The M4 Sherman Tank Epic Information Thread.. (work in progress)

[Meplat]

I believe you are correct. If you look at the photo of the engine compartment it appears that engine is a V8.

 

 

 

Negative!

 

So, as we know from reading my awesome web site, the 105 M4 was only installed on Chrysler built large hatch M4s, and M4A3, but the motor in the description is the GM 6046 twin diesel and pics is the twin diesel of the M4A2. 

 

So the most likely case is it is indeed an M4A3 and the GAA V8 died, and they couldn't find a replacement, but had a GM 6046 on hand, and swapping them would be a pretty easy engine swap. 

 

It could also have started out life as a large hatch M4A2, either 75 or 76, and then had the 105 turret installed.  This is a less likely possibility because finding 105 turrets lying around isn't easy, and if it had a 75 or 76 turret, why swap it for a 105?

 

 

Cool link though Crash!

 

Yeah, that's a twin six.

[Walter_Sobchak]

I totally missed the picture of the engine itself.  I was basing my conjecture on the rear deck grills and the rear exhaust grill, which look like an M4A3.  I think Jeeps theory of an engine swap is correct.  

[CrashbotUS]

I'm not very familiar with engines,  just figured those bolts on the head covers where parts of the cylinders, 

 

But yeah, its a twin 6. 

[Meplat]

I'm not very familiar with engines,  just figured those bolts on the head covers where parts of the cylinders, 

 

But yeah, its a twin 6. 

I am familiar with mills.. I once had a lengthy cohabitation with a V1710 Allison that ended with it eloping with an Airacobra....

Anyhoo-

Yeah, to reinforce a post I made long ago in the since abandoned WOT forum, the M4 is a mix and match king.  Just because it looks like a known type is meaningless til you crack the hatches.

[EnsignExpendable]

How interchangeable are Sherman bits? Can you gut an M4A2 and dump the pieces into an M4A4 and still have it run?

[Jeeps_Guns_Tanks]

How interchangeable are Sherman bits? Can you gut an M4A2 and dump the pieces into an M4A4 and still have it run?

 

You wouldn't be able to stuff an A57 multibank into an A2 hull, they stretched the A4 hull almost a foot and had to add armored bulges on the rear deck  and on the bottom of the hull to fit the huge radiator and even then it was so tight the engine had to be pulled for a major tune up. 

 

I think there are like three or four running M4A4s with the original motors, most have been converted over to the R975. I suspected because the air cooled R975 is easier to convert to, because no radiators, unless you live the WT world. 

 

The other motors all fit in the same space give or take a gas tank or two.  The final drives, tranny, and suspension bits all swap pretty easily. 

 

3 edits in 2 minutes!

Edited December 24, 2015 by Jeeps_Guns_Tanks

[Meplat]

You wouldn't be able to stuff an A57 multibank into an A2 hull, they stretched the A4 hull almost a foot and had to add armored bulges on the rear deck  and on the bottom of the hull to fit the huge radiator and even then it was so tight the engine had to be pulled for a major tune up. 

 

I think there are like three or four running M4A4s with the original motors, most have been converted over to the R975. I suspected because the air cooled R975 is easier to convert to, because no radiators, unless you live the WT world. 

 

The other motors all fit in the same space give or take a gas tank or two.  The final drives, tranny, and suspension bits all swap pretty easily. 

 

3 edits in 2 minutes!

And there are a bajillion '975's about, even now...

[Jeeps_Guns_Tanks]

No major update this weekend, my next big updates are going to be a more detailed post on the ultimate production Shermans, and then turning a thread on the an M4A4 being restored into a post, but the second is being much more time consuming than I thought it would be. 

 

I did update the links section, I went and found all the links relevant to Shermans on the Chieftain's hatch and setup links to them. Plus I added links to AA and AFVnews. 

 

I also posted a few new TM and FMs. 

 

Link to links link to downloads

[Jeeps_Guns_Tanks]

OK I lied, I busted this out in just over an hour. I'll add pics and post it to the site tomorrow after work. Let me know what you guys think this is a first draft.  Now I need to unwind in 2 minutes before my sleep deadline!

 

The Transmission and Final Drives: Great on the Sherman!

The Transmission and final drives on the Sherman were very robust from the start of the Sherman design and proved to be rugged enough to take all the upgrades the Sherman had thrown at it over the years. The final drive had a gear ratio of 2.84:1, limiting the tanks top speed by RPM to 26 miles an hour in the M4A3 version of the tank. The RPM limit varied with engine model, and in the Jumbos case, a slightly higher gear ratio of 3.36:1, limiting its top speed to 22 miles an hour but giving the drive train a little more mechanical grunt to get the extra weight moving. This was the only modification major enough to be mentioned in any publication I’ve read so far. That says ‘damn good design’ to me. I’ve read several accounts of Sherman restorations being done, where after years on a firing range, or just rotting in a field somewhere, the final drives and differential unit needed no mechanical restoration.

 

Now a bit about gear ratios for those who are not gear heads before we get into the transmission, since it’s going to have even more confusing ratios. The meaning of the gear ratios in the above paragraph are, for every rotation of the drive shaft coming out of the transmission and going into the final drives and differential has to spin 2.84 times to spin the sprocket output shafts one turn.  What determines the Transmissions output rpm is what gear it is in, and what ration that gear is.  The higher the number, the more mechanical advantage is transferred to the final drive, but lowers the top tanks tops speed in that gear.  So for the Sherman, with a “Granny” first gear ratio of 7.56:1, the tank isn’t going to be moving faster than 1 or 2 miles per hour, before the driver would have to shift.  The next gear up, second is 3.11:1, on level ground, gear two is used to start the tank and drive it at low speeds. Say up to 5 miles an hour, on road and rarely off road third rarely you would then get into third gear, 1.78:1, and up to 12 to 15 mph.  Fourth would be the last gear to see regular use, coming in at an almost one to one, 1.11:1. This is your driving like a bat out of hell 15 to 20 miles an hour gear. Fifth gear is actually an overdrive gear, at 0.73:1, meaning .73 of a turn to spin the tranny output once. Meaning, this has to be taken to into account in calculating the tanks top speed and it could only reach its top speed on good roads in fifth gear! Reverse gear, 5.65:1, was almost as tall as first and really limited the tanks reverse speed. If you understand what be just covered, you can will understand the gear rations listed on your next cars window sticker.

 

Now that you understand gear ratios you may wonder what the term “Granny” gear means? The ‘Granny’ gear refers to a really high gear ratio gear, almost always first. The Granny gear was used for getting a vehicle started while hauling a big load, trying to tow another tank to get it started or heavy vehicle for the same reason, climbing a steep hill or obstacle, driving through thick mud or deep water or getting another tank or heavy vehicle unstuck from mud or another obstacle.

 

The Sherman Transmission was fully Synchromesh, meaning you did not have to depress the clutch twice, once to get it into neural, the next to go to the next gear, or “double clutching”. This in theory made the Sherman tank, though a manual transmission that used a clutch, much like any car that has a manual, was relatively easy to drive. There are several Sherman museums that will let you drive one if you have the right amount of money.  From what I understand, the key to how easy the Sherman is to drive comes partly from the motor and partly from how much you’re really willing to drive the thing and not worry about breaking it. The easiest motors are supposed to be the Diesel and Ford GAA, then A57 if it’s running right, then the R975 powered tanks. The R975 because it likes to get up into its higher RPM power band, and stay there for a while, it helps burn off carbon and keeps the plugs un-fowled.

