How are the logs (used for unditching?) one sometimes sees on the side of tanks(mostly tigers and t-34s) actually attached? I have only one photo of this and the log seems to just sit there. How should i attach my log(actually a medium sized twig), in terms of realism.
Thanks in advance.
This question has been discussed before – I think the conclusion was the use of heavy guage wire. Tie it off to a secure fitting.
There’s a photo of a Sherman with three logs, stuck in a ditch. The logs are hanging off the top, corduroy style – indicating that they were attached to each other, attached via the topmost log to the Sherman hull.
Here are too pics of a Tiger holding the logs, I too am planning to do this with my Tiger…
Even though there is a popular concensus that the logs were for “un ditching” as you put it, I would offer that that is not thier purpose. The logs were used to help panzer grenadiers board the tank and dismount in combat IMHO.
Steve
The timbers would have been tied or strapped in place, tanks going cross-country would bounce the things right off along with all the loose personal items you see tacked onto tanks. The infantry would not remove a 100 lb timber to climb onto the tank. Some of the Shermans, not sure it it was ETO or PTO tied logs to the side to add to their armor or prevent magnetic mines from being attached.
Tanks get stuck alot more than you might think and you don’t want to be stuck in a ditch or stream bed waiting for the recovery crew and their vehicle to come along. A tank that can’t move gets killed very quickly in combat. Some times the tanks crew could use the timber to climb out of the ditch under their track or with the tow cables and another tanks use the two vehicles timbers as a ramp out of the ditch. Oh! Break one and just drive up to the local railroad and there are miles of them waiting for you.
The infantry DID NOT REMOVE THE LOG!!! They used it for leverage to climb on and off the tank in a hurry…jeez! I have years of experience on tanks, I have stuck them and unstuck them. I am not saying that a log can’t be used for that, but it is documented that these logs were tied on the side to help the infantry board, they often rode on the deck to the next engagement etc. I can’t believe that you seriously believed that I suggested that the infantry would dismount the log, what are you smoking?[?]
The use of unditching beams/logs dates from the First World War. Tanks such as this British Mark IV carried the beam on top of the tank, as shown in this photo;
If the tank were stuck in the mud, the chains on the beam were shackled onto the tracks. The tracks were then engaged and the beam was dragged along with the tracks, traveling across the rails on the top of the tank and then dragged under the stuck tank, hopefully freeing it.
I have many photos of beams and logs attached across the back of the engine decks of Panthers, not on the sides. This placement would do little to help PanzerGrenadiers climb aboard the vehicle, though side mounted logs would. There is a well known photo of a Panther of the 4th Panzer Regiment near Anzio, which has two bundles of tree branches wired together to form a long matt, used as a traction device, much in the same manner as a log or beam would be used. A color drawing of this can be seen on pages 58-59 of Osprey’s Anzio 1944.
BergePanthers also commonly held two unditching beams, one on either side of the winch compartment, as did most other Bergepanzers. PanzerGrenadiers would be able to reach these, nor would they be riding on these vehicles in the first place.
Hi Steve:
That is a idea I hadn’t thought of. Thnx for sharing your thoughts. However, I think that the purpose of the logs is for unditiching. That grenadiers would use any logical souce to mount the large vehicle makes sense too but I find it hard to imagine the “sole” use of the logs was to assist them. Welded handles would be easier, wouldn’t you say? Then there’s the one Tiger I unit who welded “U” shaped brackets on only one side of their hull to mount the logs. I’d assume that that unit didn’t adhere to the “logs for climbing” theory.
Finally, the Soviets had logs and beams over many of their vehicles yet also had many handles welded on. In the Tamiya T-55 Soviet MBT, they even include a styrene unditching log to place at the rear of the fuel tanks.
You said that it’s written somewhere about the “climbing” role. Can you recall where? That’d be an interesting read.
Any thoughts on this?
Thnx
RC
OK, here is the scoop as I know it. The log is for getting tanks off an object that they get stuck on. If something taller than the height of the belly off the ground gets under the tank then the tank loses ground pressure and traction and can’t move. Your bellied up on a stump or boulder for example.You cable/rope the log across the bottom of both tracks just under the front slope or under the rear sprocket. then you drive forward or reverse depending on which end you attched the log to. The log is drug under the tank and catches on the obstruction. With the log firmly against the obsuruction the tank now has traction and can back off or move across the obstruction. This would probably work with mud if you had several logs spaced apart and the track didn’t break(mud can create a suction as strong as 3 times the weight of the vehicle if stuck to the upper fender level). Greg.