Above we see the T6 after a mishap at APG on 11 July 1942. At this point the pepper pot exhausts have been replaced with externally mounted air cleaners (1) and the "high" exhaust pipes (2) typical of the R-975-C1 engine installation. The pepper pot holes have been blanked off (3). Note that no door stops were retrofitted when the configuration was changed.




This photo shows an early M4A1 under construction at the Lima Locomotive Works in Ohio. The M3's cast transition piece has been replaced with a formed quarter round section (1) that joins to the belly plate. The quarter round is welded to the side plates (2) and these are welded to a cast top section (3). It would appear that the engine access door opening was framed out using 3 slightly protruding strips welded to the sides and the bottom. (4). Note that the idler wheel holder assemblies were still riveted on some early Lima M4A1s while the bogies were bolted on from the start.




This view of what we think was the 16th Lima M4A1 shows that the top cast piece (1) of the lower rear hull had a raised section in its shape. Note that, unlike the M3's cast transition piece where the towing lugs were part of the casting, the lugs were welded on to the quarter round piece. As can be seen here, some early Limas were assembled with the M3 style "pepper pot" exhaust typical of the R-975-EC2 engine installation. An Ordnance Department document has it that it was “the first 56 tanks produced.” Field reports from users of the M3 Medium noted that the original exhaust system created a dangerous heat buildup on the engine deck. Lima documents mention that all M4A1s not built with the standard M4/M4A1 exhaust and external air cleaner configuration would have it retrofitted. We think that, in fact, except for 4 evaluation units sent to the British, any Lima M4A1s produced with the original 90 octane R-975-EC2 Radial engines with the internal air cleaners and pepper pot exhausts had them removed and replaced with the 80 octane R-975-C1 with the standard M4/M4A1 exhaust and external air cleaner set up before issue to troops.








The M4A1 shown here is on display in Dompaire, France. The inset shows Lima's diamond logo with the number "1022" stamped below. This has been observed on the right front of most of the handful of surviving Lima built M4A1s. From that small counting heads sample, we believe that "1022" is a build sequence number with 1000 added to it. Thus, it is our theory that the hull was the 22nd M4A1 produced by LLW and would have been accepted in April 1942. We stipulated "the hull" because the turret and bogie units are retrofitted parts made in 1943. It is almost certain that this M4A1 was built with the R-975-EC2 engine and the pepper pot exhausts. The tank has obviously been rebuilt, and Pierre-Olivier photographed a French rebuild plate on the inside that was too indistinct to read. It is likely that it has had more than one engine change during its service life. The air cleaners are missing their bottom sections which affords us a view of the method used on this example to blank off the pepper pot holes (1). We suspect that this tank was not originally built with door stops so those seen here (2) would have been retrofits. Also retrofitted are the fittings (3) for the Barber-Colman exhaust deflector, a modification that was introduced on the M4/M4A1 series at the end of 1943. Earlier we mentioned that the idler wheel holder assemblies were "still" secured by rivets on some of Lima's first Shermans. The rivets can be seen on the assembly on the right. The one on the left has had the rivets replaced with bolts, the standard configuration for VVSS equipped Shermans.




After the fall of Tobruk on 21 June 1942, President Roosevelt ordered an "Emergency Shipment" of pretty much all of the available Shermans to the British in North Africa. The convoy sailed on July 15, 1942 with 302 Shermans and 100 Priests. The Shermans break down to 212 M4A1s and 90 M4A2s. Few if any Pacific Car M4A1s would have been available by mid July, 1942, so the 200 odd M4A1s the British received would have been a mix of Limas and Pressed Steel Cars. It is thought that most of the Alamein M4A1s would have had plates covering the holes of the original "pepperpot" exhaust. The example shown above was featured in a Military Intelligence Report sent to the US in December, 1942 showing "battle damage encurred (sic) by American tanks during the recent Alamein Offensive." Photographed at the "Rahman Collecting Point" this M4A1 can be seen to have an octagonal blank off plate bolted on (1). The tank has several features typical of Lima Locomotive. Note the rounded transition piece (2) and the Lima type tail light guards (3). Lima appears to have been the only builder to mount the engine access door bumpers on the doors themselves (4). The right side air scoop (5) can be seen to be one of the fabricated types. In this case, it appears to be quarter round shaped.




