Adrian Barrell

Early US artillery was often licence built European designs and retained the original calibres. Russian artillery used Imperial sizes because they originally used British guns. 152mm (6") being a good example.

Well Rick, what can I say......

M41 light tank.

Comet on the left, Centurion on the right.

Ok, there were three models fitted to Shermans. Mk. IA Mk. IA* Mk. II The IA, firing an 18 grain ballistite cartridge had a fixed range of approx 150 yards. The IA* was developed to give a variable range. This was achieved by fitting the adjustable gas release valve in the chamber and using a 55 grain cartridge. It is a modification of the Mk IA rather than a new design. Early models had the valve retained by a Jubilee clip and these were restricted to using the 18 grain charge. Later models had the valve retained by a U bolt and could use the full charge. In Sherman, the vented gasses were released into the turret where ''they have no ill effects on the crew''. Quite what the crews concerned thought about that is not revealed! As mentioned, in Cromwell, gasses were vented to the outside via a pipe. The Mk II, also known as the Campbell bomb thrower, was a new design that used an adjustable concentric sleeve (3) to set the range and gases were vented coaxially up the barrel. There were two types of bomb used, the Mk I which was filled with HCE. This smoked from firing, hence leaving a trail back to the tank. It burned for 1 1/4 minutes. Early bombs had aluminium tails and could only use the 18 grain cartridge, later bombs used Mazak or steel fins and could use the 55 grain cartridge. The Mk III bomb was filled with white phosphorous and was fitted with a no 151 percussion fuze so only started producing smoke upon impact.

I'll dig out what I have and scan it.

The 2" Mortar Mk3 is not a Mk3 but an M3, a US built copy of the British BT. The proper ammunition was marked 2" BT so presumably different to the standard infantry smoke round. Not sure if it could have fired HE rounds, they may have had a heavier propelling charge and HE was not issued to tanks anyway. There is a pipe that fits on the threaded boss in Cromwell that vents excess propellant gases outside the vehicle, not used in Sherman however. Come to think of it, I'm not sure the valve is used in Sherman installations anyway, will have to check the manuals.

Rupteur. I typed contact breaker into Google translate!

Pigeons that would be immune to the same headwind.....?

Lucky those 48" waist original uniforms survived..........

German for 7.92mm. MG34 or MG42, others will know more, I'm sure.

Which is less than it cost Mr Rackham I understand.

As an aside, UNC and UNF did not exist at that time. American threads were specified as NC or NF but always with the pitch listed, i.e 1/4-28NF. When threads were unified in the 1950's, nearly all of the 'standard' pitches were used but there are some gotchas. 1" NF was 14tpi, when threads were unified, they picked 12tpi. There are a lot of 1" fine screws and bolts in a Sherman but none of them are UNF!

A reasonably clean, unmolested Canadian MkIII with correct PSU and a variometer. I would suggest something like £250-£300. The missing parts are the hard to find and valuable bits, such as the mounting and hardware, aerial feeder etc.

No, both removed for restoration. The M10 features elsewhere on here, the Windsor carrier is almost finished after a long and difficult restoration.

Hi Danny, sure did. You need three piece ones, I have them in hand. Regards, Adrian

A more comprehensive listing. US TM9-754 Maintenance manual TM9-307 Ordnance maintenance 75mm gun M3 TM9-1334 Stabilizers TM9-1731E Westinghouse electric traverse TM9-1731G Oilgear hydraulic traverse TM9-1750A 3 piece transmission TM9-1750F Engine TM9-1750J Engine accessories TM9-1750K Hull, track and suspension TM9-1752 Homelite HRH Aux gen. UK Sherman V vehicle pamphlet AFVP/VP/4 Sherman 75mm armament pamphlet AFVP/G1/1 (superseded by G1/5) 3 ft and 6 ft wading instructions Engine workshop manual Guide to removal and replacement in the field 62/638 Guide to inspection AFVP/MSC/21 There are other manual covering things like extinguishers, periscopes etc but they are of limited use. A quick google shows a CD available on ebay with TM9-754 and TM9-1750F, worth getting, they are the most useful manuals.

Hi Danny, there are quite a few! Obviously the US TM9-754 covering the vehicle but a host of ordnance maintenance manuals for engine, engine accessories, transmission, turret, gun etc. SNL G-104 vol IX (iirc) is the parts list. There are some good British books too. Vehicle pamphlet for the Sherman V, engine manual, inspection guide, armament pamphlet etc. I think I have them all but no spares anymore. I'm not aware of any digital versions but I've never looked!

Had I been answering your post directly, I would have quoted you, I was speaking in general terms. You are correct, it is just a forum.

I don't think ignorance of ones own language is something to be proud of. Don't worry Enigma, the average Dutch persons written and spoken English is generally better than many British people, I'm sad to say.

Try a new coil.

The ME108 was a Bucker Bestmann.

You can fit a pressure regulator to overcome that problem.

It's better to mount an electric pump as close to the tank as possible, or at least in a gravity fed supply. Modern petrol, especially winter grades, doesn't like being sucked. You can get into vapour locking problems upstream of the pump.

Still privately owned, I believe. A Mr Harvey?