RMS Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 not sure if this has been posted before but makes great reading, go to page 81 http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Z9sDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA81&lpg=PA81&dq=Popular+mechanics+Sherman+tanks&source=bl&ots=_6sQ3Xvv-d&sig=pXDfyxqHWteC61cGPbXkfea3pWE&hl=en&ei=g9tBTYDtPMqWhQe0sszZAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CB0Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyFowler Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 Very interesting ! Thanks for the link ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddy8men Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 that's my kind of guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toolman Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 What a guy.... but reading it is sad, I hate stripping for parts...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joris Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 Great stuff, 450.000$ for 536 tanks isn't a lot of money! Where can I buy my lot? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveo578 Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 the popular mechanics story was once mentioned in Wheels & Tracks . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazzaw Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 Good story but what a shame so many were cut up etc. 50 years on and he could have been the richest man in America lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveo578 Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 gazzaw 50 years on and he could have been the richest man in America It must be remembered that the bidding on these vehicles was within a year of them being declared obsolete OTCM 36468 of 14th Feb 1957 so there were alot of stuff around -they were probably just too worn to merit rebuild for military aid although many more modern types such as M47 were becoming readily available -however no doubt the State Department would have been mindful of the numbers of Shermans that managed to end up in Israel -who were not regarded as a friendly state by the Eisenhower administration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajmac Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 (edited) A great article, I imagine the scenario was repeated throughout europe in the late 40's when the German armour was cleared from Normandy and Germany, it would be very interesting to see some photos of the huge scrapping operations. I imagine as it was done by private companies that the only photos (if any) are going to be in the hands of family members. I was telling eddy the other week about my Dads company site, when they moved in, in 1990 the foundry on the site had been going since the late Victorian era, I helped clear for the new equipment being installed and we scrapped dozens of wartime ammunition boxes, we cut a hole in the back of one and welded it to the main gate as a post box and I took one home to keep, I'll have to dig it out and see if anyone can ID it. I do remember that they had padded handles and were bloo*y heavy! Edited January 29, 2011 by ajmac Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Cubed Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Good story but what a shame so many were cut up etc. 50 years on and he could have been the richest man in America lol Ah but how much was 380,000 in the late 50's early 60's when it came about !!!!!!! how would that work out in today's ratios ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveo578 Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 working on the Mars bar constant, in 1960 a Mars bar cost 2.5p:laugh: now costs about 45-50p> so multiply by 20 -still pretty cheap for that number of tanks. They were so cheap around that time that a M4A3 76 HVSS with an M2 dozer blade was bought by a mental health department in the eastern USA to push coal around at their lunatic asylum -it was buried when the asylum was turned over to oil heating -and recovered a few years back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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