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Legend

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Help needed with a photo...
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Wondered if�anyone out there�could help me make sense of this photo?
It shows a group of soldiers in Wehrmacht uniform so it seems it was taken sometime during WW2.� My knowledge of uniforms isn't good enough to suggest when, though the boots and gaiters makes me think later rather than sooner.� The location is some kind of large stone building (ecclesiastical?).
The tank is clearly a Mark IV.� It is also an unusual Mark IV in that it's a top tower, so although we can't see the sponsons it is likely to be a Female (since no Male top towers are known).� I believe the German army captured at least two Mark IV top towers during WW2.� One of these was the well known "Lyric", formerly the presentation tank at Suippes and later placed on the old battlefield at Fort de la Pompelle.� The other (possibly) was another French presentation tank, that to Lassigne.� However the tank in the picture is neither of these because both those tanks had lost their unditching rails.
So I'm stumped.� Any ideas on date, location or the identity of the tank?

Gwyn


-- Edited by Gwyn Evans on Saturday 17th of April 2010 08:09:44 PM

-- Edited by Gwyn Evans on Saturday 17th of April 2010 08:11:41 PM

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Commander in Chief

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As it seems, the whole of Northern France was littered with 'donations' from the British Tank Corps - in form of obsolete Mk.IVs from (mainly) L-Bn, which were better 'donated' than brought to back England for good money� and scrapped afterwards.
Most of there were still present by 1940 - but removed at least by 1942, going to some German smelters.



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MZ


Field Marshal

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Bonjour,

It's not Lassigny. The old church was destroyed in 1918.
In Lassigny like some other village, the tank was on a village square.
In Montdidier, the tank was far away from the main churchs on the center.

Michel

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Commander in Chief

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The Suippes top tower was not Lyric, the numbers don't match. We'll have to look for another location for Lyric.

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MZ


Legend

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MZ - thanks for that. Do you have the number of the Suippes top tower please? Or any further info at all?

Gwyn

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Commander in Chief

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Suippes: 2708
Fort de la Pompelle: 2648



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MZ


Legend

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Very many thanks! Amazing that 2708 survived post war as it was first in action at Messines in June 1917.

Gwyn

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