 

The transmission, much like the final differential and final drives you always find it plugged into was a very tough unit. I know of at least two restorations where the transmission needed little mechanical work. This same transmission, and for the life of me I don’t think I’ve ever seen a name for the original designer/maker, stayed largely unchanged through the full life of the tank. The Israeli Shermans used into the 70s were using original Sherman Transmissions, though probably overhauled. That they could be, and continue to be on restored Shermans, kept working, and working well all those years also screams “DAMN GOOD DESIGN” and it’s a little sad I don’t, we don’t know who made them.  

 

How I forgot to do this section is a real mystery, you can’t have a tank without a transmission and final drives. Pics will be added soon. I was going to wait to write this until at least Monday, but I got the bug and did all this all in an hour and ten minutes. I did 920 words on the transmission and final drives on the Sherman, reference, Hunnicutt’s Sherman tank. 

[Jeeps_Guns_Tanks]

The final version

 

The Transmission, Differential, and Final Drives: Called the ‘Powertrain’ and it was great on the Sherman!

The Transmission, differential and final drives on the Sherman were very robust from the start of the Sherman design and proved to be rugged enough to take all the upgrades the Sherman had thrown at it over the years. As a combined unit, along with the steering brakes, with the armored differential housing they were referred to as the ‘powertrain’. In most cases a whole powertrain unit would be swapped if any of the major components needed serious work, since it was relatively easy. There were three types of armored covers, a three piece bolt together type, and two cast types. Powertrain units incorporating any of the differential covers could be swapped into any Sherman in place of any other type of powertrain unit. The internals of the three types of differential covers where different though and parts in some cases do not interchange. Hydraulically powered steering was tried on very early M3 Lee tanks, but it was discarded for an all mechanical long lever system used throughout the Lee and Sherman run.  

 

The final drives and differential had a gear ratio of 2.84:1, limiting the tanks top speed by RPM to 26 miles an hour in the M4A3 version of the tank, and that for only short burst. The RPM limit varied with engine model, and in the Jumbos case, a slightly higher gear ratio of 3.36:1, limiting its top speed to 22 miles an hour but giving the drivetrain a little more mechanical grunt to get the extra weight moving. This was the only modification major enough to be mentioned in any publication I’ve read so far. That says ‘damn good design’ to me. I’ve read several accounts of Sherman restorations being done, where after years on a firing range, or just rotting in a field somewhere, the final drives and differential units needed no mechanical restoration.

 

Now a bit about gear ratios, for those who are not gear heads, before we get into the transmission, since it’s going to have even more confusing gear ratios talked about. The meaning of the gear ratios in the above paragraph are, for every rotation of the drive shaft coming out of the transmission and going into the final drives and differential has to spin 2.84 times to spin the sprocket output shafts one turn.  What determines the Transmissions output rpm is what gear it is in, and what ratio that gear is.  The higher the number, the more mechanical advantage is transferred to the final drives, but lowers the top tanks tops speed in that gear.  If you have driven a manual transmission car, this is why first gear climbs in RPM so fast and each further gear the RPM climbs slower, but the car goes faster, same for the Sherman tank. If you really understand this, you will always get a laugh at the Hollywood portrayal of nitrous oxide; something used in WWII aircraft engines, because they always show it as making the cars top speed faster, when all it can do is improve the acceleration to the mechanically limited top speed.

 

The Sherman transmission has a “Granny” first gear ratio of 7.56:1, the tank isn’t going to be moving faster than 1 or 2 miles per hour before the driver would have to shift.  The next gear up, second is 3.11:1, on level ground, gear two is used to start the tank and drive it at low speeds. Say up to 5 miles an hour, on road and rarely off road third rarely you would then get into third gear, 1.78:1, and up to 8 to 10 mph.  Fourth would be the last gear to see regular use, coming in at an almost one to one, 1.11:1. This is your driving like a bat out of hell 13 to 19 miles an hour gear. Fifth gear is actually an overdrive gear, at 0.73:1, meaning .73 of a turn to spin the tranny output once. Meaning, this has to be taken to into account in calculating the tanks top speed and it could only reach its top speed on good roads in fifth gear! Reverse gear, 5.65:1, was almost as tall as first and really limited the tanks reverse speed. If you understand what be just covered, you can will understand the gear rations listed on your next cars window sticker.  On our example M4A3 at would be screaming along at 2800 rpm, at the tanks 26 mph top speed.

 

Now that you understand gear ratios you may wonder what the term “Granny” gear means. The ‘Granny’ gear refers to a really high gear ratio gear, almost always first. The Granny gear was used for getting a vehicle started while hauling a big load, trying to tow another tank to get it started or heavy vehicle for the same reason, climbing a steep hill or obstacle, driving through thick mud or deep water or getting another tank or heavy vehicle unstuck from mud or another obstacle. This gear could also be used to slow the tank when going down a steep hill.

 

The Sherman Transmission was fully Synchromesh in gears 2 through 5 with first and reverse not needing it.  Synchromesh means you did not have to depress the clutch twice, once to get it into neural, the next to go to the next gear, or “double clutching”. This in theory made the Sherman tank, though a manual transmission that used a clutch, much like any car that has a manual, relatively easy to drive. If you could drive a car from the 30s you could drive a Sherman. There are several Sherman museums that will let you drive one if you have the right amount of money.  From what I understand, the key to how easy the Sherman is to drive comes partly from the motor in it and partly from how much you’re really willing to drive the thing and not worry about breaking it. It’s an American tank people, you can abuse it, it can take it, it’s not a Panther, it was designed with the American young adult of the 40s in mind. Hell, these things were used to tear down buildings post war! They are not delicate.  Anyway, back to what I’ve read about driving a Sherman. The easiest motors are supposed to be the Diesel and Ford GAA, then A57 if it’s running right, then the R975 powered tanks. The R975 because it likes to get up into its higher RPM power band, and stay there for a while, it helps burn off carbon and keeps the plugs un-fowled, is supposed to be the hardest to drive. In contrast, the few places that have running Panther tanks have to be extremely careful who they let drive it, since using some of its design features could destroy the transmission or final drives.

 

The Sherman powertrain was a very tough unit. I know of at least two restorations where the transmission needed little mechanical work. This same transmission, and for the life of me I don’t think I’ve ever seen a name for the original designer/maker, stayed largely unchanged through the full life of the tank. The Israeli Shermans used into the 70s were using original Sherman Transmissions, though probably overhauled. That they could be, and continue to be on overhauled for restored Shermans, kept working, and working well after all those years also screams “DAMN GOOD DESIGN” and it’s a little sad I don’t, we don’t know, who made them or designed them.

[Belesarius]

And Jeeps runs off to join the Army of Paraguay.  With thanks to Daniel Watters, it's from a FB post of his.

 

 

http://www.janes.com/article/56911/paraguay-keeping-m3-stuart-m4-sherman-tanks-in-service?from_rss=1

[Meplat]

It's "Fouled".  The 975 like fairly constant speeds, it's plug fouling stems from  it being an aircraft engine which is very rarely run at idle (or just above) for long periods.

[Jeeps_Guns_Tanks]

It's "Fouled".  The 975 like fairly constant speeds, it's plug fouling stems from  it being an aircraft engine which is very rarely run at idle (or just above) for long periods.

 

You mean it's not when ducks get sucked into the intake?@!!?

 

What did you think of the section on gear ratios, did I miss something or get anything wrong?

[Jeeps_Guns_Tanks]

And Jeeps runs off to join the Army of Paraguay.  With thanks to Daniel Watters, it's from a FB post of his.

 

 

http://www.janes.com/article/56911/paraguay-keeping-m3-stuart-m4-sherman-tanks-in-service?from_rss=1

 

That's pretty interesting. I wonder how close to stock they are. 

[Meplat]

What did you think of the section on gear ratios, did I miss something or get anything wrong?

I'l reread it tomorrow when I'm less exhausted.  Was busiy setting up the new machine shop.

