Sunday, August 20, 2023

Reequipping, Refueling, and Rest

(Source)
"Hey Corp, what's all this junk behind your position?" Private Ian Sullivan was digging around through the interior of the tank. This was his first look inside. Behind the 75 mm gun position there was a lot of loose kit underneath a tarp. Though he was new to the tank business, even he knew that seldom was space wasted inside one of these expensive fighting vehicles.

McTavish poked his head inside the hatch next to the 75, "Just spare odds and ends, I 'spose, I ain't had a chance tae really dig into her yet."

At that moment, their new lieutenant was walking by, he was busy trying to get his new platoon organized and moving. So far he had three crews and was expecting one more. He had heard McTavish and wondered what "odds and ends" he was talking about.

"Corporal."

"Sah!"

Lieutenant Wellesley leaned into the hatch, then turned to McTavish, "Get that rubbish out of there. You're blocking access to the loader's seat and your ammunition stowage."

"I get a loader?" McTavish asked, somewhat puzzled.

"What, d'ye think the Yanks would waste space inside a tank? You've never crewed one of these, have you?"

"Nae, Sir, first time."

Wellesley shook his head, "I've got a manual for the beast, I'll get you one. Where's your tank commander?"

As he said that O'Connell came around the rear of the vehicle, "Right here, Sir."

"Ah yes, once you get your lads sorted, and get that mess out of your tank, come over to the gate. We'll be moving first thing in the morning. I'm expecting another crew shortly."

"Sir!"

"Get cracking lads, the Huns are coming this way."

(Source)
The fuel trucks had come up shortly after the sun had set. Hoffmeister and his crew busied themselves getting their own Panzer refueled, then Hoffmeister had seen to the rest of the platoon, telling his own crew to prepare their rations.

As he walked over to Unteroffizier Baumann's Panzer, he could feel the temperature start to drop. It didn't take long for that to happen after the sun went down. For the moment he let the cooler air wash over him, it felt good after the heat of the day.

Baumann climbed down off of his vehicle and met Hoffmeister, "So Willi, are we moving on tomorrow?"

"No, we're waiting for the Italians, from what I understand. Apparently the Commando Supremo in Rome has had a change of heart about supporting us. Benghazi fell quickly and the English don't seem to have much between here and the Egyptian border."

Baumann shook his head, "We never even came close to seizing Tobruk last year, we need it, Benghazi is a terrible port."

"Ah, so you're a sailor now?" Hoffmeister scoffed.

"You may laugh, Willi. Before the war I was a merchant seaman for a Greek line. We sailed these waters. I know every port between Tripoli and Haifa."

"I didn't know that Ferdinand. Were you drafted?"

"In '38, just in time to roll into Austria. Well, our Panzer broke down, we went into Vienna by truck. Still rolling though."

"That it is."

Hoffmeister reached into his tunic for a cigar, offering one to Baumann as he searched for his matches.

"That stuff will kill you, Willi." Baumann waved off the offer of a cigar.

"Before the English get a chance?"

Baumann laughed, "Probably not."

Willi smiled as he lit his cigar, "Gute Nacht, Ferdinand."

Baumann nodded as he turned to rejoin his own crew, "Schlaf Gut, Willi. Bis Morgen.¹"


Bonus content, inside the M3 Grant




¹ Sleep well, Willi. Until morning. (Can also be translated, "Until tomorrow.")

32 comments:

  1. Both sides regroup and that's a very nice video to post Sarge, thanks.

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    1. After watching that video I realized I had the crew positions wrong for the Grant. So ...

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  2. Interesting side note to the excellent video about how the British adapted to the M3 Grant. When Chieftan mentioned they "adjusted" the captured German 7.5 CM AP ammo with a "bursting charge" for use in the M3 gun they used a homemade "lathe" from the rear tire of a vehicle to remove some of the driving band (rifling band) of the shell. Seems the "trick" was keeping the spin rate high enough to machine off the excess band WITHOUT Arming the bursting charge.

    Brave men doing their jobs.

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    1. Now that is one very interesting bit of detail. Thanks Michael!

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    2. U.S. Army Major (at the time) G. Burling Jarrett was involved with (but not the originator of) modification of the Kraut 7,5cm AP to work in the U.S. 75mm. He was a fascinating guy, whom I actually met in my youth, not realizing his importance. He was an avid arms collector and self taught ordnance expert who ran a WW1 arms Museum at Atlantic City which eventually became the foundation of the once incredible U.S. Army Ordnance Museum at Aberdeen, where Jarrett was the curator in uniform, then as a civilian, then as a volunteer for most of its existence. His main contribution was to exploit technical intelligence gleaned from captured enemy (or donated allied) hardware, including heading up operations to gather it up and ship it home. Sort of being a full time arms collector with Uncle Sam paying all your bills and permission and authority to do whatever you wanted. Nice job if you can get it!
      John Blackshoe

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    3. Ah, now the mystery of German AP in Brit rounds is answered. Thanks indeed, Michael!

