Sherman Crab T147955 “Avalon” Overloon. Regiment? Damage?

[Jakko Westerbeke]

Originally Posted by David Dunlop

The molten metal jet created by a Panzerfaust

Small correction, to try and get rid of this common misconception Shaped charges don’t melt the metal, it stays sold but flows like a liquid because of the high relative velocities involved. Of course the material heats up because of the friction between the shaped charge’s liner and the armour plate, but the charge doesn’t actually melt anything. Tests with the liner being cut into sections and fired into water resulted in pieces corresponding to the cut liner being recovered, without having melted together.

Originally Posted by David Dunlop

By comparison, a 20mm solid shot round would have a relatively consistent hole through the metal it hit and would also produce a circular spall on the inside wall.

Last year, Alex shared photos of Avalon’s interior with me, and looking at them, I see spall scars around the penetrations and rounded, slightly bulged areas in other places where I suppose a round didn’t make it all the way through.

To me it looks like someone fired an automatic cannon at it, ±20 mm calibre. Perhaps a German AA gun, perhaps an aircraft? The slight downward angle would point to the latter, but whether it was German or British is anyone’s guess, I suppose.