Memorial Day, 2018, Remember what this this day is all about, the men and women who died for our Nation.
I know of no other person who can express what today means more than Jocko Willink.
Memorial Day, 2018, Remember what this this day is all about, the men and women who died for our Nation.
I know of no other person who can express what today means more than Jocko Willink.
Well, the beginning of the year was looking good, then things on a work-related front went south, and I have not had as much time for the site. What time I had I was using on image improvements and had to cut back there due to some carpal tunnel syndrome issues. I won’t bother you all with further personal stuff.
I’ve discovered the stash of Army Motors Magazines over at Radionerds, and have done a series of posts about them.
Sherman Tank Site Post 72: Army Motors, the Magazine of the Army Mechanic!
Sherman Tank Site Post 73: Articles from Army Motors Episode one, Give Your Tank a Brake!
Sherman news from around the net.
The above link takes you post on LiveJournal with a video of a French crew removing a dead crew member, it is not for the faint of heart. Another catch by Looser over on the SH forums.
Our pal Walt from the Sturgeons House Forums, who runs Tank And AFV News, has a new video channel, and though it is not Sherman specific, it is doing book reviews and if you’re interested in Shermans, or Armor in general, you should give his page and videos a view! Support the fellow Armor loving guys out there!
Here are a few samples!
Peter Samsanov of Tank Archives does a Podcast on German Kill claim inflation!
Peter S and his Tank Archives site are powerhouses in revealing the truth about the prowess of Soviet Armor, and the imaginary prowess of German Armor!
Listen to Peter talk to Military History Verbalized about German Kill claims and the real numbers. Not directly Sherman related, but there are many mythical German kill claims in the west too.
I’m also going to include a few improved images I haven’t put up yet.
That’s all for now, but don’t forget to check out or gear store if you want to wear Sherman Tank related gear. It supports the site!
This is the first in a series of posts I’m going to do highlighting the Sherman or M4 series-related vehicle, articles I’ve found. With some commentary, though some of these articles are so good they speak for themselves.
This article surprised me, because in the world of 4 wheel drive, compression braking is commonly used to control a vehicle on steep hill descents, and some vehicles have very low gears in their transfer case for this purpose, among others. I bought a Jeep Rubicon because it came with a Transfercase to do this.
A tank is not a Jeep though, so I clearly get the point of the article. Also, as for using the engine to brake, I’ve never been big on downshifting for that reason, even in cars and Jeeps. I once had a conversation with my wife, who was big on downshifting, about the cost and labor of a new set of brake pads, versus a new clutch. She agreed once we talked about the labor involved.
Over the years, I’ve run into the Army’s PS Magazines, the comic book style magazine distributed around the army to advise the troops in language they could too, but they were all post-WWII so of limited interest to the Sherman Tank Fanatic. RadioNerds has all or almost all of the PS Mags for download, and they are a fun read. RadioNerds is a really Fantastic site, and when I found out there was a WWII Magazine for the same purpose, though more Vehicle specific, and was not surprised to find RadioNerds also has all or just about all of them too!
You can find them here: Radionerds Army Motors Archive
The Army Motors magazines start pre-WWII, in may of 1940, and they really do not have much of interest to the Sherman fanatic until the 1943 issue, and then they have all kinds of fun information. This does not mean those pre 43 issues are not interesting. They give you a look into the problems the army was running into as it was growing, and one of those problems was draftees ruining everything!
What I mean by this is the main push of just about every issue is, follow the maintenance schedule and not be creative in trying figure out better or easier ways to do the maintenance. Some other problems would be not driving properly or even warming vehicles up right. General carelessness seemed to be enemy number 1.
Accident were another big subject across the board, I even found a chart of deaths and there causes. Horseplay was another one, with power tools in particular, got mentioned in several issues. This one I thought was amusing, and reminded me of all the times I’ve worked with men and around tools. Jokes and pranks were played, and it was just life, no need to involve HR or anything.
The general tone of these magazines was humorous, and they have several set ‘Departments’ like Connie Rodd Bulliton board, and the Rumors Department, with an Outhouse as a logo. There were lots of illustrations and comics, and they went color in late 43.
The early and late versions of later versions of Connie Rodd.
A letter from a satisfied customer.
Don’t waste rubber, it makes Hitler happy, that’s his happy face.
This cartoon is a little disturbing, but the chart explains the US Vehicle maintenance system.