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    4. JB - I lament not being able to visit Aberdeen in its heyday.

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    5. Beans - Aren't the folks who comment here awesome?

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    6. Chanters are a varied and knowledgeable group.

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    7. Very Renaissance I like to think.

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  3. "Drafted in '38", I don't think about the draft much anymore, 51-52 years ago I did...
    Good build up!

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    1. Yes, it was always there, in the back of my head, during high school.

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    2. Funny how one side wants equality until it comes to signing up for the Selective Service...

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    3. Equality, but only for stuff that isn't dangerous. The women in my family all volunteered, no need for draftees here! (Bloody conscripts ...)

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  4. "Congratulations on your purchase of the M3 Tank! We are sure that you will find many years of use and enjoyment out of the finely crafted machine made in the US of A. If you will please turn to page 5 entitled 'Getting to you know your Dashboard'...."

    A tank owner's manual. I did indeed need a hearty laugh this morning, Sarge.

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    1. They actually have manuals for tanks. Bit more detailed than a car manual though.

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    2. Besides the need to know how to drive and shoot the darned thing, the crew also needed to know how to pull maintenance, do less-than-depot-level repairs and such. It's like car manuals from the '50s, full of all sorts of useful knowledge.

      Now car manuals are 200 pages of 'Don't do this, don't do that' and give you a reference to a web page to know how to actually operate said vehicle. Not much about servicing other than 'Take it in at X miles for Y action.'

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  5. We see the photos of the Commonwealth troops, and to a lesser extent German troops, in N. Africa wearing short pants. How the heck did the Poor Bloody Infantry keep from tearing their legs up on the sand, pebbles, and rocks?

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    1. That's an excellent question. No doubt they just toughed it out.

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    2. Better than sweating to death. And if you notice, they all wear heavy socks almost up to the knee.

      I've seen pictures of troops with both long pants and short pants in the same picture. I now wonder if they kept their heavy long-sleeve blouses and jackets and long pants for night wear, as it get's bloody cold in the desert.

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    3. You did see greatcoats in the desert, needed them at night.

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  6. There was an abandoned M3 Grant tank hidden out in the woods in a training area on Fort Gordon, Georgia. Found it while on land navigation one day. Marked the location on my map and then visited it occasionally when the ranges were not in use on weekends (Range Control frowned on folks wandering around the training areas without their knowledge or permission). The tank was slowly sinking into the sand, lower front glacis was missing, tracks were missing, no engine and both cannon had been removed. The elevation and traverse mechanism of the 75mm cannon was still smooth and the commander's and gunner's seats were still inside. Felt odd to be in a tin can riveted together while looking at the clips mounted around the inside of the turret where the 37mm cannon shells were set. I would not want to be in one of those with enemy fire coming my way...
    Very much enjoying these posts, Sarge! Now...about that extended warranty....
    -Barry

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    1. Heh, extended warranty.

      Cool story about that old tank. The stories it could tell.

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  7. Ah, the calm before the dust storm...

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    1. Someone knows their history ...

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    2. Dad's and Mom's stories of the dust storms at Holloman AFB were epic. No amount of caulking, sealing, plugging, stuffing, chinking, klinking would stop the dust and sand from permeating windows and doors.

      Having to rebuild motors because the air filters weren't good enough.

      Gnat storms that made it impossible to talk, let alone breathe many a day.

      Scorpion checks of bedding, shoes, clothing, rugs, chairs, cars, tables, roofs, fans, windows, each other...

      That, and waiting to set on fire the tumbleweed that's caught up in the chainlink fencing until the spider migration is fully in them.

      So desert living, well, yeah, no.

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    3. I'll take a hard pass on desert life, thank you. (I need TREES!)

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  8. I think I have a previously unknown touch of claustrophobia. Watching him inside the tank has a voice in my head screaming "Get me OUT!" Strange, in tiny cars, boats, aircraft, ... I have no problem (other than actually fitting into them); this, though, no. No way. I'm going to watch for a chance to actually try it.

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    1. I've never suffered from claustrophobia, I have all sorts of other phobias, I'm sure.

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    2. And the Grant/Lee was a reasonably comfortable and spacious vehicle, especially in comparison to British tanks of the time or the M3 Stuarts.

      I've always wondered why they didn't convert more into APCs. Lots of room in the high chassis, side door, replace the sponson cannon with a machine gun and put a .50BMG on a scarf ring where the top turret went. I mean, the Brits did that with the Canadian Rams (US M4 chassis with a turret holding a 57mm gun, basically a downgunned Sherman, the Brits took the turrets off and turned them into open-topped APCs and artillery haulers.)

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    3. Good point, something to ponder. (And research.)

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