I know I’m dabbling in revisionist history a bit here, but I suppose the acid test (as to the vehicle’s potential and effectiveness) would be to pose the question, “What if the Brits had something like it at Arnhem?” ie SP as opposed to the towed stuff they did have. I know it’s very lightly armoured but footage does show that it was quite nimble.
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I always wonder about these things too Brian. They certainly would have offered more mobility and a limited punch to use against light skinned vehicles, MBTs would have been another matter unless they could hit one on the arse perhaps ? Or take out a track for a mobility kill I suppose.
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The galling thing is (from an Arnhem- what might have been aspect) that the Brits were developing something not a million miles away from the ASU-57, in the form of the Alecto SP gun; there was a 95mm howitzer-armed version, and possibly what must have been 6 Pdr (57mm) version, but they didn’t come to fruition in time - certainly not for Arnhem - but were seen in Berlin at/after the war’s end:
A bit chunkier than the ASU but I’m assuming an airportability; anyway, they served in BAOR later, and of all places, in Libya (run by the Brits until c.1950 I think).
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Before following this threat I knew nothing about this little SPG and I’m so glad you put a figure with it as I hadn’t appreciated quite how small it was. Great job with the kit!
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Thank you for the kind words!
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Holy cow! Brian where did you find this little gem? Amazing. I’m sure not many were made but wow.
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I’m not sure either (how many were made that is); the King’s Dragoon Guards had a round a dozen I believe in Libya in 1947.
Modelling-wise there appears to be one in 1:72 - see here:
henkofholland mastermodelling military vehicles scale 1/72-1/76 (fox3000.com)
and one in 1:76 from Giesbers (image from Scalemates):
I don’t believe there are any available in 1:35 - which is a pity!
However, more info on the development and design here:
Alecto - Tank Design & Development - Rare Images (youtube.com)
Not an uninteresting vehicle I feel!
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Just for completeness’ sake I’ve found a larger pic of the Alecto in Berlin - note the shattered Panther:
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Great pics there Brian. So the Alecto is small out growth of the Tetrarch? It appears to have the same suspension. And was this specifically designed for Airborne units?
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As I understand it yeah; that said, it looks as though it might be a bit wide to say, fit in a Hamilcar glider. Anyway, I assume they knew what they were doing (always a hope when dealing with British military procurement!)
I imagine the 6 Pdr version might, just might have been a game changer at Arnhem.
It was also probably fun thrashing one of them over the Libyan desert post-war I should think - it looks as though it could go a fair bit.
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Yes I’m sure it would have. Also would have helped if the bridges at Nijmegen were captured sooner allowing 30 Corps.to get to Arnhem quicker, but that’s a whole other discussion lol.
What a fascinating little vehicle. Wonder if there is one hanging around in a museum somewhere?
You’ve got me thinking about a scratch building project now……
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If you revisit the video above, at the end the guy more or less confirms that there are no Alectos anywhere - which I suspect is probably true. A shame really, as I said before, not an uninteresting little vehicle.
Scratching? Well over to you - Accurate Armour used to do a Tetrarch which would provide the suspension and perhaps a little more, but that’s about it.
A 1:35 version would look good though!
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Took these today at The Armor and Cavalry Collection at Fort Moore. I, of course, forgot to ask where it originated from.
I only had an hour and i was like a kid in a candy store or i would have taken more photos.
The collection is awesome and it looks like a lot of good work is getting done there. Its not open to the public but i know they have 1 or 2 open houses every year.
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Thomas thanks so much for the great pics! It’s amazing how much detail there is on this little vehicle. Really illustrates how much is missing from the kit. But it does look like an ASU-57 at the end of the day.
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