[Jeeps_Guns_Tanks]

I just added seven new technical Manuals and a whole Aviation download section. 

 

New TMs:

 

TM9-731B Medium Tank M4A2 1943  *NEW!*

TM9-1731B_ Breeze Cartridge Starter For Radial Diesl Engines 41  *NEW!*

TM9-1731C Accessories For Tank Engine Model GAA V-8 Ford  *NEW!*

TM9-1731B Ford Tanks Engines (Models GAA, GAF, and GAN) *NEW!*

TM9-1750G General Motors Twin Diesel 6-71 Power Plant For M4A2 1942 *NEW!*

TM9-1750_Power_Train_Unit,_Three Piece_Differential, M4,_and_Modifications 42  *NEW!*

TM9-729 Light Tank M24  *NEW!*

Aviation stuff. 

A-26 Invader Pilot Training Manual

P-38H-L Pilot Training Manual

P-40 Pilot Training Manual

P-47N Pilot Training Manual

P-51 Pilot Training Manual

P-47B-G TO-01-65BC-1 Pilots flight Operating Instruction

Pilots Flight Operating Instruction for Army Models P-38H, J, L-1, L-5 and F-5b

Grumman F6F Pilot Manual

FM2 Pilots Handbook of Flight Operating Instructions (F4F Wildcat)

Typhoon 1A&B Pilot Notes

Tempest V Pilot Notes

Pilot Notes Spitfire IX, XI & XVI

TACTICS AND TECHNICIQUES OF AIRFIGHTING 42

US STRATEGIC BOMBING SURVEY

ENG-47-1673-A 1943 captured Zero report

FM1-30 AFFM Air Navigation

 

FM1-26 ARMY AIR FORCES FIELD MANUAL, DEFENSE OF AIRDROMES 1944

[Jeeps_Guns_Tanks]

So would normally parce what was new in the last post and this but that would be a lot of work. This is everything after my last TM/FM downloading spurge fest. The links page has 2500 words! lol

 

This section is for manuals on the Sherman or Sherman related subjects.  It will also be the place I post AAR's when I find them and interesting reports or studies. I have found no other site with as many Sherman related Manuals on line. 

 

US Army Field Manuals:

 

FM5-20B Camouflage of Vehicles 44: This very interesting 61 page manual covers how to camouflage vehicles, but not just the obvious stuff. The PDF is a mixed bag, some good color images, some bad black and white ones. There is a whole series of these, I'm going to have to try and find them all now. *NEW*

FM9-6 OD Ammunition Supply 44: Everything you could want to know about Ammunition and keeping it supplied. This TM on PDF is of poor quality, some images, charts and tables are hard to read, 157 pages.

FM9-10 OFM Ordnance Field Maintenance 42: How Ordnance sets up its field repairs workshops and runs them. This one is ok quality but some charts and tables are hard to read.  This one is 252 pretty boring pages.

FM17 AFFM The Employment of Armored Units (Armored Division): The ultimate Armor formation, and where a lot of Shermans got used. This one is 54 pages and good quality.

FM17-3-2 ARMOR IN BATTLE: This one is more of a history armor use than a FM, but still interesting. This TM is 241 pages and good quality.

FM17-5 Armored Force Field Manual Drills 1943: Drilling, and not the power tool. Drilling instills,  control, discipline and teamwork, and this FM has lots of drills in and out  of tank to just that. This one is 89 pages and good quality.

FM17-10 AFFM tactics and technique 1942: This one is more about what they do in the field when fighting. This one is 474 pages and ok quality, a few charts or maps are hard to read.

FM17-12 AFFM Tank Gunnery 1943: This one is about Tank gunnery, and it covers just about all you would ever need to know about shoot the 75mm gun on the Sherman tank. This TM comes in at 109 pages and is ok quality, some charts, tables and maps, not mention photos are a tad hard to make out.

FM17-15 Combat Practice Firing Armored Force Units: How to set up live fire training ranges. This one is short at 54 pages and is ok quality.

FM17-20 AFFM Employment of Armored Units Reconnaissance Platoon and Company 1942:  Using your recon guys without getting them killed. This TM is really interesting and comes in at 141 pages and its ok quality.

FM17-22 AFFM The reconnaissance Battalion 1942: How to run a recon battalion. This one is 56 pages and ok quality.

FM17-25 AFFM Assault Gun Section and Platoon: Your assault gun platoon and you! This TM is interesting, and comes in at 83 pages, and is ok quality, everything is readable, but the pictures are dark.

FM17-27 Armored Force Field Manual 81MM Mortar Squad and Platoon 42:  All you wanted to know about the Mortar platoon in armored units in 1942. This one comes in at 100 pages and is ok quality.

FM17-30 AFFM The Tank Platoon 1942: The five tank unit that does everything together! Except when two wander off and do something else. This one comes in at 170 pages and is poor quality, many images are hard to make out.

FM17-32 The Tank Company, Light and Medium:  17 Tanks and the men who run them, a how to book. Published in late 1942. This one is slightly better quality than the last but still just ok and 91 pages. Another thing to keep in mind about any TM from 1942 on tactics, because by 1944 a bunch of it will have changed, and then again by 1945.

FM17-33 Armored Battalion Light & Med 42: The early war armor battalion, this changed a lot by the end of WWII. This one is ok quality and 142 pages.

FM17-42 Armored Infantry Battalion 44: The Dough (old school slang for GI) in an Armor Division. This one is more up to date being from 1944. This one is 172 pages and OK quality.

FM17-45 Armored Engineer Battalion 42: The Dough who likes to dig and blow things up with C4 in an Armor Division. This one is ok quality and 94 pages.

FM 17-50 AFFM Logistics: The name says it all on this one!  Beans, bullets and bombs, and how to keep enough of them around. This one is 104 pages and ok Quality.

FM17-67 Crew Drill and Service M4 Medium Tank 1944: More how to drill on an M4 tank! This one is 132 pages  and is ok Quality. *New!*

FM17-68 Crew Drill M5 Light: How to drill on your M5 tank, thus learning to use it better. This one is 92 pages and of poor quality.

FM17-76 Crew Drill and Service of the  Piece Medium Tank M4 Series (105mm) 44: Crew drills for the Sherman and its gun for the 105mm tanks. This one is 112 pages and poor quality.

FM17-80 Armored Medical Units 1944: This TM is 37 ok quality pages on how Armored Medical units work. *NEW*

FM18-15 TDFM Tank Destroyer Drill and Crew Drill M10, T70, and M5: Get to learn your M10 by drilling on it, a lot. This one is 137 pages and of ok to poor quality.

FM 18-18 Crew Drill M36: All the stuff the crew had to learn to drill on! This one is ok quality and 49 pages.

FM18-20 Tactical Employment of Tank Destroyer platoons self propelled 1944: Got self propelled TDs? This will tell you how to kill Nazis with them. This one is 83 pages and ok quality.

FM23-95 75MM Gun M2, on M3 Lee: All you need to know about the old M2 gun installed on early Lee tanks.  This one is 141 pages and low quality.

 

US Army Technical Manuals

Sherman and Lee related:

 

TM3-360 Flamer Thrower Mechanized, E12-7R1 (Installed in Medium Tanks M4A1 and M4A3: Everything you would need to know about installing this handing dandy Nazi roasting flame thrower system in your Sherman tank. This one is 179 pages and good quality.  *NEW!*

TM9-374 90-mm Gun M3 Mounted in Combat Vehicles: This is a TM for the gun used on the M36 and M26. Lots of details on maintaining and repairing the gun. This one is 137 ok quality pages.

