Ok Obss. Pay close attention to what I'm going to say.

I had the chance to go into several WW2 tanks in a museum. Mind you, I'm a small guy 1.63m or 5'5" and at the time I was fit enough, no belly.

I'm not going to say other nation's tanks are any better, except that as it seems natural, you could give a ball inside the JSU-152, band included.

But I'll tell you about the Pzkfw IV Ausf H.

Driver- He sits on a sprung and padded seat (rather comfortable!) has his hatch above his head where he can stick his head out, but ony with the turret straight ahead. If the turrets budges you better be warned and get down quickly. He has a letterbox slit ahead of him to see the way, some 12" away from his eyes. Now try and cover your car's windshield with a large card, cut open a 8x2" slot and tell me how well you can drive. If he has to leave in the hurry and the hatch is locked by the turret, he has to swing the seat back so he can escape through the gunner's position, IF it's not blocked by the turret basket of it the gunner himself isn't able to move away if his dead or wounded. You can't shift sideways because of the large grearbox. So you fry.

Ditto for the hull gunner, who can only peer through a peephole. He can only move his MG-34 a bit left and right, up and down with his head, which has a strange skull-cap connected to the gun. You move your head, you move the gun. Same problems in getting out.

The turret crew are better off:

The loader has half a dozen ready ammo available, but after these are spent he has to dig around the tank to find some more from under the turret basket and other crannies, on a moving vehicle and the said turret basket moving erratically, so he risks losing a hand if tryng to fetch a round from below. Thankfully he has a largish hatch on the side. Oh, only a small 6-8" rebatable round wooden seat for him when out of action.

The gunner is all right. A good padded seat with a low back, and a turret hatch. Miserable vision ahead, but all tanks are like that.

The commander, the sexiest position of all. Ha! The hatch is in direct line with the gun. He has a small wooden seat like the loader. Those pretty pics we see with the commander heroically standing up half-body outside the hatch only means that he can barely stand on his seat with one foot only! When he has to sit down his head will be above the turret top level inside that bucket of a hatch, full of sharp vision block levers, peering through those thick vision blocks which if not perfectly clean (rain, mud, dust) he can't see at all! And he has to keep his knees well back, and tuck his stomach well in, for if he gives his gunner a fire order the gun breech will be slamming back and if he relaxes his gut then you need a new commander because that one is now dead with a belly stove in by the gun breech.

And they say the German tanks were especially comfortable and ergonomical. If that is the truth then I can't imagine the others.

Remember I told you I was a small and fit guy. I could move with great difficulty from position to position, and had trouble moving in and out from hatches. Now imagine doing that wounded or dragging an uncounscious comrade.

After that, no more romantic ideas about tank warfare. It's horror!

At least in infantry when somebody shoots at you you can duck and won't die a fiery death!

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