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Sherman Tank in Action Photos


Jim Baker
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Quick questionGuru/Jim..did the M4A6 ever make production ?

 

Regards

 

Lloyd

 

M-4 (welded hull,Continental engine):

6748 75mm gun (Brit. Sherman I) ...

........Late production composition hull (Brit. Sherman Hybrid I)

1641 105mm howitzer (Brit. Sherman IB)

8389 Total

 

M-4A1 (cast hull, Continental engine):

6281 75mm gun (Brit. Sherman II)

3396 76mm gun (Brit. Sherman IIA)

9677 Total

 

M-4A2 (welded hull, GM 6046 diesel engine)

8053 75mm gun (Brit. Sherman III)

3230 76mm gun (Brit. Sherman IIIA)

11283 Total

 

M-4A3 (welded hull, Ford GAA engine):

5015 75mm gun (254 rebuilt to M-4A3E2) (Brit. Sherman IV)

3370 76mm gun (Brit. Sherman IVA)

3039 105mm howitzer (Brit. Sherman IVB)

11242 total

 

M-4A3E2 (M-4A3 75mm gun Assault "Jumbo")

(rebuilt from M-4A3 75mm gun)

 

M-4A4 (lengthened welded hull, 5 Chrysler six-cylinder engines)

7499 75mm gun (Brit. Sherman V)

 

M-4A5 (US designation for Canadian "Ram")

 

M-4A6 (lengthened welded hull, Capterpiller D-200 diesel engine)

75 75mm gun (Brit. Sherman VII)

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421456.jpg

 

"13 January 1945. A tank destroyer of the 703rd Tank Destroyer Battalion, 3rd Armored Division, moves past disabled German tank to engage the enemy 1/2 mile ahead, south of Langlir, Belgium." US Army signal Corps photo #412456.

 

 

455772.jpg

 

 

"Tanks of the 3rd Armored Division fire at German positions on the other side of the hill near Trou-De-Bra, Belgium, to pave the way for an attack in that sector. 2nd Bn, 32nd Regt, 3rd Armd Div., FUSA." US Army Signal Corp photo #455772.

 

456531.jpg

 

 

"3rd Armored Division tank just hit minefield near Manhay - sappers going forward to clean it out." US Army Signal Corps photo #456531.

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This image of an M-4 tank crew and all of the equipment and gear used by them, including ammunition load was taken from Tanks & Armored Vehicles 1900-1945 by Col. Robert J. Hicks. Although this is a litho print and scanning it hasn’t improved it most of the items can be recognized.

 

The tank commander is one of the two sergeants standing at right, the other sergeant is the gunner. All wear the standard tanker jacket, helmet and goggles. They also all carry .45 caliber pistols, holsters and pistol belts.

 

The items in front of the right of the left soldier are (top to bottom) gas masks, bedrolls w/M1910 canteens in M1917 mounted canteen covers, and three angle head flashlights on top of unidentified rolled canvas items.

 

To the right of the tools in front of the middle soldier are spare track end connectors, spare track pads and grousers that are used to provide additional traction in mud and icy conditions. The five boxes in front of the tools are the periscopes with the lenses to the left. In front of the periscopes is the telescopic sight for the main gun. In front of the sight is a M1928A1 .45 ACP SMG, to the right two M1919 .30 caliber MGs (1 coax and 1 in a bow flex mount at the asst. driver/radio operator position. The M2 .50 caliber MG is at center, and to the right, a binocular case, a spare .50 cal. Barrel, 2 spare .30 ca. barrels in cases, and a collapsed tripod for ground mounting one of the M1919 Mgs.

 

In front of end connectors are small arms spare parts, a jointed cleaning rod in carrying case and a combination tool that appears to have wrenches and the head space and timing gauges for the .50 cal. MG. The three pole like objects at right center are the jointed cleaning rod for the main gun. The two angular objects between the main gun cleaning rod and the tow cable are the track jacks used to bring the ends of the track together for final assembly. The object at right rear is the tarp that will completely cover the tank.

 

The bright cans at right front are probably oil and grease. To the left is a canvas collapsible bucket and behind appears to be smoke grenades Center front are stacks of main gun ammunition that are probably a mix of smoke, high explosive and anti-armor rounds. Just behind the right hand stack of main gun ammunition are two white hot shell handling mitts the loader uses to clear expended cases out of the turret. Left of the main gun ammunition are 18 boxes of belted .30 caliber ammunition. The boxes behind appear to be .50 ammunition.

 

Among the tools at right is a gas can nozzle although no gas cans are visible here (possibly out of view at right). The web objects inside the tow cable appears to be an engine sling, used to take out and put in the engine.

 

post-85-1168930112.jpg

 

I believe this picture was taken fairly early in the war because of the M1917 canteen covers, which should be M1910 dismounted covers. The M1928A1 SMG would be replaced with the M3 SMG as it was much handier inside a tank. Although apparently not universally issued shoulder holsters would be authorized later for armor vehicle crew.

