Hobby Master 1/72 M24 Bison Douaumont Escadron de Marche du 1er RCC Peleton Carette Die Bien Phu 1954 (HG3605)

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Hobby Master 1/72 M24 Bison Douaumont Escadron de Marche du 1er RCC Peleton Carette Die Bien Phu 1954 (HG3605)

Late in WWII the M24 replaced the M5 Stuart and with its 75mm main gun became one of the first US designed tanks to be able to take on the German armor. The M24 was one of the first tanks to cross the Rhine as the Allies pushed deeper into Germany. The tank was quite unique by being able to house five persons in a light tank. The designers made sure the crew were able to provide adequate self-defense by providing two 7.62mm machine guns, one anti-aircraft 12.7mm heavy machine gun and 51mm smoke grenade-launchers. There were over 4,000 M24s built and because of its speed, agility and reliability over 30 countries added them to their arsenal well into the 1970s. This tank would prove to be more than adequate during the Korean and Vietnam Wars.

The French military established a base at Dien Bien Phu Vietnam to act as an offensive base. From here they could launch attacks on the Viet Minh in neighboring areas or use it as a defensive base that could destroy the attacking enemy using the large amount of firepower they had assembled. As part of the French offensive weaponry they flew 10 M24 tanks to the base. The French didn't possess an aircraft capable of lifting a fully assembled M24 so each tank was disassembled into 180 parts. Each tank required 8 aircraft to transfer it to the front line. On January 15, 1954 all 10 tanks were reassembled and on January 20th they were divided into 3 platoons each with 3 tanks and one HQ tank for Squadron Commander Capitaine Yves Hervou?t. The squadron was named Escadron de Marche du 1er Regiment de Chasseurs a Cheval. Each tank was named after cities, locations or battles and was painted in large white letters on the sides of the turret. These names were used as radio call signs and the crews referred to the M24 as Bison and the Viet Minh called them Oxen. The French had strong points around Dien Bien Phu and each one was named after a woman. From these points they would strike out at enemy placements in the hillside and rout them but on March 13, 1954 the tables began to turn. The Viet Minh launched a massive artillery barrage from the surrounding hills that made the French base an easy target. After several hours of shelling, wave after wave of foot soldiers began swarming the strong points. The first point fell that night with the second falling a day and a half later. The M24s were used extensively to halt the advance but this was only briefly effective. As more and more ground was lost the tanks became more exposed to enemy artillery fire. The tank Douaumont and one other suffered severe hits killing several crew members. The damage left the tanks immobile but they could continue to be used as pillboxes. Through each see-saw battle each tank fired an average of 60 to 100 shells and when the Viet Minh finally succeeded in over running Dien Bien Phu on May 7, 1954 each tank had fired an average of 1500 shells. The Bison had performed admirably with only 3 breaking down due to problems with the recoil mechanism caused by such heavy and almost continuous use. Before the enemy completed their capture of the base the M24 crews destroyed what was left so they couldn't be used again. During its time in service with the French Military they had received 1254 M24s, the largest number for any foreign country.

Hobby Master 1/72 M24 Bison Douaumont Escadron de Marche du 1er RCC Peleton Carette Die Bien Phu 1954 (HG3605)

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Website: 2
Available from shops: Cardiff: 1, Plymouth: 1, Worcester: 1 (explain)
(Prod Ref #75047)

Price: £16.99

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