In many ways the writing of a book is very similar to undertaking a long journey. You start out inspired and full of energy, but the going is often tough and the end seems so far away. Nevertheless, it is invariably fulfilling and it has been no different for me on this occasion, which is due in no small part to the many people who have helped me along the way.
For me the introduction to tank turrets, or panzerstellung,1 and the start of my journey, came many years ago when reading a copy of AFV News, a small, privately run magazine for armour enthusiasts. Included in this edition was a short item about Panther tank turrets used as fixed fortifications. I soon traced the author of this article and a previous piece on the same subject and entered into a lengthy communication with Dottore Nicola Pignato, the renowned tank expert, and Denis Seguin. Over the years they have helped me immensely with my research, as has the founder of AFV News, George Bradford. Without their help I would not have embarked on this odyssey.
In the following weeks and months my research continued, largely confined to the Panther turret, with visits to the Bundesarchiv, Freiburg and to London in order to access the records held by the Imperial Museum and the Public Record Office (now the National Archive). The staff in these institutions provided invaluable help, especially so in Germany where Herr Loos and Frau Brüninghaus identified pertinent material on this most unusual subject. Subsequently, I entered into communication with David Fletcher, the librarian at the Tank Museum, Bovington, Krzysztof Barbarski at The Polish Institute and staff at both the Canadian and United States National Archives, all of whose efforts were very much appreciated.
My research on the Panther turret gradually broadened to encompass not just the technical specification of the weapon, but also its fighting record. This involved contacting many veterans of the Royal Armoured Corps who more than fifty years after the event were able to vividly recollect their experiences in Italy. Former members of 51st Royal Tank Regiment deserve particular mention and more especially G. Birdsall, G. Bradley, D. Featherstone and E. Hollands. I additionally tried to trace New Zealand veterans of the Italian campaign and although unsuccessful I did contact Jeff Plowman, a leading expert on New Zealand armour, who provided me with important details and photographs. While in the Antipodes, I would also like to thank J. Hornabrook, who scoured the New Zealand archives on my behalf, and the staff of the Alexander Turnbull Library and the Queen Elizabeth II Army Memorial Museum.
Aside from the major archives and museums, my research also brought me into contact with a number of other individuals who shared my interest in the use of Panther turrets. For their continued support I should like to thank Maciej Sledzinski, and Daniele Guglielmi.
This passing interest had turned into a vocation and I now began to research the origins of the idea of using tank turrets as fixed fortifications. I was given invaluable assistance in this quest by A. van Geeteruyen (Belgium) and staff at the ASBL Tank Museum, Brussels. E. Hitriak and I. Volkov, through their research on the Stalin and Molotov Lines, filled a huge void in my knowledge of the use of tank turrets in the Soviet border defences, and their evidence was supplemented by material from V. Kaminski and P. Lenfeld. I would also like to thank J-L. Burtscher and R. Klein for directing me to pertinent sources of information on the use of this type of fortification in the Maginot Line and for permission to use material from their respective Internet sites.
At the same time, the scope of my research grew to include all the tank turrets used in this way in the Second World War. This brought me into contact with a number of subject matter experts whose contribution to the finished article was inestimable. I would like to thank in particular: M. Airila (Finland); L. Bertelsen (Denmark); W. Brzoskwinia (Poland); M. Ginns (CIOS Jersey); A. Johansen (Denmark); D. Mouritzen (Denmark) E. Ritterbach (Germany), and O. Tønnesen (Denmark). A number of museums also provided valuable information: Dr Kunz at the Militärhistorisches Museum Der Bundeswehr (Germany) and the Sotamuseo (Finland).
Later still I broadened the scope of my research further to consider the use of tank turrets in the postwar period. Once again this involved me seeking help from numerous institutions and museums including the Coast Artillery Museum (Norway) and the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum (Austria). In addition, I was able to rely on knowledgeable and importantly, generous, authorities on this period. They included: O. Filip (Czechoslovakia); T. Gannon (Israel); R. Gils (The Netherlands); P. C. van Kerkum, Brig Gen, retired (The Netherlands); B. Lowry (UK); S. Netrebenko (Russia); D. O’Hara (Indo-China); and T. Tsiplakos (Greece).
A number of individuals deserve special thanks for their help throughout my voyage of discovery. In particular I would like to thank Margaret Pinsent (of the Fortress Study Group) and Herbert Jäger who not only replied to my various questions but also actively sought information on my behalf. A special mention should also go to Joe Kaufmann (the creator of Site O – an Internet site dedicated to fortifications) who put me in touch with many of the individuals above and who also answered many questions himself. I would also like to thank Svein Wiiger Olsen whose encyclopaedic knowledge of fortifications provided me with much valuable information, particularly about tank turrets in Scandinavia. Latterly, Caspar Vermeulen provided me with a number of useful leads in my research into the modern use of this form of defence and Steve Zaloga, an authority on armoured fighting vehicles, provided a number of rare photographs of tank turrets and kindly answered my many and varied questions.
Along the way I contacted many other people who helped me in often small but significant ways. It would be impossible to name them all, but your help was very much appreciated.
As the reader will have gathered by now, my journey eventually took me to the four corners of the globe and in so doing I amassed a wealth of material. Most of this, not surprisingly, was written in languages with which I was not always familiar and had to be translated into English. This was achieved largely through the good offices of the Institute of Linguistics and in particular the following translators:
J. Calderbank (French to English); A. George (Dutch to English); Z. Fec (Russian to English); M. Jepps (Italian to English); I. Knill (Czech to English); A. Ladd (German to English); C. Leach (Italian to English); I. Pursiainen (Finnish to English); B. Snell (German to English); and M. Stanley (French/German to English). I would like to thank in particular Gill Hunwicks for her painstaking work in translating the sheaf of highly technical and sometimes incomplete papers that I brought back from my initial visit to the Bundesarchiv.
I also owe an enormous debt of gratitude to Tomasz Idzikowski who completed the detailed drawings that adorn this book.
Of course in any journey it is important to have a good start and this was provided by mother, father and sister. It is also vital to have a supportive travelling companion – a Passerpartout – and my wife, Nikki, has ably filled this role. She has been with me through the majority of my research for this book and it is no exaggeration to say that without her this book would not have been completed.
______
1The German word panzerstellung seems to best encompass the description of emplaced tank turrets and is used as a generic term throughout this book.