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British Churchill Mk.IV Tank - 'To Catch a Tiger'With the success of Operation Torch and the Allied landings in French North Africa, the German Afrika Korps were now being threatened by the British Eighth Army advancing from El Alamein and the Torch forces coming through Algeria. Hitler was determined to reverse this situation and sent significant reinforcements through the port city of Tunis, including around 20 of the powerful new 56 ton Tiger I tanks. These fearsome machines were significantly superior to anything the Allies had available in North Africa, but the battle situation was by now very much against them and there simply were not enough Tigers available to arrest the deteriorating situation. Elements of the 48th Royal Tank Regiment were the first Allied units to come up against the German Tigers and it would not be long before their Churchills started to fall victim to the 88mm guns of the new German tank - Allied military planners were desperate to get their hands on a Tiger and they wouldn’t have to wait long. Following heroic actions by troops of the 2nd Battalion, Sherwood Foresters, a Tiger had its turret disabled during fighting at Guriat el Atach and was abandoned almost intact by its crew. The Foresters had to repel numerous enemy counterattacks over the next couple of days, but were determined to hold on to their trophy. Relieved by strong reinforcements two days later, they had presented the British with a most valuable prize, the first complete example of a German Tiger tank.Following months of intense training in the remote Suffolk countryside, the tank crews which made up the majority of the 48th Battalion Royal Tank Regiment and their newly arrived Churchill tanks made the significant move to Ayrshire to undergo what would be the final stages of their pre-deployment workup. The preparations in Scotland confirmed they were to be deployed as an effective armoured striking force, but where would be their destination? By the middle of March 1943 they had their answer - North Africa and the Allied offensive to finally push the Afrika Korps out of the continent. Loading aboard ships in Glasgow, they were bound for the port town of Bone (Annaba) on the north-eastern corner

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M4A1 Sherman 'Beute Panzer'Having the opportunity to capture a fully working example of your enemy’s latest battle tank is a situation which was highly prized by all the combatant nations during the Second World War, allowing their capabilities to be assessed and to ascertain the most effective ways of destroying them. This detailed evaluation would usually be carried out by a specialist Military High Command unit well behind the front lines, but getting your war prize back there during the heat of battle could be a challenging process. This particular early Sherman tank was captured by 1st Company, 501st Heavy Tank Battalion in Tunisia, during operations to counter the Anglo-American invasion of French North Africa in late 1942 and must have looked rather conspicuous parked amongst the German Tiger 1 and Panzer III tanks which were heading towards the fighting. The fascinating hand painted warning on the side of the Sherman is basically warning German troops not to remove any items from the enemy tank, as it has been commandeered by German Military High Command and is destined to be sent back to Germany for test and evaluation. In addition to the rather crudely applied Balkenkreuz markings on the turret of the Sherman, the unit responsible for securing such a significant trophy also ensured their details were included in the hand painted warning on the hull sides of the tank, presumably knowing that the message would be seen by thousands of military personnel during its journey back to Germany and wanting their achievement recognized.The German Army had first en

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Panther Tank – Panzerkampfwagen V Panther Ausf D, Unknown Unit, Northern Bavaria, April 1945, Defense of the ReichWidely regarded as the finest German tank of the Second World War, the PzKpfw V Panther was a formidable combination of speed, manoeuvrability, armor protection and firepower, making this a feared battlefield adversary. Built in response to combat experiences on the Eastern Front and the impressive performance of the latest Soviet tanks, Russia would also see the combat introduction of the new Panther, during the battle of Kursk in the summer 1943. Although classed by the Germans as a medium tank, the Panther weighed in at an impressive 45 tons, but proved to be significantly more mobile than its size suggests and after overcoming initial service introduction issues, the Panther began to show its destructive potential. One criticism of the larger German tank designs was that they tended to be over-engineered and while they were undoubtedly impressive fighting machines, there simply were not enough of them with front line units. By the time of D-Day, the Panther was fighting a losing battle and if superior numbers of Allied tanks didn’t get them, rocket firing Hawker Typhoons undoubtedly would.

Note any reference to MSRP MAP above in description are to be ignored. They represent USA $ pricing and are not valid for Canadian prices.