RattlesnakeBob

its absolutely gorgeous so far ..can't wait to see it complete with tracks etc!!.. .and I know it's a lot of money but not to someone like Spielberg it ain't.:cool2:....and if they'd been available when Saving Private Ryan /Band of Brothers was in the production stages I bet ol' Steve would have been on the phone to them with an order for 3 or 4..... and I reckon a modern diesel is the sensible option.....come on now....she may not sound absolutely 'correct' but she does still sound gorgeous...and maybe one of the reasons they went for diesel was because of the Health and Safety issue?...Diesel gotta be a safer option than a whacking great big petrol especialy if its gonna be used alongside of actors that cost a couple of billion to insure for your movie...?????

3 at my local carboot sale this morning ...1 stamped and dated 1953, the other 2 not stamped nor dated ....fella was asking £5 each.all appeared to be in good nick ...he's there regular...is that about right? too steep? cheap ?.....

hallo to you !

they may have been for D-Day...not Dieppe though....that was the year before . ..then again ...knowing how hopelessly the Churchills had performed there....and not entirely their fault to be fair, due to the shingle beachs........you would have thought there would have been added determination to build something better?........ and yeah I know how difficult it must have been to find factory/manufacturing space in the massive production drive that was on at that time but.......you would have thought for something that could actually have contributed to winning the war by a fair margin quicker....and would have saved the lives of countless thousands of tank crew men.. .they could have found a way?....:undecided:

agree with all the above however... ..... around late '43 ish..(by which time we very clearly knew we weren't building the kind of tank we sorely needed).. we must have been spending an incredible amount of money on building about 20 different varieties of tank ...none of which were really any good... ..so...the reason we didn't 'get on with it' and develop a decent tank can't have come down to money at that point of the war surely??... could we not have eased off on some of the production of the ineffective 'cruiser' type tanks and used the same money/factories/resources etc on buidling something worth having???? .......and......... if we didn't have enough money/resources to do so ..... ..then surely the US certainly did?....so.. .. even though they'd decided on mass production of the Sherman ...surely they had enough cash in the kitty to still be getting on with a new design?......... its proper mystifying still to my mind......:undecided:

yep !.second that on both counts!

yer quite right sorry!.. I forgot the Panther was copied from the T34.. ..but and so.. If the Germans 'stooped' to 'copying' ...why didn't we do the same??..... ....we must have captured a few Tigers in North Africa by the end of 1942 and probably a few Panthers in Italy by the end of 1943......... .so.... ..... why didn't we just admit we weren't getting it 'right' and just build a British copy of a Panther or a Tiger or a T34 come to that ????.... ......I can see the daft issue of 'rail loading' was probably a big problem but surely.....the US didn't have that problem as well?..... US railroads were built on a huge scale..so.... ..why did it take them so long to come up with the Pershing?....... ...questions! questions! heheheh! I absolutely agree on the cost in tank crews . ...although I love the Sherman I wouldn't have given you much for being a crewman in one when up against Tigers and Panthers with the 88mm .....(nor the Mk4s with their long barrell 75mm come to that!)... It seems like an horrific way to use mens lives.......put 4 Shermans or Churchills in against a Tiger or a Panther and expect to lose 3 I think it was?..... not much of a deal was it?....no thanks..!!!. .I think I'd rather take my chance as Infantry with a PIAT or a Bazooka....... good thoughts though people .....please keep it coming !........