M4A1 SN 7320/USA 3058832 was on display for many years at the Ordnance Museum at Aberdeen Proving Ground. The unit represented an example of a Sherman tank installed with the Multiple Rocket Launcher T34, nicknamed "Calliope." The tank itself would have been accepted at Lima Locomotive in January 1943. It has what we think of as the standard LLW lower rear hull and engine access door configuration. The 80 octane R-975-C1 radial engine with external air cleaners (1) and centrally mounted, "high" exhaust pipes (2) was the standard engine of the M4/M4A1 Sherman. The air cleaners could have been damaged by the heavy engine access doors, so door stops were installed to protect them. The evidence suggests that Lima was the only manufacturer that welded the door stops (3) to the doors themselves as seen here. The other M4/M4A1 producers affixed the stops to the lower rear hull plate on either side of the doors. Some very early production Shermans had the idler wheel holder assemblies riveted on, but it is obvious that the standard method of attachment was with bolts as seen here.




Lima Locomotive Works and Pacific Car & Foundry assembled all of their lower hulls by welding as directed by the Ordnance Department. The photos above show the PCF pilot model, Serial Number 3005, USA 3060572, the first and only unit accepted in May 1942. It arrived at Aberdeen Proving Ground in early June. It is thought that about the first 50 units were made with direct vision and the M3 type suspension. Unlike Lima and Pressed Steel Car, PCF did not produce any M4A1s with the pepper pot exhaust. Note, however, that the lower rear hull plate of 3005 was built for the early exhaust, but the holes (1) were blanked off. PCF lower hulls are pretty much identical to those used by Lima with the "quarter round" transition piece (2) and welded on towing lugs. Note that the idler wheel holder assemblies are riveted on this example. SN 3005 appears to have been built without the door stops, and there is some small evidence that this may have been the case with other PCF M4A1s, possibly up to as late as early 1943.




Here we have one of the few available rear view period photos of a PCF M4A1. This tank was photographed in early 1943 on the PCF test track in Renton, Washington. Note that no door stop is evident. The square type of Vortox Air Cleaner (1) is most commonly seen on PCF built Shermans.




The M4A1 above is identified as SN 3658/USA 3061255, indicating PCF June 1943 production. This unit can be seen to be installed with a fairly thick, possibly 1 inch, door stop (1). The method by which the flange was welded to the right door is not entirely clear in this photo. We would point out that the appearance of the taillight guard (2) shown here is typical of PCF M4A1s. The first type of trailer towing pintle, described as the "long" pintle (3), is stated to have been factory installed at PCF starting on 30 April 1943 with SN 3555.




The photo above is of a surviving PCF M4A1in a private collection. Unfortunately, the Serial Number could not be found. This tank was obviously rebuilt, but it has features which suggest that it was produced before February 1943. We examined it closely and there is no weld scar evidence that door stops were ever installed. We were somewhat surprised by this, thinking that, for the sake of protecting the air cleaners, they would have been mandated during a rebuild. What is evident is that the flange was tack welded (1) to the right door. The Barber-Colman exhaust deflector would have been added during a rebuild and the fittings (2) that held it are seen welded to the doors. When the trailer towing pintle was introduced, the bottom part of the door flange (3) was cut off to avoid interference issues. The inset provides a side view of the "quarter round" transition piece configuration typical of PCF and Lima M4A1s.


   

We are limited by the lack of photos and surviving examples, but it would appear that some of the first M4A1s built by Pressed Steel Car used M3 Medium type engine access door hinges. On the left we have a close up of their first M4A1, Serial Number 5 on the factory floor in February 1942. One of the hinges is just visible (circled). On the right is Serial Number 7, USA 3014763 photographed at the General Motors Proving Ground on December 31, 1942. Both of these tanks would have been accepted during PSC's first month of Sherman production, March 1942. On SN 7, again we have a case where the original pepper pot exhaust was replaced with what became the standard M4/M4A1 exhaust and air cleaner configuration. Triangular shaped door stops (circled) were retrofitted in order to protect the air cleaners from being damaged by the heavy doors swinging open. On this example, the flange appears to be riveted to the right door in the manner of the M3 Medium. We suspect that the door hinges were affixed with slotted screws as on the M3, but it is not possible to tell for certain. An anomaly seen exclusively on PSC M4s and M4A1s is the riveted lower hull. The military characteristics of the M4 series only authorized "fabrication by welding" of the lower hull. Our "head count" suggests that Pressed Steel Car began production with, and continued to use riveted lower hulls until around May 1943. We have found no explanation for this exception, but it may be that PSC was tasked with using up the remaining supply of M3 Medium riveted lower hulls once production was terminated.




