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Sherman Firefly Restoration


Packhow75

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Have bought a Sherman Firefly for restoration... VC variant (M4A4 Hull)

 

I do not plan to post any photos until things get going as at present it's just a big pile of rusty parts which barely resemble a tank.

 

Does anyone here have a Sherman Firefly manual of any description in any language which they'd be happy to let me have/buy a scanned copy of please?

 

Anything is great, but am specifically interested in the 17pdr gun system.

 

Many thanks

 

Tim

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All

 

Have bought a Sherman Firefly for restoration... VC variant (M4A4 Hull)

 

I do not plan to post any photos until things get going as at present it's just a big pile of rusty parts which barely resemble a tank.

 

Does anyone here have a Sherman Firefly manual of any description in any language which they'd be happy to let me have/buy a scanned copy of please?

 

Anything is great, but am specifically interested in the 17pdr gun system.

 

Many thanks

 

Tim

 

Send John Pearson who is on here a message he has a lot of manuals he may be able to help you.

Big Al

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yep def agree...piles of rusty stuff now make the final pictures all the more appeciable !:):)

plus !..full details of:......how did you find it ? where? how did you manage to buy it ? how long did it take to negotiate the deal ?...? ...?....? etc etc hahaha ! :)

 

Perhaps some pics sometime.

 

The what, where etc... Bought it from someone selling it...

 

Tim

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Perhaps some pics sometime.

 

The what, where etc... Bought it from someone selling it...

 

Tim

fair enough ..that told me then.........

.....at many vintage / classic shows I've been to ... the most interesting vehicles are the ones where they have a story board propped up next to them with a stack of pictures and info showing / telling the story of how they came to be found and subsequently saved ...and from an owners point of view I 've always liked hearing other owners stories about that too ... ....and if you were to do that on here ?....

it's just a different version of that I'd have thought ?......but...if you don't want to share that part of it?.. thats up to you of course :):)

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fair enough ..that told me then.........

.....at many vintage / classic shows I've been to ... the most interesting vehicles are the ones where they have a story board propped up next to them with a stack of pictures and info showing / telling the story of how they came to be found and subsequently saved ...and from an owners point of view I 've always liked hearing other owners stories about that too ... ....and if you were to do that on here ?....

it's just a different version of that I'd have thought ?......but...if you don't want to share that part of it?.. thats up to you of course :):)

 

Never have for any of my vehicles to date... My "thing" is the vehicles historical context, getting the kit right and educating people about the what and where of the unit it may be restored to represent.

 

Tim

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For the photo fans...

 

From someone else's Sherman turret (the owner frequents this forum, so may recognise it):

 

CCM-TurretSights-b.jpg

 

Am aware the two fittings circled are sights - I dont know what they are officially called though, so lets say A) Left and B) Right.

 

On my turret roof... I only have the mount for (B)...

 

Turret-Sight-Mount-B.jpg

 

 

My questions therefore...

 

1) Can anyone please tell me what these are called

2) Are they both British Army Modifications

3) If so, when were they introduced and why

4) Should I have A and B - I've noticed that all turrets I've seen pictures of have B, and only some have A.

 

 

Many thanks

 

Tim

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A is blade vane sight, lines up with a small blade in front of commanders periscope in hatch.

B is Alidade sight.

 

Both used by commander to get the turret almost on target so that the gunner can pick it up in his periscope/telescope.

The advantage of the Alidade is it enables the commander to use it without having to look through his telescope and is able to be used for targets above and below the position of the tank to a greater degree than the blade vane sight.

 

A is definately US origin, B is, I suspect British but the US were certainly fitting them to their own tanks so I'm not sure.

 

When? Hard to say. My Sherman V, built in September 1942 has B but not A and there was no trace of it ever having been there.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Righto... hope the following is of interest:

 

Rather than posting photos, here are some already available elsewhere:

 

http://the.shadock.free.fr/Surviving..._Fireflies.pdf

 

http://www.afvregister.org/Downloads...Brasschaat.htm

 

My vehicle is the first Sherman Firefly in the 3rd section down on the afv register page.

 

Very fortunately, this still retains paint markings giving the Census number and Tank name:

 

Tank Name - "GAUCHO"

Census Number - "T-289477"

 

I've been advised that this vehicle served with the Canadian 21st Armoured Regt (Governor General's Foot Guards), Canadian 4th Armoured Div from July 44 to July 45.

 

On that basis, it will be restored as such... just need to start gathering info to get the markings correct.

 

Still on the hunt for 17pdr parts.

 

Tim

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Something dodgy with the way this forum saves the message... they work fine everywhere else I post them.

 

Trying again.

 

http: //the.shadock.free.fr/Surviving_Sherman_Fireflies.pdf

 

http: //www.afvregister.org/Downloads/M7B2/Brasschaat.htm

 

Remove the spaces between http: and the rest of the text in both.

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