Panzerwrecks 16, pages 37, 39, 57 & 87/88 – updates

Rudi Schoeters dropped me a line a wee while back (March!) about some of the vehicles in Panzerwrecks 16: Bulge, and only now do I get the time to add his information to the blog. Over to Rudi:

Page 37
The Pz.Beob.Wg.III in Houffalize: the top left pic shows clearly that this vehicle has two different types of idlers the early closed one and the later spoked idler, the sprockets are both of the early design for 36 cm tracks but they were updated by adding spacer rings tot the sprocketrings to take the 40 cm tracks.

Page 39
Tiger 411: in the caption you’ve stated that the outer wheels have been removed  …….mmm the pic fooled you …. all the wheels are still there, only the hubcaps were removed.

Page 57
Pz.Kpfw.IV 322:  the hubcaps have been removed from all the roadwheel and even from the sprocket. btw: other pics of this panzer IV show the same knight insignia on the turretschürze as on the Panzer IV shown on page 86.

Page 87/88
Pz.Bef.Wg.IV: this vehicle still exist and is now part of the collection of the Brussels tank museum( now it resides in the Heinz barracks in Bastogne and will get some restoration). Initially it was put on display at APG  in Aberdeen,  with its turret pointed at 6 o’ clock. Later on ( possibly late 70’s )it was handed over to the BWB in Koblenz. In the early 80’s it came to the Brussels tank Museum. A matching recognition point is that the front part of the turretschürze was hit and misses a small chunk of metal. When, I inspected this vehicle several years ago I’ve  noticed that even the interior was still in a rather complete state but the elements did their part to sheet metal parts like treadplates etc. This vehicle must have been taken very soon after its capture to the collection point so there was no opportunity for looting it as was most often the case with Bulge relics that were left on site.