The Canadians received 4 M4A1s as direct Lend Lease. The first, Serial Number 192, was shipped to Canada in December 1942. With the exception of the 188 M4A1 Grizzlies built by Montreal Locomotive, all of the other Shermans used by Canada were allocated from British Lend Lease stocks. The photo above shows SN 192 in mid 1943, when it was used as a stowage model for the Grizzly. SN 192 would have been accepted in July 1942. On PSC M4s and M4A1s with riveted lower hulls, rivets are present not only on the side plates, but on the lower rear hull. Note how the idler wheel holder assemblies are secured with rivets (circled). Right up until the transition to the use of welded lower hulls around May 1943, PSC M4s and M4A1s are noted to have had their idler wheel assemblies riveted, not bolted on as was the case with the other Sherman producers. The engine access doors seen here have what we would characterize as the "standard" M4/M4A1 hinges (1), but not quite, since the standard hinge had a small square plate that was welded to the rear hull's armor. In this case, the middle section of the hinge barrel was welded directly to the armor, possibly because of the rivet (2) next to where the hinge plate would have been installed. As with most M4s and M4A1s, the door stops (3) are welded on next to, not on, the doors. The stops appear to have been about 1 inch thick up to around the end of 1942. In the postwar years, the Canadians sold most of their remaining Grizzlies to the Portuguese, and Serial Number 192, retrofitted with M4 type bogies and Canadian Dry Pin tracks, was thrown in as well. When the Portuguese disposed of these WW II relics in the late 1970's, they were bought up by collectors.




We have a rare opportunity to compare a period photo with the real thing, since SN 192 has survived and is a popular attraction at the annual show put on by the Americans in Wartime Museum in Virginia. In the view above, one of the "offending" rivets (1) is shown. Note how the middle section of the hinge barrel is welded directly to the lower rear hull plate (arrow). Also evident is that the flange is riveted (2) to the right-side door in the manner of the M3 Medium.




A rear-view showing SN 415, USA 3015171 a PSC M4A1 accepted in August 1942. This tank was rebuilt by Chrysler-Evansville in the Spring of 1945 at which point it received many upgrades including the E9 suspension (1). E9 increased the original 16 9/16 track width to 23 11/16 inches by the addition of extended end connectors on both the inside and outside of the tracks. Shortly thereafter, SN 415 was converted to M42B1 flamethrower in anticipation of the planned invasion of Japan. Despite all of the added "bells and whistles," what we might consider to be the "second" configuration of the engine access doors, such as on SN 192, is evident. Again, the flange can be seen to have been riveted to the right-side door. The bottom section of the flange was removed so as not to interfere with the trailer towing pintle fitting (2) that was most likely retrofitted during remanufacture. In the realm of 'counting heads," we can observe that SN 415 is the first instance we have recorded of a PSC M4A1 where the upper hull casting features the elongated drivers' hoods that replaced the direct vision hoods of the original design.




Pressed Steel Car began to produce M4 Shermans alongside M4A1s starting in July 1942 and the example shown above is on display at the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park in Mobile. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to discover the serial number of this one. Like the M4A1 of the previous caption, it shows evidence of having been remanufactured, and we would note that the remanufacturing firms often stamped the serial number behind where the dataplate was mounted, so we hold out a hope that the tank's SN may become known at some point. Based on a period photo of M4 USA 3015102 which we think may be our subject, and some clues seen on the vehicle itself, our best guess is that it was accepted in August 1942. The few surviving examples of PSC built M4s show that the top section differed from the casting used on their M4A1s. As seen here, the top piece consisted of an armored plate (1), with an additional 1/2 inch (?) plate (2) welded on above the door opening. Note that the door hinges are in the "second" configuration where the middle section of the hinge barrel was welded directly to the rear hull plate. This M4 was reportedly "rescued" from a target range at nearby Eglin Air Force Base, where it sustained quite a bit of damage. The door flange appears to have been shot off, but there are traces of the rivets (circled) that once held it.




Here we have a rear view of Serial Number 453 in storage at Ft. Moore, (formerly Ft. Benning) Georgia. At the time this photo was taken, the USA Registration Number, 3015209, was still faintly visible, painted on in the original PSC "railroad" font. This M4A1 would have been accepted in August 1942, about 38 units after SN 415 shown in a previous caption. Like SN 415 and the M4 in Mobile it has a number of modifications typical of the late 1944/early 1945 US remanufacture program. On this example, the hinges of the engine access doors have transitioned to what we might characterize as the "third" configuration. Note the small square hinge plates (1) welded to the armor. The bottom plates can be seen to be riveted on as well. It would appear that the "interfering" rivets were removed and replaced with longer rivets driven through the bottom hinge plates (inset). The flange is "still" riveted on to the right door. Counting heads suggests that the "third" configuration was used by Pressed Steel Car up until riveted lower hulls were completely replaced with welded lower hulls around May 1943.




Above shows a PSC M4 (SN unknown) with hinges in the "third" configuration (bottom hinges riveted). Again, we see that the top plate (1) was riveted to the side plates, with an additional plate (2) welded on above the door opening. It is thought that the raised plate framed the top of the door opening and served as an attachment point for the upper flange bolt. The inset taken from inside the engine bay, shows the method used to rivet the top plate to the side plate. Note that there was some welding used as well on this example.




