Title: Philippine Army Armor
Description: Request info abt number and types...
Description: Request info abt number and types...
Cygnus - April 29, 2007 01:38 PM (GMT)
Hi guys, I'm curious as to how many and types of tanks we did have. Manokski's site is indeed full of info, I'm curious abt the hardware we had before the 80's
There is a Sherman tank in Baguio in PMA. How many did we operate , what model and what units? Did we ever other tanks aside from M-41 bulldogs? Is it true we only had 7 of this?
Any pics and info will be appriciated, thanks
sorry I mean
Philippine Army Armor...
There is a Sherman tank in Baguio in PMA. How many did we operate , what model and what units? Did we ever other tanks aside from M-41 bulldogs? Is it true we only had 7 of this?
Any pics and info will be appriciated, thanks
sorry I mean
Philippine Army Armor...
MSantor - April 29, 2007 06:36 PM (GMT)
Well, if you've ever gone to the AFP Museum in Camp Aguinaldo, there is also a M24 Chafee light tank on display outside the museum, aside from a M41 Bulldog and an APC.
I'm not sure which kind of Sherman is on display on the PMA grounds. I assume it's probably is the "M4A3E8" or "Easy Eight" 76mm gun variant that was the most advanced version of the Sherman at the end of World War II; Easy Eight Shermans even saw service in the US military during the Korean War. You should probably look at pics of that Sherman and note the calibre of its gun barrel. If it's a shorter one, it's probably an earlier variant, with the 75mm gun.
I doubt the Philippines ever received the "M50 Isherman" that the Israelis used; they had modified their Easy Eights to 1960s standards to the point that they could take on Egyptian and Syrian T-54s, T-55s and possibly T-62s during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War.
If you read on the Korean War history of the Philippine Expeditionary Force to Korea (PEFTOK), you will note that the 10th BCT was given M24 Chafees instead of the promised Shermans.
Perhaps the other BCTs were given Shermans.
Here's a link:
http://www.geocities.com/peftok/10thbct.html
I'm not sure which kind of Sherman is on display on the PMA grounds. I assume it's probably is the "M4A3E8" or "Easy Eight" 76mm gun variant that was the most advanced version of the Sherman at the end of World War II; Easy Eight Shermans even saw service in the US military during the Korean War. You should probably look at pics of that Sherman and note the calibre of its gun barrel. If it's a shorter one, it's probably an earlier variant, with the 75mm gun.
I doubt the Philippines ever received the "M50 Isherman" that the Israelis used; they had modified their Easy Eights to 1960s standards to the point that they could take on Egyptian and Syrian T-54s, T-55s and possibly T-62s during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War.
If you read on the Korean War history of the Philippine Expeditionary Force to Korea (PEFTOK), you will note that the 10th BCT was given M24 Chafees instead of the promised Shermans.
Perhaps the other BCTs were given Shermans.
