photograph a tank at the moment of firing. In the photo on the right, the Challenger 2 is over 1/2 mile away from the Chieftain target hulks above it.
This is a rare photo of a MAN SX 25.440 6x6 (X44) Cargo (Medium) Improved Medium Mobility that was seen driving back to the main camp. Only 41 of these trucks were purchased by the MoD from MAN and are used to support the Challenger 2s. . (c) Paul Gandy