M4A1 USA 3015334 (September 1942) was photographed in January 1943 when it was used by the Barber-Colman Company to demonstrate its "Air Flow Corrective Devices." The Barber-Colman system was adopted for use on PSC M4A1s starting on December 1, 1943, and Chrysler M4s starting on January 1, 1944. Generally speaking, however, it was a Second Generation modification mandated for use on M4(105) and M4A1(76) Shermans. It featured "Pyramid Turning Vanes" on the engine air intake and a "Hinged Air Exit Vane" (1) in place of the original exhaust deflector. Since the fittings (2) that held the deflector are seen retrofitted on many surviving M4s and M4A1s, we thought we might show their purpose. This unit can be seen with the hinges in the "third" configuration.




Here we have the running M4A1 on display at the Planes of Fame Air Museum in Chino California. As best we have been able to determine, Pressed Steel Car did not stamp the Serial Number anywhere on the exterior of its Shermans. This makes studying them more difficult than those built by most of the other companies. As with the Mobile M4, the serial number has not been found on the Chino. However, it is our theory that PSC M4A1s have a loose build sequence number stamped into the armor on one or the other sides in the rear. This example has been recorded as "786." We characterize the number as "loose" but for what it is worth, the 786th M4A1 produced by PSC would have been accepted in January 1943. In any case, using this tank as an example, we would observe as a matter of Sherman minutia, that, at some point in late 1942/early 1943, the thickness of the door stops appears to have been reduced by more than half (circled). "Eyeballing" it we would guess that the door stops were downsized to maybe 3/8 of an inch from then on. Photos courtesy of Chris Hughes




There aren't many period photos that clearly show the Sherman's lower rear hull and the doors and such. Most are in heavy shadow. The example above was used in "Service Test of Medium Tank, M4A1, with 76mm Gun" dated June 1943. This was an experimental installation of a 76mm gun in a "small" turret casting made with a slightly larger bustle. Known as the M4A1(76M1), only 12 units were produced before the project was terminated in May 1943. In any case, the report from the Desert Warfare Board at Camp Young, California included a few photos and listed the tank's Registration Number as USA 3016680, indicating that it would have been accepted at PSC in March 1943 and would have been Serial Number 13679. This unit can be seen in the "third" configuration with rivets through the lower hinge plates. We are somewhat surprised that the idler wheel holder assemblies were still secured with rivets at this late date. It seems like that would have made it harder to remove and replace them in the event they were damaged. The bogie assemblies were bolted on, so why not the idlers? Note the "thin" door stops. Some new items can be seen on this tank, such as the "Original Design" exhaust deflector (1) reported to have been introduced at PSC on 10 March 1943 at Serial Number 13610. The deflector was notched to accommodate the exhaust pipe (2) for the auxiliary generator. The "long" trailer towing pintle was reportedly introduced at PSC on 29 April 1943 at Serial Number 28205, so its appearance on SN 13679 seems a little early. It may have been intended to be standard equipment on the M4A1(76M1)s. The bottom section of the door flange can be seen to have been cut off so as not to interfere with the pintle. In some instances, the long pintle got bent up in service, which created an interference issue with the engine access doors. A shorter pintle was designed and became available by the end of 1943. It was used on "Second Generation" and remanufactured Shermans.




The M4A1 shown above is on display in Square Patton in Ettelbruck, Luxembourg. We have chosen this tank to represent the rear access door configuration after PSC joined the rest of the builders in producing Shermans with welded lower hulls. AFVs in service with the post war French Army are often seen with a "serial number in a box" stamping on the glacis (inset). This has been a great help to our research, particularly in cases where the manufacturer (PSC, Pullman and Federal Machine & Welder) did not stamp the serial number anywhere on the exterior of their tanks. Serial Number 29178 would have been accepted at PSC in July 1943. It can be seen that the flange was no longer riveted but was attached to the right-side doors by a series of welds (1). As mentioned previously, the towing pintle (2) was reportedly introduced at PSC on 29 April 1943, at Serial Number 28205. Again, it is evident that the bottom section of the door flange was cut off so as not to interfere with the pintle. The offset attachment point at the top (3) remained the same, but a new bolt hole (4) was added at the bottom of the flange to secure the door. Note that the idler wheel holder assemblies are now affixed with bolts (5). The missing air cleaners permit us to see that the top casting (6) is attached to the middle plates (7) by welding (8).