Here's a link:
http://www.geocities.com/peftok/10thbct.html
| QUOTE |
| The Philippines’ only armored battalion, the 10th BCT (Motorized) landed at Pusan on the southeast coast of Korea on 19 September 1950 after a four-day voyage from the Philippines on board a US Navy troop transport. The 10th was originally known as the 3rd Battalion Combat Team, a unit activated on 29 April 1949. The 3rd BCT was redesignated the 10th BCT (Motorized) in January 1950 to reflect its new role as the Philippines’ only armored battalion. It had a company of medium tanks (M-4 Sherman) and another company of light tanks. The 10th was selected as the first PEFTOK battalion to Korea because the Philippine Army believed it admirably suited to the “slugging type” of conventional warfare in Korea. The battalion's motto was "Steady On." Upon its arrival in Korea, the battalion’s strength stood at some 1,400 officers and men. Its “teeth” consisted of three rifle companies, a medium tank company, a reconnaissance company equipped with light tanks and a field artillery battery. Both tank companies arrived in Korea without tanks since the Americans had agreed to provide these. In the event, only the Recon Company received its tanks (M-24 Chaffee, a light reconnaissance tank) during the battalion’s tour in Korea. The tankless Tank Company was reorganized into a Heavy Weapons Company, becoming a highly decorated unit that won fame at the Battle of Yultong in April 1951. Col. Mariano Azurin, the first commanding officer of the 10th, was a tank man trained at the US Army armor school in Kentucky. Azurin organized and was the first commanding officer of the 3rd BCT. The 10th spent its first two weeks “in country” acclimatizing to the terrain, continuing unit training interrupted by its abrupt departure and taking in weapons and supplies. Bivouacked initially in the town of Miryang, 35 miles north of Pusan, the 10th was moved to other towns farther north and joined the war in the city of Waegwan. The battalion was first attached to the US 25th Infantry Division (Tropic Lightning) that fought in North and Central Luzon in the Philippines in 1945. Guerilla fighters Preceded by its reputation as a battle hardened anti-guerilla unit, the 10th was first given the mission of hunting down North Korean guerillas interdicting the main supply route (MSR) of the United Nations Command (UNC) in South Korea. The battalion’s first area of operations, based on Waegwan, covered more than 800 square miles and harbored about 3,000 guerillas. At Waegwan, the 10th took the war to the guerillas but at a price in casualties. Pvt. Alipio Ceciliano was killed in a guerilla ambush along the Naktong River, the first Filipino killed in action in the Korean War. The battalion was deployed in anti-guerilla operations during the first six months of its tour in Korea. Many North Korean guerillas were regular soldiers of the North Korean People’s Army (NKPA), well armed and with better knowledge of the rugged terrain than their UNC enemies. These soldiers had taken to the hills either because it was their mission, or because they had decided to fight on after being cut off from their units by the victorious UNC advance into North Korea following the Inch’on Landings on 15 September. Other guerillas were South Korean communists who had unsuccessfully tried to overthrow the government before the war. In September 1950, the UNC estimated that there were 35,000 communist guerillas in South Korea disrupting UNC road and railroad communications and attacking UNC units behind the front line. Guerilla attacks were especially bothersome to the Americans who sometimes took extreme countermeasures against them, including a tragic response at the village of No Gun Ri. The NKPA credited guerillas with helping defeat the US 24th Infantry Division (Victory) and capturing its commander, Maj. Gen. William Dean, in July 1950. The division, however, had sacrificed itself to gain time for the arrival of UNC reinforcements. The 24th had fought against the Japanese Army in Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao in the Philippines during World War 2. On 31 October, advanced elements of the 10th crossed the 38th Parallel dividing North and South Korea, an event reported to the Filipino public by Johnny Villasanta, a Filipino UN War Correspondent who accompanied the advanced unit. Villasanta was one of the first Filipino war correspondents in Korea and covered the war the longest. The next day, the rest of the battalion moved further north to Pyongyang, capital of North Korea, and was given the mission of securing the MSR from Kaesong to Pyongyang and clearing the area of guerillas. At the outskirts of the town of Miudong, the battalion fought its first