OK....I'm fascinated by tanks ..always have been and over the years a nagging question has always been in the back of my mind which I thought it'd be good to throw onto the forum then sit back and see what folks ideas are on the subject....For one reason I know there are a lot of people on here that not only love tanks but have also accumulated an incredible knowledge on there manufacture/design and use especially during WW2....... so.here we go......... Why oh why, did it take the British and the US so long to come up with a first class product during WW2? allow me to clarify what to some folk may appear to be a rather 'broadscreen' view .... we, the Allies encountered the Tiger relatively early in the war in North Africa.it was very quickly realised that even with it's faults we were dealing with a new class of armour....should it not have been very evidant at that point (late 1941 early 42) the way the wind was blowing with (German) tank design in general???. Both the Panther and the Tiger were conceived, designed and manufactured all within the war...from a scratch idea on a draughtmans table to the working item in the field.........yes I know..both had some terrible teething problems and in the Tigers case some faults were never properly solved.....BUT!.....it still has to be said the Germans (even with having their home factories bombed witless) still managed to come up with those tanks...and get them built to a very useable standard...which was I think we'd all agree... was a standard way way above where we were with our own designs?.......... so....here we are faced in 1942 with the Tiger and then the following year with the Panther and what do we do?.....we faff about with various cruiser designs and various Churchills and Valentines and blah blah blah ....none of which were anywhere near the same league as the German contenders.... ..and the Yanks ???..well.....they do no more than stick a better turret on the Grant , call it a Sherman and 'set to' producing thousands of them. .....even though the crews went through hell with them..(still a gorgeous tank though and my absolute favourite ! ).. ....... the Russians to be fair to them, did the business and came up with the T34 but.... .what did we have?.... well............our tank crews in France in 1944 must have been pretty balled off I reckon............. ....it wasn't until 1945 that we had the Centurion and the Pershing (both I presume we're agreed on were way above either the Panther or the Tiger?)...but both were delivered way to late to be of any use.....(did either the Centurion or the Pershing actually see any combat in WW2??? Please excuse my ignorance of this...) SO....... .in a nutshell we return to the question.... .why oh why did it take so long for either us or the Yanks to get with the programme?????? Possible excuses/reasons: Did the UK stick so doggedly to the idea that 'tank on tank' combat should be avoided therefore 'battle tanks' simply weren't needed?............if so why did we finally change our minds and come up with the Centurion?.......did this also apply to the US?....... ...........or here's another possiblity....... Was tank design so 'isolated' not only in the UK (between various factions and factories) but also between the UK and the US that ideas weren't 'put on the table' and developed unilaterally?......... or ...an even worse case scenario... were tank crew expiriences and reports from the front so absurdly ignored and discounted that 'commitees' and 'high ranking officials' simply carried on with their own particular and arrogant idea of 'what was needed'? ok!.... so I'm off out to work for the night and I'll be back around 2am ish so I'll look forward to seeing what your thoughts are!.. ........Many thanks! PS: This honestly is not intended as 'criticism' of how we or the US operated in the war regarding tank development ...I am honestly just very intrigued and mystified as to exactly 'why' did we get it so wrong for so long?................

sorry bout the mistaken identity....whats the differance then between Cromwells and Centaurs?...they look the same to me but ...guessing its engine/main gun/armour?..... PS: having done some Googling I see the main differance is the engine !thanks anyways. also......has anyone restored/saved/got one of the Comets with the detuned 17lb main gun... nice looking tank....very Centurion looking turret.......???

questions questions! ...for all you Sherman experts out there....what model is the one at Utah?...and the other one in Smithys post at St Mere Eglis ?....which I think is the same model ?...what size main gun is that ?....is that the 76mm ? and....is that the US (sort of) equivalent to our Firefly 17lb-er???.. .and finally!..... .....can anyone explain what the increment markings are for on the 2 Cromwells (?) ?...they are Cromwells aren't they?.... .....oh yeah and Smithy!...the one Cromwell (on a peice of bridge gantry) is opposite Pegasus Cafe..yes?no?.... but where is the other one?.don't recall seeing her but mite have ...all confused I am!!!!???........many thanks!

...quick! ...lets talk FCs whilst the missus is out busy shopping !... ........is it a rebuild/wreck or up together and where are you & it?.....could be could be!

see current ebay listings either or to choose from !.........

also another little from a visit to those batteries..... at the time they offered a guided tour and explaination of the way the battery functioned but...being a typical Brit my grasp of French is limited to say the least....and the next English speaking tour was not til a day or so's time ....but.. the fella that took my money was most emphatic and made great efforts to assure me "ze guide she speak good englisse! don't worry ..you will be understanding good!" So!.......... .....Suitably assured of getting my moneys worth out of the tour I paid up and joined a small group of French tourists for the walkabout........the tour duly entered the first emplacement and the young lady delivered what was evidently a very thorough explaination in French of course ......of what went on in there.... .her talk went on for a good 20 minutes with much typical Gallic gesturing and approving nods from the French tourists and many questions were asked and she gave what was obviously very thorough answers to each enquiry which I endeavoured to follow as best I could ......thinking all the while...ah she'll get to me in a minute ..be patient !........... ..................finally she turned to me (the only English person there).......and said "Zo!.....theeese iss..... ah....how you say?.......zee gun room!" with that she turned and led the party out the door to the next stop.............. hahaha! served me right I guess for not paying attention at school french lessons!

