The War Correspondent Above: A British Sherman tank pictured in camouflage colours and marking of a vehicle that served in North western Europe in 1944/45 The US M4 Sherman tank is arguably the most impor- Some 7,155 of these vehicles were supplied to the tant tank that served with the Allied forces during the British Army. The supply of tanks from the United Second World War. Without it, in the numbers that States had been initiated in July 1940. Recognising were available and thanks to the huge industrial man- that Great Britain did not have the manufacturing ufacturing capacity of the United States, it was possi- capacity to provide the huge amount of war materi- ble to prosecute a successful war against the Axis al that would be needed to prosecute the war powers. Over 40,000 of these tanks were built with a against the Germans and Italians, a British Purchas- number of variants being introduced, as well the basic ing Board was set-up early in the war. This organisa- chassis being modified for many specialist roles. The tion developed into the British Purchasing Sherman served in large numbers not only with the US Commission and in July 1940 a specific Tank Mission Army but also in armoured units of the Allies. In British arrived in the USA to look at the supply of tanks for service, various types were adopted as they became Britain. The US authorities were resistant to building available. The most numerous variant in British service British designs as that recognised that it was very like- was the Sherman V (US designation M4A4).A total of ly that the USA would soon be embroiled in the war 7,499 M4A4 tanks were produced, built solely at the and its manufacturing capacity needed to be United States government owned Detroit Arsenal in geared up to building tanks for the US army, rather Michigan, run by the Chrysler Corporation. than for a foreign design. Heading the British tank The War Correspondent mission was Michael Dewar, was an industrialist and Chair- man of Birmingham based British Timken Ltd - manufactur- ers of ball roller and tapered-roller bearings. Michael Dewar had served with various ministries during the First World War and had been Director of the National Projec- tile Factories and Assistant Controller of shell manufacture. Before the outbreak of WW2, British Timken Ltd had strong commercial links with the US Timken Company and Michael Dewar was also associated with the Cincinnati Milling Machine Co. Using his experience and contacts he was able set-up the British Tank Mission in Washington, a location nearer to the seat of power in the USA. Thanks to the work of the tank Mission, headed by Michael Dewar US M2 Stuart, M3 Grant and M4 Sherman tanks were sent the North Africa to equip British armoured Units. One of the un- sung heroes of WW2 he died in December 1950. To com- memorate him, his widow gifted a stained glass to their local Church at Little Horwood in Buckinghamshire. , The Above: A Sherman M4A1 on display at the Tank Museum, inscription reads ‘In memory of Michael Bruce Urquhart De- Bovington. It is believed that this the oldest example of a Sherman tank to survive. The tank was named MICHAEL war. Born 5th August 1886, Died 21st December, 1950. One in honour of Michael Dewar, head of the British tank time Sherriff of Hertfordshire. Chief of the British Tank Mission Procurement mission to the United States. to U.S.A. Which produced Sherman tanks for the Battle of El Alamein’. Below: A picture showing a Sherman production line. This is a very M4A1 early model of the type initially supplied to the British. (US Library of Congress) The War Correspondent Due to a shortage of air-cooled Continental 9-cylinder radial en- gines the primary power unit of the Sherman, alternative engines were required to ensure the necessary number of tanks were available for service. Various types were introduced – a twin con- figuration 12-cylinder inline General Motors 6046 diesel engine, a Ford GAA V-8 gasoline engine, a 9-cylinder Caterpillar D200 radi- al diesel engine and a massive Chrysler 30-cylinder A-57 multi bank gasoline engine. It was the Chrysler multi-bank engine that was fitted to the British Sherman V tank. This engine comprised of five commercial automobile engines arranged around a com- mon crankcase. The result was a powerful 21-litre engine weigh- ing just over 2 tons that could produce an output of 440hp at 2400 rpm. To enable this huge engine to be fitted, the chassis of the M4A4 Sherman was required to be lengthened by 6 inches. The