Pressed Steel Car produced a total of 1000 M4s from July 1942 through August 1943. Surviving examples are very rare; we know of 8 at present. Pierre-Olivier once photographed a PSC M4 on a target range in Oberhoffen, France. This tank strikes us as being in WW II configuration, so may possibly be a combat veteran Sherman. Part of the painted-on Registration Number was still visible on the left rear side as USA 30366XX. This is enough information to determine that it would have been accepted in April 1943. It has a welded lower hull, and we would judge that it was one of the first PSC Shermans built as such. It can be seen that the lower rear hull sections were welded together at the points indicated by arrows. The top plate can "still" be seen with some rivets (circled) perhaps hinting at the transitional nature of the introduction of changes. That is to say that this piece may have been intended for a riveted lower hull but was adapted for a welded. Note how the idler wheel holder assemblies are now affixed with bolts. We would observe in passing that on this example, there is an additional piece of armor laminated to the upper rear hull plate (1), suggesting that the underlying plate may not have been 1.5 inches thick as required by the design. We haven't seen this on any other surviving PSC M4s to date but have noted it on a few surviving ALCO M4s.




Montreal Locomotive produced 188 M4A1s from October through December 1943. The Canadians referred to them as "Grizzlies." There are about 50 surviving examples, and as best we can tell from our examinations, the lower rear hull was configured as seen above on Shop Number 18 on display in Groesbeek in the Netherlands. The top section (1) is the familiar casting with the raised areas. Aside from armor plates (2) on either side of the doors, there appears to be a small bottom plate (3). The transition piece (4) is angled like PSC M4A1s. However, it is not a casting, but rather another armor plate. The towing lugs (5) can be seen to be welded on. The weld scars (6) are from a towing pintle fitting. Towing pintles appear to have been installed as standard equipment on the Grizzlies but are noted to have been removed on most surviving examples.  Again, the bottom section of the door flange can be seen to have been cut off so as not to interfere with the pintle. The offset attachment point at the top (7) remained the same, but a new bolt hole (8) was drilled at the bottom of the flange to secure the door. As shown in the inset, a new attachment point (9) was added to the lower lip of the engine access door opening.




American Locomotive (ALCO) switched from production of M4A2s to M4s in February 1943, and made 2150 M4s up to December 1943 at which point the company left the Sherman program. The lower rear hulls of ALCO M4s appear to have been assembled entirely of armor plates. We don't know of any informative period photos, so will try to make do with what can be seen on the few surviving ALCO M4s, starting with SN 3949 which would have been produced in April 1943. This tank is in storage at Ft. Moore (formerly Ft. Benning) Georgia. There is an angled plate (1) at the bottom, which is attached to a single plate (2) in the middle that was cut out for part of the engine access door opening. This plate is welded to a single top plate (3) which was also cut out for the upper part of the engine access door opening. On the other M4s and M4A1s we have examined, the top and middle sections are seen riveted or welded together at about the level of the upper edge of the engine access doors. Here the join line is several inches lower. The door flange (4) is a straight piece. That is, it does not curve inward at the top and bottom as was commonly the case. A pair of rectangular shims (5) were welded to the top and bottom to provide bolt on points for the flange. The flange is attached to the right-side door by a continuous weld in this case. The door stops (6) appear to be a little less than 1 inch thick. The fitting and a section of the original "long" trailer towing pintle (7) can be seen attached low enough on the transition piece so as to provide clearance for the bottom of the door flange. The towing lugs (8) were, of course welded on. We would observe that we know of 5 ALCO M4s where the lower rear hulls are made up of 3 sections.




Next is SN 24871/USA 3033401 which would have been produced by ALCO in July 1943. SN 24871 is on display at the War Museum at Overloon in The Netherlands. The evidence indicates that it was a combat casualty named "Cookie" of the 31st Tank Battalion, 7th Armored Division, put out of action during the Battle of Overloon in October 1944. The air cleaners are missing which permits us to see the simplified lower rear hull, comprised of an angled transition piece (1) and only a single plate (2), cut out for the engine access doors. Weld joints were a weakness in the armor protection, and as production continued, the manufacturers tried to incorporate fewer armor plates and thereby lower the number of weld joints needed in the assembly of the Sherman. A complete long trailer towing pintle (3) is installed on this unit. There is no welding visible to show that the flange was attached to the right-side door. The inset is a blow up of a photo taken circa 1946, that shows that indeed the flange was not attached to the right-hand door but was simply bolted on to the left. This would be sufficient to hold the flange to the door, but if all the bolts were removed, the flange would be likely to fall off and perhaps become misplaced.




In the realm of Sherman minutia, we would note that there are a few surviving ALCO M4s that are without flanges and show no evidence of having had the flange welded on to the right-side door. This is seen on SN 25054 on display at the National Infantry Museum at Ft. Moore, Georgia. The missing flange provides us with good views of the rectangular shims (circled) that are welded to the top and bottom to provide bolt-on points for the flange.




