army Archives - Mechtraveller

The Rotabuggy

Alastair — Fri, 28 Nov 2025 15:53:40 +0000

Designed in 1943 by Austrian aeronautical engineer, Raoul Hafner, for the British Airborne Forces Experimental Establishment (AFEE), the Hafner Rotabuggy was a standard Willey’s Jeep converted into an autogyro*. What is an autogyro? Well, like a helicopter it has rotor blades, but unlike a helicopter they are not powered. The blades autorotate with forward motion, […]

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Marmon Herrington Mk4 SARC

Alastair — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 13:03:24 +0000

The Marmon Herrington Mk4 SARC (South African Reconnaissance Car) was introduced to Allied forces in 1943 after wheeled vehicles had proved very useful in the first engagements with the Afrika Korps. The SARC was a speedy (85 km/h, 53 mph) reconnaissance vehicle, lightly armoured (12mm – 30mm) and armed with a 2-pounder (40mm) canon plus […]

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155mm Gun M1A1 ‘Long Tom’

Alastair — Thu, 12 Oct 2023 13:26:36 +0000

This impressive howitzer was designed for the US Army in the inter-war years to fill a requirement for a modern long-range field-artillery piece. Its development was a little sluggish. The first model was produced in 1920, but it wasn’t until 1940 that the bugs were ironed out and it was put into service. It first […]

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Review: Norfolk Tank Museum

Alastair — Wed, 13 Jul 2022 09:55:54 +0000

The Norfolk Tank Museum is more like an enthusiastic private collection than a formal museum. It is also a work in progress… or at least many of the tanks are. That doesn’t matter because, while it might not be as big or formal as for example, the tank museums of Bovington or Saumur, it has […]

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Review: Musée de l’Armée, Invalides, Paris

Alastair — Sat, 27 Jun 2020 18:07:42 +0000

The Musée de l’Armée (Army Museum) is located in the Hôtel National des Invalides (The National Residence of the Invalids), a collection of 17th century buildings in the centre of Paris that started life as a military hospital. Part of the complex is still used as a hospital and a retirement home for war veterans, […]

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Gliders over Bastogne

Alastair — Sat, 28 Mar 2020 15:23:43 +0000

When the US 101st Airborne* were besieged in Bastogne during the ‘Battle of the Bulge’ in Dec 1944, they were re-supplied from the air, not just by parachute but by gliders too. Until Dr Peter Caddick-Adams mentioned it in his excellent online lecture** on ‘The Battle of the Bulge’ last week, I’d either forgotten that […]

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Review: Musee 39-45, Ambleteuse, France

Alastair — Wed, 05 Feb 2020 14:58:34 +0000

The Musee 39-45 * north of Boulogne in Pas-de-Calais, differs from many WW2 museums in that it is dedicated to the uniforms and accessories of the combatants, rather than their equipment. The only large pieces of military equipment are parked outside, namely ‘Jean Beart’, a Sherman M4 and a few pieces of field artillery (eg. […]

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Review: Musée America Gold Beach, Normandy

Alastair — Wed, 11 Dec 2019 15:23:01 +0000

On a coastline dotted with D-Day museums, it’s easy to assume that the America Gold Beach Museum in Ver-sur-Mer, Normandy, is dedicated to the events on June 6 1944… but it isn’t, exclusively. Musée America Gold Beach reminds us that before the British Army’s XXX Corps landed on Gold Beach, other pioneers had landed here […]

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Wait up, guys. It’s a baby!

Alastair — Tue, 08 Oct 2019 14:04:04 +0000

I recently came across this small event in Patrick Delaforce’s book, Churchill’s Desert Rats . It illustrates how, sometimes, there can be brief moments of honour & decency – even involving the SS – in the midst of total war. It was during the opening stages of Operation Market-Garden in Holland in September 1944. The […]

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Army Flying Museum – Bigger & Better

Alastair — Sat, 25 May 2019 17:59:55 +0000

The newly renovated Army Flying Museum held its official re-opening yesterday with their patron, HRH Prince Michael of Kent as guest of honour. I wrote about the changes in March, but this event gave me a chance to actually see the new facilities and exhibits… and there’s a lot to see. As Susan Lindsay, the […]

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