Simon Dunstan, "Armour of the Vietnam Wars" (Vanguard 42) (repost)
Simon Dunstan, "Armour of the Vietnam Wars" (Vanguard 42)
Publisher: Osprey | 1985 | ISBN: 0850455855 | English | PDF | 48 pages | 28.55 Mb
Publisher: Osprey | 1985 | ISBN: 0850455855 | English | PDF | 48 pages | 28.55 Mb
As part of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), an armoured force was organised in 1956 comprising four armoured cavalry squadrons equipped with obsolescent equipment left by the French. Each squadron had one troop of M24 Chaffees and two reconnaissance troops of M8 armoured cars, M8 self-propelled howitzers and M3 half-tracks. However, the tanks were not employed offensively against the Vietnamese Communists (Viet Cong), although they were used to topple and sustain successive governments in Saigon. For this reason, and because most of their officers were political appointees, armour personnel were known derisively as 'coup troops'. Only the ageless M8 armoured car was used tactically for patrolling, armed escort, and to keep open ground lines of communication.
Simon Dunstan, "Armour of the Vietnam Wars" (Vanguard 42) (repost)
