Tankies - Tank Heroes of World War II - documentary on the 5th RTR.

BBC ^ | 1/17/2013 | Mark Urban (presenter)

[yarddog]

OK what does 5RTR mean?

[Vanders9]

5th Royal Tank Regiment.

[yarddog]

Thanks.

[archy]

the churchill was a “heavy” infantry tank but not big gunned.

The Churchill IV NA75, of which some 200 were used during 'Operation Whitehot' were fitted with the gun and mantlet from a destroyed or scrapped Sherman, [mines!]fitted to a Churchill IV cast turret. That may not be *big gunned* by your standards, but compared to the versions using a 6-pounder/ 57mm main gun, it at least came closer to the ideal. And the 17-pounder gun Churchhills lacked nothing so far as the main gun went, nor in added armour protection [lacking on 17-pounder Comet versions] though the power pack was not upgraded and the 17-pounder *Black Prince* Churchills were less than wonderful- and the soon-to-be-beloved Centurions were just over the horizon, in production terms.

[archy]

You can see a Churchill tank at 0.58-0.59 in part one. Apparently 5RTR were not issued with them.

5RTR had Covenanters, as I recall. 5RTR was the first unit of the Tank Corps to receive the Centurion, but not until after the war, in December '46.

[archy]

You were on an M60A2? I know they had the Shileleigh (sp) missile, but what kind of rounds did they have for the gun?

Incendiaries. [fyi, I'm a former M60A1 and M551 crewdawg.]

[archy]

I’ll never understand why the American government built thousands of tanks, but not nearly big enough to take on Tigers or T-34’s.

Because we had to ship them overseas, train with them in England, fit as many as possible aboard landing craft with limited capability, and travel on roads and bridges with limited capacity during several months of the year.

BTW: a 76mm gun Sherman, much less a Firefly, had no problems eating up either a Soviet T34, or the later T54/T55, as the Israelis proved in three wars. But yep, a U.S. heavy jagdpanzer platoon in the HQ Company of U.S. tank battallions would have been a nice touch.

[yarddog]

Thanks for the info.

I recall a German tanker from the early Russian invasion and also from the Africa Corps on “The History Channel” I recall him saying the American Grant or maybe it was Lee tanks the British had were superior to theirs.

If that is true then their tanks must have been pretty weak. On the other hand he talked about fighting in Russia. He said they were safe from the Russian artillery while crossing bridges. He also said the German sappers were just out in the open with nothing but their helmets to protect them.

[Vanders9]

From the looks of the documentary, A10’s, A13’s and Vickers Mk VI initially in France, then A13’s in the desert, then Stuarts, then Stuarts and Grants. Its unclear whether they ever had Shermans in Italy. Cromwells and Sherman Fireflys in Normandy.

[archy]

I recall him saying the American Grant or maybe it was Lee tanks the British had were superior to theirs.

If that is true then their tanks must have been pretty weak.

The early Mark IIIs with the 50mm gun and the MKIV with the short-barrelled 75mm were not terribly well armed, especially for head-on frontal shots in a day when the best antitank ammo was solid shot or APC rounds. Later, after HEAT and hypershot came along, and Gerlach's squeeze-bore, and machinery heavy enough to carry an 88mm gun, it was a very different story.

But the bigger the engine, the more fuel it burned. And that was very much a consideration in the War of the western Desert.

[yarddog]

I appreciate the information. I have always been a fan of military history and machines but sadly am not particularly knowledgeable except in a general way.