TM9-719 Tank Mounting Bulldozer M1 and M1A1: This Tech Manual tells you everything you need to know to install and use the Bulldozer blade kit for the Sherman. This TN us 110 pages and ok quality. *NEW!*

TM9-731B Medium Tank M4A2 1943 This tech manual would tell you everything you needed to know about. A good scanned PDF at 208 pages.  *NEW!*

TM9-731E Carriager Motor 105mm Howitizer M7: The M7 isn't really a Sherman, but it used the Lee, and then later the Sherman's chassis. This one is 333 pages and ok to poor quality. *NEW!*

TM9-745 90-mm Gun Motor Carriage M36B2: This TM is on the M10 hull based M36 90mm TD. The file is HUGE and it is absolutely beautiful. Lots of very good info in here, the M10 is based on the M4A2 after all. Every photo and chart is fully readable this one is very high quality and 538 pages. *NEW!*

TM9-748 90-mm Gun Motor Carriage M36B1: This lovely TM is on the M36 that used the M4A3 tank hull with Ford GAA motor. They did this because of a hull shortage on the M10 type hull. This tech manual is very very well scanned and readable 445 pages. *NEW!*

TM9-750 Medium Tanks M3 M3a1 And M3A2 : M3 Lee Tech Manual! this was a find! If you need to know how to drive a stock M3 Lee tank, this is your book. Ok to good quality, 82 pages.  *NEW!*

TM9-752 TANK MEDIUM M4A3 44: M4A3 TM from 1944, oddly this number is lower than the other TM on the M4A3 listed below, TM-9-759, yet that one is for the earlier small hatch version of the tank. Not a great scan. The text is readable but all pictures are very dark, this one is ok to poor to ok quality and 477 pages.

TM9-754 Medium Tank M4A4 1943: This is the M4A4 Tech manual from 1943 and is a great scan. This is a google produced digital TM and I found it on the fabulous Archive.com as did most of these new ones. That sight is great and one I will donate to. This TM comes in at 492 good quality pages.  *NEW!*  

TM9-759 Medium Tank M4A3 42: M4A3 TM from 1942, small hatch TM for the M4A3 not a great scan. This one is ok quality and only 63 pages.

TM9-1725 Engine Model R975-C4 (Continental):  This is the manual for the higher horsepower R975 used in later M4 and M4A1 Shermans and on older ones after overhaul. 272 pages ok quality pages. *NEW!*

TM9-1731B_ Breeze Cartridge Starter For Radial Diesel Engines 41: This TM is about a cartridge starting system that was used on some vehicles based on the M4 chassis, but m not on the M4 series.  This one is 59 ok quality pages.  *NEW!*

TM9-1731B Ford Tanks Engines (Models GAA, GAF, and GAN): This TM is on maintaining, troubleshooting and overhauling the core of the Ford tank V8s. 1731C covers the accesories. This is 240 low quality pages. I would love to get a better copy.   *NEW!*

TM9-1731C Accessories For Tank Engine Model GAA V-8 Ford: This one covers all the accessories that get installed on GAA motors, like water and fuel pumps, gear drives for the cams etc. This TM is 134 pages and a poor quality scan.   *NEW!*

TM9-1731K Auxiliary Generator (homelight model HRUH-28) for M4 and Modifications: This Handy Manual covers how to operate and keep operating the auxiliary generator all Sherman tanks came with. This one is 70 pages and ok quality. *NEW!*

TM9-1750E Guiberson Diesel T1400 Engine Series 3 for M3 and M4 related motor carriages:  This one is a bit of a mystery, I think it powered some of the artillery vehicles based on the M4 chassis.  This TM is 247 ok quality pages. *NEW!*

TM9-1750F Power Unit for Medium Tanks M3A4 and M4A4: This manual is on the A57 multibank motor, how to tune, troubleshoot, and rebuild this monster. This being my favorite tank motor I was very happy to find it, on the down side, its just a good scan, not great, this one comes in at 309 pages and its ok to poor quality. *NEW!*

TM9-1750G General Motors Twin Diesel 6-71 Power Plant For M4A2 1942: This TM is on the GM Twin Diesel, and how to tune, troubleshoot and repair it. This TM is 369 pages and is low quality.  *NEW!*

TM9-1750H Hydraulic Traversing Mechanism(logansport) for Medium Tank M3: This is a Lee manual, about the turret traversing mechanism for the 37mm turret. *NEW!*

TM9-1750J Power Unit Accessories for Medium Tanks M3A4 and M4A4:  This is a manual on how to service and repair all the accessories on the A57 motor. 381 pages, ok quality scan, but not great. *NEW!*

TM9-1750K Tracks and Suspension, Turret, and, Hull, M4 43: The changes made to the M4 hull, suspension and turret. This TM is missing a few pages and just ok quality, but still very interesting. It comes in at 65 pages.

TM9-1750L Hull and Turret Electrical Systems Tracks and Suspension for 3 Inch GMC M10 and M10A1: As the title suggests, this manual covers a lot of systems on the M10. 118 pages and an ok quality scan.  *NEW!*

TM9-1750_Power_Train_Unit,_Three Piece_Differential, M4,_and_Modifications 42: This one covers the early three piece powertrain unit. It is 117 pages and ok quality.   *NEW!*

TN9-1751 9-Cylinder, Radial Gasoline Engine (Continental Model R975-c1): The manual for the earlier version of the R975 from 1944. Not sure whats up with it having a higher number than the C4 above. Ok quality, some pics are barely readable though 237 pages.

TM9-1756A Model RD-1820 (Caterpillar): This is the manual for the short lived, 200 made Caterpillar diesel motor powered M4A6.  195 pages ok quality   *NEW!*

 

WWII related:

 

TM9-392 4.5 Inch Multiple Rocket Launchers T66 and T66E2: This is the TM for the trailer mounted 4.5 inch rocket launcher. This one is 86 pages, ok quality. 

TM9-394 4.5-Inch Rocket Material for Ground Use 45: This manual covers the use of the missile and has some info on the mount used on the Sherman. This TM came in at 140 pages of good quality TM. 

TM9-396 7.2-Inch Multiple Rocket Launcher M17 45: This is the TM for a 7.2 inch rocket Launcher for the Sherman tank. OK quality and 63 pages. 

TM9-707 Basic Half-Track Vehicles, IHC M5, CAR M9A1, Multiple Gun Motor Carriage M14 and Similar IHC Vehicles: This TM covers a lot of different models of the International Harvester made Half Tracks. It 450 pages and ok to poor, all text is readable but the pictures are not great. 

TM9-710 Basic Half- Track Vehicles, by White Autocar and Diamond T: This one covers the half tracks made by Autocar and Diamond T, they are pretty much the same as the half tracks in 707, but with some different sub variants. This TM is 360 pages and OK quality.

TM9-721 HEAVY TANKS M6 AND M6A1 43: What M6 Heavy tank?!?!? This TM is 169 pages and poor quality, but still very interesting.

TM9-726 Light Tank M3 42: This is the TM for the cute little M3 tank. It is 253 pages and fairly poor quality.

TM9-729 Light Tank M24: This is the TM for the M24 Chaffee. This great little light tank made it into the last months of the WWII and the saw use in Korea and Indo-China by the French! This manual is 420 pages and ok quality.   

