AFV Recognition Bulletins (and posters)?

Discussion in 'WW2 Militaria' started by Chris C, May 16, 2021.

  1. Chris C

    Chris C Canadian

    Hi all,

    I was wondering what exactly were in the AFV Recognition bullets issued by (if abebooks is to be trusted) the AFV Publications Section at Bovington? I gather that during the war there were five, with the last one issued in July 1945.

    Did these include the blocky black-with-gap silhouette images that one sometimes sees in recognition posters?

    (I am not sure about the legality... all those images must be out of copyright, right? I have a hankering to make shirts or something bearing those images.)

    On one of my trips to the Canadian archives I stumbled across a stapled-up recognition poster of a Comet tank. I remember it having a yellow background and black and white shaded images at different angles. Unfortunately it was folded in 4s or 6s and stapled to the rest of the file, and at that time I did not know that I could ask for the staples to be removed. Consequently... I did not take a photo of what I even could see, and I no longer remember which archive file it was in any more.
     
  2. AB64

    AB64 Senior Member

    Not sure about Bulletins but there are these 3 booklets - I think this is the full range

    1.jpg 2.JPG 3 (2).jpg
     
    Chris C likes this.
  3. Chris C

    Chris C Canadian

    I thought those were the same thing but now I'm not entirely sure. Maybe the information in the abebooks sales is wrong.

    Bulletin number 3 actually has a description, but the date given is Jan 45. "Original Buff card covers 3 typescript pages + Photos and Plates This Edition Covers The Cromwell, Comet and Churchill Tank"

    A.F.V RECOGNITION BULLETIN No3 by Anon: (1945) | E.J Morten Booksellers BA
    A.F.V. RECOGNITION BULLETIN No.4. by Anon: (1945) | E.J Morten Booksellers BA
    A.F.V. RECOGNITION BULLETIN NO.5. by Anon: (1945) | E.J Morten Booksellers BA
     
  4. AB64

    AB64 Senior Member

    I don't think they are the same thing as I've only seen 1-3 and think thats the full range of these
     
    Chris C likes this.
  5. Chris C

    Chris C Canadian

    Well, what are the interior contents of those like?
     
  6. AB64

    AB64 Senior Member

    A few pages from Vol1 - it starts with basic principals of recognition, then breaks into different countries with a bit about their general features then into individual types with drawings and at the end are pages of photos.

    IMG_20210517_0003.jpg IMG_20210517_0002.jpg IMG_20210517_0001.jpg IMG_20210517_0004.jpg
     
    Chris C likes this.
  7. Chris C

    Chris C Canadian

    Thanks AB. It is the blocky black and white images like the first and last ones on the page of the T-60 that I am most interested in.

    I'm going to have to try to find out what these bulletins were as opposed to booklets. Perhaps they were supplements to the booklets.

    There were also posters like the following, I gather, but I got this image from eBay.

    poster.jpeg
     
  8. Gary Kennedy

    Gary Kennedy Member

    From information shared, I understand there were five AFV Recognition Bulletins issued, starting August 1944 and ending July 1945, so quite late on in proceedings. They look to have been issued by the AFV School at Bovington. There were also AFV Recognition charts, a couple with dates of May 1943 attributed, covering British, US, Russian, German and Japanese vehicles. The AFV Recognition booklets, as detailed above, look to have been issued in three parts, plus a supplement to Part I. MLRS Books has PDF of 'four parts' so I would presume that counts the supplement. I've not seen any of these publications or posters so can't offer any opinions.

    Gary
     
    Chris C likes this.
  9. ceolredmonger

    ceolredmonger Member

    I recall seeing a couple of AFV recognition guides in the collection of York Castle Museum (AD2000s). Not part of any archive, simply a random pieces of ephemera. Iirc,
    One is c.1942/43 and is a data type booklet in an informal civilian style. It does include US types not actually used - e.g. M6 Heavy & Boarhound.
    The other is a more basic issue guide for friendly vehicle shape recognition with lots of formal photos from a range of aspects of different types of vehicles. These appear taken specifically for the purpose, of basic versions of the vehicle with no stowage and edited to have no background. Similar to the rather stark photos taken at Chertsey etc..
     
    Chris C likes this.
  10. Packhow75

    Packhow75 Senior Member

    Chris

    The are not the same publications as the "war office" ones - the info on Abe was correct.

    I had a chat with the book seller, obtained some photos, have done a deal for the lot and am now waiting for the postman to deliver.

    Had the seller put better descriptions and photos, I suspect they may have sold sooner.

    It would be nice now to find edition no 1.

    Happy to provide an update once I've had a good read.

    Tim
     
    Chris C likes this.
  11. Chris C

    Chris C Canadian

    Would love to see a picture or pictures of your finds when you've read them :)
     

Share This Page