pitched battle, this against a North Korean battalion, killing 50 while losing one man. In a bold raid on November 5, a five-man commando team led by Lt. Venancio “Bonny” Serrano captured 77 North Korean soldiers and sympathizers plus arms and ammunition. Bitter winter The brutal winter of 1950 was the coldest in 200 years with temperatures well below zero. Despite this, the 10th was without the heavy winter clothing that would allow its men to survive and fight in this arctic environment. This supply omission strained relations between Col. Azurin and the commanding officer of the American regiment to which the 10th was then attached. Azurin protested forcefully and was relieved of his command. The 10th was then fragmented, its companies being deployed to five widely separated towns. The battalion subsequently received its heavy winter gear including large amounts of clothing donated by Filipinos in response to “clothing drives” launched by the government, the media, schools and private organizations. Col. Dionisio Ojeda, however, replaced Col. Azurin as CO of the 10th BCT. (continued next page) 10th BATTALION COMBAT TEAM (MOTORIZED) Philippine Expeditionary Force to Korea (PEFTOK) (continued) The 10th was in this pitiful state when the Communist Chinese intervened in force. On November 25, the People’s Republic of China (PROC) sent more than 200,000 men in what it called the “Chinese People’s Volunteer Army” (CPV) against the UNC. Using speed and superior tactics, the lightly armed but combat hardened “volunteers” quickly defeated both the US Eighth Army and the US X Corps near the border of North Korea and China. Plunging southward, the CPV re-took Pyongyang and Seoul within the year. The 10th retreated with the UNC in this harsh winter of defeat that men of the US Army derisively called “The Big Bug Out.” The UNC defeat at the Battle of the Yalu ended its “Home for Christmas” campaign, and forced the US Army into the longest continual retreat in its history. As a rearguard unit, the 10th was one of the last UNC units to re-cross the 38th Parallel “the wrong way.” The battalion spent its first Christmas in Korea in the town of Suwon along the Han River. When the American-led UNC launched its counterattack in February 1951, the 10th went on the offensive as part of the US 3rd Infantry Division (Rock of the Marne), a unit that fought in Europe in both World Wars. By this time, the CPV was spent, suffering heavy losses in men and materiel. It began a deliberate withdrawal towards its bases in North Korea to refit and replace tired troops. In March and April, the 10th was in continuous action, capturing hill after hill from the Chinese. Now a front line fighting unit, the 10th pushed northward towards the 38th Parallel defeating Chinese counterattacks along the way. By 14 April, the hard driving 10th was the northernmost of all UNC units. The men were exhausted after close to two months of non-stop fighting but were in high morale. On the 17th, the 10th was stood down and reverted to the reserve of the US 65th Infantry Regiment (the “Borinqueneers”) composed of Puerto Ricans. The battalion was down to some 900 men. Most of its casualties, however, were non-battle in nature. The Battle of Yultong What we Filipinos commemorate as the Battle of Yultong was part of the biggest battle of the Korean War. The CPV and NKPA had massed over 250,000 men for their “Great Spring Offensive” against the advancing UNC. When it launched its counterattack on 22 April, the CPV stood on high ground overlooking the UNC. Again, the CPV had succeeded in massing its divisions unhindered, moving by night and hiding by day. Its fighting withdrawal, in which it had given up ground gained at a huge cost in men and materiel, had led the UNC into the jaws of a major counterattack. UNC strategy at the time involved establishing “lines” across the breadth of the Korean peninsula. These lines were used as springboards for attack or as sanctuaries in defense. This strategy was made possible by the narrowness of the Korean peninsula, which is some 200 miles across at its widest. A series of these lines, which ran west to east, were built at intervals across the peninsula. The northernmost of these lines, called Line Kansas, was located about 10 to 14 miles north of the 38th Parallel. Line Kansas had two northward bulges called Lines Wyoming and Utah, making both lines the northernmost UNC positions and logical targets for any counterattack. The 10th was rushed to reinforce Line Utah on 22 April amid positive signs of an imminent communist counterattack. The 10th defended a three-mile sector of the 40-mile long UNC front line in western Korea located above the Imjin River. It was still attached to the US 3rd