Harry Yeide

The Sherman tank crew book to which you refer is probably "Barbara," also published as "Hell Has no Heroes," by Wayne Robinson. The author served in the 743rd Tank Battalion, and the novel is a barely fictionalized account of that outfit's experiences. It's great! Cheers You can call me "junior." What the Hell is that, anyway?

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Jeff Duquette: Great stuff Rich. Thanks for digging on this one. The armored divisions almost always got the good stuff first, and more of it. I'm researching the independent tank battalions. We need an AD guru to answer your question. Cheers

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Major Tom: Yeah, but these tankers themselves probably saw a German tank and assumed it was a Tiger I. A Panzer II thought to be a Tiger I firing its 20mm gun, when thought to be a 88mm will not even penetrate a non-sandbagged Sherman tank. Accounts of troops on the field are not quite as reliable as physicists. Possibly there were other reasons why their tanks weren't holed (ie. mistaking Panzer IV's for King Tigers, 75mm guns for 88mm guns) instead of sandbags being the end result? Also, most of these tankers carried 'good luck charms' which they thought would definitely save their lives in battle (with about as much chance as sandbags!). Should CM model each tank having a rabbits foot/fuzzy dice being able to survive direct 88mm hits? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Actually, I think they were much more concerned about Panzerfausts. Wargamers love tanks to run into tanks, but most of the independent tank battalion tankers spent most of their time supporting infantry against infantry. Tanks only cropped up now and again. Any technique that reduced the chances of a Panzerfaust penetration by any percent whatsoever was a good investment. Remember, these outfits were losing tanks and men and a terrible rate. Cheers

Tankers were convinced by their day-to-day experiences that sandbagging worked, which was why they did it and Patton had to throw a fit. They had a tad more expertise on the subject of what would save their lives than we do. As for the 743rd Tank Battalion (subject of "The View from the Turret" by William Folkestad), the unit's archived records show that the battalion sandbagged every single tank between 18 and 22 July 1944. Subsequent entries show the battalion re-sandbagging old tanks or sandbagging new tanks repeatedly during down times, so the technique had become SOP for the outfit. Again: THEY concluded sandbagging added meaningful protection. Cheers

Standard note incorporated into After Action reports of the 743rd Tank Battalion: "More enemy tanks, equipment, etc., have been destroyed by Battalion action than totaled here. Difficulties in securing complete battlefield evidence to support additional claims interfere with full accuracy of count. This should be considered a minimum compilation." Cheers.

I say this not really knowing whether players have generally enjoyed the two historical scenarios I have posted at TGN's CMHQ, but I have tried starting by building terrain that is as accurate as my sources permit and then adding units as close to the historical record as possible. I play the senario a lot until I reach the point where the game will produce 1) something close to what happened; 2) greater success than actually happened; and 3) failure, depending on a) how I play the scenario and the fortunes of war. This sometimes involves lots of tweaking of units, terrain, location of victory flags, etc. It's a good thing it's fun!

6th Armored Group records suggest that VII Corps, at least, received its first HVAP ammo on or about 26 September 1944.

For what it's worth, the records of the 6th Armored Group indicate that as of 24 January 1945, 1st Army Ordnance was still deciding whether to grant permission to transfer 76mm guns into Jumbos under 1st Army command.

At least Jagdpanthers were mortal. According to the A/A report of the US 743rd Tank Battalion, for example, Able company Shermans (75mm) encountered the Jagdpanther for the first time in the war in Pattern, Germany on 22 November 1944. The Shermans killed three with no losses.

**********SPOILER*************** I finally got around to playing "Elsdorf." I lost 3 of 4 Pershings, but both M-8s survived. One killed an assault gun and a Tiger with a side turret penetration at about 250 meters. Who'd a thunk? (More praise of the little guys: I also found that the M-24 can run a circle around a Tiger and kill it from the rear.) [This message has been edited by Harry Yeide (edited 12-27-2000).]

I'm trying to post (see separate gnashing-of-teeth thread) a scenario I've been working on based on the historical experience of the 740th Tank Battalion. The battalion arrived in Belgium in November with no tanks. Because of high losses, the First Army had only 30 to 40 Shermans in reserve. Army agreed to issue nine Shermans, three light tanks, and two assault guns so that each platoon could begin re-training. When the Battle of the Bulge began on 16 December, the battalion was ordered to turn its 9 Shermans over to the 745th Tank Battalion. Nevertheless, on 18 December the 740th was ordered to the front. It was authorized to send an advance team to the Ordnance Vehicle Depot in Sprimont, Belgium, and draw any combat vehicles it thought it could use. At Sprimont, the battalion found three Shermans "ready," each missing key equipment. Battalion Service Company personnel got 15 of the 25 tanks in the depot to run by cannibalizing the rest. Serviceable was a relative term--Sgt. John Thompson later recalled heading to the front with no breach block for his 75mm and no ammo for the 30 cals. Few vehicles had radios. The battalion assigned tank crews to the single M36 TD, several M10 TDs, and--when those ran out--M7 105mm assault guns. But it had the men of Lt. Powers' (demoted by the software to Sgt. Powers) platoon of Company C, who performed like elite troops in their first day of combat. Powers' Sherman nailed two Panthers in nose-to-noes encounters (This IS NOT very likely in CM!), and the M36 killed one. The rest beat feet, and Peiper's advance toward Liege stopped.

I've re-zipped the durn scenario I'm trying to submit several times, filled in all the right blanks, and have gotten submission failures for the past two days. I'm startin' to get paranoid...

There is no one answer regarding what a US tank platoon looked like. "The Sherman Tank in US and Allied Service" (Osprey) notes that as of July 1944, 76mm Shermans made up as much as one-third of some battalions and nearly half by 1945. That booklet also relates several anecdotes. On pg. 27, a US tanker describes an action involving his platoon, which had three 76mm guns and two 75mm guns. On pg. 29, Col. Leach of the 37th of the 4th AD notes that each platoon in his outfit had at least one 75mm Sherman because the 76 had no WP round (irrelevant in CM). The 75mm Shreman would keep WP loaded and would instantly engage any enemy tanks encountered in order to screen the rest of the unit. I will be posting soon over at TGN's Combat Mission HQ a scenario involving the fascinating case of the 740th Tank Battalion, which entered combat for the first time during the Bulge with line units using a mix of Shermans, M-10s, one M-36, M-8s, and even two M-24s. Truth is stranger than fiction.

How relevant is the issue anyway? Until the Cullins device came into wide use in July, tanks simply didn't enter a lot of hedgerowed fields. When they did, it was after engineers created a hole or a dozer tank did the same. Tankers note that either technique gave German AT gunners something to pre-aim at. As for German armor in the hedgerows, it generally is mentioned in the context of prepared positions (access prearranged) or in counterattacks along roads.

Oh, sorry. It's at TGN's Combat Mission HQ.

I've watched Star Trek in German and, as I recall, the correct usage would be "Beamen Sie!"

I've posted the second (the first was D-Day: St. Laurent) of what I hope will be a series of scenarios built on the experiences of the US independent tank battalions. (Note: the posting got garbled somehow; the size should be a 3, and the date of the engagement was 16 March 1945.) I find the interplay of small units of armor and the doughs the tanks supported to be endlessly fascinating. Any comments on the scenarios would be appreciated. Cheers.