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Interesting photo


rnixartillery

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My other half found this photo along with several others of her Grandfather who served throughout WWII in the tank regiment.He had undergone extensive training to operate the 'Swimming tanks' as they were known as back then.We are not sure wether he drove a DD tank onto the beaches of Normandy but he did crew Sherman's throughout the war.note the tanks names,Blake,Blich and Beatty.

Jo's Grandfather is the guy with the mistache far right stood on the Sherman.

 

 

 

 

Rob....................rnixartillery.

Fred tank pic 001.jpg

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Hi, That photo could of possibly been taken at Fritton Lake in Norfolk, the tree line looks right, dd shermans trained there.

 

kev.

 

They are not DD Shermans, though it could still be Fritton. More likely to be nearer to Aldershot judging by the photo credit.

Edited by Adrian Barrell
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They are not DD Shermans, though it could still be Fritton. More likely to be nearer to Aldershot judging by the photo credit.

The credit on the photo "Gale & Polden" were a printing company in Aldershot, they were responsible for a lot of official Military photgraphs, and published various newspapers including the Aldershot news

Edited by Nick Johns
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Adrian - on tank Number 58 there are 'mud guards' fitted. Often seen these but seem to be pre D-Day. What is the purpose of them?

 

Jack, they are the front section of the sandshields. Originally for desert use to keep the dust down, they were often fitted from kits such as here. Later tanks had a more elaborate set and were fitted from new. They did not survive long in action as they were only sheet steel.

 

The three tanks here are all Sherman V and none have applique armour.

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13/18 H were a DD regt on D Day. They landed on sword beach, see attached

link.

 

 

http://www.sgtjohnbarnes.com/Memoirs-John-Barnes.pdf

 

Only A Company had the Sherman V DD's, B and C were equipped with wading Shermans (Shermans III and V). All landed at Sword Beach near Hermanville La Breche. According to the unit history all landed at about the same time....the DD's were supposed to arrive first, but the lack of speed, meant that they reached the beach at about the same time as the LCT's carrying the wading Shermans.

 

Interesting picture!

 

Alex

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Are the centre sections of the sand shields on the floor next to the left hand Sherman, perhaps they are in the process of fitting them....

 

Well spotted, probably track maintenance judging from the sledge hammer! Another reason why the shield tended not to last long, a pain to keep refitting them!

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Only A Company had the Sherman V DD's, B and C were equipped with wading Shermans (Shermans III and V). All landed at Sword Beach near Hermanville La Breche. According to the unit history all landed at about the same time....the DD's were supposed to arrive first, but the lack of speed, meant that they reached the beach at about the same time as the LCT's carrying the wading Shermans.

 

Interesting picture!

 

Alex

 

That would be A squadron. There are some famous pictures of C squadron lined up prior to embarkation, Carole, a Sherman Vc being prominent.

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My other half found this photo along with several others of her Grandfather who served throughout WWII in the tank regiment.He had undergone extensive training to operate the 'Swimming tanks' as they were known as back then.We are not sure wether he drove a DD tank onto the beaches of Normandy but he did crew Sherman's throughout the war.note the tanks names,Blake,Blich and Beatty.

Jo's Grandfather is the guy with the mistache far right stood on the Sherman.

 

 

 

 

Rob....................rnixartillery.

 

Interesting names.

Turret number 58 later carried the name BETH ( B Sqn 3 troop ). I take it that the names read l - r and can you read the WD serials?

 

Cheers

Kevin

Edited by KevinT
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  • 4 years later...
They are not DD Shermans, though it could still be Fritton. More likely to be nearer to Aldershot judging by the photo credit.

 

Hi

 

I know this is an old thread, but DD Shermans were not used for training at Fritton Lake, until after DDay. Valentines were used by all the regiments for their freshwater and Saltwater training. The US were first to receive Sherman DDs, in March 1944 which they used at Slapton (Torcross), whilst the UK regiments undertook a "Shermanisation" Course at Stokes Bay from 4th April.

 

Thanks

 

Stuart

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  • 1 year later...

