M36B1?

On page 42 of the Squadron book "US Tank Destroyers in Action," and on page 62 of the Concord book "US Tank Destroyers in Combat 1941-1945" is the same head-on photo of an M36B1 in what looks like a forward area. It is identified as being with the 654th TD Bn in support of the 35th Division, Ninth Army. Also noted are 4 victory markings (Nazi flags) on the mantlet representing 2 Pz IV and 2 Tiger tanks knocked out (!). Nothing is mentioned in either book about the BotB, nor is the photo dated.

 

Thank you, i'll look into obtaining copies of those books. I may very well have just been proven wrong.

 

I was going to say I'd be a bit wary of info from wikipedia as look at the comments on the Bismarck

http://p216.ezboard.com/fwarships1discu ... 6974.topic

but fsbob seems to have something to back it up.

 

yeah, as I posted...


but thanks to my Northern Virginia neighbor- I will be going looking further..

 

More info - the same photo appears on page 60 of Zaloga's "US Tank Destroyers of World War Two" in the old Arms and Armor Press' Tanks Illustrated series (no. 19). There, it says the photo was taken in Rheinberg, Germany on March 6, 1945. Hunnicutt says 187 were accepted for use between October and December 1944. I too would be wary of using Wikipedia as a source; although interesting to read, its material can be submitted by anyone and thus should be read with a grain of salt (kinda like the Internet in general !).

 

This pages lists the 654th having M36B1 in their combat record.

http://www.644td.com/tanks2.htm


This page lists the 899th with the M36B1 in use sometime during combat 3/43 - 2/45

http://www.644td.com/tanks4.htm

 

a link to the WWII US Tank Destroyer association page...

odd logo at the top of the page





No muzzle break

http://www.tankdestroyersociety.com/lin ... ank_de.htm

 

Taken from a 654th page-
http://home.comcast.net/~the654th_tdb/PhotoGallery.htm





M36 or M36B1


Note the the (left) tie down on the front and the hull mount machine gun, compare to the earlier photos.. and the open cupola (I suppose)

The turret appears to be rounded...

This AFV is marked 654th TD


The earlier link indicates use of the M36B1 by the 654th as do the books sited.

 

I gather the 654th were in the Battle of the Bulge..

About 0445-the hour is uncertain-the enemy started his move toward
Lutrebois with tanks and infantry, and at the same time more infantry
crossed the valley and slipped through the lines of the 2d Battalion. As
the first assault force crossed the opening east of Lutrebois, the
American cannoneers went into action with such effect as to stop this
detachment in its tracks. The next German sortie came in a hook around
the north side of Lutrebois. Company L used up all of its bazooka
rounds, then was engulfed. The German grenadiers moved on along the
western road but were checked there for at least an hour by the heavy
machine guns. During this midmorning phase seven enemy tanks were
spotted north of Lutrebois. A platoon of the 654th Tank Destroyer
Battalion accounted for four, two were put out of action by artillery
high explosive, and one was immobilized by a mine.


http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/academic/his ... hap_24.txt

 

La Leibstandarte tomo Villers-la-Bonne-Eau despues de capturar dos compañias de la III/137th, mientras al sur de Lutrebois granaderos penetraban en el Regimiento II/134th para ser detenidos por un fuerte fuego de artilleria. Siete tanques del 1° SS Batallon Panzer penetraron al norte de Lutrebois, donde fueron destruidos por cazacarros ; los Tigre del Batallon 501 SS que avanzaban con Jagdpanzer IV/70 del 1° SS fueron atacados por cazabombarderos de la XIX Ala Tactica, la primera oleada destruyo siete y la segunda seis, seis componentes mas cayeron bajo el fuego de los M4 del 35th Batallon de Tanques y tres por los M36 del 654th Batallon Cazacarro, para cualquier fin, el XXXIX Cuerpo Panzer habia dejado de existir en un dia de combate.

por los M36 del 654th

http://www.europa1939.com/ww2/1944/ardenas.html


oh well its late...

 

this photo is the US Army's Center for History Ardennes




http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/reference/bulge/SC197925.jpg


It is really large- it streched the page



It is described as follows

SC 197925. Btry C, 702 TD Bn., 2nd Armored Division, tank destroyer on dug-in ramp has plenty of elevation to hurl shells at long range enemy targets across the Roer River.

L-r: Sgt. Earl F. Scholz, Pvt. George E. Van Horne, and Pfc. Samuel R. Marcum. US Ninth Army. (16 Dec 1944).


It is a TD, obviously it is not an M10 as the turret is not 'pyramidical' , nor do the boogey wheels look like it is an M18.