TM9-732B 75mm Howitzer Motor Carriage M8: This one is the little SPG based on the M5 light tank. The TM is low quality and 321 pages long.   *NEW!*

TM9-1940 Land Mines 43: TM on American landmines from 1943. 71 pages ok quality. *NEW!*

TM E9-369A German 88mm AntiAircraft Gun: This TM falls under the know your enemy category of Manual, this one on the infamous and overrated 88mm AA gun. This one is good quality and 188 pages. *NEW!*

TM-E 30-451 Handbook on German Military Forces: This monster is another know your enemy TM, this one on the German Military, and its a whopping 639 pages long. This one is ok quality and not the best info available on the German army, but the best we had in 1945.  *NEW!*

TM-E 30-480 Handbook on Japanese Military Forces: Like the one above, this one is also very large. This scan is ok. The TM is 429 pages long. *NEW!*

 

Tank Battalion AARs: Some of these are harder to read than others but they are all interesting

 

37Th Tank Battalion AAR DEC 44

702 Tank Battalion AAR AUG 44

743 Tank Battalion History JAN 45

 

Odd and ends: Reports and other things about the Sherman.

 

Japanese Tanks And Tank Tactics: This is a Military Intelligence service report on Japanese tanks and tank tactics. This one is 89 pages and an OK scan. *NEW*

Report on the Reliability of the Cromwell, Shermam and Centaur Maintenance

Fort Knox Survey of Tank Crew Problems 52

Fort Knox Report on Toxic Gases in Crew Compartment of Armored Vehicles 1943

The Tank infantry team By Mudd 1999

 

Link to Aviation related downloads.   I like WWII Aviation and have collected a a few pilots manuals over the years on PDF.

 

B-25 Pilot Training Manual For The Mitchell Bomber : This is the manual you would want if you needed to fly a stock WWII B-25 around. It may not be as useful for one of the more modern restored birds. This is a great scan and comes in at 171 pages.

A-26 Invader Pilot Training Manual: This is the training manual for the Douglas A-26 invader from 1945. A fantastic scan, and 137 pages.

P-38H-L Pilot Training Manual:  This is the PTM for the P-38, all late models. Really interesting read on this complicated but powerful fighter. Very good scan, 102 pages.

P-40 Pilot Training Manual: This is the PTM for the P-40, a very good scan, and 92 pages

P-47N Pilot Training Manual: This is the PTM for the late war long range escort version of the P-47, it had 2800 HP and a 1000 mile combat radius. This is a very nice scan and 111 pages.

P-51 Pilot Training Manual: This PTM is is on the P-51D and was published in 1945. It's a very nice scan and comes in at 106 pages.

P-47B-G TO-01-65BC-1 Pilots flight Operating Instruction, this is more just the basics of how the planes systems work for a more experienced pilot.A very nice scan coming in at 54 pages.

Pilots Flight Operating Instruction for Army Models P-38H, J, L-1, L-5 and F-5b: This PFO for the H and J models, is a good scan and 63 pages.

Grumman F6F Pilot Manual: This is a PFO for the Hellcat series all models of the -3 and -5.  A good quality scan and 57 pages.

FM2 Pilots Handbook of Flight Operating Instructions (F4F Wildcat): This is the PFO on the FM-2, the hot rod version of the Wildcat made by GM.  The Scan is good and it comes in at 75 pages.

Typhoon 1A&B Pilot Notes: This is the British version of the PFO, and an ok scan and 20 pages long.

Tempest V Pilot Notes: The PFO for the Tempest V, a very fast late war British fighter. The Scan is ok, and its 35 pages long.

Pilot Notes Spitfire IX, XI & XVI:  PFO for the the Mks 9, 11, and 16 of the Spitfire. Just on OK scan 26 pages.

Tactics and Techniques of  Air-fighting 42: This is just what it sounds like, and not very good overall, one for 45 would be much more interesting.  80 pages, poor quality.

US Strategic Bombing Survey: This is just the index, and its 324 pages long, I'm looking for the rest, if you have any ideas where to find it, drop me a note.  The quality on this one is good.

ENG-47-1673-A 1943 captured Zero report: Five poor quality pages on a zero captured in 1943.

FM1-30 AFFM Air Navigation: 47 Math filled pages on how to navigate by air. This is from 1940 so the only Navaids were RDFs, the compass and sextants 47 pages ok scan.

FM1-26 Army Air Forces Field Manual, Defense Of Airdromes 1944: This one is how to set up the defense on your airfield. This one is 95 pages and ok quality.

TM1-205 Air Navigation: This is another 1940 manual on Air navigation, this one a very nice scan and 322 pages.  *NEW*

TM1-230 Weather for Pilots: This is a huge PDF and a very nice scan, and the content though dated is very interesting. It's 310 pages and all very dry...*NEW*

TM1-406 Aircraft Electrical Systems: This is a 150 page general manual on Aircraft electrical systems. Ok scan. *NEW*

 

 

[Jeeps_Guns_Tanks]

NEW POST!!

 

So after finding all the tech manuals, I decided my first new post would be on the M1/M1A1 Dozer blade kit, since that was one of the new ones. I had one paragraph on the thing before in the Sherman accessories section, but its so big now it gets it's own post. 

 

Dozers: The M1 and M1A1 Dozer blade kit.

 

   This dozer blade came in kit form and could be installed on any Sherman. They came two to a crate, an M1 and an M1A1 each per crate. The difference between a M1 and an M1A1 Dozer blade was pretty minor, and an M1A1 dozer blade was universal, but the M1 blade only worked on Shermans with VVSS. This is because the M1A1 blade was wider. Here is some data on the blades. The reason the wider blade worked on the narrower VVSS tanks was because the kit came with spacers to fill the gap left by the wider A1 blade when used on a VVSS tank.

 

Blade Data

Blade Height: -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------48 inches

Overall width M1:----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------124 inches

Overall width M1A1:-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------138 inches

Added weight to tank M1:---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7100 lbs.

Added weight to tank M1A1:-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------7400 lbs.

Lift height of blade M1:----------------------------------------------------------------------------------18 to 30 inches

Lift height of blade M1A1:-------------------------------------------------------------------------------18 to 42 inches

Lift Load, M1:----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4000lbs

Lift Load M1A1:---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------5000lbs

 

   The TM for the kit makes it sound like it was installed on tanks at the Depot Level and then the tank was issued to a unit with the blade kit installed and ready to go. After reading through the tech manual, it could be done by the tank crew without to much trouble, though a small crane would be nice for the installation of the hydraulic cylinder, but that seems like it would be a rare occurrence. If the kit had a drawback, it was that the blade blocked the bow Machine gun.

   The kit broke down into several major parts groups.

 

Hydraulic Group: Was made up from external and internal parts that were a part of the Hydraulic system including the pump, an oil reservoir, and all the brackets to install these parts. There were also hoses and fasteners of various types. It also included a special wide angle periscope for the driver. Once  

   To install these parts a few things had to be removed from the interior. As this pictures show, the pump and tank assembly was fairly large. Essentially the tray for the spare periscope head box and the box had to be removed. The several brackets and guards had to be removed, and then the generator itself and its mount had to be pulled. It also involves disconnecting the transmission side of the propeller shaft, and installing a new pulley on it to run the hydraulic pump from. Once everything was installed, it did not impede the crew any more than when it wasn’t there since nothing took up the space right above the transmission.

   A few parts from the hydraulic group did get installed outside the tank, the hydraulic hose, run through the left headlight mount. A guard for the hose and a cable running from a handle on the inside, used to jettison the blade in an emergency. All these parts are universal to all models of Sherman, though a few brackets could require a little modification for everything to fit right do to the way some hoses and belts were run.

    The hydraulic jack and the framework attacking it to the tanks tow points on the front of the tank are also in the hydraulic group.  There were several bracket sets for use with the different kinds of differential housing the tanks could have.  There was a cover assembly/bracket to protect the mount, and hoses, and help position the jack

 

 

 

Suspension Mounting Bracket Group: This group used already existing bolt holes in the suspension to make installation easier.  Each kit came with brackets to make it work with VVSS or HVSS. The VVSS bracket could be adapted to work with either the M1 or M1A1 blades, the HVSS Brackets could only be used with M1A1 blades, because the M1A1 blade was wider to accommodate the wider HVSS. This bracket and had the pivot points for the blade.