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Great photos guys!! I'm lovin this, please keep them coming.

 

 

 

Guru,

 

Great information. Thanks very much for posting it.

 

Jim

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 4 months later...

Break time...

post-78-1182104166.jpg

 

Easy Eight.......

post-78-1182104210.jpg

 

The great Lafeyette Pool. The greatest tank ace of all......."In The Mood".

post-78-1182104274.jpg

 

4th of July??? :D

post-78-1182105016.jpg

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Charlie Flick

Hey Jim:

 

More great pics. Tank you, er, thank you.

 

Here is another rocket launching Sherman. Date, location and unit are unknown.

 

BTW, do you have an ID on the unit or location of your post #40 in the forest?

 

Regards,

Charlie Flick

 

 

ShermanRocketLauncher.jpg

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I believe post number 40 is of soldiers of the 3rd Armored Division during the Battle of the Bulge.

Probably the Manhay area.

 

Erwin

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The following are taken from a few series of tanks in color;

 

Shermantankdriver.jpg

Driver of a Sherman tank.

 

Shermandozer-Pacific.jpg

Tankdozer in the Pacific.

 

WreckedSherman7.jpg

Wrecked Sherman.

 

Tankcrew.jpg

Tank crew (probably in France).

 

M415.jpg

Tank crew.

 

RecoveryShermantank.jpg

Sherman Recovery Tank.

 

m4_hvss1.jpg

HVSS Sherman with added armor.

 

CamouflagedShermans-Pacific.jpg

Camouflaged Shermans - Pacific.

 

Sherman14thAD1.jpg

Sherman of the 14th Armored Division with sandbags as additonal protection.

 

The quality is not great, but I thought these could be interesting.

 

Erwin

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Hi Erwin,

 

Nice shots, a pity they aren't clearer.

 

 

Charlie,

 

Thanks for the rocket shot. I had this one, but your's is much clearer. I don't know who these guys are, but I think Erwin is probably right with the 3rd AD. Here's a closer shot of the guys in/on the background "Jumbo".

post-78-1182115895.jpg

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Jim, these are screen captures from a couple of wartime color movies.

Hence the not so good quality.

 

Btw, I think the one of the 14th AD Sherman might be the same as the black and white photo earlier in this topic.

 

Erwin

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A couple more:

 

Beelzebub-Pacific.jpg

A Sherman named "Beelzebub" in the Pacific.

 

Shermanfiring-Pacific.jpg

USMC Sherman firing.

 

Sherman-Pacific1.jpg

Heavily protected Shermans - PTO.

 

Shermanflamethrower-Pacific.jpg

Sherman flame thrower on Japanese positions.

 

Erwin

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Erwin,

 

Those are excellent. I love the firing shots. Unlike today, decent firing shots are a little rare. I have to run, but will dig up a few tonight.

 

Jim

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  • 2 weeks later...

Another issue with the M-6 was it's weight. There were very few bridges in the US back then that could carry it. Getting it to Europe was another problem.

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M6 Tank

 

You mean this one?

 

However by the time the M6 was ready for production, the Armored Corps had lost interest in the project. The advantages the M6 offered over medium tanks - its much thicker armor and slightly more powerful gun - were offset partly by the shortcomings of the design - such as very high silhouette, awkward internal layout and reliability problems - and partly by logistical concerns. By the end of 1942, the Armored Corps were sure that the new M4 Sherman gave adequate solution for the present and the near future, while being reliable, cheap and much easier to transport.

 

Work on M6 didn't stop at once. The T1E1 prototype was tested with a T7 90 mm gun and was found to be a satisfactory gun platform, although poor turret layout was noted again. In August 1944 the Ordnance recommended using the T1E1s produced to build 15 77-ton vehicles designated M6A2E1, with thicker (up to 7.5 inch vertical protection) glacis armor and a turret developed for the T29 Heavy Tank, armed with a T5E1 105 mm gun. The proposal was rejected by General Eisenhower. However, by late 1942 main development effort shifted to other projects, one of which eventually resulted in the M26 Pershing.

 

On 14 December 1944 the M6 was declared obsolete. Only forty units were produced and they never left US soil. All were eventually scrapped except for a single T1E1 which is on display at the United States Army Ordnance Museum, Aberdeen, Maryland.

 

Erwin

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  • 13 years later...
  • 4 weeks later...
  • 8 months later...

The man in second picture above is my father commander 15th TB. Here he ( jeeps) is I would guess doing advanced recon. If you look close you can see him sitting in closest jeep. He was USMA 38 from NYC. Front of jeep says New York City. 2nd picture is his 1/2 track loaded with support stuff.

WWII15thTankBattalionDadscommandJee (2).jpg

WWII15thTankBattalionWolfemblemDads (2).jpg

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