TRACK FACTS at the AAF Tank Museum

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This section is dedicated to facts about armor. There is no particular order to these facts. If any cyber friend out there has a interesting fact relating to armor, please send it along by e-mail. New facts will be added with each update.

The Father of the American Cavalry
was a Polish gentleman by the name of Casimir Pulaski

In the 1991 invasion of Iraq,
American's main battle tanks were made of a special armor
that was made of depleted uranium.

P-38 can openers that were supplied to soldiers
during W.W.II were also known
as John Wayne's.

The Germans called the 4th Armoured Division
"American Elite 4th Armoured Division"

Combat Command A of the 6th Armoured Division
captured some 40,000 Germans in a town called Fortress Brest in France
For this effectively carried out mission they were dubbed the
"Brassiere Boys"

The British Navy had their hands in the development of the tank
Hence several naval terms are used on the tank
such as hatch, deck, sponson, hull, bilge pump & bulkhead

"No Apricots Rule"
Amtracker's have not eaten apricots for close to 30 years,
as they are believed to be a jinx and bad luck for LVT's, AAV's & Tanks.

The first major achievement for the Tank was in November 1917 at Cambrai, France, when 300 British tanks attacked and defeated German defenses.

The greatest and largest tank battle in W.W.II was fought in Kursk, Russia.

No World War I American produced tank saw combat in Europe.

Chrysler was the largest tank factory in the United States
and produced 25,000 tanks during World War II.

Two of the greatest and most well known tank commanders in history are
United States General George Patton
Germany's Erwin Rommel.

The two most know TANK Aces of all time are;
United States Staff Sergeant Lafeyette G. Pool,
reported to have destroyed some 258 enemy vehicles.
Germany's Michael Wittman,
who is credited with destroying over 141 enemy tanks and 132 anti-tank guns.

The meaning behind the armored triangle:
Blue is for infantry, Red is for artillery,
Yellow is for cavalry,
the tank track is for mobility, the cannon for firepower,
and the lightning bolt is for speed.

The 761st "Black Panther" Tank Battalion became the first
African American armored unit to enter combat during World War II.

On February 16, 1916 the first tank division, known as a tank detachment was formed in England.

A really smart and properly executed salute is known as a "George Patton".

The first tank against tank battle took place on April 24, 1918 in an area around
Villero-Bretonneux, France.
When 14 German tanks when up against 14 British tanks.
The victory in this first tank fight went to the
#1 Tank of #1 Section, A Company, 1st Battalion Tank Corps.

The Black Beret was officially adopted in March 1924 by the Royal Tank Corp
in place of the peak field service cap,
which was found unsuitable for wearing inside the Tank.
In time the black beret would be the symbol of armored troops throughout the world.

J. Walter Christie, a U.S. designer of a revolutionary type of suspension,
known as the "Christie",
which allowed for high-speed cross country movement,
could not sell his invention to the U.S.
The Russians adopt his suspension, and used it in the Russian T-34 design.

Armoured colors:
United States: The triangle with red, blue and yellow
Germany: pink
Italy: red & blue
Poland: orange & black
Russia: red & black
Japanese: Green
France: Horizon Blue

Yes you can fry an egg on a tank - we have done it!

First tank ever built was nicknamed "Mother".

The father of the amphibious tank was the Roebling Family,
they also designer the Brooklyn Bridge.

The First W.W.I light tanks could be cranked started like the model-T.

One of the leading tank designers in Germany was "Porsche".

General Bert Hoffmeister was probably the best Canadian
armored commander of W.W.II.

After W.W.I a German tank training school was set up in Kazan, Russia.

During W.W.II there were funny tanks produced,
these were tanks that had odd uses.
One such tank was called a "DD", which means Duplex Drive.
The "DD" could swim in deep water using propellers on the back that were controlled by the tank commander.

Early W.W.I light tank commanders communicated his orders to the tank driver
by kicking the drivers shoulders.

Sir Ernest D. Swinton is known as the father of the British Tank.

The first tank corps motto was "Fear Naught", and used by the British tank corp.

On April 28th, 1918 the first American light tank battalion was formed.

Jean Baptiste Eugene Estienne is known as the father of the French tank.

The First French tank action commanded by Estienne was on April 16th, 1917 at Berry-au-Bac, France.

George Patton, Jr. commanded his first tank brigade on September 12th, 1918
It was the 304th U.S. Tank Brigade, at St. Mihiel Salient, France.

Adna R. Chaffee is known as the father of the U.S. Mechanized Forces,
during the rebirth in the 1930's of the armored forces.

The Tank in the 1950's puts down about 12 PSI (pressure per square inch)
on the ground, and a car in the 1950's put down about 8 to 10 PSI.

The W.W. II Ike jacket was named after Dwight D. Eisenhower,
copied off the British Battle Dress jacket, and was designed for tankers.

The greatest British trainer of armored soldiers was Major General Percy Hobart.
He also came up with the idea for the funny tanks.

Major General Israel Tal is the most famous Israeli armored commander.

One of Nazi Germany's famous panzer commanders was Sepp Dietrich.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Allied War Crimes Tribunal for his part in the Malmedy massacre.

Despite the infamous "slapping incident", Patton was a very warm-hearted man.
He was easily moved to tears by the carnage of war. He admired bravery above all things and abhorred cowards.

Posthumous Herione of the Soviet Union, Mariya Vasil'yevna Oktyabr'skaya
applied to the authorities to build a tank from her own personal savings,
so that she could fight against the Nazis.
This she did, first as a driver mechanic and then as a Guards Sergeant.
She was badly wounded in January 1944
and died two months later.

Tankers carry sidearms, usually, but always in a shoulder holster, not in a side holster. The reason is that it's a lot easier to get out of a tank hatch if you're not wearing a holster that can get hung up on the hatch opening.

The M60A2 Patton tank was nicknamed the Starship because of its overly complex turret/weapon system design that incorporated a 152mm cannon which could also fire a Shillelagh anti-tank missile. Because of the complexity of the system, as well as advancing technology, the M60A2 Starship saw only limited service in the US Army.

The M50 Ontos was a compact and ungainly looking fire support weapon mounting six 106mm recoilless rifles that served that Marine Corps. with distinction during the Vietnam Conflict. The term Ontos means "Thing" in Greek.

The M163 Vulcan Air Defense System was introduced in the early 1960's as a stop-gap measure which gave US ground forces limited gunned air defense capabilities until newer, more effective anti-aircraft systems could be developed. The imperfect weapon system served with the US Army in the Vietnam Conflict, Operation Just Cause in the late 1980's and in Desert Storm in 1991 until it's retirement in 1994. This makes the M163 Vulcan one of the longest serving stop gap measures and no suitable gunned air defense was ever produced to replace it in the US Army inventory.

A.A.F. Tank Museum
3401 U.S. Highway 29B
Danville, VA 24540
434-836-5323 Fax: 434-836-3532