It looks open turreted??.. It does not look like a 76mm as it lacks a muzzle break and it is described as a TD..

In the Bulge page...


http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/reference/bulge/images.htm

I will post it to compare.. MY earlir post indicated the 702nd did not have the M36B1 only the M36

 

The top photo link in your post is a plain M36 to me.

 

The top photo link in your post is a plain M36 to me.

 

thx

tanks

er thanks

LOL

 

FUN





Geoff Walden took pictures of several Sherman-type vehicles in the Iraqi military base on Highway 1, about 10 miles north of Tikrit. This must have been another base than the one filmed by the CNN crew.
The M36B1 (top) was seen alongside the road, among several other vehicles that had been lined up to plug a gap in the perimeter fence. The M36 (bottom) was seen at a distance, off of Highway 1. Possibly these two vehicles were recently on the empty plinths that are at the base entrance nearby.




http://web.inter.nl.net/users/spoelstra/g104/iran.htm


CUTE

 

When the US Army entered a military base in Tikrit, Iraq, on 13 April 2003, CNN footage showed a number of tanks on display near the entrance of the base. These are apparently some sort of display of historic and captured AFVs, including a Churchill, Centurion, M47, M113 and what looks like Sherman.
Closer examination of two stills provided by Dusan Vuskovic Berenguer from Chile showed the Sherman is in fact a M36 90 mm Gun Motor Carriage. As far as known no Sherman tanks or related AFVs were supplied to Iraq, so presumably this M36 is of ex-Iranian Army provenance.

 

As a serving member of the Canadian Forces, K.M. Fathers served in Iran/Iraq for approx. 7 months as a peace keeper in 1988:
"During my travels through southern Iraq I drove through a small town north of Basra which I believe to be either Kut-Al-Amara or Amara. In the town square was a collection of captured Iranian equipment. Three large pieces of equipment were prominent, a Chieftain MBT, a US 105mm howitzer, and a M4A1, 75mm gun, Sherman Tank. All equipment carried Iranian army markings. The M4A1 had a Iranian Armed Forces Roundel painted on the front hull plate. The paint scheme on the M4A1 was a desert sand color. The really interesting thing that caught my eye was that it was equipped with two different types of track. On the right side it had the standard VVSS type flat rubber pad track. On the left side it had what looked like HVSS type T66 single dry 23" wide steel track. Or maybe it was the Canadian CDP type track. I did not get close enough to see the suspension and could not take pictures due to our Iraqi escorts and security reasons. Our unit had a rad det in this town and it's possible that they may have got a picture of it.
Also in this same area close to the Iranian border north of Basra I drove through an area were the Iranians tried to push through to cut the highway to Basra. There were so many burned out tank hulls in the desert that I quickly lost count. The types I recognized were both Iraqi & Iranian, T-54/55, T-62, T-72, Chieftain, M46 Pattons, M60A1, and yes in the distance the easily recognized shapes of at least four M4 Shermans. Again I could not take pictures and could not get close enough because of mine fields. I asked the Iraqi LO if they were Iraqi tanks and he told me that they were Iranian. He said the Iranians only used western equipment. At this location the LO said was one of the biggest tank battles since WW2."

 

The Yugoslav Army was supplied with the M36, M36B1 and M36B2 90 mm GMC. Before being transferred, the M36's were rebuilt and many if not all were retrofitted with the M3A1 90 mm Gun with bore evacuator (as used on the M26A1 and the M46 Medium Tanks). Many of the ex-Yugoslav M36s currently preserved have the M3A1 gun, but with the bore evacuator removed (you can see the holes in the barrel).
During the Yugoslav civil war, the media showed several M36s in use by the Croatian National Guard and an M36B1 abandoned JNA (Jugoslovenska Narodna Armija, Yugoslav People's Army). M18 tank destroyers could also be seen in action.
Reportedly, some were used in action as recent as Spring 2001. There are still 20+ runners formally left in VJ army inventory, but these will have left by the end of 2002.


Scan courtesy of Tom Gannon
The Yugoslav Army retrofitted their M36s with the V12 diesel engine from the Soviet T55 tank. The conversion was done somewhere during the 1970s.
This photo shows the rear of the hull. Clearly visible is the cut- out from the upper hull overhang and the extended lower hull to accommodate the V12 diesel engine.
Note: see the Beltring 2000 page for pictures of a Yugoslav M36 clad in rubber conveyor belting.

 

Hey, nice pics & info Stonewall.

btw - what is the tank behind the M36 in the bottom (Yugoslav) picture?

 

Reminds me of the Hellcat.