Churchill Tank in Iwo Jima

So the "certain versions of the Sherman" were the DD Sherman OK?

And we will keep far off topic (why not) , two questions:

A) Actually arrived in time and in +/- the right place?

B) They were slowly than the Landing Craft, because that the bombardment were shorter than it could have been, wasn´t it?

C) Should I throw my "Dawn of the D-Day" to the garbage? I would be sorry, it's older than me.

Thanks.

Returning to the topic: Heavy artillery hitted many Shermans in Iwo, stuck in mud or in the sand, Is it true?

 

I'm pretty sure Dawn of D Day (a good book IMHO) doesn't state the Churchills were actually DD tanks. Churchills were used in the first waves on all the British and Canadian beaches in various roles, and they were all waterproofed and equipped with wading gear. This isn't the same as DD kit. It enabled the tank to come off a LCT into several feet of water without swamping the engine or crew compartment.

The sea off all the British & Canadian beaches was no better or worse than Omaha, but the difference is the US launched their DD Shermans at a much greater distance. The British judged the swell too great to launch at this distance, and they were carried in by LCT and launched nearer to shore.

AARs by 79th (Armoured) Division go into this in some detail.

 

Dawn of D-Day is a fine book, but the DDs launched at Omaha and those DD tanks of 13th/18th Hussars which came ashore on Queen sector of Sword Beach were launched at nearly the identical distance as those of Omaha; about 5,000 yards. The difference was the currents/winds at the two different beaches, coupled with more experienced coxswains driving the DDs for the UK. Some were carried in closer for the British beaches, as were those which landed at Utah, but some of those launched at Sword traveled as far as those of Omaha.

 

Hmm. I have a report from the G Branch, HQ Diaries, which I will see if I can find tomorrow. It states at what distance the various units were launched, and I don't recall any but the US ones being launched at those distances. I thought I had posted it at ww2t but I hadn't.

 

Found the document concerned. Here are the details and hope they are of interest.

I tried to do table in the post but the formatting won't allow it so have upoladed the original document.

It is from WO171/583 in the National Archives in London. 'G' Branch HQ Diaries, 79th Armoured Division.

 

Thank you for that page, I was mistaken in the order. I somehow reversed the "who was furthest" in my mind I guess. I mis-remembered that those at Omaha were 1000 yards (about 1/2 mile) beyond those of the Hussars at Sword. 5000 yards for the Brits, 6000 yards for the US. That extra distance, the lower free-board of the US Shermans, and not having experienced coxswains at the "helm" might have been their death knell. But, all that said the DDs weren't the "failure" some try to make them. The great bulk of them did make it to shore and fight, that is what I was attempting to convey to our members.

Thanks again "sommecourt"!

 

No problem, glad it was of interest.