what are these???

[R MICHAEL]

Hi guys and please don't laugh. I don't know squat about tanks, armoured cars, etc.
THese two picks are in an album from the invasion of france and I am just curious what they are. thanks in advance

[R MICHAEL]

and the other

[Michael Kuligowski]

no.1 Sturmgeschutz III - earle one.. model A I guess

pic number two - I believe it's french Hotchkiss 35 or 38 model (maybe I misspelled)
neat photos You have
cheers ~!!

PS I put some corrections to hotchkiss model and stug... - I have the book at hand right now - firs post was a fast impulse - but my memory is not so good enymore

[R MICHAEL]

no.1 Sturmgeschutz III - earle one.. :0

pic number two - I believe it's french Hotchkiss 37 or 39 model (maybe I misspelled)
neat photo You have
cheers ~!!

michael, thanks! I guess am I right in assuming that is also called a stug?? As for the second I didn't feel it was german, just didn't have the proper look. thanks again
. hey I know what you mean about memory. Thanks again for the help.. it's great to know what I am looking at and have in my collection

[Astérix]

H39

Second one is a French Hotchkiss, a H39 regarding its number.

hope this helps

[panzerboy39]

Definately Stug III Ausf A.

If your interested in learning about german panzers, this is the place to be! The first tank in question is most certainly an early German assualt gun Sturmgeschutz III Ausf. A. It's abbr. is STUG III. It had a low velocity 75mm L/24 cannon (same as the Pzkw IV of the time) and was not initially equipped with a machine gun. The second tank I thought initially to be a Somua, (I knew it to be French right away) but Hotchkiss sounds good to me. I'm certainly no french armour expert!

panzers forward!

panzerboy39

[R MICHAEL]

THANKS ASTERIK AND PANZERBOY. all that info is great and it's a lot more than I had to begin with

[arnhem1944]

no 1 is surely the sturmgschuetz III but the second one would be a captured french tank or would be an AI

[Matt L]

I should correct the abbreviation for Sturmgeschütz- it's properly StuG, and only used in writing, it's not called a 'stug'. It's a compound noun- in German, two or more words made into one word- often at least one of the nouns other than the first one is capitalized. Examples include Panzerabwehrkanone (anti-tank gun)= PaK, Sturmkanone (Sturmgeschütz gun)= StuK, Kampfwagenkanone (tank gun)=KwK, Panzerkampfwagen (tank)=PzKpfw. You can see the first three of these on ammunition crates, for example. Sometimes there are periods separating some of the letters, for example Kw.K., however you don't see as much consistency with these.

If you want some pretty good basic information on German armor, have a look at the Achtung Panzer! website: http://www.achtungpanzer.com/profiles.htm (although interestingly, they incorrectly write StuG as Stug). Check the section on "Sturmgeschütz III/IV Assault Gun/ Tank Destroyer". You'll see the reason yours is a StuG III is that it's based on a Panzer III chassis (the StuG IV used the Panzer IV chassis).

Matt

[R MICHAEL]

I should correct the abbreviation for Sturmgeschütz- it's properly StuG, and only used in writing, it's not called a 'stug'. It's a compound noun- in German, two or more words made into one word- often at least one of the nouns other than the first one is capitalized. Examples include Panzerabwehrkanone (anti-tank gun)= PaK, Sturmkanone (Sturmgeschütz gun)= StuK, Kampfwagenkanone (tank gun)=KwK, Panzerkampfwagen (tank)=PzKpfw. You can see the first three of these on ammunition crates, for example. Sometimes there are periods separating some of the letters, for example Kw.K., however you don't see as much consistency with these.

If you want some pretty good basic information on German armor, have a look at the Achtung Panzer! website: http://www.achtungpanzer.com/profiles.htm (although interestingly, they incorrectly write StuG as Stug). Check the section on "Sturmgeschütz III/IV Assault Gun/ Tank Destroyer". You'll see the reason yours is a StuG III is that it's based on a Panzer III chassis (the StuG IV used the Panzer IV chassis).

Matt

Matt, Thank you for the great explanation! I have wondered about these. Goes to show you don't stop learning till they put you in the grave.