    The VVSS mounts used a replacement suspension cap built onto the blade mounting bracket, and another replacement cap with bolt holes. Another part of the vertical suspension mounting bracket bolted to the unused return roller holes on the middle boggie assembly, the same one that used the built in replacement caps. The replacement cap with extra bolt holes replaced the cap in the front boggie assembly.

 

   The HVSS mounts were simpler. You just removed four bolts in the first and second suspension arm supports and install the horizontal suspension mounting bracket with longer bolts and lock washers. This is a much easier install than the VVSS mounts, but neither seems overly hard.

    Once you have the mounting brackets on, you get to move onto the…

 

 

Bulldozer Blade Group: This group is basically the blade and it arms that mount to the pivot points on the suspension brackets.  This part of the job is where you could really lose fingers or toes. You need a nice flat area, the area you stated in hopefully, and then you drive the tank up to the blade, careful to keep it centered. The tank stops to feet from contact with the blade, and the driver raises the jack piston to the same as the connecting pin on the Blade group.

    This is a multi-person Job, since the co-driver has to hold the quick release cable, in the release position, while the tank is driven into the Jack arms pivot points, and then let the pin close on the eye on the Jack head. The co-driver, while doing this is also guiding the tank into place on the blade arms. At this point the latches on the pivot points can be locked down, a large hammer may be needed and the quick disconnect cable fed into place and loosely connected in the interior of the tank. When it’s pulled the whole assemble will come lose and can be backed out of.  You can see some of this in a video in the Shermans in motion section.

   

The final step would be installing the M14 periscope in the drivers position, filling the system with fluids and testing it out. The system was easy to use, and had dual controls, so the co-driver could operate the blade if the driver really needed both hands. The controls were a simple lever used to raise and lower the blade, raising it by hydraulic pressure, lowering it by cutting the hydro pressure and letting the weight of the blade bring it down. Removing the blade was as simple as pulling the quick release cable. If you planted the blade in the ground just right before release, so it wouldn’t move, you could drive the tank right back up to it, hammer the pivot point latches in place, put the pin in the jack and go.

  

I have to say this is a very impressive kit. It did make the tank a bit front heavy and probably shortened the life of the front springs, it was not a problem in any real way or the Army would have had modifications made to solve these problems. This kit saw prolific use with the US Army and Marines, and since it worked on any Sherman model, probably everyone else who used Shermans and could get their hands on it. This dozer kit was the most effective way of punching through hedgerows as well, working much better than the dedicated hedge row cutters. A tank company would get one dozer blade equipped tank into the HQ platoon, if there were enough kits to go around. There might be another one in the Battalion HQ platoon.

  

The source for this post was almost exclusively Tech Manual 9-719 Tank Mounting Bulldozer (M1 and M1A1). The TM can be found in our download section.   

[Jeeps_Guns_Tanks]

So I decided to do up a post on the Shermans flaws. 

 

Please give me feedback, I'm going to bed. I cranked this out in about an hour, 1300 words. 

 

The Shermans Flaw:  What was wrong with the tank, and stayed wrong.

The Sherman tank like anything man produces was series of compromises to meet the Armies design specifications. The Sherman was also designed by a country with little tank making experience.  The British, who were already at war, helped a great deal with the Sherman design with feedback from their combat experience. Some of the lessons learned about the Lee/Grant design did not come in time to affect the very early Sherman design, but improvements made it into the production line fairly fast.

 

Let’s start with the early Shermans, and by early I mean all small hatch hull tanks. The automotive systems on all the early Shermans were good. All the major issues with the four major power plants had all really been resolved in the Lee.  This is true of on the early VVSS, it was replaced with the heavy duty VVSS used first on the M3A4. The narrow tracks were a flaw, but this flaw was resolved in two ways before the end of the war. The first was duck bill end connectors, and then HVSS came along in late 44.

 

The Powertrain was so good it remained largely unchanged throughout the Sherman production run, I would say it was pretty close to flawless.  The very early Shermans had direct vision ports, this was solved pretty quickly on the production line, and the tanks produced with the DV ports had upgrades that could be installed in the field to solve the problem of them being a weak point. The complicated multi piece front plate was not great, but was also replaced when they updated the hull.

 

The gun was good, though some would say it was a flaw in the tank based on its lack of ability to pen the front of the Panther and Tiger tanks.  For the first year or more the Sherman saw combat its gun was very good for both anti-tank work, and infantry support. German tanks, even in the mid part of the war were relatively rare compared to AT guns, and the 75 M3 was a much better gun for taking those out.  The US Army did see a need to improve the AT performance and began working on installing the M1 76mm gun into the Sherman, and they began this process before the Tiger or Panther showed up. By the time the Panther showed up in large numbers, Sherman with 76mm guns were showing up.  So this flaw was addressed as well, though, not fully. The truth is, by the time the US was facing Panthers on a regular basis, the crew in them were so green, and the tank itself so complicated and hard to fight, even Sherman 75s had little trouble handling them.

 

Yes, its early Ammo storage was a flaw, storing ammo in the sponsons, and all around the base of the turret basket made it easy to brew the tank up with an ammo fire. They figured this out, and changed the ammo configuration and put it all in armored boxes. Most tanks already issued received these changes in kit form.  When the large hatch hull went into production, for the most part, these tanks got wet storage in the hull, under the turret basket, with water jackets. This location proved to be a very good place for the ammo, and fires in penetrated Shermans went down drastically.

Some like to say it’s reliance on gas engines was a flaw, most of the people who like to point this out don’t understand that the Sherman had a diesel version, and American gas powered tanks were no more likely to burn than anyone’s gas powered tanks, and were much less prone to fire than German tanks, all gas powered as well. Hell for most of its life, the Panther didn’t need any help from the allies to light itself on fire. I do not call this a flaw, it was a choice, the US Army could have kept all the A2s if they wanted diesel tanks.  In fact, from the automotive standpoint all the motors the Sherman used, even the A57 multibank, were more reliable than any motor the Germans produced for use in a tank.

 

The armor, here you can make a pretty good argument the tank was flawed. It had better armor than all other mediums in its weight class, but that of course won’t save it from guns like 75mm L70 or the 88mmL L71 guns. No tank in its weight class could, nor could the heavier German tanks like the Tiger or Panther for that matter. In most cases medium tanks don’t have enough room left in their design to take much more weight of armor. This is one of the things that ruined the Panther, all the extra weight from armor, but no upgrades to the powertrain. Now, the Sherman design is a special case, the powertrain, and suspension were so well designed; they could take the extra weight of more armor, without compromising reliability.  The Jumbo, and all the field mods, including the field mod Jumbos like Thunderbolt VII, an M4A3 76W HVSS tank, that had extra armor cut from knocked out Shermans onto its hull and turret. The Army was aware it could take these upgrades, as the Jumbo program, and their toying with add on armor kits shows.  Even the Jumbo couldn’t stand up to the 88L71 for long, and more armor than the jumbo tanks had, would have compromised the tanks automotive bits.  So the armor was good enough, because armor that could stop the big AT guns it was facing was not practical, and would have caused automotive problems.

