I'm not really sure, but, isn't that a decoy Sherman? I know the allies made inflatable Shermans as decoys to make the enemy think that their numbers were superior in a tank battle, and make them rethink their strategies. Specially useful against enemy observers determining their enemies fight capabilities. I don't remember in what specific battles it might have been used, probably in Belgium and nearby areas.

Almost, Martes. That IS an inflatable Sherman decoy tank, but you must remember that in 1944, the Allies had numerical superiority in both manpower and equipment.

They were used in Operation Fortitude, the decoy operation designed to make the Germans think that a cross-channel invasion was planned for the Dunkirk area. It kept a lot of forces busy and occupied in that area while the main force came ashore at Normandy. Even after the invasion, the High Command and the mustachioed one still thought that the Normandy invasions were merely a decoy, a feint designed to pull forces away from the Pas de Calais.

So, you get 1/2 a cookie. Sorry.

'NOTHER QUESTION:

The Battle of Hurtgen Forest was particularly nasty but was effectively downgraded because of another battle of equal magnitude to the south. Where? Also, the Germans made very good use of the trees in the forest by doing what with them?

I believe the Hurtgen Forest slugfest was overshadowed by the more famous Ardennes Offensive (Battle of the Bulge) to the south in Belgium. I'm gonna guess that the Germans made defensive use of the forest by priming their shells to achieve a treeburst scattering splinters about like so much shrapnel.

Strangest thing happened during the Battle of the Hurtgen Forest. In the middle of the battle, a truce was reached so that the Medics and Sanitäter could tend to the numerous wounded. They even cooperated with each other and treated wounded men without regard to which army.

You're getting good at this, Torplexed. Well done. Here's another cookie.

'NOTHER QUESTION:

SCENARIO: You depart Fort Abraham Lincoln mid-May to quell an uprising. The plans start to unravel when one reinforcement column is delayed enroute. Arriving late the next month, you send out two scouting columns and, well, Momma said there'd be days like this.

Sounds like the prelude to the most famous of the Indian War battles and General George Armstrong Custer's date with destiny...Little Big Horn.

http://www.nativeamericans.com/LittleBighornMap.gif

He wasn't a General; he was a lowly Lieutenant Colonel! I'm gonna keep your sprinkles for that.

'NOTHER QUESTION:

What is PANAMAX? Why those dimensions?

Hmmm. No takers.

'NOTHER QUESTION:

Russian tanks entering Berlin used what simple field expedient to prevent Panzerfäuster from detonating against their hull?

Taking a guess here....flak jackets?

Bed springs.

The olny pics I can find are of models, not 1:1.

PANAMAX is the largest size of ship that can still pass through the Panama Canal.

• Length: 965 ft
• Beam: 106 ft
• Draft: 39.5 ft
• Air draft: 190 ft measured from the waterline to the vessel's highest point

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...b/T34_85_4.jpg

I found one for you, gunter.

Jester, the Panzerfaust and the Panzerschreck were point-detonating shaped charges. Flak jackets were only for aircrews then, too. The Red Army treated their troops as throw-away assets. They made sure that no tank went out without infantry escort. The Panzerfaust and Panzershreck were relatively short-ranged weapons, so any German soldier definitely had to have solid brass cojones to use these devices.

1 cookie for Gunter.

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Gunter, you didn't say WHY those dimensions, so only 1/2 a cookie on the Panamax question.

The length, beam, and draft dimensions are determined by the lock sizes and the depth of the water. The height is determined by the PanAmerican Bridge over the Canal.

'NOTHER QUESTION:

Another particularly nasty close-in weapon is a rehash of an old idea dating back to the Greeks, but a relatively NEW invention, actually invented in 1901. attributed to Richard Fiedler. This weapon, too, required the user to have big brass ones.

What is it? Pix, pls. What replaced it?

The Flammenwerfer, or flame-thrower. A favorite engineering weapon from WWI to Vietnam. The US Army discontinued their in 1978. They're largely been replaced by satchel charges or thermobaric warheads on rockets and missiles.

http://pnmedia.gamespy.com/planetcoh...flameparts.jpg

Well done, Torplexed. Here's yer cookie. Ya gotta admit that there is a great deal of psychological warfare being done when the zippo comes out to play.

I gotta work on my questions or get sneakier.

'NOTHER QUESTION:

http://www.luftarchiv.de/beute/usa/b_17.jpg
Why is this B-17 wearing Luftwaffe markings?

Humm...thats a hot link that went cold. :har:

http://img2.imageshack.us/img2/5465/b17dbe.jpg
Cause jerry flies it... so he marks it.