big piece of iron on plato with m48 patton armor in tunisia

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#1

hi guys,

i was on holiday in tunisia Last week and joined a quadtour.
the Tour started about 30-40km Southern of hammamet and went Western to some little mountains.

on a plato were some m48 patton armors (i guess) and a big piece of iron stocked in the ground. it was nearly 4-5m High and had a lot of bullet Hits. but what confused me were the 5-10cm big threads in it.

does anyone know what his thing is about?

#2

this iron thing:

http://s7.directupload.net/file/d/3011/baxxifr3_jpg.htm

http://s7.directupload.net/file/d/3011/up7i6bf4_jpg.htm

http://s7.directupload.net/file/d/3011/oipxvfaq_jpg.htm

http://s7.directupload.net/file/d/3011/mhajbwty_jpg.htm

armor:

http://s7.directupload.net/file/d/3011/pfkz2lh9_jpg.htm

overview:

http://s14.directupload.net/file/d/3011/7h428zd5_jpg.htm

#3

The tank shown is an M-48, and the area would seem to be a gunnery range. The large piece of steel looks like its just a piece of scrap steel plate used as another target, or perhaps a registration point.The handy right angle corner makes a good bore sighting aid. The threads are bolt holes which either held it to something, or something to it. Old ranges are fun to explore, but be very careful where you step.

#4

I don’t believe this is related to WWII, there certainly would have been no U.S. M26 Pershings in North Africa, let alone an M48 which was postwar. I’m guessing this was a result of a class between Tunisia and French Algeria…

#5

I agree with Nickdfresh. The conditions of the M48 Patton tank suggest that it can’t be related to WWII. It should probably be a wreckage of the French-Algerian War (1954/1962). As a matter of fact, the fighting between French Army and the Algerian independence movement (FLN - Front de Libération Nationale) broken out in Morocco and Tunisia, too.