#43 Gallery II: More Random High Resolution Sherman Photos with Comments.

Gallery II: More Random High Resolution Photos Of The Sherman With Comments. I Plan On Going Through Books To Confirm The Captions On Some Of These. I Know I’ve Seen Most Of Them In Zaloga’s Armored Attack Books.

M4Sherman_M1dozerblade_1945
In this very nice Signal Corps photo an M4A3 75w, late 44 early 45 somewhere in Europe. This tank also has the M1 dozer blade kit installed. The Sherman, burned out in the background, is also an M4A3 75w. There is an M32 in the background and several Half tracks. The tank appears to be from the 8th Armored Division, 36th Tank Battalion, and it’s tank C17, probably one of the HQ platoon tanks. This is based off the markings on the gun mantlet. Note all the junk on the front of the tank, a como wire reel, a oil lantern, and some other things I can’t make out. 
M4_Sherman__
M4A3 75w, burned out late war Europe, the tank looks like it was loaded up, note the large metal basket on the rear of the tank. The basket looks like it was filled with some ration boxes, and a jerry can. 
2AD_FDM4_1945
M4A3 76w Sherman with a threaded and capped M1A1 gun, and split loaders hatch. Oddly this tank has T51 tracks, when the T48 rubber chevron track would be more common or The T54E1 steel chevron track. This Sherman also has concrete armored added to the front hull. Looks to be from the 2nd Armored Division 1945.
M4_Sherman_Hurtgen_1944
This one is another M4A3 75w, the caption says hurtgen 1944, but is wrong. The tank is with the 746th Tank battalion, they are attaching ‘corduroy logs’ logs wired together, to the front of the tank. This was on the Roer front, December of 44.  it was very muddy.  The infantry in the picture are from the 39th infantry, 9th Division. The 746th would be supporting them on offensive operations, this was the first day. Oddly, this tank lacks duck bill end connectors, and they would help with the mud. The logs on the front hull would be used to get the tank unstuck from the mud. 
M4_Sherman_in_Aachen_1945
This huge image of a M4 and M10, photo caption says Aachen 1944. The M4 is with the 745th Tank Battalion. This photo was taken on October 20th. The Germans surrendered the next day when an M12 155mm Gun Motor Carriage was brought in to shell the Germans command bunker at point blank range.  The M12 used the M4 chassis. The tracks on the M4 look almost worn out, and everything on the back is wrapped in tarps, other than the ration boxes. The tank is also wet from recent rain. 
Armor
Yanks and Limeys in one place!! M4A3 75w, and some kind of Churchill. This was a rare occurrence, the two nations working so close. This was units of the US 9th Army and British 21st Army Group, in January of 45, near Brachelan. note the use of white tarps as snow camouflage. 
NARA_-_5312541
This huge image is of a small hatch M4 75, with a lot of infantry around it. On closer inspection, the tank is an for sure an M4, and it’s named Jinx, and the troops on the ground around the tank and are colored. The tank is also carrying spare ammo and some of the Doughs gear. With the help of Russ Amott, we now know this tank  is with the 754th Tank Battalion and troops are with the 24th Infantry, and the location is Bougainville Island, one of the northern most islands in the Solomon Islands, in the Pacific, so my MTO guess was way off!  Thanks again Russ for the photo caption help!
14AD_M4A3_Sherman_05_1945
The crew of this 14th Armored Division M4A3 76w, with a M1A1 that is threaded and capped. The tank has sandbag armor. I think this was a big thing in the 14th. Do these guys look bored or what? All the daily chores the tank required must be done already.
M4A3_Sherman_Ritterehoffen
M4A3 76w with a split loaders hatch and a M1A1 with threaded and guarded tube. Caption says Rittershoffen, but you never know, also could it be a 14AD tank? Look at all the communication wire they are holding up for the tank to drive under.  Look at all of it coming out of the house and running across the front  of it. So I found this photo in Armored Attack 45, and it was a 14AD tank, but in Niederbetsdorf. Note the sandbags are larger, and sloppier than the previous or following tanks. 
14AD_M4A3_Sherman_03_1945