Discovered this photo when visiting the HMVF site today. I have the same photo, a piece of the memorabilia left by my late father. He is the one sitting astride the gun on tank 56 in the centre of the picture. I am keen to find out any information on the exploits and journey of 5th Troop B Squadron 13/18 Royal Hussars from his time of joining the Royal Armoured Corps on 30/09/1942 until his transfer to the Royal Army Reserve on 28/05/1947 as I am looking to retrace his journey. If anyone has photos or information, maps, postcards (my father collected many during his travels), I would be extremely interested in connecting with you. Many thanks.

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Dear Alex, re: your statement that only A Company had Sherman V DD's, my father was a tank driver in 5th Troop, B Squadron and swam ashore in his Sherman DD.

 

The DD tanks from 'A' and 'B' Squadrons of 13th/18th Royal Hussars were launched 2.5 miles (4 km) from shore. Five could not be launched as the leading tank on its LCT tore its screen – they were later landed directly on shore – one tank sank after being struck by an LCT.

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The Light Dragoons at Catterick, have a Sherman gate guard that was a 13/18H vehicle, as they, along with the 15/19H were amalgamated to form the LD, there is a picture on the site somewhere, I'll see if there's a link somewhere

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my father was a tank driver in 5th Troop, B Squadron and swam ashore in his Sherman DD.

 

Bracken, you are quite right...indeed, my comment is incorrect (kind of stupid as I was working on a scale model of a B Squadron DD tank at the time:blush:)...it was C Squadron that was equipped with wading tanks, and A and B that had the DD tanks.

As Adrian mentioned there are some good pictures of "C" Squadron going onboard the LCT's...and also movie footage at the IWM of them landing in Normandy, with one of the LCT's on fire.

 

Do you happen to know the turret number or name of the your father's tank?

 

There is film footage of the DD's in action in and around Ouistreham...Also the "Gold, Juno, Sword" book of Georges Bernage has some pictures of the DD's taken in Ouistreham, which I think are also displayed in the Grand Bunker museum in Riva Bella.

 

Alex

Edited by Alex van de Wetering
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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi Alex. Thank you for posting reply. :-)

 

The turret number of my father's tank in the photo is 56 (he is the one sitting astride the gun. I have an original copy of the same photo). Alas, I am not sure if his tank carried the same number on DDay, or of the name. Obviously, I know it begins with a letter 'B'.

 

Thank you also for reference to film and book. Do you happen to know the name of the film.

 

I plan to visit Bovington Tank Museum and the IWM this autumn, and the Grand Bunker Museum next spring. I am also hoping to follow his path through Europe over the next 2/3 years.

 

Bracken

 

 

 

Bracken, you are quite right...indeed, my comment is incorrect (kind of stupid as I was working on a scale model of a B Squadron DD tank at the time:blush:)...it was C Squadron that was equipped with wading tanks, and A and B that had the DD tanks.

As Adrian mentioned there are some good pictures of "C" Squadron going onboard the LCT's...and also movie footage at the IWM of them landing in Normandy, with one of the LCT's on fire.

 

Do you happen to know the turret number or name of the your father's tank?

 

There is film footage of the DD's in action in and around Ouistreham...Also the "Gold, Juno, Sword" book of Georges Bernage has some pictures of the DD's taken in Ouistreham, which I think are also displayed in the Grand Bunker museum in Riva Bella.

 

Alex

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  • 2 years later...

My wife's grandfather is Reginald Ewington from South Wales. He was the gunner in tank 58 and has his head poking out of the vehicle in the picture.

We know he joined the regiment on his 21st birthday April 1943 and fought his way through to the end of the war where he was in Bremen on VE day. He was then demobbed in November 1945 joining the Glamorgan County Constabulary.

He landed on Sword beach in his Sherman DD tank on DDay as a trooper and was sometime later promoted to Corporal and crew commander of his tank during the push through Europe. He was subsequently awarded the Belgian Croix De Guerre with Palm for bravery while clearing the town of Bourg Leopold in September 1944. 

I hope this information is of interest and helpful to the discussion. 

 

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