Wednesday 17 July 2013

Batterie "F" 37mm AC de Marine, Hir Moussa, Tunisia January 1943

These were certainly only ever seen in Tunisia. The French Navy yard build 36 weapons using 37mm Hotchkiss naval guns into anti-tank weapons, they saw service with 64RAA and Marine AC (anti-char) units in Tunisia.
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r3/Richard_Baber/Tunisia/canon_20_zps53deb7f3.jpg
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r3/Richard_Baber/Tunisia/canon_19_zps5d51a80b.jpg
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r3/Richard_Baber/Tunisia/gun_zps48f1156e.jpg
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r3/Richard_Baber/Tunisia/canon_17_zps46948c2d.jpg
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r3/Richard_Baber/Tunisia/canon_18_zps322c605a.jpg
My version using a Matchbox Pak36 as the base gun
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r3/Richard_Baber/Tunisia/SAM_2464_zps8a377d46.jpg
Batterie (crewed by various Blitz, EWM, FAA & SHQ gunners)
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r3/Richard_Baber/Tunisia/SAM_2461_zps4bda162d.jpg
No1 gun
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r3/Richard_Baber/Tunisia/SAM_2463_zpseb056ea3.jpg
Closer look at the naval crewman in Bachi
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r3/Richard_Baber/Tunisia/SAM_2465_zps9bdc2a42.jpg
No2 gun
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r3/Richard_Baber/Tunisia/SAM_2462_zps0504716e.jpg
Towing vehicles, now from my reading I guess the French used whatever was still mobile  :ugeek:
Ex-Civilian truck (re-painted di-cast with Pernod decals added)
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r3/Richard_Baber/Tunisia/SAM_2468_zps3ae39f37.jpg
Naval truck/van (re-painted di-cast, hand painted decals, Aleran Decals number plates)
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r3/Richard_Baber/Tunisia/SAM_2470_zpsff8b5e84.jpg
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r3/Richard_Baber/Tunisia/SAM_2471_zpse1c6a77b.jpg
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r3/Richard_Baber/Tunisia/SAM_2469_zpsa4e1870d.jpg
Trucks towing guns
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r3/Richard_Baber/Tunisia/SAM_2467_zps351128f3.jpg
Complete Batterie
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r3/Richard_Baber/Tunisia/SAM_2466_zps21c709c3.jpg

7 comments:

  1. I am watching your game with great interest. I really like your French army figures and vehicles. I take a keen interest in things military and French for the period of 1650 - 1950. What is your source for the 37mm AT gun? I have seen the cover for the Campagne de Tunisie and tried to identify the gun but without success.

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  2. Hi

    American SOTCW member and owner of Moonlite Modelwerks - David Reasoner, did all the research on this weird and wonderful French weapon. When the French authorities in Algiers were trying to get around the Armistice rules in 1941, they build a total of 36 units using Hotchkiss 1pdr (37mm) ship guns stripped of various auxiliary and merchant vessels and built them into these wonderfully odd guns. David tells me the trail legs were made from heating pipes stripped from a hotel :-)

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  3. Have you read the Leygat book? I have been thinking about it but at £32 on Amazon, I'm not sure.

    Martin

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  4. Yes, I bought it last Christmas for myself (off my wife).

    To be honest its not as good as I hoped, pretty poor history (very general) and the odd good photo.

    Better books on Tunisia if you can find them are (both in French) -
    La Guerre de Tunisie (Novembre 1942-Mai 1943) by Cdr. L. Audouin-Dubreuil [published in Paris in 1945]
    La Campagne de Tunisie 1942-1943 by M. Spivak & A. Leoni {just fantastic, no photos but super maps and the best coverage of the campaign by far]

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  5. Great models and great modelling also. Never heard of these guns before and they really look the part. Being pulled by Pernod must give an extra... élan :)

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    Replies
    1. I enjoyed the modeling and painting, creating something different that you don`t see usually on a wargames table. David was kind enough to share his research into how/why they existed. I actually have a game written where a battery saw action against 10th Panzer in Tunisia.

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