Retraction!

I went over to my brother's mother in law's house and she had a photo of HER uncle from WWII.... he was in the Wehrmacht! She (the mother in law) had grown up in Berlin and saw Hitler several times. To quote her, "We loved him very much and believed in his every word... until the British started bombing us!"

To quote Adolf "Give me five years and I promise you... you won't recognize your cities!" One of the few promises he ever kept.

Ron.

Bill, you have some amazing family history there!

P.S. One of my uncle's was a forward observer for Patton in Italy. Talk about story potential!!!!!!!!! But, sadly, he's gone now, too. He lived so far away, I never got to know him (or any of his brothers) well.

Ron, My Dad was one of the radiomen on the Macon. There were only two men lost when it went down. The other radioman (believe his name was Ray Trip, but the memory fades) was one of the two that died. He and my father jumped from amidships at about the same time. Both hit on their back and were injured. My Dad made it (lucky for me) and the other guy didn't! My Father was also in on the search for Amelia Arheart(?) Wish he would have lived long enough to give me some "good" stories!

Bill

Ron I also meant to mention what Renarts did and that it takes a lot to admit a mistake. I make em all the time myself And as you mentioned and I've seen myself in the military, you do what it takes to get the job done. Heck, it's not your tank anyway is it??? I'm pretty sure your statements are right as the general rule, there's just going to be an exception now and then. Keep the info coming, I'll listen to ya!

Eric

I had two uncles in the Navy. One was a Sea Bee and hard hat diver... he helped raise and salvage ships after Pearl Harbor, and the other was an LCM pilot at Tarawa, Iwo, etc. He never talked about the war much, until just before he died. After listening to his stories, I can see why he kept quiet.
Brave men, all of them!
On the Macon!!! Airships are a favorite of mine. How cool! All I've ever seen is the Goodyear Blimp a few times... still awesome.

Ron.

You would have my undieing grattude! -- Really!

My father was in the Navy before Pearl Harbor. I have a picture of him and the rest of the crew standing on the deck of a ship. But not much modeling interest there. He was also on the derigible Macon when it crashed off the coast of California. He died when I was 8, so never got into talking to him about his experiences. First hand stuff is always the best. Guess that's why I'd be so interested in what you can show/tell us. Thanks

Bill

Thanks Mike,

Come to think of it, we have done a lot of things on our tanks that would make the manufacturers cringe! I'll work on getting those photos posted. I have some nice ones from veterans I'd like to share...

Ron.

Thanks Ron.

More importantly, you showed the humility and the grace to say "I didn't know", or "I stand corrected" rather than be adamantly and stoicly wrong.

Well done sir. That is more important in my book than any pics to back up the info. Too often ego gets in the way of sound research and scholastic discovery.

I think warfare makes interesting adaptations and I'm sure the ease of muling a bunch of extra gear to make life easier in the field far outweighed the risk of overheating a tank. Besides, you can always stop to let it cool down if necessary.
Beats having to do without or wait for the quartermaster to get to you.

Mike

Maybe Moses could help you get it straightened out. I can't even get my wifes digital camera to download. My home pc needs a major re-do! (Talk about some 1:1 modeling!! LOL

Thanks, Ron. I'd love to see the pictures you're talking about.

Bill

I get nothing but red X boxes when I try to post. I'll gladly post a lot of photos (Shermans, knocked out King Tigers, etc.) once I get it all worked out! I can scan and get them onto my desktop, but so far I haven't been able to load them onto a web page... we'll get it figured out!

Stay tuned! A little prayer wouldn't hurt either.

Ron.

Ron, if you won't run into some sort of legalistic problem doing it, why don't you post that picture out here! Or, if it's a commercial photo, give us the source. It really sounds facinating!

Thanks

Bill

QUOTE: Originally posted by erush Ron, the one thing you can't always tell in a picture is the air temp and that could make a difference you know. If it's cold enough the air's denser so you don't need as much for the intakes and you don't need as much for cooling. Or the photo may have been taken before it overheated and fried the engine Eric

I thought of that too. BUT.. There are leaves on the trees and wildflowers in the field.... either late summer or early spring.. France, Germany? Who knows. I'd guess springtime in Germany because the tank has sunken one side up to its sponsons (and it's an E8)! A captain is on the suspension of the other (up) side 'posing' for one of the photos... I wonder if it's his tank?
He's wearing a tanker jacket, but I don't remember an M4A3 being that cold blooded that it has to have its back deck covered on cool days.
Still NEAT photos. The tank has seen some action too. The right brush guard for the headlight is gone as is the travel lock, just little nubs where they used to be. The 31st is part of the 7th Armored Division... I'll have to look up their history tonight, see where they fought.

Yes, Shermie, it seems the more you 'know', the more you learn! I guess that's a good thing!

Ron.

Ron, the one thing you can't always tell in a picture is the air temp and that could make a difference you know. If it's cold enough the air's denser so you don't need as much for the intakes and you don't need as much for cooling.

Or the photo may have been taken before it overheated and fried the engine

Eric

Just when you thought you had the Sherman nailed down ... BANG .... photographic evidence contrary to everything you've been saying. That's the life of a Shermanaholic.

Welcome to the club Ron ..... LOL