[FlyVet]

No kidding. We beat German armor with sheer numbers, unfortunately. The Sherman tank had superior reliability, but was relatively cheap and mass-produced, because it had inferior armor, mediocre gun compared to the German 88, and a gasoline engine. It was nicknamed "the Ronson", because when it got hit in the fuel tank, it burst into flames.

An awful lot of tankers burned alive for this country over there.

Never Forget.

[Western Phil]

According to Zukov’s memoirs, the Soviets did not like the American tanks they got on lend lease. Claimed they did not start well in the cold weather.

[Old Student]

“An awful lot of tankers burned alive for this country over there.”

And some survived even that. One of my great uncles, for one. They were a tough lot.

[princeofdarkness]

Actually it was the vulnerability of the ammunition storage that was largely responsible for Shermans to brew up. Late in 1944, they finally produced Shermans that had wet storage reinforced ammo areas inside the tanks. With this improvement it gave the tankers a fighting chance from being burned to death.