There are 3 ALCO M4 Composite hull Fireflies in South Africa that are also without flanges. Here we don't see the flange on SN 40381 on display in Bethlehem. This tank (inset) would have been part of ALCO's final Sherman Production Order and would have been accepted in November 1943. Other surviving ALCO M4s of the same vintage are noted with the flange tack welded on to the right door, but in this and 2 other cases, there is no weld scar evidence that this was done. Could the failure to weld the flange to the right door have been an oversight that was missed by the Army inspector who accepted these tanks? Of note is that SN 40381 has double towing lugs (1), as do the other 6 known surviving ALCO M4 Composites. From that we would guess that the addition of the "Quick Release" towing shackles to the rear took place at ALCO in October 1943. The fittings labeled "2" were added by the British and held a trailer towing pintle mounted on an automobile type leaf spring. The British preferred that design over the standard US pintle and made an unsuccessful request to have it provided and installed by the US as part of Lend Lease. It is thought that item 3 was a component of a tail smoke emitter retrofitted by the British.




Pullman Standard manufactured 689 M4s from May through September 1943 at which point the company's contract to produce Shermans was terminated. The photo shows the lower rear hull configuration of "Blood and Guts," an M4 that served with B Company (B9) of the 707th Tank Battalion. On 19 December 1944, this tank was reported to have been abandoned in the village of Erpeldange when the 707th TB was overrun by the Germans during the Battle of the Bulge. It has been on display in the Place des Martyrs in Wiltz, Luxembourg for more than 70 years, and was refurbished and rededicated in 2016. Pullman is another of the builders that did not stamp the Serial Number anywhere on the exterior of its Shermans, but a period photo shows that "Blood and Guts" was USA 3038800, indicating it was accepted at Pullman in May 1943. The lower rear hull can be seen in the "simplified" configuration made up of an angled transition piece (1) and only a single plate (2), which was cut out for the engine access opening. The flange (3) is a straight piece, tack welded to the right-side door. Again, a pair of rectangular shims (4) were welded to the top and bottom to provide bolt-on points for the flange. There are 2 "suspected" Pullman M4s on display in Florida which have the same configuration. In the case of the one at Eglin Air Force Base, the doors stops (5) are thinner than what is shown here.








This Signal Corps photo is dated 14 April 1945 and captioned as being "along road to Baguio" [Luzon]. The caption does not identify the tank's unit, but the "triangle inside a circle" symbol (circled) appears in some other SC photos where the unit is identified as the 775th Tank Battalion. An item of interest seen here is the "quick release towing shackle with handle" (1). These had been installed on the front from the outset, while the rear continued in the original Sherman configuration. The quick release required double towing lugs, and the doubles show up on the rear of only a small number of period photos of Chrysler Composites. We can observe that double rear towing lugs have been noted on 2 surviving examples, SNs 59644 and 59646, both of which would have been accepted in January 1944, the final month of M4 Composite production at Chrysler. This tank can be seen with a fitting (2) on the engine access door that held the Barber-Colman type exhaust deflector. The "Freeze Date" [that is, "No tank without this item accepted after..."] at Chrysler is listed as 1/1/44. However, as in our photo, the deflector itself is seldom seen installed, possibly because it would have created interference issues when wading trunks were retrofitted. Blanket roll racks (3) were standard equipment on the "ultimate design" Shermans. As yet, it can't be confirmed if the racks were ever factory installed on any M4 Composites. They are seen in a few period photos like this one, but we would judge that they were retrofitted at a Depot or in the field.




It is somewhat difficult to "count heads" on the factory introduction of the Barber-Colman type exhaust deflector, since this item appears to have been a requirement of the M4/M4A1 remanufacturing programs and so the fittings are present on quite a few survivors. If we go by the 1 January Freeze Date, 149 units were manufactured during the final month of M4 Composite production. However, SN 59427 at the Royal Australian Armoured Corps Museum in Puckapunyal has the fittings (top photo). This tank was altered slightly during its service with the Australians, but we would judge that it is 90% "as built." There is even a period photo of the tank with the Barber-Colman exhaust deflector installed. In any case, SN 59427 would have been accepted in December 1943, a little ahead of the 1 Jan. 1944 "Freeze Date." Another mostly "as built" December 1943 example with the Barber-Colman deflector fittings is SN 59440 on display at the Philipine Military Academy in Baguio (bottom photo). This tank can be seen with the remnants of wading trunk fittings which suggests to us that it is probably a combat veteran Sherman of the Luzon Campaign.




