RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

Did anyone ever read Dr Doolittle books by Hugh Lofting? Or even see the film with Rex Harrison? You may remember the Pushmepullyou, which had a head at both ends. Here is the British Army versionfrom the 1950s Photo courtesy The Tank Museum. It was not put into production.

P.S. It was posted on the Tank Museum Facebook page yesterday

Just the sort of thing you would need for narrow west country lanes down your way where there is no room to turn around ........

Son of a gun-ner wrote:In a word, WHY?

erm.... look at the p.s. posted by silversurfer1947 and see what date he said it was posted...... the P.S might mean Photoshopped?

I only came across it this morning. I wondered if anyone might want to have a go at making one, seeing what has been made so far from the HL truck.

Almost credible, and would make for the ultimate tug-of-war between two irate squaddies
That said, I could have sworn I'd seen a pic of a futuristic SPG, or tank with an automated turret, that also sported a rear (emergency) driving position... Perhaps it was French or Italian, as they like a full set of gears for reversing.
Then again, there are pushmepullyou trains, and large all wheel-steering mobile cranes, I believe.
Whilst looking for one, I chanced upon this admirable and desirable model crane. If I were to diversify, I might try one of these.. Clearly, it's not 1/16..but it's still a good size.

Roy, your comment about Italian reverse gears reminded me of a story I once heard.

It is a historical fact that the reason the British Redcoats wore red coats was for the psychological effect upon their enemy. If a soldier was wounded in battle the blood wouldn't show up on the Red Coat which would help to make the Redcoats seem invincible. It is for much the same reason that the Italian Army has always worn brown pants.

Max-U52 wrote:Roy, your comment about Italian reverse gears reminded me of a story I once heard.

It is a historical fact that the reason the British Redcoats wore red coats was for the psychological effect upon their enemy. If a soldier was wounded in battle the blood wouldn't show up on the Red Coat which would help to make the Redcoats seem invincible. It is for much the same reason that the Italian Army has always worn brown pants.

Yes, I know that shaggy dog story, Gary. Generally, it appears as a joke in which a British General is engaging with the enemy, and every time he does, he asks his batman to fetch his red tunic. When asked by the batman later why he always asked for the tunic before a skirmish began, he replied-(confidentially- )that he didn't want to let the men see him bleed, if wounded. Later, when a breathless batman ran in to inform the general that they were completely surrounded, the general calmly asked for his brown trousers to be fetched.

I think it is fair to say the Italian nation had a very tough time in WW1 fighting Austria & Hungary in the mountains & had little or no enthusiasm for Mussolini's foreign ventures in WW2. In WW1 their civilians suffered enormous hardship and there were almost as many civilians died as combat troops.

I have visited a couple of Italian museums from WW1 and have seen some of the places in the mountains where they fought the Austrians & must admit to respecting the courage of their alpine troops & the conditions they fought under. I don't think they were any less brave than the troops on the western front.

Thanks, Son of a gun-ner......

I have no Italian blood in me (unless it was ancient roman), I too remember the schoolboy jokes about Italian tanks and how many reverse gears they had, but my trips to Italy on holiday made me realise how unfair we were in judging them. There were 500,000 + Italian civilian casualties in WW1, slightly more combat troops. A sobering thought for us all.