suspension was also modified and the number of track links increased from 79 to 83. The standard armament of the Sherman was the US 75mm M3 Gun, although the shorter barrel 75mm M2 Gun as fitted to the M3 Grant tank, was fitted to some earlier ver- sions. When initially introduced into British service, this gun provid- ed distinct advantages over the existing guns fitted to British tanks as it could fire both armour piercing and high explosive am- Sherman 75-MM Gun Ammunition munition from the Sherman’s revolving turret . It could also be One of the key advantages of the Sherman over pre- used for indirect fire. A later British development saw the mount- vious tanks in British service was that It could fire High ing of the powerful Ordnance Q.F., 17-pr Mark IV or Mark VII gun. Explosive ammunition from a turret that had a 360 de- This was the most powerful gun fitted into the Sherman during the gree traverse. This allowed German anti-tank gun war. The M4A4 Sherman was built over the period July 1942 to crews to be directly engaged, Which had not been November 1943 and along with other armoured vehicles sup- possible previously with British tank guns which only plied by the USA, formed a major component of British & Allied fired armour piercing ammunition. Left: Shot Fixed, A.P., M72 w/Tracer. Centre: Projectile, Fixed, A.P.C. armoured regiments. After initially entering service with the 8th Ar- M61A1, W/Fuze, B.D., M66A! And Tracer Right: Shell, my in North Africa and taking part in the Second Battle of El Ala- Fixed, H.E., M48, Supercharge, W/Fuze, P.D. M48A2, mein in October 1942, the Sherman went on to serve in increasing SQ & 0.05-sec. Delay. numbers in the campaigns in Italy, Northern Europe and the Far East. Main Image: A Sherman pictured from a 1943 dated British maintenance manual. Inset: A British Sherman V Maintenance Manual The War Correspondent Main Image: An iconic image of a Britsh Sherman with its crew, Pictured in France in 1944. (Wikimedia Commons) The War Correspondent But bushes don’t have numbers painted on them; and what’s that straight line in front of it? By God it’s a gun, a hell of a great gun, It’s a Tiger!”Captain Stirling’s tank was equipped with a 75mm gun, but the unit also had 17-pdr armed Sherman Firefly’s. To attempt to make certain of a kill, he attempted to contact one of his colleagues in a Fire- fly, but was unable to establish contact on the radio. ‘The only thing to do was to have go myself, but a 75 is a The 4th/7th Dragoon Guards were a British armoured unit doubtful starter against a Tiger. Hence my longing Dereck’s equiped with amphibious duplex Drive (DD) Sherman 17-Pounder. However, needs must. The crew were feverish tanks who landed at Gold Beach on D-Day 6th June,1944. with excitement. I got the gunner on to the target, and then The Regiment, part of the 8th Armoured Brigade, ad- with an! ”Are your ready? Go” technique we let fly. Bang! – vanced Inland from the beach through Crepon and The tank rocked slightly and I steadied my glasses just in Creully, then took part in the bitter fighting at Cristot time a spurt of dust in front of the Tiger, but before I could against elements of the 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerju- give a correction another shot was on the way and another. gend. The regiment then continued its advance via Ver- They were not going to waste time. And as the third shot rères and Lingèvres towards the enemy centre of flew, I saw the tongue of flame lick round the cupola. For a resistance at Tilly-sur- Seulles. Captain John Stirling, Second moment I could not believe my eyes. Then more wildly ex- in command o ‘A’ Squadron, describes one of the actions citedly than I think I have ever been, grabbed the mike around Tilly-sur-Seulles fought with Sherman tanks. once more. “Hullo X-ray 16, I’ve knocked out a Tiger. Its ‘”Driver Halt”. I raised my glasses and scanned the ground brewing up” I babbled wildly, and back came a “Well beyond the crest. Suddenly I tensed. There was something done” that was almost as excited as I was’ on the other side of the hedge about five hundred yards The Sherman did not always fair so well against German ar- away. An indefinable something, that attracted attention mour, but this action proves that when properly handled because it was somehow different. I peered more careful- and able to get off the first shot it was still capable of taking ly. It was a curious brownish colour. Looks like the side of a on a German Tank in the summer of 1944.