That plow on the front of the tank is for burying alive Iraqis waiting in trenches.
note the obstacle-clearing add-ons on the prow of that tank hull. Or does that lower and become a mine plow? Enquiring minds want to know! I hadn't noticed that on first viewing.
You got it, that's the M1 Mine Clearing System, essentially an upgraded and adjustable improvement of the Cullin Hedgerow Device fitted to some US tanks through the built-up hedgerows of the Bocage country in France during WWII.
But though tanks owe much of their nomenclature to Naval terminology, the front of the tank isn't generally referred to as the prow, but rather as the *bow*, though in this case specifically, we're discussing an attachment in front of the frontal armor area known as the *glacis plate*. It's just about as common to hear todays tank crews say *up front* or the *front end*, though a few other naval-derived terms hang on.
More about the M1 Mine Clearing System as fitted to the M1 Abrams tank *here*.
-archy-/-
I didn't know those things had an official name. If I'm not mistaken, they were made from recycled beach obstacles. They were made from whatever metal was available to the battalion and regimental Ordnance maintenance shops that built and fitted them, using whatever material was at hand, including cut-up armor plating from shot-up halftracks, destroyed buildings and tanks, and those recycled beach obstacles handy to the first maintenance shops landed at the Normandy Beachhead in June of 1944.
See Omar Bradley's autobiography *A Soldier's Story* for details of Sgt Curtis Cullin and his desperately-needed invention, brought back to use in Vietnam as the Rome Plow *Stinger* fitted to D-8 bulldozer blades for clearing Vietnam's triple canopy jungle, and in Desert Storm and Afghanistan for clearing minefields and breaching defensive sand berms.
But if the current devices are are versatile and better built than the hastily-assembled units thrown together to solve the tank crews' WWII problem, there's no doubt that Sgt Cullin would immediately recognize the grandson of his brainchild, as useful nowadays on the M1 Abrams as it was then on the M4 Sherman or M5 light recon tanks. I believe Sgt. Cullin was presented with the Medal of Merit for his ingeniuity and efforts. He earned it.
Thanks for putting it in perspective. You're right, absolutely right.
Outstanding pics, as always. Keep up the great work! Merry Christmas and God bless our troops!
Found this - looks like lots of ME types go through Turkey trying to get out of hell:
Refugees rescued at sea Sunday, December 22, 2002
By DEREK GATOPOULOS
Associated Press Writer
MANDOUDI, Greece -- Nearly 100 illegal immigrants sat shivering in blankets and ill-fitting clothes Saturday, survivors of a deadly attempt to smuggle them into the country by sea, as authorities feared more tragedies over the Christmas holidays.
Smugglers of immigrants step up their atttempts during major holidays, when law enforcement agencies are understaffed, officials say.
The latest survivors, under guard Saturday in a warehouse, were rescued after a dingy and a leaky fishing boat carrying Afghans, Iraqis, Kashmiris, Palestinians and others were thrown into the sea Thursday by a storm near the Aegean island of Evia.
At least four people died, and the coast guard was still searching Saturday for up to 20 people others feared drowned, in a rescue effort frequently interrupted by bad gale force winds, rain and snow.
Illegal immigration has become a major concern for European Union-member Greece and human trafficking and frequent deaths from drowning have come to represent the dark side of the holidays.
"They come on days when the weather is bad, and during holidays," said Prodromos Enotiadis, mayor of Mandoudi, where most of the 98 survivors of Thursday's accident were being held in a warehouse under armed guard.
Evia, lined with remote beaches and linked by bridge to the Greek mainland, is a common target for traffickers. "This is the third, no the fourth, time we have had this problem. Last year, we had a cargo ship carrying 280 people," Enotiadis said.
Residents of this economically depressed town offered clothes and food for the immigrants.
They are led to the toilet in groups of three. Coast guards wearing surgical masks and gloves hand out food and conduct frequent head counts.
"I'm from Kashmir," said one smiling man who looked happy to be alive. "Thank God" he said, opening his hands in the Muslim sign of prayer. "What day is it?" asked another. "Is it the 25th?"
A few yards away, their possessions were strewn across the beach.
Pants, belts, rolls of toilet paper and packets of unworn socks littered the area around the dinghy where they spent five days.
Coast guard officials said the immigrants each paid $2,000 for the journey from Turkey.
Greece, fearing war in Iraq could send more refugees westward, says illegal immigration will be a main priority when it takes over the EU's six-month presidency on Jan. 1.
Athens is pressing the 15-nation bloc for plans to create a European border police by 2004 that also will include sea patrols.
In the wake of the latest deadly accident, Premier Costas Simitis renewed a call for EU assistance to help Greece deal with the problem.
"This has all been orchestrated by traffickers ... These boats were sunk deliberately so that the immigrants could not be turned back," Simitis said Friday.
"In Greece, there are a million foreigners in a country with a population of 10 million. There are schools with more immigrant children than Greeks," he said. "This problem is very acute."