Baldwin Locomotive manufactured 1233 M4s from January 1943 through January 1944. Oddly, all of them appear to have been built with direct vision drivers' hoods. As for the lower rear hull, we shall examine some of the surviving examples starting with SN 1940 on display at the Normandy Victory Museum in Catz, France. This tank would have been accepted in February 1943 and is, at present, the earliest known surviving Baldwin M4. Note the Lima/PCF style of rounded transition piece (1) that joined the lower rear hull plate to the belly plate. This is welded to a pair of side armor plates (2) which are then welded to an upper plate (3). Shims (4) were added to the transition piece to support the idler wheel holder assemblies. This M4, and most but not all other surviving Baldwins, can be seen with M3 Medium type of engine access door hinges. We suspect these may have been leftover parts from when Baldwin was directed to change from production of Radial to Diesel powered M3 Mediums. The hinges appear to be welded on, but also fixed with some "blobs." This may be a very crude example of flush riveting. The flange is tack welded (5) to the right door. The door stops on Baldwin M4s seem to have been mounted a little below the center. In this case, the right doorstop is thicker than the left, which we would guess is a replacement. This tank shows evidence of having been remanufactured, hence the presence of the fittings for the Barber-Colman type exhaust deflector.




Here we have a Baldwin M4 on display at the War Museum in Overloon, The Netherlands. This tank is Serial Number 15499, indicating that it was accepted in May 1943. Shortly after the end of WW II, this tank and a previously featured ALCO M4 were recovered from the fields around Overloon. It is almost certain that SN 15499 served with the US 7th Armored Division and is said to have been put out of action in Hattertweg Vierlingsbeek, Netherlands on 4 October 1944. The lower rear hull is very much like that shown in the prior caption, however the welded on M3 type hinges are smooth although some dimpling is observed on the faces of the ones on the right (1). The original "long" trailer towing pintle (2) is stated to have been introduced in production at Baldwin on 30 April 1943 at SN 2150. As mentioned, there were some reports of instances where the pintle got bent up in service resulting in interference issues with the engine access doors. The clamp (3) could be pivoted out of the way, but to our eyes, the pintle seen here appears to be mounted at a slight upward angle which might cause a problem with the doors. We would point out that the upper rear hull plate (4) on Baldwin and Pressed Steel Car M4s was vertical, whereas it was installed on an outward angle on ALCO, Pullman and Chrysler M4s.


   

As best we can tell, only Baldwin built M4s with the M3 type hinges. A few surviving Baldwins are noted with the regular type of M4 hinges. From the small sample we have to work with, we would judge that there was no chronology regarding the hinge type. It appears to have been random. Occasionally, modelers ask if it is possible to determine the appearance of the front of a Sherman if all one has as reference is a photo of the rear. In the case of the two 755th Tank Battalion M4s shown above and based on the M3 style hinges that can be seen, we would suggest that these tanks would have had the unmodified Baldwin direct vision glacis pattern. The round air cleaners seen on both of these Shermans, appear on most, but not all surviving Baldwin M4s.


   

The Ordnance Department decided to terminate M4(75) production, and the last units rolled off the lines at Baldwin and Chrysler in January 1944. The only radial powered M4 built after that was the Second Generation M4(105). The Chrysler Corporation began manufacturing them in February 1944 and produced a total of 1641 units through March 1945. We like to try to find surviving examples that are close to "as built" and Pierre-Olivier photographed a few M4(105)s in South Africa that fit the bill. The photo on the left shows the lower rear hull of Serial Number 57397 (Bloemfontein) which would have been accepted in July 1944. The M4(105)s were installed with double towing lugs (1) from the outset. The Barber-Colman exhaust deflector was also standard from the beginning, and most of the fittings (2) are still in place. Fitting 3 was used to hold the deflector in the up position during servicing. Second Generation Shermans were equipped with the later "short" trailer towing pintle although just the fitting (4) is present here. This example does not show evidence of having had door stops installed, an omission also noted on Chrysler's M4 Composites. The photo on the right is of SN 57568 on display in Johannesburg. This tank would have been accepted in August 1944. The evidence suggests that Chrysler began to incorporate the "thin" type of door stops (5) seen here in July. Here we have the opportunity to see the quick release towing shackles (6) complete with retaining chains, and one can see why they required double towing lugs. It is thought that the British or South Africans added fitting 7, possibly as a sort of quick release for the engine access doors. A similar Y-shaped pin (8) was also added to the pintle fixture. The reinforcing gussets (9) are consistently seen to be in a triangular configuration, which leads us to posit that they were factory installed by Chrysler starting in July 1944.




