mcspool

I´ll buy you a beer next time around in the clubhouse as a consolation prize!

I know of at least one Western European goverment who pays the scrapman for his work and materials to cut up ex-range hulks on site, and have him cart the remains to the blast furnace. All done to prevent AFVs getting into private hands. . . . H.

It was worse! Gunner Hutchins was not hurt but accidentally killed on September 3, 1944, "when the Browning on his Kangaroo caught in the branches of a tree and accidentally discharged". Source: 1CACR War Diary on http://www.canadiankangaroos.ca

Michel, Actually, I would not be surprised, either! In the first draft of my reply I wanted to say 1500+, but decided to put it down in the 1001-1500 bracket. In the first case they guy with the right answer had been drinking anyway, so it is better to share the case of beer with 2 guys who had not already Anyway, "Must be" should be read as "at least". But, although new Shermans come to light every day - like those in Iraq - we are still losing Shermans to the scrapper, like the turretless Grizzlies in Portugal. Would be great if we could merge all the various Sherman databases into one on-line! - Hanno

My pleasure, Jack! That´s gonna cost you, mate! - Hanno

Thanks for sharing all these pics, Adrian! Over the years you showed me many of them, the last two ones were new to me, though. Speaking of Rams on ranges, do you know about a Ram on the Upper Hulme Range, Staffordshire (a.k.a. Anzio Training area or Leek Training area)? I came across pictures (courtesy Gareth Ewart) of this one on http://www.ramtank.ca/ramphotos2.htm

Is this the 15-cwt you refer to? http://ccmv.fotopic.net/p55468094.html "Partially restored 1940 Fordson WOT2A 15cwt GS truck at auction. Malta, November 2008. (Peter Skerry)" And the 3 tonner? http://ccmv.fotopic.net/p55222755.html "Extremely rare Fordson WOT6 (or WOT8?) of 1942 vintage at an auction in Malta in November 2008. (Peter Skerry)"

Thanks for sharing these pics, I love the MW in desert colours. Here´s another one: http://ccmv.fotopic.net/p52952571.html "1941 Bedford MWD 15cwt GS 4x2 Highland Div 8th Army at MAM 2006. (Peter Skerry)" Almost finished, as in: it will now no longer stand out from the endless rows of mickey mouse camouflaged Bedfords? Just kidding of course, keep up the good work! - Hanno

Rippo, I am amazed by what you can tell about an MW just by looking at a picture. Very instructive, thanks! Hanno

Rippo, You probably know this one already, be there´s a nice pic on the CCMV site anyway: http://ccmv.fotopic.net/p55464591.html "1940 Bedford MWD 4x2 GS truck JAH031 attending the AFM Open Day at Luqa. (Peter Skerry)" Regards, Hanno

Well, it´s time to relieve you all of your agony, seems there are hundreds of guys biting their nails out there . . . If you look at the results, there were 15 voters, 6 voted 1-500 survivors, 2 voted 501-1000, 2 for 1001-1500, 1 for 1501-2000 and 4 people bribed me for the answer. The bribes were sufficient so here we go: WORLDWIDE SURVIVING SHERMAN STATISTICS - online since 1997(!) As you can see, back then my database had 1003 records on surviving Sherman tanks and related AFVs. Now, these are the number of database records, not the actual number of vehicles. Normally one record represents one vehicle. Some records represent any number from 2 to a few hundred vehicles. All types of surviving vehicles are recorded; status varies from recognizable range targets to operational vehicles. Most vehicles are preserved in museums or private hands. Current status of some records is unknown. The corresponding vehicle(s) may have been relocated or scrapped. Those 1003 records were gathered in the pre-internet era by reading magazines & reports, writing letters, calling people and making fieldtrips. If I add up all the Shermans represented by these records, plus the new finds since the amount of information available through the internet has grown exponentially, I recon the actual number of Sherman tanks and related AFVs surviving in any sort of condition, must be in the 1001-1500 bracket. The guys who voted for that have a case of beer waiting for them. I´ll leave it at the clubhouse next weekend, so help yourself. Hope this is of interest! Hanno

Simon, I presume this is your MW? (Pic found on the internet somewhere.) Looks great in desert sand (Light Stone?) Regards, Hanno

Right! As a prelude, see my G503 album Surviving Shermans - UK: Pirbright. Some of those pics might actually be yours.

Gotcha. I knew you could not resist . . . - Hanno

C´mon guys, this is a gallery thread, i.e. piccies! Not an anorak discussion about the number of bolts needed to fit a final drive housing to a Sherman hull. . . . H.

As much as I like riding/driving a fully restored Sherman, I am fascinated by artefacts like the one below. Remember this Sherman was put out of action and remained in the very same spot since November 1943! I cannot think of a better memorial to the people who paid dearly during the Battle of Tarawa. . . . Source: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fichier:Battle_Tarawa_Tank.jpg

Hmm . . . . Jack, you want to change the thread caption in an effort to attract more people to vote in this poll? And tell them there's a case of beer to be handed out in the clubhouse among the ones who were the closest in guessing! Cheers, Hanno

See my album Surviving Shermans - Iraq for some Shermans which came to light in the recent years. Enjoy! Hanno

I´d rather see Jack add a pole to the clubhouse, than see him add a poll to the forum . . . . - Hanno

Coming along nicely, Maurice. Keep up the good work! - Hanno

As Adrian says, it is imposible to answer exactly, but and educated guess can be made. But yes Jack, let´s make this a competition! - Hanno

See my Sherman Encyclopedia for part of the answer. As far as I can ascertain no countries have Sherman (gun) tanks in their strategic reserve. All have been struck off charge, which does not mean there are no Sherman tanks in storage awaiting their final fate. . . - Hanno

Nah, "V for Victory"!

If you read up on the subject of deportation of Jews at sites like A Forgotten Chapter: Holland Under the Third Reich one comes across mindboggling facts like this: 75% of all Jews in Holland perished (...) the highest percentage of Jews to die in any Nazi occupied country with the exception of Poland. Hanno

I´m no expert on US markings, but my bet would be that "SF" on the bonnet would indicate United States Army Special Forces. According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Army_Special_Forces they were the first military units in Iraq. - Hanno