A very nice photo of a M4A3 76w with HVSS, or Easy 8 Sherman, with the 14AD, if had to guess, the 25th battalion, B Company, the Company commander’s tank B17, and the crew is messing around with a BC-603 Radio Receiver 14 March of 45, the tank is sandbagged and camoed, the typical black and olive drab, and note the M1 Carbine leaning on the turret. This tank would have 5 M3A1 submachine guns normally. 
M3A1_Halftrack_burnedout_M4Sherman_1945_Warning_Tank Commander dead in turret
A knocked out and burned M4A3 76w from the 48th Tank Battalion, 14th Armored Division. This picture is a little disturbing, and I toyed with not putting it in, but in the end, it stays, because war is ugly, and the Sherman was a machine of war.
M4A3_Sherman_21945
SNIPER!!!! Does anyone see the sniper!! At least that what it looks like to me. I bet the gunner or commander is in the gunners seat looking at all the windows in that house with an HE round ready to go. Most if not all the men outside the tank are the tanks crews. The Sherman on the left is an M4A3 76w HVSS tank. These tanks belong to the 745th Tank Battalion, they were supporting the 1st Infantry Divisions assault on St Andreasberg on 14 April 1945. Note the M4A3 76w VVSS tank has one mismatched road wheel.  The extended end connectors on this tank are also in bad shape.
Marienburg-Sherman-Pz4
M4A1 75 with add on steel armor passing a knocked out PIV. The M4A1 is a late production small hatch tank. 
M4_Sherman_Tunesien_1943
This Sherman is an M4A1 made by Pressed Steel Car, the tank was named ‘Honky Tonk’  and was with 3rd battalion, 1st armored regiment, 1st Armored Division, this tank was lost in the infamous Kasserine Pass battle. Thanks for the info on the photo Russ Amott. For a few more shots, and more info on this tank, see the wonderful Sherman Minutia site.
M4_Sherman_T34_Calliope
M4A3 75w, with a T-34 Calliope actually firing. That’s not all that’s interesting though. This tank has two spare old style road wheels on the front hull, plus the track linking tools, and some large boxes. It also has a full set of duckbill end connectors. The whole Calliope Launcher could be jettisoned in a few minutes. 
75ID_Riedwihr_45 (1)
This M4A3 76w tank is supporting infantry from the 75th Infantry Division, so it would be whatever independent tank battalion supporting them. The tank is a fairly early production M4A3 76w, since it has the split loaders hatch and the threaded and thread guarded M1A1 gun. Photo caption says Riedwihr 1945, the tank is from the 709th Tank Battalion. Note the lack of duckbill end connectors on the Sherman, and the tarp covered M2 .50 on the rear of the turret. 
2992216084 (2)
This massive photo is an M4A1 75 small hatch tank with an M1 dozer kit. It’s being used to clean up debris in Lonlay-L’abbaye on August 15th during the chase of the German Army towards Paris. The M4 and M4A1 were the least desirable tanks to have the dozer blade installed on. 
M4_Sherman_Tank_Bougainville_March_19441 (1)
Jungle tanking! This PSCC M4 Sherman is a fairly late production M4. This photo was taken on Bougainville 1944, and this would be the last of the major Solomon Islands taken. The tank was serving with the 754th Tank Battalion. These guys were true jungle tankers, and the environment in the Solomons was harsh and nearly as big an enemy as the Japanese.  They would go to great lengths to get Shermans to Japanese strong points, because the firepower the Sherman offered was very hard for the Japanese to counter. 
Sherman_Firefly_1944
A US ‘Dough’ checking out a firefly Ic , probably lost during Market Garden, it was indeed supporting US paratroops, near Eerde, near Veghel, in the 101st AB AOO. (thanks to Crash_over-ride and ww2Colorizations over on reddit for the correction).
14AD_M4Sherman_Silz
M4A3 76w with a split loaders hatch and a thread a thread guarded M1A1 gun driving through a bunch of wrecked Nazi equipment. Notice how the gunner, and loader are both standing in the loaders hatch. Note the modification to the commanders vane sight. This looks like a 14th AD sandbag job. 
sherman1
M4A1 75 small hatch tank. with the 753rd Tank Battalion. Knocked out near Crane France, after seeing action in the MTO. This was a pretty early tank judging from the M34 gun mount. Note the .30 1919 on the commanders hatch. 
756TB_M4Sherman_knocked
A pair of knocked out M4 tanks from the 756 Tank Battalion, probably knocked out in a combo Mine field/AT gun trap, lost in the fighting on 12 september near Vesovi. B17 may have been the CO of B company’s tank. 