Here we see the lower rear hull of M4(105)HVSS Serial Number 58486 (October 1944) on display at the Tank Museum at Bovington. Chrysler switched over to the use of HVSS in September 1944 at SN 58308, according to our math. Ultimately, 800 M4(105) Shermans with VVSS and 841 with HVSS were produced. Note the HVSS type idler wheel holder assembly (1). Again, the triangular reinforcing plates (2) are present. These were intended to stiffen the "grouser compartment plate(s)" (3) which were "very often bent in when the track is thrown, resulting in damage to the air cleaner." The Technical Bulletin (inset) has it that these could be field installed using "scrap steel 1/2 in. to 3/4 in. thick." However, due to their consistent appearance, we believe that these were armor plates factory installed by Chrysler.




Pressed Steel Car was the sole manufacturer of the M4A1(76) and began production in January 1944. Evidence suggests that the company discontinued use of the cast transition piece and adopted the simplified lower rear hull, comprised of an angled transition plate (1) and a single armor plate (2), cut out for the engine access doors. "Thin" doors stops and double tow lugs appear to have been installed from the start. The M4A1(76) shown here is on display in La Roche-en-Ardenne, Belgium. It appears to be nearly as built. Certain features suggests that this Sherman was produced in February 1944 and was very likely a combat casualty of either the 2nd or 3rd Armored Division. The familiar Barber-Colman fittings can be seen, but we would note that the fitting for holding the deflector in the up position was not included at first. Also not installed from the beginning were the reinforcing plates for stiffening the "grouser compartment plate(s)." These items appear to have been incorporated in production in the Summer of 1944.




In early 1944, a special task force of 156 of the first M4A1(76)s was sent to the UK for familiarization. They evoked little interest from US armored commanders whose troopers had been training for the Invasion for many months with M4 & M4A1(75)s. Confrontations with heavy German armor in Normandy aroused interest in the "orphan" M4A1(76)s sitting idle in England, and General Bradley ordered that they be shipped to France to take part in First Army's upcoming Operation Cobra. 120 were evenly distributed to the 2nd and 3rd Armored Divisions, and they made their combat debut in late July 1944. The "look" of these early ones is of some interest to modelers and restorers since the US Army did not use any M4A1(76)s in the other war theaters, and only received a few later production units in early 1945. The photo above shows "Duke," USA 3070582 of the 66th Armored Regiment, 2nd AD, one of the last M4A1(76)s accepted in January 1944. It was photographed in Coutances, France during Operation Cobra. The lower rear hull is identical to the M4A1(76) in La Roche-en-Ardenne, but it provides an opportunity to see the early "unframed" exhaust deflector.




Pressed Steel Car changed over to production of the M4A1(76) with HVSS at the beginning of January 1945. The example shown above is on display in Toulon, France. It is SN 68975 one of the last units accepted in May 1945. During the month of April 1945, 169 "M4A1 (76mm gun) 23" track" are reported to have been allocated to units of the US 12th Army Group in the ETO. However, it seems unlikely that many of these could have been processed and delivered to front line units in time to have "fought" before V-E Day, May 8th. In any case, at present we don't have any definitive evidence of the use of the M4A1(76)HVSS in combat during WW II. SN 68975 has all the hallmarks of having been distributed to the French as Military Defense Assistance in the early 1950s. Regarding the lower rear hull, it can be seen that the exhaust deflector was strengthened a bit by the addition of frame pieces (1) on its sides. The original quick release towing fixtures were replaced at PSC with "even quicker" release T-shaped shackles (2) around October 1944. A tow cable could be hooked on to the new shackles without removing them. This saved crews a few seconds when attempting to retrieve a tank while under fire. It was no longer necessary to have two tow lugs per side on the rear with the new shackles. The examination of surviving M4A1(76)s suggests that the transition to single lugs was completed in December 1944. Thus, we have seen the singles on a few of the final VVSS units made in December 1944, and all of the M4A1(76)s produced with HVSS. From the beginning, it was obvious that the externally mounted air cleaners on the M4 and M4A1 were vulnerable to combat damage. Some units in the field attempted to protect the air cleaners by simply welding steel plates in front of them. A "protector assembly" was designed in late 1944. The protectors (3) are observed only on some surviving M4A1(76)HVSS's. Supplies of these appear to have become available to PSC in May 1945, and we would judge that not more than 250 of the last M4A1(76)s produced had them factory installed. As best we can tell, the M4A1(76)HVSS was the only radial engine AFV that had the protectors factory installed. There doesn't seem to have been any excess or later production of these items, so they don't show up on 1950s era rebuilds. That is to say, they are only present on the last 250 or so M4A1(76)s and none of the rebuilds, nor are they seen on any surviving M7 Priests, M4A1E6s or M32B1 retrievers.


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