El Alamein Firepower Display
Puckapunyal Army Base
Australia

I took the photos and I apologise for the poor quality. They were taken using high speed
film on a very overcast and dull day. To the best of my knowledge this event no longer
exists. The chance for civilians to witness, up close, their (military) tax dollar at work is
rare. This was an impressive and memorable event and one that impinged on all the
senses. The back wash from the blast of a Leopard 105mm is an experience all by itself.
 

Picture 1 - A standard Australian M113A1 LRV

These were originally ordered as a standard M113A1 but altered to suit Australian preference.
The Vietnam experience very soon showed the need for better protection for the vehicle commander. The Americans went the way of the ACAV retrofit armour kit.
Australia on the other hand sourced a 1 man manual turret from the Cadillac Cage company. This
is the same design of turret as fitted to the Cadillac Commando armoured car family (V-100 and
V-150). The turrets were intially fitted in Australia as some precise machining of the hull roof
is required if the turret bearing race is to have any durability. Later a machine jig was developed
and sent to Vietnam so that all vehicles could be altered to this version as soon as possible.

Picture 2 - Smoke Screen

Armoured vehicle deployed smoke grenades are quite impressive.
 
 

Unfortunatley, that is it. It was a typical Puckapunyal day when I was there "4 seasons in one day" with  the result that quite early in the afternoon the light deteriorated badly and all the rest of my photo's did not turn out much good.

 

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