 

No, to really get into the Shermans flaws, you have to look at the things that could not be addressed with simple upgrades. The tanks height, front drive, and sponsons, and all these had to wait until the T20 series ended in the M26.  The front drive, and suspension from the M2/M3 series got carried over to the M4 series because they hadn’t even solved the turret ring problem, so they really hadn’t looking much into rear drive. The tank designed to replace the Sherman all used rear drive, with the motor, tranny as one big unit in the rear of the hull.  These designs also eventually got torsion bar suspension, but it deemed so little of an improvement in the M4 series as to not be worth changing production lines, but it was good for the newer tanks.  The Shermans tallness, one of its real flaws, though one that’s always exaggerated, was also caused by the Shermans front drive layout. This was because this layout required a drive shaft from the motor, to the tranny to run through the fighting compartment, thus forcing the turret basket up and making the tank taller.  There was not much that could have been done to solve this problem short of putting one of the T20 series into production, but they wouldn’t have produced a tank that was really much better.  This was a design flaw all the German cats, and pretty all the tanks had.

 

The final flaw is a minor one, the hull having sponsons added area that had to be protected with armor. Had they been eliminated, their weight in armor could have been added to the front of the hull and turret making for slightly more armor, but a much more cramped tank. This is a pretty minor flaw overall, and the Sherman would be the last US tank design to have them.

 

So overall all, the majority of the Shermans flaws were solved over its production life. The ones that couldn’t be were resolved in the next tank design. I have to say, overall, that’s a very small list of serious flaws and it is far outweighed by the Shermans pluses.  This does not but reinforce my view that the Sherman tank was the best tank of the war. 

[Priory_of_Sion]

There were complaints of narrow tracks and ground pressure issues. 

[Donward]

Like Priory said, the only real complaints that I take as legitimate were the track size and flotation/ground pressure when compared to the Kraut tanks. And this was at a local tactical level and only really in particular areas like the battles in Belgium and The Netherlands where British tankers perceived this as a weakness.

[Jeeps_Guns_Tanks]

There were complaints of narrow tracks and ground pressure issues. 

 

 

I cover that a little in the second paragraph, but will expand it to make it more clear. 

[Jeeps_Guns_Tanks]

Like Priory said, the only real complaints that I take as legitimate were the track size and flotation/ground pressure when compared to the Kraut tanks. And this was at a local tactical level and only really in particular areas like the battles in Belgium and The Netherlands where British tankers perceived this as a weakness.

 

Thanks Don and PoS, now I just need to clean it up a tad, and find some pics of Shermans stuck in the mud. 

[EnsignExpendable]

Sherman flaws:

- Stars are white, not red

- Not called "T-34"

- Not filled with strong handsome Russians

[Jeeps_Guns_Tanks]

So lots of the searches on the site involve what the crew life was like, so I expanded the crew section. It went from 2035 words to 3141. 

 

As always feedback would be awesome. 

 

The Crew and their Stations: The Human Part of the Tank

 

This post will be about the crew of and life in the Sherman tank. It will cover the responsibilities of each crew member. It will try and cover what life was like as a tank crewmember. No man facing war in the modern world has it easy, and the men who fought the Sherman fit this category. Tankers faced dangers regular infantry didn’t, but overall, being a tanker was more comfortable, and less likely to get you killed then being grunt. Now let’s go over what each man of a Shermans crew did.

 

Commander:  The commander sat in the back right side of the turret directly behind the gunner. His job was to command the tank. This meant he took the orders from the platoon leader or company commander, and made his tank perform the tasks he’d been given to accomplish the mission. He had the radio in the bustle of the turret to his rear to help him. To do this he could stand on his seat with his head and shoulders out of the tank, and direct the crew over the intercom. Only he could transmit on the radio, but the others could listen. They could all talk to each other on the intercom. On early M4s, when ‘buttoned up’ or when the tank was all closed up with its hatches closed, the commander only had his rotating copula periscope. Later version of the Sherman had an all-around vision cupola, discussed earlier, that provided a much better view around the tank for the commander. As some of the charts show in the data section, this was the most dangerous crew station. The commander spent a lot of time with his head stuck out, when the rest of the crew was buttoned up, it made him a prime target for basically anyone and anything being shot at the tank.

 

His job in combat was to call out directions to the driver, and call out targets for the gunner. He had a site vane mounted on the roof of the turret to use outside, by using it and his turret override; he could put the gunner roughly on target by rotating the turret. If he was the platoon leader or company commander, he would be calling out directions to the other tanks and trying to sort what everyone was doing out, and keep things under control, or in the company commanders case as much control as he could over the tanks in his company. He would be depending heavily on the platoon commanders to run their platoons and keep him informed of what was going on.

 

He was responsible for the tank up to a point, and had to make sure the crew kept up on all the required maintenance to keep the tank in proper running order. He was also responsible for the wellbeing of his crew. The commander was for obvious reasons, the most experienced man in the tank in most cases in most cases as well. Crews that had that belonged to the platoon, company and Battalion commanders were often short a man on tank maintenance, since the officer would be off doing officers stuff, like planning and thinking.

 

Gunner: The gunner was usually the next senior man in the tank. He sat right in front of the commander, and used the commander’s hatch to get in and out. He had his own set of turret controls, and only he could control the guns elevation. Along with the gun controls, he had all the controls for the stabilizer in front of him.  In early Shermans, he only had a periscope with a reticle, it had a fixed 6x power zoom, but also could be looked through with no zoom. Later gunner’s had the periscopes and a direct view scope. He was dependent on the commander to get him near a target, and then took five to six seconds for him to pick up the target. This took a much longer time on German tanks like the Panther, with gunner target acquisition times in the minutes, not seconds.

 

The gunner controlled the main gun, and the coaxial mounted M1919A4 .30 caliber machine gun. Each was fired with a foot pedal on the gunner’s foot rest. You would think the gunner would have the best view out, but in tanks, most of the time, at least in the older models, their view was very limited, but for the era, the Sherman was better than most other tanks. A good gunner working with a good loader in the 75mm armed Sherman could get off, two or three aimed shots in very short time if they had a good gunner and loader.

 

A Tank gunner also had to be able to shoot, like all other WWII tanks, the Sherman lacked any kind of kind of aiming aid for the gunner, other than his scope and periscope. Limited range finding could be done with the reticle in the sight, based on the known height of something, but it was not very exact.  The gunners brain was really the tool that did the correcting based on experience and skill, and innate ability. Modern tankers have it much easier in this area, with most modern tanks have laser ranger finders, and sensors to check for windage, temperature, and barrel wear, and computer to use all the data to complete the aiming corrections for the gun. That was something that probably couldn’t even be dreamed of by a WWII tanker. Better range finders were right over the horizon though.

   

Loader: The loaders job was to service the 75mm M3 gun, and the co-ax .30 caliber machine gun. The commander or gunner would call out the ammo type for the main gun, and the loader would load the gun and yell “Up!” and the gunner would know the gun was ready to fire. (A good gunner would hear the breach closing and know before the loader spoke)  The loader was supposed to watch the belt on the co-ax, and make sure the gun didn’t run dry. He was also supposed to be trained on how to clear a problem with the main gun or machine guns. Even canons can have duds, or shell problems, or even just break.

 

The loaders station was on the left of the gun, opposite of the gunner. He had a lot of space to move around, and a fold up seat. He also had a fully rotating periscope on the roof above him for his viewing pleasure.  In early Shermans the loader had twelve ready rounds around the base of the turret basket, with another eight in a ready rack at his feet. This was the primary reason so many early Shermans burned, anything that penetrated the turret or the hull and hit those exposed rounds would set off a chain reaction explosion, destroying the tank, and often killing most of the crew. This problem was figured out pretty fast and the twelve exposed rounds were deleted and an armored four round ready rack replaced it the eight round one. Later armor was added to the inside and outside of the sponson ammo boxes.

 

If a lot of firing was taking place, the loader was a very busy guy, on early Shermans the sponson racks, even without all the turret ready ammo, he had a fair number of easy to get to ammo racks for the main gun, but since the turret basket was screened, he could only get to them with the turret at certain bearings. With the switch to all ammo but the ready ammo in the floor of the hull, his job got much harder. On the wet ammo rack tanks, he would have to pull open doors in the bottom of the turret basket, then open an armored box and pull ammo from it. He had to know what was in all the ammo boxes, and was responsible for what got loaded into where.

