Sherman 75 vs. King Tigers

[Chief Whip]

What? Who are you, and what do you want? Wouldn't it be much easier if they just made a simple posting in which events were discribed, rather than playing around? I am sure you agree, what do we gain at this moment from the discussion?

If I may ask, Marcus Wendel, how old are you and what did you study in University?

[Marcus]

Who are you, and what do you want?

That should be pretty obvious, I want you to behave like an adult, that is if you are interested in continuing posting here in my forum.

btw. My studies at the University included Economics, Economical History and Political Science.

/Marcus

[tanksteve]

Ok, I'll guess that the Sherman was playing "dead" and after the King Tigers passed, the Sherman opened fire with it machine gun and killed the two King Tiger commanders whereupon the rest of the King Tigers crews abandoned their tanks.

steve

[Timo]

Chief Whip,

Go to:

http://www.skalman.nu/third-reich/faq.htm#who

For a short bio on Marcus. Now relax, light another "Chief Whip" and enjoy the forum.

Cheers,
Timo

[Timo]

As for the topic of this discussion,

The Sherman was stuck between two vehicles, you wrote. Could these two vehicles have been the two Tigers?

No way could the long barrels of the Tigers hit him in such a situation. But on the other hand the short 75mm of the Shermann...

Just my guess.

Cheers,
Timo

[Logan Hartke]

Very nice try, Timo, but sorry, not right. I should've been more specific. The two vehicles were other American vehicles in the column.

Logan Hartke

BTW-Commissar, what did you think of the book? Did you like it?

[David C. Clarke]

Yes I thought the book was very good and I've seen Belton Cooper interviewed on the History Channel. The one criticism I have of the book is that Mr. Cooper makes factual errors as to German tanks, but his overall analysis and the stories he relates about the repair of American tanks are fascinating. (I also loved the pictures of the "Super-Pershing.) "Death Traps" should have a place on the shelves of the library of anyone interested in WWII armor.
And, you have to remember that Cooper's book is nearly unique in giving tank losses for the division he served in. Statistics on American tank losses are hard to find. Cooper's book single-handedly reopened the debate on inadequacies of the Sherman and the price America paid for those inadequacies. Best Regards, David

[Logan Hartke]

I liked it very much as well. He wrote from the experience he had in his position. It's very funny as well. I like the description of what he had on his jeep; it sounds more like an SAS attack jeep than a liason/communication vehicle.

Logan Hartke

[David C. Clarke]

I thought one of the better parts of the book was its description of the emergency use of infantrymen as tankers, without anyone being able to give them more than the basics of training in the use of the Sherman. I thought it was quite interesting that a US Division would run out of trained tankers and have surplus tanks without crews. Especially when you compare that to the accounts I've read of German Divisions, which generally ran out of tanks and not tank crews.
I also liked the vignette about the skinny guy who had the cojones to clean out the insides of a knocked out tank while the big "tough guys" couldn't bear the sights and smells of that terrible job. Good book, very good book. Cheers, D

[Logan Hartke]

Yeah, I also liked the part about exploding cows and using a tank recovery vehicle to get some beef in the middle of an artillery barrage. Also funny was the description of the German who wouldn't talk. That's funny how they got him to talk.



Logan Hartke

[subskipper]

Logan,

I hope you're planning on revealing it before I go to bed. Otherwise I'll lie awake all night thinking about it.




~Henric Edwards

[Logan Hartke]

Will do. The Sherman crew fired a phosphorous shell at the two King Tigers. They had flaming phosphorous all over them. The German crews thought the tanks were on fire and bailed out. Even if the crews had stayed in the tank, they would've suffocated from the noxious fumes. Very intelligent TC. That is one of those "pen is mightier" stories.

Logan Hartke

[subskipper]

Thank you Logan. That was indeed a good story.




~Henric Edwards

[Christian Ankerstjerne]

Nice way - quite ingenious, I must say I still would rather be in a Tiger II than a Sherman :lol

BTW, what was the book name and author? Sounds interresting!

[Logan Hartke]

It's Death Traps by Belton Y. Cooper.

Logan Hartke