M4Sherman_735TB_Kobern_1945
Small hatch M4 75 tank passing through a town in Europe somewhere.  You can make out XX-735-c-11 on the drivers armor, maybe indicating C company 735 Tank Battalion. Note all the extended end connectors piled on the front hull. 
NARA_-_531305
This huge photo shows an large hatch M4A3 75w this photo was taken on Okinawa. The crew seems to be hamming it up for the photographer, so not in combat. This tank has two large plates welded onto the front plate, these are probably for the T6 Floatation Device, also known as the M19, basically large solid, semi modular floats attached by cable to the front and rear of the Sherman, with side sections to give it so rigidity.  The whole thing dropped off when the cables holding it place were cut.  I could only find one image of it. A big thank you to Michel E for the info for this photo.
m4-medium-tank-m19-flotation-device-01
M4 with T6 Flotation Device
M4A3_778TB_Lampaden_45
An M4A3 76w from the 778th Tank Battalion caption Lampaden 1945. The has an M1A1 gun with a threaded and protected barrel. With all the hatches open, it looks like most of the crew may have made it out.
M4_Sherman_6AD_Belgium_1945
M4 small hatch 75mm Sherman with the 6th Armored Division. The photo is captioned Belgium 1945, and it was right, Margaret, Belgium, January 1945. This tank was knocked out with a panzerfaust.
100593
A small hatch M4 and an M4A1 both 75mm tanks. Image had no caption, looks like somewhere in the ETO. These are British tanks. 
M4_Sherman_88Flak_36
This is a M4 composite hull or M4A1 75W only 100 were produced before they were replaced with the M4A1 76w on the production line. It has a “Richardson Device” hedgerow cutter, and is passing a knocked out, most over rated weapon of the war, the 88mm Flak 36. The tank is with the 3rd Armored Division and the photo was taken in August of 44 during Cobra.
Dummy_M4Sherman_44
Inflatable Sherman, still more reliable than the non inflatable Panther. They were meant to be detailed enough to fool recon airplanes. 
755TB_Italy_44
M4 75, in Italy, 1944. Tank is with the 755th Tank Battalion, and it looks like it’s being used as Artillery. The tank is an early production M4, not the gun mantlet.  It also looks very muddy there, and explain the tanks use as artillery. This is something some tank Battalions became very adept at.
pistolet
Huge image, not sure the make of Sherman, not sure why one of the crew is out with his pistol. Looks like American kit on the crewman. The tank was named Hun Chaser, that sounds British. Update, commenter John Berwick pointed the odd armor near the fuel caps indicates this is an M4A4, and also mentioned the wheel spacing, and it does look like an A4, so good catch John! 
5969eb29bfae
British Shermans in the desert. This is a Sherman I with the 3rd CLY, at the end of the north African Campaign. These tanks have a standard camouflage scheme in use by June of 43, of Blue-Black over Light mud.
383
Another huge image, no caption, but Im pretty sure this one is in the PTO, maybe the Philippines. The Sherman looks like an M4 Composite hullThis huge photo is an action shot, note explosion. 
5tharmy
This appears to be a mix  British M4A2 an M10 and M4A1s or Sherman IIIs, IIs and IIa. The caption only said 5th army.
sh
Concrete armor being installed on an M4 105 tank.
NARA_-_196302
Nazis surrendering and running to the rear. Tank is an M4A4 so it must be a Brit Sherman.
T34_Calliope_14AD
14th Armored Division M4A3 with a T34 Calliope installed. This also has the 14th typical sandbag armor, it also appears to a girl painted on the turret. The name looks like ‘Annabelle’ under it.
750TB_M4Sherman_Manhay
750th Tank Battalion M4A3` 105 near Manhay, some battalions pooled all the 105 tanks into a battery, since there are three in the field, that may be whats going on here. 
e010786251-v8
An M4 with Brigadier Tom Rutherford 1st Armoured Brigade standing in front of it.
e010786168-v8
A nice color shot of an M4A4 with some hay on it.
e010786170-v8
The same hay covered M4A4 now moving around.
e010786171-v8
The same hay covered M4A4 now moving around again. (i43)
e010786172-v8
The same hay covered M4A4 now more hamming for the photographer.
e010786175-v8
The same hay covered M4A4 on the move again.