 

The loader on some models also had a 2 inch smoke mortar to load and fire at the commander’s desire. It was a short lived feature. It protruded into the loader space and was not well liked by that member of the crew.    

 

After spending some time as a co-driver, a crewmember may be moved up to loader. A good loader was important, the 75mm and later 76mm guns were capable of very fast rates of fire, but only if the loader could keep up. When he wasn’t scrambling around the floor of the turret opening armored doors in the floor to find ammo to feed the gun, he was another set of eyes. On early tanks using his periscope, on later ones he could stick his head out of his own hatch. Many crews mounted extra machine guns to the roofs too, and if there was one on the loaders hatch it would be his to shoot. Some units would put the M2 .50 mount in front of the loader, and put a .30 Cal M1919A4 on a mount in front of the commander.

 

Early to well into later production 75mm gun armed Shermans did not have a loaders hatch. This meant if the loader had to bail out, he had to get around the main gun to do it. The main gun had a folding recoil guard to help with this. It would be a very hard thing to do if the tank was burning or the loader was wounded and the tank filled with smoke.        

 

Driver: The driver and co-driver were separate from the turret crew; they sat in the forward part of the hull. They could only climb into the turret if the turret was rotated to line up the holes in the turret basket, at least on early models, with the drivers compartment. The transmission sat between the driver and co-driver and only the driver had a set of controls. Only the driver had any instruments as well. On early tanks the drivers and co drivers hatches were oval shaped and small, and required the man to twist to get through. On very early tanks he had a rotating periscope in his hatch, and a direct view port with an armored cover. The view ports were removed from production and extra armor was added over them. This was done very quickly when it was found bullet splash could get through even a closed port. They were also a big ballistic weak spot in the armor.

The driver needed to be able to drive the tank, often without knowing what he was driving into, trusting the eyes of the other crew members and commander to keep him out of trouble. He needed to know what his tank could drive over and climb, and what it couldn’t. Getting your tank stuck in the mud was an embarrassing thing to do. If  the tank was really stuck, it might require more than one tank to pull it out. The crew would get a lot of heat for that type of thing.

Driving the tank was important, and the driver had to work well with the commander. A savvy co driver could be moved into this spot, or a good loader, would be given a shot. The position was roomy and fairly comfortable as tank positions go. He had a good view forward from a fixed periscope, and rotating one built into the drivers hatch. The seat could also be adjusted up, and the tank driven with drivers head stuck out. In the movie Tank with James Garner, you get a lot of shots of him driving the tank with his head stuck out a small hatch M4A3.

 

Co-driver: The co-drivers position was the on the right front of the hull and has its own hatch. The position had no controls or instrument panel. This position had a .30 caliber M1919A4 machine gun, aimed by tracer through the periscopes. This gun had a very limited fire arc and wasn’t very effective, but the extra crew member was nice to have around to help keep the tank up and running.  

This was the position most new tankers started in. As they learned how the tank worked they got moved around. Not all crew changes were due to loses. You could have a man transfer out or be sent to rear for a disciplinary situation, to leave, or some other reason. Crew members could be moved from tank to tank. If another Sherman lost its commander and no one in it was ready to replace the man, a really good gunner or driver might get pulled out of another tank to take it over. Crews were kept together for as long as practical though. The co-driver was the closest to the escape hatch built into the floor of the tank; it was right behind the seat, and would be the best way for the driver and co-driver to get out of the tank in some cases, or the only way if the turret was in the wrong place.

 

These five men were responsible for keeping the tank running. This meant keeping up on a long list of daily chores from checking track tension and adjusting it, to tighten the bolts on the each end link on both sides of the track run, to checking the oil and radiator fluids, or the batteries. There were also numerous things that had to be hit with a grease gun, others that had to be adjusted. Depending on the motor type various engine maintenance tasks had to be done. Plus cleaning and maintaining the main gun, and all the machine guns, loading ammo and fuel. Getting food and eating, and other person chores all had to be done as well. Many tanks ended up piled with extra gear to help make the tankers lives easier. They only had to keep the tank up to a point, if it needed major work, like a new transmission or engine; a company or battalion level maintenance crew would come and help, ideally, or a replacement tank would be issued.

 

Daily life at a major base or rear area base in a combat theater would be similar to the infantry or the other combat arms. One a major base they would be living in heated barracks, their tanks in a tank park somewhere, with an area set aside for maintenance. They would be living in barracks organized the same way as their units, though if in the US some men could be living off base. There would be mess halls, and bathrooms with plumbing and hot water. Daily life would be drilling, cleaning and maintaining the tanks, drilling on the tanks. Practicing on the tanks, driving it around, using the weapons, fixing it when it broke, or getting it unstuck when it got stuck. Generally learning hot the tank worked and how to use it, with training in bigger exercises mixed in. There would also be a lot of cleaning, the tank, the barracks, the area around the barracks and probably KP duty and other watches or duties.  Tanker probably didn’t spend as much time running or doing calisthenics and the infantry either.

 

In a combat theatre rear area, life would be like a stateside base with more tents, and less amenities and worse food. They would also be spending more time training on the tanks and later in the war, training with the infantry they would be working with. They would be spending their time training new people or replacements, and getting ready for their first combat or going back in.

 

Once out operating things would be different, though much time would still be spent not fighting, working on the tanks eating and generally being bored. The living conditions would be tarps hung from the sides of the tanks as makeshift tents, and sleeping on the ground or another tarp on the ground or cots if they could steel them somewhere and they didn’t get shot up while fighting, since they would be tied down somewhere on the tank. Once free of the daily grind that base life was, free from junk on the bunk, or tarp in the tanks case inspections, tanks start to look more like something out of the movie Mad Max than tanks. Tankers collect all manner of junk to haul on their tank, logs were common, maybe for the added stand-off armor value against AT sticks, or for they value in getting the tank unstuck from deep mud.

 

Tanks crews like any other soldiers look for things to make their life easier when stuck out in the field and at war. Tankers have the advantage of being able to stuff things in the nooks and crannies of the tank, or just strapping it on the outside. Things including extra food, and small arms ammo, water, gas and oil cans, stuff pilfered from abandoned homes or occupied ones once the Army made it into Germany. It’s really no surprise the US Army liberated goods from the Germans, after having to fight them, and seeing what they did in the camps, it seems no one really cared.  Tankers could haul a lot more loot than an infantry grunt could.

 

Another key difference is, in anything but the most desperate situation, Army or Marine Corps tanks withdrew to the rear, not far, but far enough to not be in the line, at night. Tanks are blind during the day, at night they are almost cripplingly so and tanks were rarely used in night attacks, no countries experimental night vision systems were good enough for that. Holding the line was left to the grunts, at night the tanks were spend their time getting their tanks reloaded, refueled, and repair any damage, on top of all the normal day to day maintenance a tank still required. This was done before eating, and sometimes under harassing artillery fire.  In the few cases tanks were forced to be part of a line at night and an attack happened, they often ended up alone since they had little chance of noticing their infantry pulling back without them. They left the tanks very vulnerable to infantry close assault.

 

Infantry always had mixed feelings about Armor.  They complained about it when it drew artillery fire, and it often did. When the ground pounders ran into something really dug in, even something like a light machine gun, if their ability to maneuver to flank and take it out was hindered, they really liked tanks. If there was even a hint, or rumor of enemy armor in the area, the infantry loved the tankers and their steel mounts.  A tank infantry, team, working together like a well-oiled machine, was hard to beat, as Germans and Japanese found out.