Eh, my encyclopedia of over 900 armoured vehicles of the world(first to ~2008) didn’t have it, so I guessed the closest to what I had, which obviously wasn’t it.
At least I got someone to answer it though. :mrgreen:
Welcome back Librarian! All of the construction done where you work? Wow! I haven’t seen “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” in years! I liked the movie, but was more of a fan of the book which I had since I was a kid and somewhere got lost. My wife got me another copy for my last birthday. Even though I turned 40!
Hey…some things are still sentimental.:mrgreen:
Maybe we can get started again now on all of these stumpers!
Welcome back Librarian! All of the construction done where you work? Wow! I haven’t seen “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” in years!
Thank you, my dear Mr. Navyson - yes - finally, our new book repository is completed, but our brand new computerized supportive system still is out of function! :roll:
Not even to mention that nowadays we are completely stressed with a physical reallocation of some… 25000 books. But, after all, some physical exercise always is a first-rate opportunity for a cholesterol demagnification, and a half-nomadic existence with a wild jumble of shrieking secretaries, fluttering librarians, tumbles of papers and cacophonies of telephone calls from irritated contractors (which still are waiting for their truly well-earned cheques from our dearly beloved Ministry of Culture!) actually represents a fine relaxation from those wery well known evils, like fishing, gardening, reading, or - God forbid! - an idyllic knoll along the river as well as from numerous other wasteful, extravagant and ostentatious manifestations of human life. 
Hey…some things are still sentimental.
Oh, yes – fortunately they are! Fortunately, my dear Mr. Navyson, we both were born in an epoch when a miraculous exchange of glances still was completely sufficient to reveal human hearts to one another. And, yet again luckily, before car manufacturers proclaimed that they are selling only “the most desirable thing on wheels” – actually created when Market Analyses called in Styling, and they both contacted Motivational Research, which started running interviews in depth and thematic apperception tests to determine what kind of car personality bankers want to cook in their variant of a Hackenbush…
However, even if there had been nothing else, the late sixties shoud be rememebered gratefully for the many films of gentleness, and human warmth they produced. And for the very peak of the skilled application of that charm one need look no further than Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, with a delicate and still appealing mixture of whimsy, magic, and true love. 
And now, if the ladies will please remove their hats, we are ready to begin the show…
Honorable ladies and gentlemen, our brand new armored mystery is in anticipation of your offers!
Seems English by the gun on the top that the soldier is carrying(I’d say Bren, but probably not).
Well, to certain extant our little tracked vehicle surely has some British origins, but otherwise represents an independent, completely autonomous construction, my dear Mr. Prime Minister.
After all - just observe those exceptionally wide and strangely patchy tracks… Beyond doubt, they are not of British origin.
Then by the hats, Russian, or somewhere close to there.
Well, it’s an armored personnel carrier, and the Soviets certainly had no use for those --as the Ruskies called APCs T-34s covered with infantry…
Not just a Bren gun, but a Thompson as well. I think these might be Canadians garrisoning the Northwest territories on a field trial variant of the Bren Gun Carrier or something…
But I am probably wrong…
- But my reasoning is this:
US soldiers, and I believe Canadians as well, wore the babushka style winter hat. Not just Soviets. A wide tracked vehicle would have been immensely useful in the climate of Western Canada and Alaska in the face of a real (if minimal) threat of Japanese invasion. The wide tracks would have had an alternating usefulness over both snow pack and marshy, muddy geographies common to both regions…
Hello, y’all!
An easier selection than your usual “stumpers”, Librarian! I knew your previous one was from the First World War, other than that, nada! At least this one is from an era I have books on!
Here is my hint to my fellow armor enthusiasts:
It’s a Mark I something or other.
Russ
Proud son of Rose and Wes
Well, honorable ladies and gentlemen, after many days we have a real object-oriented discussion here. Excellent!
US soldiers, and I believe Canadians as well, wore the babushka style winter hat. Not just Soviets.
Exectly, my dear Mr. Nickdfresh. Although ushankas are representing a noticeably Russian cap, fure caps with flexible earflaps were in a completely regular use in Germany, Scandinavia, Canada, United States, Korea, Japan, China and numerous other countries. For example, here is an model of the Japanese army winter fur cap:
http://www.rlscollectibles.com/catalog/images/webupdate22may%20041.JPG
German model (M42 Sheep Fur Cap) is visible here:
A wide tracked vehicle would have been immensely useful in the climate of Western Canada and Alaska in the face of a real (if minimal) threat of Japanese invasion. The wide tracks would have had an alternating usefulness over both snow pack and marshy, muddy geographies common to both regions…
Brilliant reasoning, my dear Nickdfresh – an absolutley radiant example of a truly consistent and fact-oriented elaboration! Please, proceed - you are on the right track!
An easier selection than your usual “stumpers”, Librarian!
Oh, just wait for a while, my dear Mr. Malarz Russ and you will be able to see something … really rare.
I knew your previous one was from the First World War…
Oh, no – you have not seen my WW1 mystery in this thread even in a dream. However, if you really wish that - just say a word!
BTW – your hint is, as always, highly useful!
Hello, y’all!
Looks like I’ll hafta drop another hint:
It comes from the land of thick bacon and Molsons!
Russ
Proud son of Rose and Wes
Cool… I think…
Well, that would be Canada. But the only Canadian APC’s I’ve found are wheeled, not tracked.
Happily uninhibited by any knowledge of the subject, both military vehicular and geographic, may I ask would it be a vehicle designed for a country with substantial marshes, such as the Pinsk Marshes, and perhaps winter snow, in eastern Europe or perhaps the Balkans?
If so, would that tend to narrow it down to somewhere in the Hungary / Romania regions?
Well, although our tiny vehicle actually served in the Balkan Peninsula (and it served truly magnificently and faithfully for more then 30 years!), as far as I know it never was deployed by Rumanian or Hungarian armed forces, my dear Mr. Rising Sun.
And yes – our mysterious piece of combat machinery was truly beloved by the Soviets too! But if the truth is to be said, actually it was manufactured in that huge, beautiful and rich country where word “autumn” is another expression of beauty in itself.
Not true. The Canadians had one of the first fully tracked APCs that was fabricated from obsolete M-3 Grant Tanks and “Priests” SPGs:
The “Ram Kangaroo”:
Hmm… I wonder what they did for the turret opening on the Ram Kangaroo, or was everyone just exposed? Although I guess the soldiers were exposed in the Bren carriers too.
I should have said… “found so far”…
Not if they ducked!
Well, maybe not so much the Bren, but there was good protection in the Ram. But of course air-burst artillery or snipers were always a problem for an open top vehicle…
I wonder if anyone could tell me if the machine gun turret on the Ram is the same as the one on the M3 Lee.