 

British M4A2 Sherman wrecks
A pair of knocked out British M4A2 tanks.
M4A1 with bow mounting MG somewhere in ETO, tank looks like it came out of a repair depot, note all the chalk writing on the side of the hull
M4A1 76w with bow mounted flamethrower in use. Note the interesting writing in chalk on the side of the tank. The Flamethrower was an E4-5 and the tank is from the 70th Tank Battalion, testing it out.  With a limited range of 25 yards and a low fuel load, it was deemed not worth the effort
16
M4A1 with a bow mounted flame thrower, huge image. 
119
Massive image of a British M4A4 and troops. 
US_Navy_LST
A British M4A2 Sherman coming out of an LST on the dock they can make. There is water under the Sherman. That causeway could be several hundred yards long.
M4_736TB_Neuss_45
736th Tank Battalion M4 105 loading up on ammo in Neuss 1945, these are the HQ 105 tanks loading up to support the 83rd Division on March 3th.
1270866918686
A snow and ice covered Sherman. It appears to be an M4A3 75w. The crew is hooking a tow cable up, so the tank was probably disabled and abandoned by the crew. 
1270868609876
An M4A1 entering Fort Santiago in Manila,  during the campaign to retake the Philippines from the Japanese.  Thanks to Michel E for the info on this image!
USA-PR-Japan-282 (1)
These look like M4A1s maybe the ones the Marines used on Cape Gloucester.
e010786143-v8
Canadian Major General Bertram Meryl (bert) Hoffmeister in front of his M4A4 command tank “Vancouver”  (Thanks R.Wagner!).
84ID_Geilenkirchen_44 (1)
84th Infantry Division in Geilenkirchen 1944, being supported by an British M4A4, the town was on  the border between the US an British areas.
M4_Guam_01_44
M4 Shermans fighting on Guam 44.
01235874547785
A Soviet M4A2 76w in Europe.
M4A1DT_ANZ44
An M4A1 and an Inflatable Sherman at Anzio in 1944.

 

9th Armored Division, Westhousen, Germany, 10 April 1945
M4A3 75w tanks of the 9th Armored Division, Westhausen, Germany, 10 April 1945
697249
M4 composite hull flame thrower. Somewhere in the PTO. Russ Amott was nice enough to point out these tanks were with the 763rd TB and the location was Okinawa, so I was at least right on the location this time!
7118576251
Another composite hull flame thrower with the 763rd Tank Battalion, on Okinawa. Thanks again Russ. 

