battle sleds at Anzio

..has anyone ever read or heard about these battle sleds?...I was watching 'The Big Picture:Beachhead Anzio and saw these ..first time I've ever heard of them

..appears they were not too successful
Chapter 12: Rome and "The Forgotten Front"

 

A worthy goal to get infantry to keep up with the tanks, but I wouldn't want to ride in one of those ready made coffins.

 

good analogy ......

 

Might be a good way to get wounded soldiers off the battlefield to safety.

 

Or a half lid, armoured, that the infantry could fire from...or take supplies to a forward position... or could double as a pontoon bridge

 

....however, appears they could only be used in ''flat''/even/etc terrain--which greatly limited them--especially in Italy

 

I'm not sure it would have been popular with the troops, setting aside not having to walk/run into battle. The ride must have been rough, no real armor protection, very little ability to see what is shooting at you and a little awkward to get out of in a hurry.

 

This is a similar idea to the Porpoises that were used on D Day by SP artillery to tow ammunition ashore. It sounds like one of the nuttier ideas explored - and rejected in WW1.

I am not sure what the advantage might be compared to mounting the infantry in armoured half tracks or Bren carriers borrowed from the British..

 

The men are lying on their stomachs, so all you really see of them are the packs on their backs.

 

This was a little project of the 3rd Infantry Division - you can see General John O'Daniel observing alongside Mark Clark... I think Truscott's in there, too (now commander of VI corps). I found it quite fascinating when I first came across it in my research of Anzio. They went as far as designating a sled team for each regiment in the division. But, as has been noted, the terrain made the sleds impractical, as the area was covered with all kinds of canals, ditches, and winding gullies, and it didn't really catch on. Personally, I'm in agreement with you all... they look like little portable coffins. No thanks. But I'd have to think they would've really come in handy with evacuating casualties in certain situations, as harolds mentioned above.

 

....so, it was a divisional project only?

 

Sorry for the delay (lol)... but yes, that is my understanding. It was a project within the 3rd ID. But I could very well be wrong about that, I'm not 100% on it.

 

np..sometimes I'm gone from WW2F for some time....thanks for using the reply button....some don't and reply to posts = silly
...so, it seems some units ''invented''' their own contraptions.....

 

I recall the Red Army using these in going to the battle.not in large numbers but during Winter perhaps 41-43.

 

..as large as that theater was, I would think so

 

I think they used these By Stalin's order everywhere until they were considered useless.

 

One other disadvantage of these sleds is what might happen if the tank had to reverse or some other tank pass behind one?? There really isn't a lot of visibility from inside a tank.Lying down behind one isn't a great place to be. There are many eye witness accounts of wounded men being crushed by manouvering armour.