Armortek

Morning All,

I am doing a bit of research into one of my uncles, who from his army records was a bit of a lad. He lied about his age to get in and go with the BEF, served in north Africa and came out in 1946. He was in the Royal Artillery but was a tank driver! there are other photos of him in a bren gun carrier, confused, me too. its taken me months to find his records because he used two different names within the family but nether was his firs name .


He was a tanker with 30th Corps at the Rhine crossing and this is where this photo was taken. does anyone know what Sherman it is?
Paul.

It's an M10 Tank Destroyer, rather than a Sherman.

Can't tell from that picture whether it was the 3" gun type or the 17 pounder.

Looks like he was probably in 73rd Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery.

This is from the ddnf.org.uk site.

"On D-Day I commanded an M10 Tank Destroyer of 234 Battery, 73rd Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery, and we landed on GOLD beach. Not long after landing, I had just got down from my M10 when I heard the boom of a heavy gun and the sound of a shell coming our way. I turned to remount just as the shell landed a yard away – a dud (otherwise I wouldn’t be writing this). These are my memories of the landings and the early stages of the fighting in Normandy.

Neville Howell"

Adrian.

Hi Adrian,

Yes he was in the 73rd Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery.
Paul.

Like adrian wrote it's not a sherman, If it has the standard 3 inch gun it is an M10, more specifically a late production M10 from the shape of the counter weights on the rear of the turret, If it was upgunned with the 17 pounder It would be referred to as an Achilles.

since the barrel is out of frame, it's hard to say for sure based on one picture, however my guess is that it's an achilles, as from many of the pics I've seen of Brit M10 usage all Achilles were based on late M10s, and a large majority of war time achilles photos I've seen have the British pattern spare track racks mounted on the front transmission cover.

The carrier appears to be a 'Carrier, Starting and Charging, Loyd', which was standard equipment for units operating tracked armour.

Mike

Michael Cecil wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 02, 2017 3:07 am

The carrier appears to be a 'Carrier, Starting and Charging, Loyd', which was standard equipment for units operating tracked armour.

Mike

Hi Mike,

I am still no wiser mate, what carrier?

Paul.

That big lump of metal with tracks behind them in the first picture

Adrian.

Oh dear, yes it is, having a senior moment.

Paul.

Paul, we all have them (senior moments, not Loyd's).

Used for charging dead batteries in/from AFVs, or starting AFVs with dead batteries, by way of slave leads. Modern (post WW2) tanks are equipped with slave leads that connect between tanks, rather than having a dedicated tracked vehicle to do the job. Centurion's slave socket was in the driver's compartment - don't know if the M10/Achilles had one, or they just used clip-ended leads for slave starting. The Loyd was an open topped vehicle with light sheet steel superstructure and a canvas tilt. It was not made of armour plate like a Bren Carrier. It had provision for a row of batteries along each side in the rear compartment.

Mike