8009931518Marine supporting an M4A2 maybe on Saipan

M4_Sherman
An M4 Sherman with wading kit.
8090192681
Marine M4A3  flamethrower tank, Iwo Jima Ron H a commenter posted this info  “The pic was taken on Iwo Jima. It appears in Bill D. Ross’ book “Iwo Jima” (ISBN 0-394-74288-5) with the caption, “Flame-thrower Sherman tank burns pillbox near base of Suribachi as infantry waits to attack.” The photo is credited to Mark Kaufman. Ross, the book’s author, was a Marine combat photographer on Iwo.
The infantry in question were the 28th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division. The 28th Marines’ 2nd Battalion (2/28) was assigned to take Suribachi itself, while the regiment’s other two battalions (1/28 and 3/28) fought northward toward Airfield No. 1. It’s not clear from the photo which battalion the tank is supporting.”

Thanks again Ron!

4018613099
M4A1 75 passing knocked out or broken down, or just abandoned, or out of gas PIVs. This tank is with an unknown unit supporting the 30th ID outside of St. Lo ion July of 44
8182533061
Massive photo of a road, that has an M4A1 76w on it.
7896456789
This Sherman in a Marine, M4A2, part of the tank company attacked to the 4th Marines, 1st provisional Marine Brigade on Guam. You can just make out the Rhino painted on the side of the tank.  (Caption info from Russ Amott,  Thanks again Russ!)
5620716241
The Sherman is a large hatch 75mm Sherman, it could be an M4A2 or A3, and I’m betting it’s the PTO and the Philippines

 

waralbum.ru
Color shot from waralbum.ru Probably an M4.
La_Moscowa
French Sherman M4 105, with crew posing for Camera.
Austerlitz
A French M4 crew hamming it up for the Camera.

25 thoughts on “#43 Gallery II: More Random High Resolution Sherman Photos with Comments.

  1. The Sherman is a large hatch 75mm Sherman, it could be an M4A2 or A3, and I’m betting it’s the PTO and the Philippines
    Thi is M4 Cmposite from 44th Tank Battalion after liberation of Manila.

  2. About photo captioned “Nazis surrendering and running to the rear. Tank is an M4A4 so it must be a Brit Sherman.”, indeed it is a British tank, a Sherman Crab flail mine exploder, you can see the chains hanging in front of the tank and the drive engine on the side.
    In photo captioned “An M4 with Brigadier Tom Rutherford 1st Armoured Brigade standing in front of it.” I see a Vickers K aircraft machine gun attached to the 75 mm main gun.

  3. “Massive image of a British M4A4 and troops.” is a Canadian M4A2 Mk.III of the Sherbrooke Fusiliers with soldiers of the Fusiliers Mont-Royal in Falaise, August, 1944.

  4. Whereas all the Hollywood Shermans in “Fury” come with a full set of mounted machine guns — bow, co-ax, and two on the turret — the real Shermans pictured in combat on your website are almost never so fully equipped. Usually there’s a .50 on the turret, but often there’s none, and two-gun turrets are really scarce. The co-ax gun is absent or in hiding in many photos, and even the bow gun is frequently missing from its ball mount. Didn’t they believe in firepower?

    1. I asked an acquaintance who served about this. 2 issues. 1. they were there for AA which was virtually non existent. No one wanted to expose themselves to sniper fire so if you wanted to lay down some covering fire you would use the the coaxial or the bow. He even told me that the infantry units they were attached to would “borrow” them along with the tripods and never return them. Pics of the shot up tanks all the weapons were removed of course and a lot of pics are tanks behind the lines which may have had the same thing happen. Weapons removed and put to use elsewhere or pulled for maintenance.

      1. Very interesting comment Dean!

        Interesting about the equipment being loaned out and not coming back, even though they received some training on fighting outside the tank, I doubt any tankers had any desire to do so.
        I don’t remember what book it was in, but it talked about the crews being very wary of leaving the tank, and some crewmembers barely left the tanks at all unless ordered.