cracking shots !.... I absolutely love Normandy and despite many visits over the years I still get a really weird 'chilly' feeling whenever I am there...... hey....the first Sherman with the horizontal springs and a couple of beach obstacles by it ...is that at Utah?.... .......also Azeville Battery is great .... .there's also another one not that far away from it but I can't recall the name?? .....anyways... one (or the other one) of these batteries actually deliberately shelled their neighbouring battery in the days after D-Day ...apparantly cos one of the Batterys Commandants decided to surrender and the fella in charge of the other battery was a bit more of an ardent Nazi and therefore didn't think much of his comrades shall we say. ...'commitment to the cause' ...! also when I was last at one of them the French Army had not long recovered a massive battleship shell... something like a 16 incher.........the shell had been fired from way out in the bay and had scored a direct hit on one of the concrete casements but had failed to explode....it had then skidded and smashed its way straight thru the emplacement and out through the back door finally burrowing into the earth of the meadow behind...there it had lain for many years until someone must have twigged er!...hang on a minute!...if it didn't explode!...is it still 'live'?"..... and yes...... it was still very much alive... ..christ knows how many tourists had innocently marched around on top of some proper high explosive in the meadow during the intervening years !....

also local kids often know the location of just about anything in their area......I once spent ages looking for the remains of teh ammunition bunker/store at a long disused rifle range once used by the big US camp that was near to me.......couldn't find the damn thing...nettle stung...wasp stung....branches smacking me in the face for weekends at a time... ....my good lady rather nonchalantly suggests one day "why don't you ask my lad...?"...........an hour or so later I find it exactly where he said it was.......

gorgeous .but..........a Meadows Petrol?..........I'm not even gonna start to imagine what she doesn't do to the gallon....

oooww! A FC! wouldn't mind one of them myself!

hello there !...and .....regards the lottery?..join the queue ! hahaha!

aha! Many thanks! tried all of them I guess except that one!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry about this.struggling to get the photos to upload for some reason........ Anyways.....here's some of the derelicts lying up on the Sennybridge Range near to the FIBUA village........photos from about 3 years ago Cheiftain / Burnt out and very rough: T55 / More or less complete and in quite good condition: T55 / Very rough and burnt out: FV432? Rough: ArmouredCar / carrier, very rough: Bedford Truck / Just about dead:

trying to upload some photos .... and failing dismally........... mmmmhh.......... ..........now that I've managed to put up the photos . ........................................I'd delete this failed posting but....can't I work out how to!?

when in Normandy in 2004 I used a metal detector a bit (not on a beach) and turned up a few bits and bobs...some spent shell cases and lots of bits of shrapnel but the best I found was a GI issue pocket knife...complete but a bit rusty and crusty...I took it along to the museum thats in the 'middle' of Omaha and one of the fella's there instantly recognised it and took me to see one they had in a cabinet on display...asked me where I found it and got reasonably excited... I gotta say though......not excited enough to offer to swap it for the rather nice Sherman parked outside though..tsk!

bit of wire brush work....have a go with a nail gun......tin of red oxide and look out for me on the show circuit.. :rotfl:

.......you guys that take on these massive and total restorations are absolute heroes as far as I'm concerned...from looking at some of the posts on here I am truly amazed at how much work you take on.......RESPECT! for what its worth... .... about the late 90s ...a scrapyard in Trowbridge ..EJ Shanleys......had a pile of 'scrap' in their 'Greenlanes' yard that was coming in quite regularly from the ranges and in amongst it was a lot of Sherman stuff........nothing complete in anyway whatsoever but lots of big lumps like fronts of tanks with gearboxs and sprockets, turrets, mantlets and hatches and piles of tracks and idlers etc.. has to be said.....all very shot up and damaged but a lot that (with the gift of hindsight! tsk!) could have been carefully stripped and saved... ..At the time I bought a lot of stainless steel chemical vessels off them and have always kicked myself over the years for not buying the whole pile of tank remains..... ..I never even thought about it at the time but I know now there would have been a cracking market for more or less everything.......... you never know..... it may be worth getting in contact with them if no-one already has????

.and crikey! .........they've got some kinda plant in some sorta order!.......dunno if they sell for commision or if its their own stock but there's some kinda moneys worth on their books!