Dr. Rosenrosen Posted February 19, 2003 Share Posted February 19, 2003 Question for the grogs: How well did the guys in a tank crew know each other? Was it typical for a crew to serve together for a long period, or were crews mixed and matched regularly since all drivers (for example) have the same training? Along these same lines, how much variation was there in the quality/personality of a given tank of the same model? Were they pretty much all the same, or did some of them have flaws or other traits which made that piece of equipment more or less desirable? Did a soldier serve in the same tank with regularity? Thanks for any insight you can offer. Dr. Rosenrosen 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John D Salt Posted February 19, 2003 Share Posted February 19, 2003 Originally posted by Dr. Rosenrosen: Question for the grogs: How well did the guys in a tank crew know each other? "Better than their own wives" is one description I have heard to describe how well they knew each other. Originally posted by Dr. Rosenrosen: Was it typical for a crew to serve together for a long period, or were crews mixed and matched regularly since all drivers (for example) have the same training? Certainly in the British Army, and I imagine in all others, the tank crew live together, fight together and often die together. There will be inevitable changes of personnel due to leave, tank and personnel casualties and other unavoidable pressures, but, for example, John Foley (author of the excellent "Mailed Fist", a recommended read for what life in Churchills was like and in its own right as a good story well told) had pretty much the same crew throughout the NWE campaign, the only change I can recall being due to his driver being killed. Originally posted by Dr. Rosenrosen: Along these same lines, how much variation was there in the quality/personality of a given tank of the same model? Were they pretty much all the same, or did some of them have flaws or other traits which made that piece of equipment more or less desirable? IIRC Dmitri Loza ("Commanding the Red Army's Sherman Tanks") mentions trying to get one famously-unreliable high-mileage Sherman off his hands because it is more trouble than it's worth, so I assume yes. Originally posted by Dr. Rosenrosen: Did a soldier serve in the same tank with regularity? Tank crews don't just open a fresh tin of tanks and pick one they like every morning. In or very near the tank is where they spend the whole working day, and the night too, and it is where most of their immediately-needed personal kit is stowed. The tank's your home. It's where your family live. All the best, John. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelas Posted February 19, 2003 Share Posted February 19, 2003 For some reason your question has put the image of Telly Savalas as a tank commander in the "Battle of the Bulge" movie. Those guys in that tank surely looked like the had been together forever. Mike 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SgtMuhammed Posted February 19, 2003 Share Posted February 19, 2003 John pretty much hit it on the head. Crews tended to stay together till someone got promoted or died. When you are part of a crew your survival greatly depends on how well you know what the other man is thinking. As an example from my own experience, I used to hate it when my driver was on leave. We had reached the point where all I needed to say was a word or two and he knew exactly how and where I wanted him to drive. With another driver I had to spend half my time directing his speed or direction or trying to identify fighing positions and covered routes. This, of course, detracted from my ability to effectivly fight my vehicle. The same has been true throughout the history of armed comflict. Yes it seems that every vehicle has its own personality. Some of them you love (we sank an M113 in a pond once and it still refused to die) while others you hate (one of our other 113s used to blow the engine every mission), and it always seems that you have to rely on the cursed one more than the good ones. James 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sergei Posted February 19, 2003 Share Posted February 19, 2003 Please answer this, it's been bothering my mind lately! After the day, what would a tank unit do? Would they leave it to the infantry and move someway back for refueling, repairing etc. with the rest of the company and then going to sleep, having guard shifts through the night, or would they stay close to the actual front line? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Rosenrosen Posted February 20, 2003 Author Share Posted February 20, 2003 Thanks for the great responses! Funny that you should mention the Battle of the Bulge movie, Mike. Mikelas said: For some reason your question has put the image of Telly Savalas as a tank commander in the "Battle of the Bulge" movie. Those guys in that tank surely looked like the had been together forever. I just saw that the other night and it was part of what got me thinking about this in the first place. I heard that the movie has quite a few inaccuracies and I was wondering if that aspect was just Hollywood romanticism. Thanks again for the info. Dr. Rosenrosen 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SgtMuhammed Posted February 20, 2003 Share Posted February 20, 2003 Tanks at night tended to pull back unless there was a tactical reason for them to remain at the front. Their already restricted vision and especially hearing made them vulnerable at night. That being said, however, there really was no hard and fast rule. Usually though tanks would at least pull back to within the infantry line. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonC Posted February 20, 2003 Share Posted February 20, 2003 It was common for tank units to "laager" at night. Up to a battalion would converge on one location behind the front, typically a few miles back. Fuel was trucked to the location. A perimeter was set up, guards were posted, there were field workshops for repairs. Some of the men would "pull maintenance", correcting minor problems. Everybody who could slept. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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