  5. “Small hatch M4 75 tank passing through a town in Europe somewhere. You can make out XX-735-c-11 on the drivers armor, maybe indicating C company 735 Tank Battalion. Note all the extended end connectors piled on the front hull.”

    Yes, indeed. The “XX” indicates it was part of the corps troops of the XXth Corps. “C-11” designates it as tank 11 of Co. C. The 735th was assigned to XX Corps (Third US Army) for several months, normally supporting the 5th Infantry Division.

  6. It’s unusual to find two photos of the same vehicle, at two different times. In this gallery, there is a picture of M4 “Hurricane” being loaded or off-loaded from and LST, with full wading trunks in place. The same tank is seen later having it’s engine replaced in the field on the front page of this site. The serials match.
    Kudos to the crew who have worked on this site.

  7. The pic entitled “pistolet” is most likely an M4A4. There is a little piece of armour right before where the gas filler caps are. That is tell tale evidence of M4A4s (thanks to Roy Chow for that piece of info) Also, the bogies are spaced wider apart.

    1. John,
      Good catch! I’ve updated the caption. It’s still a bit of an odd image though! Roy sure knows his Sherman Identification cues, and his Sherman lore in general.

  8. Hi:

    Regarding the photo captioned “Marine M4A3 or A2 flamethrower tank, Iwo Jima or Okinawa”:

    The pic was taken on Iwo Jima. It appears in Bill D. Ross’ book “Iwo Jima” (ISBN 0-394-74288-5) with the caption, “Flame-thrower Sherman tank burns pillbox near base of Suribachi as infantry waits to attack.” The photo is credited to Mark Kaufman. Ross, the book’s author, was a Marine combat photographer on Iwo.

    The infantry in question were the 28th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division. The 28th Marines’ 2nd Battalion (2/28) was assigned to take Suribachi itself, while the regiment’s other two battalions (1/28 and 3/28) fought northward toward Airfield No. 1. It’s not clear from the photo which battalion the tank is supporting.

    1. Ron, sorry for my late question. My uncle Mike was on Iwo Jima and a crewman for one of the 8 flame tanks that saw action there. Do you happen to know the unit name(s) (is this the correct terminology?) for the flame tanks that were stationed there, 19 Feb – 16 March, 1945?

      I read in one report that the flame tanks were “the one weapon that caused the Japs to leave their caves and rock crevices and run.”

  9. Photo 68 (5th from the bottom) is an M4A2 of the tank company attached to 4th Marines, 1st provisional Marine brigade, Guam. The image painted on the applique armor is of a rhino.

  10. Photo 14 is “Honky Tonk” from the 3rd battalion, 1st armored regiment, 1st armored division, lost at Kasserine Pass. There is a nice side view and more information at the Sherman minutia site, under the Pressed Steel Car M4A1 header.

  11. Photo 7, “Jinx” is from the 754th TB, Bougainville, with “Negro troops from the 24th infantry, attached to the Americal division”.
    Photo 61, 63 are flame tanks from the 763rd TB, Okinawa

  12. The huge photo shows an large hatch M4A3 75w tank swamped in a river = Photo in Okinawa. This tank has two large plates welded onto the front plate = Probably brackets to hold the M19 floating device wich was widely used in PTO.
    An M4A1 driving into a ruin!= The tank entering Fort Santiago in Manila (Phils).
    A very nice and interesting site, full of precious informations !!!
    I appreciate your very completed job.
    Michel E.

  13. The photo captioned “A British or Canadian dude in front of an M4A4” is Canadian Major General Bertram Meryl (Bert) Hoffmeister in front of his M4A4 Sherman command tank “Vancouver”

    1. Actually its Brigadier Tom Rutherford 1st Armoured Brigade and that is an M4 not M4A4. not lack of drain hole armored cover as a recognition feature.

      Hoffmeister is way too young

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