What is that "rod" on the back of Sherman turrets used by the US Army in Tunisia?

I do not see the rod you are asking about, but sometimes a metal tube is spot welded in place in order to insert the wooden pole of a signal flag.

Modern tanks came with three small cotton flags on a short wooden pole in red, yellow and green.

Modern tanks had a manufactured flag holder. While this is a photo of one on a Bradley, it is the same concept as the ones on tanks. My M60A3 had a more crudely fabricated one back in the day.

This one? On the right side of the bustle?

Thank You for both of Your replies!

My initial thought was a flagpole too:)

Yes, that is the photo I was refering to, and yes it is on the right side of the bustle. I also found some other tanks ("DIXIE BELLE" and an unidentified one) from the same unit with this feature in Claude Gillino's book "First Blood US 1st AD in Tunisia". However many other Shermans on the period photos are lacking this item.

Are you going to replicate that photo?

Microbacchus

Thank You for both of Your replies!

My initial thought was a flagpole too:)

Yes, that is the photo I was refering to, and yes it is on the right side of the bustle. I also found some other tanks ("DIXIE BELLE" and an unidentified one) from the same unit with this feature in Claude Gillino's book "First Blood US 1st AD in Tunisia". However many other Shermans on the period photos are lacking this item.

 

Just a guess, but perhaps, if they are flag holders, they were only on tanks assigned to leaders: Company commanders, platoon leaders, etc.

I can see these rods on multiple turrets of H Company/3rd Battalion/1st Regiment/1st AD Shermans (at least on 3 different tanks). However there is a photo of Capt. G. W. Meade's Sherman (in Concord 7001 and 7051) who was the Commander of I Company/3rd Battalion/1st Regiment/1st AD in Tunisia, and this feature is obviously missing. So maybe it's more likely a modification on H Company Shermans than a leader specific thing - I have only seen it on H Comp. tanks so far. But I am far from sure:)

My goal is to build an old DV M4A1 from 2nd AD during Op. Husky (photo in Concord 7051 page 27). No idea if it had that rod or not, and that's what motivated me to dig into this topic a bit.

Ok, my two pennies on this ( probably not worth a plug nickel) is since you are doing a 2nd AD tank for Husky, it probably wouldn't have the rod. It's a different unit and (hopefully) they learned a few things from the 1st Armored's mistakes in Tunisia.

BTW, good catch on the picture of HonkyTonk. I've looked at that picture a hundred times and never noticed it before.

M1GarandFan

Ok, my two pennies on this ( probably not worth a plug nickel) is since you are doing a 2nd AD tank for Husky, it probably wouldn't have the rod. It's a different unit and (hopefully) they learned a few things from the 1st Armored's mistakes in Tunisia.

BTW, good catch on the picture of HonkyTonk. I've looked at that picture a hundred times and never noticed it before.

 

Agreed. If only tanks from H 1/1 Armor show those features, it’s a unit specific modification. 

But shouldn’t H Co. be in 3rd Battalion of a Regiment under the usual breakdown of such under the TO&E of that era? So it should be H Co 3/1 Armor. Or something along those lines.

You all keep calling it a rod, but it sounds more like a piece of pipe.

I went through a bunch of photos I have of Algeria and Tunisia in early 1942. What a medieval country. I could not find any American Shermans, but a few "Jerry" tanks as their author labeled them, and a whole lot of ripped up Luftwaffe stuff. Imagine your relative sticking his head through a hole in the tail of an He-111.

I wonder if those "rods" might show up on some Lees from the same campaign.

Yes, if it is a flag mount, it would be a hollow tube or pipe, as opposed to a solid rod.

Yes it might be hollowed. I uploaded all the photos I have in the subject: https://www.flickr.com/photos/170649414@N04/albums/72157709400889646 (unknown tank/DIXIE BELLE/HONKY TONK).

It could even be a simple umbrella holder. I'm quiet sure once I've read somewhere, that some Shermans in the Mediterranean had fixed umbrella holders to protect the commander from the sunlight.

I like the picture that idea conjures up. 

Somehow, that sounds like something our British allies might come up with. With an umbrella holder, the Commander's batman has both hands free to help serve tea. (No offence meant to our British friends)

For 2¢, it's probably something done Stateside, before deployment (possibly pre-war) for the various training exercises conducted out.  Signal flags are very popular in the training films from those areas.  Which would dovetail into the, ahem, frugal way radios were installed until about January 1942.

Tanks that had not been through such excercises would not have the flag holders installed. Which would explain the non-uniformity.

But, that's only 2¢, and rather a WAG.

1st Armored Division went from Stateside to Britain in 1942. They trained there for several months before Torch. IIRC, they gave up their M4 mediums while enroute to England because a shipment being sent to North Africa for the 8th Army has been sunk while enroute. They trained in with M3 Lees in England. And at least 13th Armored Regiment did not reequip with M4s until after May 1943 at the conclusion of the North Africa campaign. I’m not sure about 1st Armored Regiment of the Division if they landed in November with M3 or M4 mediums. But obviously they had them by the time of Kasserine in Feb ‘43.