Infantry Division. Arriving at the front on the morning of 22 April, the battalion quickly took over the forward positions of the 1st Battalion, US 65th Infantry Regiment, part of the US 3rd ID. The Filipinos began to improve their positions, digging more foxholes, siting machine guns and stringing more barbed wire. The 10th held a portion of the left shoulder of Line Utah astride Route 33, a major highway connecting Seoul and the city of Chorwon further north. The Puerto Rican’s were dug in on the 10th’s left flank. To the Puerto Rican’s left stood the British 29th Independent Infantry Brigade Group consisting of the Belgian battalion, the 1st Battalion Royal Ulster Rifles, the 1st Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers and the 1st Battalion of The Gloucestershire Regiment. These units were within the sector held by the 3rd US ID. Defending the left of the British was the ROK 1st Division, which also held the city of Munsan-ni, the western anchor of the UNC line. A battalion of the Turkish Brigade, part of the US 25th Infantry Division, held the line to the right of the 10th. The battalions of this division were strung out to the right of the Turks as were the battalions of the US 24th Infantry Division. The US 3rd, 25th and 24th Infantry Divisions constituted the US I Corps defending the western sector of the UNC line. The US IX Corps held the right of US I Corps. Opposite the 10th were the CPV 31st, 34th, 35th and 181st Divisions that were part of the CPV 12th Army. This army, which at full strength numbered some 40,000 men, formed part of the CPV III Army Group along with the CPV 15th and 60th Armies. More than 200,000 “volunteers” in 18 armies and 50,000 NKPA regulars were massed for their “Great Spring Offensive.” This formidable horde was supported by the heaviest concentration of Communist artillery yet seen in the war. The Chinese opened their attack on the UNC’s western front with a gigantic artillery barrage lasting over four hours in some of the sectors attacked. The 10th was hit five minutes past midnight on 23 April, Sunday. Baker Company defending the right was the first to be attacked. After hammering the rest of the battalion’s positions with artillery, mortar and automatic weapons fire the Chinese charged the Filipino line to the noise of bugles, whistles and gongs. They ran into a wall of fire thrown up by the 10th, many Chinese falling to the defenders. Although heavily outnumbered, the men of Able, Tank, Recon and Baker Companies in the front line resisted furiously backed by their light tanks, howitzers and mortars. The battalion’s front line remained unbroken. (continued next page) (SEE THE LINK FOR THE REST OF THE HISTORY) |
Cygnus - July 22, 2007 06:17 PM (GMT)
Thanks for the info, i did found some pics in the net of the M4 Sherman in PMA. Sad to say it had no markings of the PA. I did found a slideshow in youtube. It has a pic of a marine in front of the PA Sherman, it as a large white triangle in the middleof the hull [front].. Anybody else got pics of the other sides? I mean does it have a serial or body number in the side of its body or it just says Phil. Army?
I'm planing to make a model of the M4 Sherman of the PA in the next months, not a pro but just to kick my modeling started again.
Thanks
- - - - -
Anyway, this one looks cool! :armycheers:
Wish we did have this, 10 in the PSG and each Division a Mech Infantry Div... With 55 to 85 of this each... Natural Marder IFV na upgraded turrets like sa BMP-T or Israeli 35m RCWS [if we do get to afford them, pero kahit the 25mm gun is ok].
I dont think Israel would even sell us the Merks even if we could afford it, anyway with a modern Army it should have modern combat support service ike EngBats that has ABLVs and etc... Why stick to roads when you could be ambushed, with portable bridges the enemy will not know where you will cross.
- - - - -
Wish all the Simbas were all equipt with 25m guns, youknow if we did have FLIR and Infra equipt armored vehicles the enemies would have been minced from a distance with the 25m guns, no need to endanger the vehicles. In the case of the Marines had the V-150 had 25mm guns or 35mm guns, kahit wild guess na shots [kung saan my usok or may pumutok - ay dung blast it to hell!] matakut lang mga rebelde at magtakbuhan sa imong ina.
I'm planing to make a model of the M4 Sherman of the PA in the next months, not a pro but just to kick my modeling started again.
Thanks
- - - - -
Anyway, this one looks cool! :armycheers:
Wish we did have this, 10 in the PSG and each Division a Mech Infantry Div... With 55 to 85 of this each... Natural Marder IFV na upgraded turrets like sa BMP-T or Israeli 35m RCWS [if we do get to afford them, pero kahit the 25mm gun is ok].
