4th Armored Division Sherman tank crew member.

[Big Pete]

In times, when everyone thinks the whole war was won by Airborne and Rangers and other units are forgotten.

When history is written in favor of a few and a lot of others are left out.

I wanted to show you a display I made here of men who fought brave and hard against Germany's war machine.

These guys mounted steel horses to fight - and sadly also die in fight against - the German armor which was in most cases more armored and more powerful in weaponry.

 

This is a member of a Sherman tank crew of the 4th Armored Division as he could have appeared before or during "Operation Cobra"; the break-out near Avranches (France) in August 1944.

 

 

 

According to a Veteran of the 704th TD Bn (also part of 4AD), he wore next to nothing during that Summer inside his Tank Destroyer as it simply was too hot inside.

That's why my GI only wears HBT coveralls and no shirt.

 

Erwin

[Dogdaddy]

Outstanding display Erwin! These men in the Shermans were routinely up against superior tanks that were capable of destroying a Sherman @ 1000meters or more. What makes these guys such heroes is that they kept on fighting regardless of this, and would get back into a second, third, fourth and sometimes 5th Sherman and continue to fight on. My Uncle "Rusty" Wells was a Sgt. in the 691rst Tank Destroyer Battalion, part of the Third Army. He won a bronze star in France, 1944 , after he crawled across a battlefied under enemy fire to rescue another soldier.There were many others who deserved medals for being part of tank crew that didn't get the recognition they deserved.

You are probably already aware of the Tanker interviews on CD, but if not I would recommend them highly!

 

Dogdaddy

[Jeeper704]

Thanks for your comment, Dogdaddy.

 

My friend told me quite some stories too.

His TD (M-18 TD Hellcat) got shot from under him, it was drilled in the rear by two German Panther tanks.

But he sure had a nice score of enemy tank kills as well.

 

Erwin

[chambers]

A great uncle of mine was in the 4th armored div. Don't know anything else about him, he died when I was 4.

[Walt's Daughter]

The tankers, as well as the engineers, often don't get the credit they deserve. I've watched plenty of footage and read enough text to know, tankers had a very hot, dangerous and dirty job. Living inside a tank was often a deathtrap! So many many were burned. It was awful.

 

Thanks for shedding a bit more light on this subject. Here's to all, regardless of regiment or division!

[chambers]

You are probably already aware of the Tanker interviews on CD, but if not I would recommend them highly!

 

Yes, I loved the "Tanks for the Memories" series of books. He has an ebay store. If I remember correctly it was derived from interviews of the 712th Tank Batallion. It was also accompanied by audio disks. Great stuff, I espeically liked the one guy that said, "Ahhhh Paris. I went to Paris with $500, I came back with 75 cents."

[Walt's Daughter]

And here is something totally inappropriate; the tanker is pretty cute for a mannequin. Must be the four or five beers I've tucked under me belt this eve....

 

[rennog]

Great display Erwin, I wish I still had my collection

[Jeeper704]

Thank you all for the nice comments.

I hope I'll be able to show my second display soon too (although this might take a while).

 

Marion, I saw some female mannequins who were like this one ..... ok, let's not go there.

Anyway, they would be perfect for ARC (American Red Cross display) or so.

 

Fighting inside a WWII tank was indeed very hard and dirty.

Not to mention the smell of fumes, body odors, etc.

Depending what type of tank you had, it could easily turn into a blazing inferno when hit.

 

A funny thing my friend in the 704th TD told me ..... in England while on maneuvers, an M-10 TD took a corner off a house in a typical small English street.

My friend almost rolled out of his TD laughing when he saw a very old lady chasing that TD with her broomstick.

 

I miss that guy so much.

 

Erwin

[colinhotham]

This link leads to the website of my friend Gerry Chester, ex Royal Armoured Corps/North Irish Horse

and now resident in the USA. It has a great deal of information on the Churchill tank and what tank

fighting was like in WWII, particularly in North Africa and Italy.

 

It also has information on modelling Churchills.

 

http://northirishhorse.net

 

Colin.