I dont think Israel would even sell us the Merks even if we could afford it, anyway with a modern Army it should have modern combat support service ike EngBats that has ABLVs and etc... Why stick to roads when you could be ambushed, with portable bridges the enemy will not know where you will cross.
- - - - -
Wish all the Simbas were all equipt with 25m guns, youknow if we did have FLIR and Infra equipt armored vehicles the enemies would have been minced from a distance with the 25m guns, no need to endanger the vehicles. In the case of the Marines had the V-150 had 25mm guns or 35mm guns, kahit wild guess na shots [kung saan my usok or may pumutok - ay dung blast it to hell!] matakut lang mga rebelde at magtakbuhan sa imong ina.
Lorenz_Mallari - July 23, 2007 10:31 AM (GMT)
why not buy russian made tanks?
Cygnus - July 23, 2007 04:52 PM (GMT)
| QUOTE (Lorenz_Mallari @ Jul 23 2007, 06:31 PM) |
| why not buy russian made tanks? |
As a stop gap, Russian is good. For a long term hardware, I prefer the stated hardware ^
Lorenz_Mallari - July 25, 2007 02:53 AM (GMT)
basta reliable ung type
Cygnus - August 3, 2007 11:00 AM (GMT)
When the AFP is better funded and done with the modernization. Hopefuly we'll have something like this, kahit manned version. A weapons system that tackles all threats air, armor or enemy troops.
FCS Testbed
FCS Testbed
judiel28 - August 8, 2007 04:23 AM (GMT)
Armor
The Philippine Army operates a variety of armored vehicles from either the US, Great Britain and some from Portugal.
The majority of armored vehicles are wheeled - V-150s, Simbas, and Chaimites. Tracked vehicles are M113s and early model Scorpions.
M113 - Over 100 delivered including units later converted to M113FSVs.
M113FSV
AIFV - 85 units delivered.
V-150 -165 delivered including 10 V150S delivered in 1994. 20 passed on to the PMC
Chaimite - 20 delivered
Scorpion - 41 delivered
Simba APC - 150 units. Some have already been lost in combat with rebel forces.
Kalakian - locally produced armored vehicle.
The Kalakian (=Water Buffalo) APC is a locally built armored vehicle, 20 of which have been ordered from the manufacturer by the Philippine Army. It is armed with one 40mm AGL, one 7.62mm mg and one .50 cal mg. It is roughly based on the Simba armored vehicle but is dimensionally larger and incorporates some changes to reflect the army's experience with the Simba (ie, heavier firepower and a different turret. Due to its small size, the .50 cal Simba turret was limited in the amount of firepower it could be adapted to carry, larger doors on both sides - the Simba has a door on only one side)
Base on an internet site i visited.
It is not enough for our 100000 fearless Soldiers :salute:
The Philippine Army operates a variety of armored vehicles from either the US, Great Britain and some from Portugal.
The majority of armored vehicles are wheeled - V-150s, Simbas, and Chaimites. Tracked vehicles are M113s and early model Scorpions.
M113 - Over 100 delivered including units later converted to M113FSVs.
M113FSV
AIFV - 85 units delivered.
V-150 -165 delivered including 10 V150S delivered in 1994. 20 passed on to the PMC
Chaimite - 20 delivered
Scorpion - 41 delivered
Simba APC - 150 units. Some have already been lost in combat with rebel forces.
Kalakian - locally produced armored vehicle.
The Kalakian (=Water Buffalo) APC is a locally built armored vehicle, 20 of which have been ordered from the manufacturer by the Philippine Army. It is armed with one 40mm AGL, one 7.62mm mg and one .50 cal mg. It is roughly based on the Simba armored vehicle but is dimensionally larger and incorporates some changes to reflect the army's experience with the Simba (ie, heavier firepower and a different turret. Due to its small size, the .50 cal Simba turret was limited in the amount of firepower it could be adapted to carry, larger doors on both sides - the Simba has a door on only one side)
Base on an internet site i visited.
It is not enough for our 100000 fearless Soldiers :salute: