US Army use in NW Europe





US Army use of M7s in the European Theater was generally limited to armored field artillery battalions. However, for the landings at Utah Beach on D-Day, the 4th Infantry Division's "three light field artillery battalions, the 29th, 42nd and 44th, were issued self-propelled 105mm howitzers, M7, in lieu of the towed howitzer." The field artillery battalions organic to US infantry divisions were organized into three firing batteries, A, B and C each with 4 guns, for a total of 12 per battalion, so it is thought that the 4th ID's field artillery battalions came ashore with 12 M7s each. In addition, the 4th ID's After Action Report states that the veteran 65th Armored Field Artillery Battalion of the 5th Field Artillery Group was attached for the assault at Utah. All of the SP units were to be transported in LCTs and, as with the Commonwealth Priests and Sextons used on D-Day, they were to provide "fire afloat" but appear to have been allotted only 15 rounds per gun for this action. The 4th ID's 8th Infantry Regiment led the first wave of the assault, and the current pushed its landing craft about a mile south of the planned landing zones into an area that was not as well defended. This enabled the troops to touch down more or less intact and in good order. A commentator in the AAR called this "An act of Providence." As a result, the assaulting and follow up waves were able to move inland and make contact with elements of the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions. At Utah, a more or less secure beachhead was established before noon, permitting over 21,000 men and 1700 vehicles to be put ashore before the end of the day. The 29th Field Artillery Battalion claims to have been the first artillery unit to land at about 0930 hours. However, Battery B was destroyed about a mile offshore when its LCT [LCT(5)-458] was blown up by a mine killing 39 gunners and injuring 20 more. Despite this devastating loss, the M7s of Batteries A and C provided fire support to the 8th Infantry Regiment as it made its way inland across the few causeways that traversed the inundated area behind the beachhead. The commander of the 29th Field Artillery Bn., Lt. Col. Joel Thomason, described the unit's actions on D-Day, "During the afternoon we moved the battalion to a position south-east of St. Mere Eglise and some seven or eight miles from the beach. There we fired some missions throughout the afternoon and night in support of the three battalions of the 8th Infantry. When darkness came at about 10:30 PM, we set up the harassing and interdiction fires on suspected enemy locations and key road junctions." The 65th AFA Bn with 18 M7s is also stated to have landed at 0930. Its mission was to move inland as quickly as possible and provide support to the 101st Airborne Division. During disembarkation, "One howitzer was put out of action by artillery fire" and another lost a track to a mine. PFC Denver O. Sayre who served with Battery C, 44th FA Bn wrote of his experiences on D-Day. Sayre reported that he landed with the 3rd Battalion, 22nd Infantry [4th ID]. "As F.O. (Forward Observer), it was necessary to move forward with the infantry to obtain a clear view of the enemy emplacements to direct our artillery fire by radio commands...We were glad when we heard that 10:30 AM on D-Day our 105 guns mounted on M-7 tanks came ashore and at 10:38 AM they were firing on the German positions! Our Battery C, 44th F.A. became the first field artillery to fire on targets in France on D-Day." In any case, by last light all of the 4th ID's artillery was in position inland prepared to support further offensive operations or to help repel what the planners anticipated would be the inevitable German counterattack. We could not find a single photo or film clip that we could positively identify as showing an M7 in the Utah Beach area on D-Day. Here we have a map from the US Army Green Book, "Cross Channel Attack" showing the "Night Positions" on D-Day. The artillery units are highlighted in red.




Here we have gone back to southern England a few days before the invasion to show photos of M7s of one of the 4th ID's Field Artillery Battalions. For many years there has been some confusion regarding the unit and the location of the photo of “Big Chief III” (4039530), seen at the top left of our montage. The US National Archives has some film footage showing M7s of B Battery of the 4th ID’s 42nd FA Bn (center inset) loading aboard LCTs on the River Dart at Dartmouth, Devon on or about 1st June 1944. We recognized one of the M7s in the footage as “Big Chief III”, as seen loading aboard LCT-621 in the still at the bottom left. This confirmed the Priest's unit, and we were also able to match “Big Chief III” to a known Signal Corps still photo of LCT-621 (on the left of the photo at bottom right). A close examination of the building in the right-hand background of our original photo reveals that it was “The Ship In Dock Inn”. A bit of searching showed that the very same pub is still open for business, and is located on Ridge Hill, just 50 yards from the River Dart in Dartmouth. In fact, the Inn has a framed copy of the “Big Chief III” photo on its walls. Further confirmation came from the website LCT Stories, which states the “42nd Field Artillery Battalion (force of 342 with 91 vehicles) transported to Utah Beach aboard LCT(6): 765, 620, 621, 662, 763, and British LCT 2421.” To follow up a little on the story of 4th ID's FA Bns, in an "Immediate Report of Combat Observations" dated 15 April 1945, Brig. Gen. H.W. Blakely, Commanding General of the 4th ID wrote," Our divisional light artillery consists of two self-propelled battalions and one towed battalion...Originally all three battalions were self-propelled but one was converted to towed after about three months. I believe the self-propelled is preferrable in this theater. All the chiefs of section want the self-propelled... We could readily use six-gun batteries, thus adding 50% to our firepower." So, it would seem, at least two of the 4th ID's FA Bns remained equipped with M7s up to at least mid-April 1945, and the CG and gunners of the 4th ID thought it would be advantageous if their organic Field Artillery Bns were converted to the equivalent of 18-gun Armored Field Artillery Bns.




Of the 5 beaches assaulted by the Allies on D-Day, the defenses at Omaha came closest to what Hitler envisioned for his impenetrable "Atlantic Wall." The first assault waves landed at 0630 hours, and suffered such heavy casualties that, for several hours, the stunned survivors were incapable of organizing and mounting any kind of attack. The planners had assumed that the beach defenses would be cleared quickly and had the artillery scheduled to land at H+90 (8:00 am). The two other Armored Field Artillery Battalions of the 5th Field Artillery Group, the 58th and 62nd, were assigned to Omaha in support of the 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division and the 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division respectively. Two Field Artillery Battalions, the 7th of the 16th IR and the 111th of the 116th IR were also assigned, but unlike at Utah, they were not converted to M7s for the assault. Instead, each of their 12 towed howitzers were to be transported to the beach by DUKW amphibious trucks launched from LSTs 7 to 12 miles offshore. This was a disastrous decision, similar to the decision to launch the DD Shermans of the 741st Tank Battalion. As it was, all but 6 of the DUKWs were swamped in the Force 4 sea conditions that existed on D-Day. In the meantime, the After Action Report of the 62nd AFA Bn states that the unit fired a total of 349 rounds from offshore as part of an obviously unsuccessful "beach drenching" program which also involved air and naval forces. The AAR reports that their LCTs tried to land on schedule at H+90, "but were forced away" by intense enemy fire. An oral account by Sgt. Jerry W. Eades of Battery B, 62nd AFA Bn mentions that his LCT was hit by 20mm fire causing a number of casualties. Three M7s of Battery B were finally landed 7 hours later at 1500 hours (3:00 pm), but one struck a mine "and had to be abandoned when the tide came in." The infantry assault had turned the tide of battle at this point, but the beach was still far from safe, and the gunners of Battery B suffered 13 casualties from enemy artillery fire. At 3:15 a second LCT was only able to unload two M7s before it was driven off by "heavy enemy shelling." The two Battery A M7s were placed alongside the two from Battery B landed earlier, "giving our infantry some artillery support from a composite battery of four M7s." The great problem at Omaha was that exits off the beach could not be cleared until late in the day, and all manner of vehicles both working and wrecked were piled up on the shore. At around 4:00 pm, the composite battery was able to move 200 yards inland opposite St Laurent-sur-Mer. At 6:30 pm, two more M7s were landed, but another of Battery B, which seems to have been Sgt. Eades' M7, was "lost off shore" when it drowned in the surf. Just after dark, there was "a low level bombing attack on the beach", but the composite battery of now 6 M7s suffered no damage, and shortly thereafter moved to a new position 500 yards northeast of St Laurent-sur-Mer. Finally, two LCTs carrying 6 M7s of Battery C and 2 of Battery A were reported to have beached at 2200 hours (10:00 pm) about 2 miles east of the composite battery and set up a "firing position 1,000 yards northeast of Colleville-sur-Mer, 500 yards off the beaches." Navy Medicine has posted this fine photo with the caption, "Normandy invasion casualty transferred to LST [sic] for trip back to England...circa June 1944." The tactical marking "1A 62F" can be seen on the Jeep as well as on the M7 in the background, which also appears to have "A-2" painted on. We take this to mean "1st Army, 62nd Armored Field Artillery Battalion" and for the Priest, the number 2 vehicle of Battery A. The Registration Number of the M7 with the M10 trailer is USA 4039265 indicating February 1943 acceptance. Although the caption is dated only "circa June 1944", we can't help but think that the photo was taken on the evening of D-Day before these M7s and Jeeps were put ashore.




The Armored Field Artillery Battalions of the 5th Field Artillery Group were veterans of the campaigns in Tunisia and Sicily, and, as such, were chosen to partake in the initial assault waves on D-Day. Readers might recall that Batteries A and B of the 58th AFA Bn had supported two "end run" amphibious landings towards the end of the campaign in Sicily in August 1943. The D-Day experiences of the 58th AFA Bn at Omaha pretty much mirrored those of the 62nd AFA Bn. The battalion's M7s "fired afloat" and then the LCTs attempted to land as scheduled at mid-morning but were "prevented from doing so by underwater obstacles and heavy fire." By a process of elimination, we think that M7 SN 2537 shown above on display at the museum in Port en Bessin must have been on LCT 197. According to the "Report of Loss of Landing Craft US LCT(5) 197, LCT(5)294, by Commander, LCT Flotilla 18", dated 10 July 1944, LCT 197 struck a mine which split her seams. For several hours the crew, with the assistance of a repair tug, tried to keep her afloat, and "The craft attempted three more beachings with one engine but was unsuccessful...The craft headed seaward to transfer its load to an LST. At 2035 [10:35 pm] all engines were out, the afterdeck on the port side was inundated. All Army personnel had been previously removed, and at 2055 the ship was abandoned with its complete load aboard. The craft turned over to port almost immediately and sank slowly, approximately four miles off Omaha Beach." The late Jacques Lemonchois claims to have salvaged the Priest 3 nautical miles offshore. The M7's dataplate is on display inside a case at the museum. It is in near perfect condition, so we must conclude that it is a casting made of brass, even though towards the end of 1942, the Army had directed that the plates be made of steel in order to conserve brass. Even more amazing, M. Lemonchois recovered some of the personal effects of Corporal John H. Glass of Battery C, the driver of the M7. These included an envelope with his name, Army Serial Number and unit. Using that information, Lemonchois was able to track down Mr. Glass who returned to Normandy in 1984 at age 65 for what was described as an "emotional ceremony" in which he collected up his lost items including "boots, shaving soap, personal mail and packs of cigarettes." Returning to D-Day, the souvenir history of the 58th AFA Bn reports that "By 1800 hours [6:00 pm], the battalion had 11 of its guns on shore and ready to fire." The 115th Infantry Regiment of the 29th ID requested the support of "a couple" of the M7s of Battery B in its attack on St. Laurent. An officer's report in Joseph Balkoski's fine book, "Omaha Beach" has it that at around 9:00 pm, the M7s "fired direct shots at the enemy-occupied houses from a couple of hundred yards away. The Germans began flying out of the windows right and left. We ended up capturing the buildings due to this devastating direct fire." The 58th reported D-Day losses of 9 men killed, 17 wounded and 10 missing. In addition, the unit had lost 5 M7s with trailers, 5 half-tracks, and 2 L-4 [Piper Cub] observation planes.










Elements of the untried 3rd Armored Division began landing at Omaha Beach on 24 June 1944. The 2nd and 3rd ADs were the only US armored divisions in the ETO that retained the "heavy" table of organization and equipment (T/O&E). In a nutshell, the heavy T/O&E authorized 232 Medium tanks versus 168 authorized to the "light" armored divisions, the 4th through 14th, plus the 16th and 20th. Both the heavy and light armored divisions were authorized 3 Armored Field Artillery Battalions, each with a total of 18 M7s. The AAR of the 67th AFA Bn notes that the unit supported Task Force Y during the 3rd AD's first major engagement, an assault on Villiers Fossard starting on 29 June. There is some evidence that the 67th was equipped with at least two tanks in the Headquarters and Headquarters Battery for use by the unit's forward observers. Lt. Irving Rudnick, one of the Battalion FOs stated, "Lt. O'Brien and Lt. Langsdorf joined me at 2230 hours in a medium tank. Lt. O'Brien stayed with me and Lt. Langsdorf took my light tank back to the Battalion CP." These tanks may have been filmed landing from an LST on 24 June as shown in the small screen captures on the right. Eventually, the HQ & HQ Battery of an AFA BN was authorized "3 medium tanks", but it would seem that this authorization was still in transition in mid 1944. We couldn't find a photo of a 3rd AD M7 in action in June or July, so instead, the main photo shows an M7 identified in the caption as "Btry C, 39th Armd. F.A. Bn., 3rd Armd. Div... [blasting] away with another round at German positions near St. Pois, France. 3 Aug. 44." The caption writer appears to have misidentified the unit. It seems likely he meant 391st, one of the 3rd AD's organic AFA Bns. Judging by the M3 type drive sprocket, this is likely a 1942 production M7 that had been modified by the addition of the "folding armor plates" which seems to have been the case with almost all of the US Army Priests in Normandy. A pair of track holders (1) can be seen to have been retrofitted to the side of the vehicle, and the crew appears to have improvised their own fittings (2) and mounting points for a camouflage net. A close examination of the print reveals what we think is the name "Chicago" half hidden at the bottom of the track holders. The middle and rear M4 type bogies have been retrofitted with bars (3), no doubt to offer additional climbing footholds for the crew. The item poking out from the differential housing is part of a hedgerow cutter device (4). These were added to US tanks and other AFVs prior to the start of Operation Cobra on 25 July 1944. Cobra proved to be the decisive blow that ended the stalemate in Normandy and broke the front wide open. The AAR of the 391st records that on 4 August, "friendly 57mm fire penetrated the left side of the FO 2 tank turrent [sic]", wounding Sgt. Theodore D. Root of Hq Battery. So, we have a little more evidence that the AFA Bns were equipped with a few tanks.


   

The 4th Armored Division began landing at Utah Beach in mid-July 1944 and played a prominent role in the Operation Cobra breakout. The division's organic Armored Field Artillery Battalions were the 22nd, 66th and 94th. In "Patton's Vanguard", author Don M. Fox states that "On July 29, the Fourth slashed its way south from Coutances in relentless fashion. The drive was so fast and furious that the two artillery battalions assigned to CCB, the 94th and 66th, had to play leapfrog in order to provide artillery support and keep the vanguard within range. One Battalion would fulfill fire missions while the other moved south; then the battalion that had moved closer to the fighting would stop and take over fire missions, while the trailing battalion pulled up stakes and drove to a position still closer to the front". After the breakout at Avranches, the 4th AD encircled Rennes and cut off the Brittany Peninsula, reaching Vannes and the Lorient area on 7 August. On 13 August, the division started its race east through Orléans and Troyes, then crossed the Moselle River, encircled Nancy and captured Lunéville on 16 September. At that point, the 5th German Panzerarmee was ordered to retake Lunéville, but the inexperienced 111th and 113th Panzer Brigades were virtually destroyed by the 4th AD during the much-studied Battle of Arracourt 18-29 September 1944. Although it is not mentioned in the 66th AFA Bn After Action Report, several sources describe an incident that happened on 19 September at the Headquarters of Combat Command A. "The HQ [at Arracourt] was under attack by more Panthers. The M7s of the 66th AFAB were using direct fire in an attempt to hold them at bay. Firing from a distance of only 650 yards, they held off the tanks until B/37 [B Co/37th Tank Battalion] arrived at 1100 hours...CCA’s headquarters was saved." The snapshots above were kindly provided by the son of T-5 George Hemcher. In the photo on the left, George is shown towards the end of the war posing in front of his M7 of Battery B, 66th AFA Bn. The photo on the right was taken in Les Clérimois near Troyes, France in August 1944, and shows George's friend and longtime section commander, Sgt. Peter Belpulsi, holding a 105mm round. Of interest is that Peter's brother, Ernest, was the commander [Chief of Section] of another M7 in Battery B. George Hemcher Jr states that his father "was originally the Armorer. As the crew changed, he also changed duties. He wrote a letter saying that he also served with the 51st and 53rd AIB's. As well as 35th and 37th TB. A seven-man crew wasn't always necessary. So, he volunteered as other units needed replacements. But the original #1 man was wounded and never returned. Henry Haug replaced him. At some point in 1945 my father replaced Haug as #1 then became the M-7 commander after Haug was gone. Haug and Belpulsi were friends of mine and verified this. They all said that after three years of training we were trained to handle any position on the M-7."


   

US Lend Lease documents have it that the French received a significant number of M7 Priests - 283. Most or all of them appear to have been deployed with their three armored divisions. For instance, the French 2nd Armored Division or 2ème Division Blindée, which landed at Utah Beach at the beginning of August as part of the US Third Army, had three artillery "groups" that were similar in structure to the US Armored Field Artillery Battalion. The 1er Groupe, 40ème Régiment d'Artillerie Nord Africain was part of the Groupement Tactique Langlade. The 11ème Groupe Blindé, 64ème Régiment d'Artillerie de Division Blindée belonged to the Groupement Tactique Warabiot and the 1er Groupe, 3ème Régiment d'Artillerie Coloniale was part of the Groupement Tactique Dio. Each artillery group was composed of 3 batteries, each one having 2 sections of 3 guns, for a total of 18 M7s. The "Journals de Marche et Opérations" (French equivalent of "After Action Reports") of these artillery groups mention that most of the M7s were issued to the units while in Morocco between mid-January and early February 1944. Despite that, many of the 2ème DB M7s seen in period photos are ALCO 1942 production, that is, they are noted with shallow pulpits and/or M3 type drive sprockets. Also, none of the 2ème DB M7s appear to have been retrofitted with the modification which provided for armor protection for the exposed 105mm rounds. This mod seems to have been mandated for US M7s in the UK before D-Day. Perhaps there weren't enough kits to provide for the 2ème DB? The photo shows a scene from the "finest hour" of the 2ème Division Blindée - the Liberation of Paris. The division's M7s are well represented in the photos and film footage taken on that historic day, 26 August 1944. "Porte d'Orléans" of the 32ème Batterie, 11/64e RADB stands in front of one of the iconic symbols of Paris, Notre Dame Cathedral. The crew has removed all but the front sections, but this Priest appears to have been shipped with the type of sand shields that were original equipment on most Grants.








Here we have a rear view of USA 4039918, a June 1944 M7 that was the subject of an Inspection Control Test at APG. "Blanket baskets" (1) were mounted on top of the stowage bins, forcing the rearrangement of the tool stowage yet again with the engine crank and track wrench moved to the upper rear hull plate. The bore brush staffs (2) were relocated from the interior firewall to the engine deck, although the 1944 Tech Manual does not seem to have been updated to reflect this change but gives the former location. The "fuel tank compartment ventilating grilles" and "grille protecting covers" are no longer present on the engine deck. Ventilation was handled by the addition of some louvers (3) on the fronts and outer sides of the rear stowage bins which permitted air to enter the engine compartment through pipes inside the bins. The 1944 production M7s were equipped with the Barber-Colman type exhaust deflectors (4) which had been mandated to be installed in M4/M4A1 Sherman production in late 1943/early 1944. Note that the upper rear hull plate of the new model was no longer "notched" but went straight across. While earlier production M7s had only one rear towing lug per side, the later model had two lugs per side (5) in order to work with the "Quick Release" towing shackle with handle (6). "Legacy" items that carried over from earlier M7 production were the M3 type of hinges (7), which have a sideways "T" shape. The use of the long trailer towing pintle (8) also appears to have carried over to ALCO's entire 1944 M7 production. This example "still" has the straight return roller arms (9), but we would guess that supplies of these were nearing exhaustion by June 1944 and were in the process of being replaced by the upturned type as seen in the previous photo. For future reference, take note of items 10 and 11 in the photo.
   

   





The photo in the upper left shows the configuration of the M3 Medium type armored fuel filler cover with the "short and straight" locking pin. These featured middle hinge sections with "tabs" that were attached to the hull by a pair of rivets. This was photographed on a diesel engine M3A5 Lee, perhaps the only surviving example that still has one of the "short and straight" pins installed. Note the "GASOLINE" label screwed on to the cover. As best we can tell such labels were not factory installed on any ALCO M7s. On 1942/43 M7s, the covers used the "short and straight" locking pins, but the tabs were welded to the hull as seen in the upper right on SN 179 a July 1942 M7 on display in Italy. The lower left photo shows a July 1944 model M7, SN 3099 that has retained the welded-on tabs, but has replaced the "short and straight" locking pin with an "angled" locking pin. There are not many such surviving Priests, but we believe that this was the typical configuration of 1944 production M7s. The photo on the bottom right shows an M7B1, SN unknown, on display in Helena, Montana. In this case, the middle hinge barrel has no tab, but is welded directly to the hull, plus there is the "angled" locking pin. This is the configuration seen on the vast majority of Shermans. We believe that it was also the configuration used on M7B1s along with the Federal Machine and Welder M7s, all of which were produced in 1945.




The photo shows the engine deck configuration typical of a 1944 production M7. This is SN 3099 (July 1944) on display at the 1st Cavalry Division Museum at Fort Cavazos (formerly Ft. Hood) Texas. M7s were built with four main fuel tanks, and on the 1942/43 models, each had its own filler point. M7s produced in 1944 and 1945 were similar to Second Generation M4 and M4A1 Shermans in that they were plumbed in such a way that only a single filler point (1) was required for the two fuel tanks located on either side of the hull. Thus, the filler points located on each side of the air intake on the earlier models were eliminated. Also similar to Second Gen radial Shermans, the 1944 M7 added a new armored filler cover (2) to the rear engine deck plate. This was for the "engine oil tank" and included a "bayonet gage located under fill cap." When this was added to Shermans, a small, pressed metal tag reading "LUBRICATING OIL" was placed next to filler cover. We can't say we have seen that on the few surviving examples. As built, there would have been only one angled locking pin (3) not two as on this example. While M7s did not suffer high casualties in combat, they were subjected to counter battery fire, and one might have expected that the 1944 M7s would have introduced an armored cover over the air intake such as was standard from the start on M4 and M4A1 Shermans. That was not the case. As seen here the intake remained unprotected except for a wire mesh screen. However, per the Tech Manual, under the screen there was an "air inlet shutter (4) installed in the engine compartment front top plate [that] controls the amount of air drawn into the engine compartment. The air inlet shutter control (5) may be placed in "OPEN," "CLOSED," or three intermediate positions." For a little reminder, the inset shows the typical engine deck configuration of most 1942/43 production M7s.




The M7 Technical Manual notes that the "Early Models" had "Instrument panel mounted on front hull wall" as shown on the left. This was the same panel as used on the M3 Medium and is sometimes referred to as the "tractor" type. The "Late Models" had "Instrument panel mounted on left front sponson" as seen in the upper right. The TM specifically mentions that the clock on the instrument panel (highlighted in red) of early or 1942/43 M7s was removed from the late models (1944/45), probably because dashboard clocks were notoriously unreliable at the time. The Tech Manual images running across the bottom show the various gauges, switches and buttons of the "tractor" and later "tombstone" type instrument panels.








Speaking of riveted lower hulls, here we have photos of the only known (to us) surviving example of a 1944 ALCO M7 with a riveted lower hull. This is SN 2843 indicating that it was accepted in March 1944. It would have been assigned USA 4039759, so built 10 units after 4039749, "COUP DE MAIN" shown in the previous caption. We might assume that the Ordnance Inspector at ALCO let a few excess riveted lower hulls pass at first. The upper hull also appears to have been built originally in the 1942/43 configuration and "recycled" for the 1944 model by filling in the various holes (1) on the engine deck. A close inspection also shows that the upper rear hull plate notch (2) has had a piece welded in to conform with the current design. We wouldn't be surprised if the early type E8543 differential housing with the cast in steps (3) was original to SN 2843. These photos were taken at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma over 20 years ago when SN 2843 was displayed outside. Courtesy of Keith Ross.




The U.S. Army Field Artillery Museum opened in June 2009 at Ft. Sill, and SN 2843 is now displayed inside in a diorama depicting an M7 of the 420th AFA BN, 10th AD during the siege of Bastogne. The name of the 101st Airborne Division will be forever associated with Bastogne, but Combat Command B of the 10th AD played a key role in the city's defense, particularly in the hours before the 101st arrived. As the city became completely surrounded, part of the western perimeter was manned by a motley group of infantry stragglers, tanks, tank destroyers and the M7s of the 420th AFA Bn. "Team Browne" named for the commander of the 420th, Lt. Col. Barry Browne, repelled a number of attacks in the area of Senonchamps, and protected the artillery assets within the perimeter. Col. Browne died of a shrapnel wound on Christmas day and was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. The siege of Bastogne was lifted on the afternoon of 26 December. Pierre-Olivier visited the Artillery Museum in 2023. We mentioned that "COUP DE MAIN" did not have the cast cable clamps welded to the right side. Plus, we know of at least 5 other period photos of 1944 ALCOs without the clamps, including a pair with readable Registration Numbers - 4039738 (March 1944) and 4039822 (April). P-O was able to get a photo showing that they are not present on SN 2843 as well. By their ubiquity on 1944 and 1945 Priests we must conclude that the clamps were standard fittings, but our little counting heads exercise suggests that they were left off at least some of the ALCO M7s produced in March and April.




Something of a curiosity has been observed on four of the surviving 1944 production ALCO M7s. The lower hulls are welded together but the side plates are also seen with what we had been referring to as "melted rivets" for want of a better term. The photo at the upper right shows these on SN 3248 on display at the Russell Museum in Illinois. At first glance, we had thought that they might have been assembled riveted lower hulls left over from 1942/43 production, and that they had been reworked by welding so that they could be recycled for use in the 1944 program. Not being conversant in metal working, we had assumed that the welding process had "melted" the rivets. However, a closer look at one example showed that the lower hull's belly plate and rear plate had not been pre-drilled for riveting so that the hull could not have been an original riveted assembly. In addition, the "melted rivets" that could be seen on the inside are not actually holding anything together with angle brackets; they are simply plugs that are almost perfectly round blobs about the same size as rivets. We have not come across any ALCO documentation about this but have had a number of opinions, with the most likely coming from author Kurt Laughlin who thinks that the side plates were existing drilled plates on which the rivet holes were filled with weld metal so that they could be used to complete a welded hull assembly for the 1944 program. To try to explain further, the photo on the lower left shows an M3 Lee and illustrates how the rivets at the top of the lower hull were driven through an "L" bracket which was in turn attached to the sponson plate. The photo on the lower right is of the M7 in Seneca, Kansas and shows how the "plugs" are not driven through a bracket and also shows that the top of the lower hull is welded to the sponson plate. Sorry to say, only the first 3 digits of the Seneca's Serial Number can be read from the left rear tow lug - 325_. Even so, this would indicate September 1944 production. We do know that the entire SN of the M7 at the Russell Museum is 3248 indicating September 1944 acceptance or made about 70 units before the end of M7 production at ALCO. The upper hulls of both the Seneca and SN 3248 show signs of having been recycled from the earlier program as well, in that the notches in the upper rear hull plates are filled in, as are the holes for the fuel tank compartment ventilating grilles, etc. on the engine decks. It strikes us as odd that pieces from the earlier program were being recycled a month before the 1944 program came to an end.




We were informed that the filled in notch on the upper rear hull plate of SN 2843 in the old Ft. Sill photo is not very visible. So, here it is on SN 3248 in Zion, Illinois in the upper left and SN 325X in Seneca, Kansas in the upper right. This was a simple expedient to adapt the old, notched parts, since the upper rear hull was designed to go straight across on 1944 and later production M7s as well as M4 and M4A1 Shermans. The lower photos show how the rectangular fuel tank compartment ventilating grille holes were blanked off to conform with the 1944 M7 engine deck configuration.




Returning again to France in the Summer of 1944, the 5th Armored Division landed at Utah Beach starting on 24 July 1944 and began combat operations as part of the newly activated Third US Army on 2 August just as Operation Cobra broke the German lines in the Cotentin Peninsula. The division drove south "through Coutances, Avranches, and Vitré, and across the Mayenne River to seize the city of Le Mans, 8 August. Turning north, the Division forged the steel ring around the Germans in Normandy by advancing to the edge of the city of Argentan on 12 August- 8 days before the Argentan-Falaise Gap was closed. Turning Argentan over to the 90th Infantry Division, the 5th Armored advanced 80 miles to capture the Eure River Line at Dreux on 16 August." Hollywood director George Stevens served with the Signal Corps during WW II, and his "SPECOU" [Special Coverage Unit] shot some raw color footage of the 5th AD's 47th Armored Field Artillery Battalion as it moved through a French city cheered on by liberated citizens. With some effort, Pierre-Olivier "found" the town using Google Street View. The scene was shot on the Rue Saint-Martin in Dreux, not long after the city was taken by CCB, 5th AD, so 16 or 17 August 1944. What caught our eye was a Priest named "America" "A-6" that has features identifying it as an M7B1. As it passes, the Registration Number can be read as USA 4015234- with just the final number unclear. In any case, even without the last number, the RN indicates an M7B1 produced in May 1944, so this unit was shipped overseas quickly and was in service with a combat unit about 2 1/2 months after it rolled off the line at Pressed Steel Car, a fairly impressive feat. In the front view, the "low" position of the head lights (1) and the sharp-nosed E8543 differential housing (2) are indications of a 1944 production M7 or M7B1. In the rear view, the angle and the extended down shape of the upper rear hull plate (3) is typical of Shermans and Priests with Ford engines. Note that the stowage bin (4) is smooth with no louvers, since the Ford V8 engine did not generate the heat of the Continental Radial and therefore did not require the additional ventilation. We would mention that another Priest rolls by in the Stevens footage "B-6" and it can be seen as a 1943 production M7, so it would seem that the 47th AFA Bn might have been equipped with both M7s and M7B1s. Some other SC footage was brought to our attention which shows another M7B1 named "All American" "A-10" with tactical markings denoting the 71st AFA Bn, 5th AD. This film is undated but from the context of the other footage in the segment, it appears to have been taken between the 14th and 16th of August as the 5th AD advanced from Argentan to Dreux. It seems safe to assume that these Priests landed with the 5th AD in late July and likely took part in their battalions' first fire missions in early August.




The 500 HP Ford V8 engine was the US Army's preferred tank power plant and consequently an order was placed for Priests powered by the Ford engine. These were given the nomenclature "M7B1." According to a "Development History" of the type, "At the request of Army Service Forces, 70% of all 105-mm Howitzer Motor Carriages built in 1944 were equipped with Ford G.A.A. V-8 gasoline engines." Going by the official production figures, this was not quite the case. The original M7B1 Production Order T-10154 was for 628 units, but this appears to have been supplemented by an additional order for 494 units which was eventually cut back to 198. Thus, the total number of M7B1s manufactured amounted to 826 units, with 664 produced in 1944. Meanwhile, 500 M7s were manufactured in 1944. In any case, Pressed Steel Car began M7B1 production in March 1944, the same month that ALCO restarted M7 production. Above provides a right front view of a May 1944 M7B1, Serial Number 3896, USA 40152359 as photographed at the General Motors Proving Ground in September 1944. As best we can tell from the limited amount of historical reference, the appearance of this unit is typical of the M7B1s produced by PSC from start to finish. The "Development History" describes the M7B1 as "based on the welded chassis of the Medium Tank M4A3 constructed of soft plate to give minimum ballistic effectiveness of one-half inch rolled homogenous armor." We interpret this to mean that the plates of the lower hull assembly were dimensionally the same as the M4A3, that is 1 1/2 inches thick on the sides and rear, but were made of soft plate, not armor. No explanation is offered for the use of soft plate, but we assume it was to reduce weight. The upper hull was assembled using 1/2-inch armor plate, except of course for the differential housing which was the same E8543 casting as used on Second Generation Shermans.




Here we have a side-by-side comparison of the grouser boxes seen on the M7B1 on the left and the 1944 ALCO M7 on the right. One would think that Pressed Steel Car and ALCO would have used the same grouser boxes in the interest of standardization, but to our eyes, the M7 boxes appear to be an inch or so higher. They also include the additional holes. We hope to get some measurements in the future and will report back.




Here we have a rear view of USA 40152589 (September 1944) which was used in Endurance Tests by the Armored Board at Ft. Knox in late 1944. As mentioned earlier, the rear stowage boxes were not louvered for air intake as on the 1944 M7, and this provides a decent recognition feature when looking at certain period photos. The sides at the rear were not "jogged in" as on the M7 but went straight back. Thus, there was room for the taillights (1) to be placed on the upper sponsons as seen here. The upper rear hull plate was angled as opposed to the vertical orientation on the M7. It also extended down further to provide a measure of protection to the engine's radiators. The M7B1 used the same sheet metal type of exhaust deflector (2) as the M4A3 Sherman. It is thought that the M7B1 was factory installed from start to finish with the same "short" trailer towing pintle (3) as used on Second Generation Shermans.




As mentioned earlier, it is our impression that all of the ALCO M7s were built with the original "long" trailer towing pintles factory installed. Regarding the M7B1, we don't have a lot of reference but think that they were factory installed with the "short" pintle as seen in the Tech Manual illustration in the upper left, and in a close up (sans pintle) of an APG photo of M7B1 SN 4366 (December 1944) in the upper right. The original "long" pintle could get bent up in service causing a misalignment of the rear engine mount and/or making it impossible to open the engine access doors. As a result, the pintle was shortened and the redesigned item was ordered to be factory installed as standard equipment on Second Generation Shermans. We have not come across any requirement regarding the M7B1s but think that this was used on them as well. Some doubt is cast because of the 90 or so surviving M7B1/B2s, not many have what we think was the factory installation of the short pintle. Several are installed with the "long" pintle as seen in the lower left on the M7B2 (SN Unknown) at Camp Mabry, Texas. Others are noted with a mounting configuration for the "short" pintle that is "two tiered" as seen (without pintle) on the M7B1 at the Pivka Museum in Slovenia in the photo on the lower right. We can only guess that when these units were rebuilt in the post war years and/or when some were converted to M7B2s, these changes were made. Furthermore, counting heads suggests that M7B1 production at PSC started with double rear towing lugs, but was changed to single lugs in January 1945, since the new T-shaped towing shackles (arrows) only required one lug. A very limited counting heads suggests that only about the last 100 M7B1s were produced with the singles.




Modification Work Order G1-W22 was released in April 1945 and applied to all Shermans or variants with Ford engines, including the M7B1. The purpose was to, "Eliminate possibility of ground bursts damaging the radiators by replacing sheet metal exhaust deflector with one made of armor plate strips." As usual with mods, "This modification should be applied to all of the subject vehicles in or destined to be shipped to theaters of operation that are not so equipped."  Furthermore, no vehicle was to be shipped overseas without this mod after 15 May 1945. Due to its late date of issue, we doubt if it was ever factory installed on any M7B1s and can't say that we have seen it in any M7B1 WW II overseas photos. Quite a few surviving M7B1s and B2s are equipped with the armor plate exhaust deflector modification, such as the M7B1 on display in Hamilton, Montana. This Priest has "USA 40172501" painted on, and we suspect that it may be the original Registration Number. If so, it indicates January 1945 production at PSC. The drawing on the right provides measurements for the positioning of the pioneer tools. Basically, the addition of the deflector's hinges forced the relocation of the crowbar 3 1/2 inches up from the bottom edge of the upper rear hull plate. We consider the diagram to represent the "official" arrangement of the tools but would note that a number of surviving M7B1s and M7B2s are seen with the shovel positioned further to the right. The Hamilton M7B1 shows the alternate location of the shovel fittings.




This overhead view from the M7B1 Technical Manual shows the vehicle's engine deck layout including the left and right fuel filler covers plus the radiator filler cover in the center. We believe that the engine compartment doors were the same as used on M4A3 Shermans although we admit that we have not had the opportunity to closely examine or measure any so far. The TM illustration seems to give a false impression of the appearance of the grating of the doors, judging by surviving examples. However, there is another illustration (inset) on page 313 of the TM which shows what we think was the actual look of the grating on the doors, that is, identical to M4A3 doors. Note that the rear "Engine Compartment Cover" (1) is a one-piece plate. As with the M4A3s, in order to make it easier for crews to remove, this appears to have been changed to a two section cover at some point not long after the start of production. The fittings (circled) held the bore brush staffs although the TM gives their location as "In bracket on rear fighting compartment wall." (This appears to have been copied verbatim from the M7 TM.) In any case, in order to open the right engine deck door, it would have been necessary the remove the staffs.




This Signal Corps photo is dated 13 August 1944 and shows the crew servicing their "105-mm self-propelled howitzer" during "the Siege of Brest." The caption identifies the men from left to right as Pvt. John Siirila, Cpl. Robert Silverman, Pvt. Ed DeSimone, Pvt. Bert Lavare, and Sgt. William Entrekin. The unit is identified as "83rd Field Artillery Battalion, 6th Armored Division." According to the unit AAR, the 83rd Armored Field Artillery Battalion was part of the 5th Field Artillery Group, and not one of the 6th AD's organic AFA Bns. The battalion landed at Utah Beach on 25 July and on 1 August was attached to CCA of the 6th Armored Division. A CCA map dated 12 August shows that the 83rd was positioned near Plabennec a few miles northeast of Brest and was providing artillery support in conjunction with the previously mentioned 212th AFA Bn of the 6th AD. The photo obviously shows a 1944 production Priest, but from this angle, it is practically impossible to determine if it is an M7 or an M7B1. The grouser boxes can be seen with only one hole for each of the retaining bars, which we have interpolated would make this an M7B1. In addition, this particular image is unusual since it was possible to zoom in on the armored fuel filler cover (inset), where it appears that the center hinge barrel has no tab but is welded directly to the hull. If so, according to the theory we presented earlier, that would also make it an M7B1. The AAR does mention that just before being deployed to the Continent, the battalion had moved to Lyme Regis, Devonshire where from 12 to 17 July, it "calibrated the new self-propelled 105s." Unfortunately, the AAR does not include any identification hints such as "M7B1" or "Ford engine". The marking "X-8" (circled) can be seen on the right front fender. We would make a wild guess that the whole marking might have been "3A [3rd Army]-X [separate formation]-83 F [83rd AFA Bn]." And of course, the Priest was vehicle "A 9" within Battery A. Note the early type E8543 differential housing with the cast in steps (1). The cable clamp (2) on the differential housing became a standard fixture on 1944/45 Priests, although it is not present on some early 1944 production M7s. "A 9" can be seen with a siren (3). From the available evidence, we would simply observe that it appears that the manufacturers transitioned to an automobile type horn early on.




The US 7th Army was tasked with the invasion of southern France, code named Operation Dragoon. The objective was to establish a beachhead east of Toulon from which the US VI Corps would push north up the Rhone Valley, while French Army B would capture the ports of Toulon and Marseille. The VI Corps assault on 15 August 1944 was made by three veteran US infantry divisions, the 3rd, 36th, and 45th. Each was assigned an armored field artillery battalion from the 6th Field Artillery Group. For instance, the 93rd AFA Bn, a veteran of the Italian campaign, was attached to the 36th (Texas) Infantry Division, which landed on the "Camel" beaches in Le Dramont, east of Saint-Raphaël. The 93rd's souvenir history states that their M7s were waterproofed and transported to the beaches by LCTs. There is no mention of "fire afloat." The records of the 36th ID note that the division's organic Field Artillery Battalions that came ashore on D-Day were equipped with towed 105s lashed to DUKWs, "prepared to fire." In any case, by 1200 hours, the 93rd AFA Bn had one battery in action ashore. It was reported that "only two [personnel] casualties were suffered in the landing" but further inland one M7 was destroyed "by a direct hit in the early hours of the afternoon." We don't know of any photos or film clips showing 93rd AFA Priests landing on D-Day, but here we have a screen capture from some raw Signal Corps footage which shows a single M7 making its way down the street of a town in southern France that we have not as yet been able to identify. In the succeeding footage, joyous citizens welcome GIs whose Jeeps have tactical markings indicating the 3rd Battalion of the 142nd Infantry Regiment, 36th ID. We suspect the Priest, which appears to have a shallow pulpit, may have been a unit of the 93rd AFA Bn. Another possibility is that the M7 may have been serving with the Cannon Company of the 143rd IR, 36th ID. The 143rd's AAR for 29 August records, "some of Cannon Company's M-7 mounts were momentarily cut off from our troops but were able to regain contact after a fierce fire fight." There are a few other references in the records of the 143rd IR that suggest that some M7s were still in service with its Cannon Company at least up to December 1944. We would note that the M7s which deployed from Italy would have been 1942 or early 1943 production units.




We have not come across the caption of the photo above but comparing it to other Op. Dragoon photos, believe it may show a few M7s moving inland shortly after disembarking on D-Day from the 3rd Infantry Division's Alpha Beach landing zone in the vicinity of Cavalaire sur mer. The tactical markings on the lead Priest are partially obscured by the tow cable, but what can be read appears to be "5A-6_ F Delta" (1). The name "ANNA" (2) is also visible, along with "A-3" (3). "ANNA" rang a bell that we were able to cross reference to a Signal Corps photo (inset) taken in Nettuno [near Anzio], Italy, February 2nd, 1944. The caption reads in part, “Pvt. Francis W. Maguire, Harvard, Ill., of the 69th Armored Field Artillery Battalion, A Battery, washing his feet during a lull between fire missions." The 69th AFA Bn was one of the units of the 6th Field Artillery Group (along with the 59th and 93rd AFA Bns) that had served with the 5th Army in Italy. The Group had been assigned to the 7th Army for Operation Dragoon, but perhaps there had not been time to change ANNA's "5A" tactical marking to "7A"? In any case, the 69th AFA Bn was attached to the 3rd US Infantry Division for the assault. Note that some of the cannoneers can be seen wearing the American flag armbands that were widely distributed for the invasion. The smoke on the far left may be a smoke screen generated at the actual unloading site. The gun emplacement in the center of the photo may be a dummy. The Priests are carrying quite a few K-Ration crates, perhaps intended to be dropped off at a dump inland? The first two M7s can be seen with one-piece differential housings, shallow pulpits and no field or modification kit armor protection for the exposed 105mm rounds. We would have expected that a wading trunk and splash plate might be visible on the lead M7. Perhaps these units were dewaterproofed immediately upon landing?




Major General Lucian Truscott, the VI Corps Commander, had requested that a Combat Command from an armored division be assigned to VI Corps as part of the assault. No US armored divisions were available, but the French reluctantly agreed to provide Combat Command Sudre, named for its commander, Brigadier Général Aimé Sudre, from their 1ère Division Blindée but only until D+3. CC Sudre landed on 16 August (D+1) in the area of Delta Beach which had been secured by the 45th ID on D-Day. The major elements of CC Sudre were the 2e Régiment de Cuirassiers [tank regiment], 3e Bataillon de Zouaves [mechanized infantry], and I/68e Régiment d'Artillerie d'Afrique with 18 M7s. It is thought that the screen capture shows a Priest of the 1er Groupe, 68ème RAA shortly after coming ashore. The records of the 1ere DB note that it was "the first artillery unit to debark in southern France." Maréchal des Logis (Sergeant) Joseph Gonzales states that the 1er Groupe landed at 8:00 am on 16 August at La Nartelle Beach. In the days that followed, CC Sudre screened the northern flank of the beachhead "maintaining contact with the American 3rd Division in and about Brignoles and along Highway 7 toward Aix-en-Provence." It soon became evident that the Germans were not going to mount a counterattack against the beachhead, so on 20 August, the unit was returned to the 1ère Division Blindée for the assault on the ports, the highest priority objective of the invasion. Sorry to say, this image from the film is the one that shows the most detail, so not much can be seen of the M7 except that it has a deep pulpit. The gun appears to be elevated over a splash plate (1) that has been noted in a few period photos of M7s modified for wading in the MTO. The inset shows the plate on "Apollo" of the 69th AFA Bn during a practice landing in Italy about two weeks before Op. Dragoon. This sort of thing would directly affect the fighting capabilities of the vehicle, so it seems likely that the crew or specialists would have removed the plate along with any other wading impedimenta at the earliest opportunity. One of the cannoneers is wearing a French flag shoulder patch or écusson. Maréchal des Logis Gonzales related "Everywhere the population shows us their immense joy at being FINALLY liberated, and by the FRENCH." We might note here that Operation Dragoon was a controversial decision opposed by proponents of a continuing Italian campaign, led by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Some units of French Army B, redesignated French First Army on 25 September 1944, were veterans of the Italian campaign, while others were new units that had been formed and trained in northwest Africa. In the event, there was no way that the French Army would have agreed to continue to serve in Italy as opposed to fighting for the liberation of their own country.




The invasion was accomplished with "an amazing degree of success and a minimum of casualties." Consequently, the II Corps of French Army B was ordered ashore several days ahead of schedule. The French Army commander, General De Lattre de Tassigny boldly determined to expedite matters by dividing his II Corps so that both Toulon and Marseille would be assaulted at the same time, each by two divisions. These were heavily fortified cities whose defenders (13,000 in Marseille and 18,000 in Toulon) outnumbered the attackers. Despite that, with ample naval and air support, and after much bitter fighting, the French compelled the surrender of both garrisons on 28 August, weeks ahead of schedule and with their port facilities mostly intact. The great prize was Marseille, the largest port and the second largest city in France. Eventually about 1/3rd of US troops and supplies would come into the ETO through the port. The photo above shows a scene from a liberation parade held in Marseille on 29 August. This was filmed in the Vieux Port area on La Canebière at the intersection of Cours Saint Louis. The 3rd Algerian Division, Combat Command Sudre and the Forces françaises de l'Intérieur [FFI] played leading roles in the fight for the city and proudly passed in review. The M7 in the foreground can be seen with the "Preparation for Overseas Movement" or "POM" code of "MF42311D" (inset). French sources have it that this indicates the 1ere batterie, 1er groupe, 68e Régiment d'Artillerie d'Afrique. Again, it can be noted that these M7s are not installed with any sort of armor protection for the exposed 105mm rounds. They do show the loops and fittings for the canvas cover, although the "top bow" is not present, at least not on the left-hand side. Step ladders, which appear to have been removable, can be seen threaded through the rear rungs on these Priests. We would mention that, in Normandy, Brittany and southern France, unit histories laud the FFI for the invaluable assistance they provided. General Alexander Patch, commander of the US 7th Army "estimated that from the time of the Mediterranean landings to the arrival of U.S. troops at Dijon, the help given to the operations by the FFI was equivalent to four full divisions."




Gen. Truscott, the VI Corps Commander, did not have confidence that he would be permitted to retain CC Sudre, so during invasion planning in Italy he had his deputy commander, Brigadier General Frederick Butler, organize an ad hoc mechanized force that would be as close to an armored combat command as possible using available units of the VI Corps. Task Force Butler was composed of the 117th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, the 2nd Bn ("in motors") of the 143rd Infantry Regiment, 36th ID, Companies B and C of the 753rd Tank Bn, Company C of the 636th Tank Destroyer Bn and the 59th Armored Field Artillery Bn. The planners had envisioned a methodical advance north from the beachhead, but Truscott wanted a mobile force on hand in the event an opportunity for exploitation should arise. He became privy to an Ultra decrypt that indicated that the German Nineteenth Army had been ordered "to retreat and establish a defensive line along more favorable terrain in the interior." With that in mind, Truscott ordered Butler to advance, and starting on 18 August, the Task Force set off up the Rhone Valley with the idea of blocking the Germans' line of withdrawal in a manner similar to that which was playing out at the time in Normandy. In the uncaptioned photo above, the unmistakable profile of the mountain, "Le Rocher de Neuf Heures", overlooking the town identifies the scene as at Digne les Bains about 75 miles north of TF Butler's starting point at Le Muy. On 19 August, "General Butler saw an opportunity to encircle the enemy at Digne by a flanking maneuver and a surprise attack." B troop of the 117th Cavalry plus a company of infantry supported by medium tanks and a large contingent of the FFI compelled the surrender of the 600-man German garrison. By the tactical markings on the differential housing, it is thought that the photo shows an M7 of B Battery, 59th AFA Bn making its way west over the "Grand-Pont" [bridge] at Digne on the evening of the 19th. By last light, most of TF Butler would be assembled at Sisteron a further 25 miles to the north. The 117th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron comprised the greatest part of TF Butler, and we would mention here that while the unit was in a staging area near Naples, their records for 18 July 1944 state that "E Troop received new guns. The M7 Self-propelled 105mm howitzers were a much needed replacement for the M8 75mm Howitzers with which we had been operating throughout the Italian Campaign." This was an unusual arrangement for a Cavalry unit, but the 117th appears to have been granted "special authority" to use their M7s to the end of the war. General Butler notes that on 22 August, the "Assault Gun Troop enjoyed the shoot of the day. The 105's were delivering aimed fire at enemy columns west of Loriol and at a range of 2500 yards. Firing high explosive and phosphorous these guns accounted for hundreds of vehicles setting them ablaze and sending occupants scurrying." Ultimately, Truscott's bold attempt to surround and destroy the German Nineteenth Army inside the "Battle Square" at Montélimar (21 -29 August) was foiled primarily by logistical issues. The planners did not anticipate that the VI Corps would make such a rapid advance, and did not have the ammunition, fuel and transportation necessary to affect the outcome. The damage inflicted on the enemy as a result of Operation Dragoon was significant to say the least. It is estimated that the German Armies in southern, central, and western France lost about 150,000 troops. Patch's 7th Army had advanced almost 400 miles in less than a month. The so called "Champagne Campaign" came to end on 11 September with the link up of the 7th Army with Patton's 3rd Army near Dijon. At that point, the 7th Army and the French 1st Army came under command of Eisenhower's European Theater of Operations (ETO). With thanks to Loïc Jankowiak.

By mid-September 1944, logistical issues brought an end to the Western Allies' heady pursuit of the Germans across France and the Low Countries. Despite having suffered catastrophic defeats, the Germans recovered and managed to stabilize their lines along the entire Western Front. The 5ème Division Blindée embarked from Oran on 15 September and landed in southern France on the 21st. The 62ème Régiment d'Artillerie d'Afrique was a component of the 5ème DB and because of their late arrival, some of the gunners of the 4ème Batterie were worried, "The advance of the Allied troops is so fast that, for a moment, we lose hope of ever fighting." As it turned out these men would see plenty of action in the Vosges Mountains and in Alsace, where they would endure mud, snow, and extreme cold while trying to move their M7s and support vehicles through the mountainous terrain. The 3 Groupes of the 62ème RAA are reported to have engaged in their first fire missions on 3 November in support of an attack by Groupement Bonjour of the 3ème Division d'Infanterie Algérienne against an enemy position near Le Haut du Tôt, a village in the Vosges Mountains. The Signal Corps photo above shows what appears to be a 1942 production M7 that the caption identifies as of the "5th Div. Blindee, 1st French...in Kaysersberg area" on 17 December 1944. As the number of units deployed overseas increased, the supply of artillery ammunition fell well short of demand, and SC256262 was part of a series aimed at the US Home Front that illustrated "why ammunition production must be stepped up to supply the needs of modern warfare." The tactical marking painted on the side of the vehicle and shown in the inset, identifies this Priest as with the 6ème Batterie, 62ème RAA. Kaysersberg was actually in German hands on 17 December. The After Action Report of the 2ème Groupe, the parent formation of the 6ème Batterie, indicates that the unit arrived in Aubure, 15 kms north of Kaysersberg on 7 December and indeed, we have been able to determine that the photo was taken in the garden of a house located on the Route de Ribeauvillé in Aubure. The 2ème Groupe was attached to Combat Command 4 of the 5ème DB and supported attacks on Orbey and Kaysersberg until 18 December.

Here we have the next photo in the "produce more ammo campaign" series, SC256263. The caption is again dated 17 December 1944 and is identical to that of SC256262 above. Again, we take the location to be Aubure based on the group of buildings seen in the background which we have been able to identify as the Sanatorium Bethel. It is assumed that "les automoteurs M7" in this series of photos were within sight of each other, but unlike the Priest in the previous image, this is another example that can be seen to have been retrofitted with a side door. In his study of French armor, Pierre-Olivier does not think that the practice was widespread, "I have only seen "a few" of these side door jobs in the 62ème RAA, for instance, on Marignan II and Rocroi II." The inset shows what appears to be the same Priest as in the main photo judging by several similarities including the lone remaining (front) section of the Grant type sand shield and the "broomstick" by the head light. It can be noted that the door was hinged along the bottom like the one shown earlier in the Base Shop at Livorno. Our analysis suggests that the inset photo was taken in Riedwiehr, 10 kilometers north-east of Colmar. The AAR of the 2ème groupe states that the 6ème batterie was in Riedwihr on 27 January, and that about a week earlier, "the tanks were painted in white to blend into the snow that accumulates more and more".



Because of their late date of production, March to July 1945, we doubt if any FMW M7s were shipped overseas and/or entered combat before the end of the war. The photo above shows an example that took part in what the caption describes as the "82nd Airborne Division Parade" in New York City on 12 January 1946. This was actually a World War II Victory Parade in which the 13,000 men of the 82nd marched up 5th Avenue representing all of the military men and women of the Allied Nations. The parade was 4 1/2 miles long and included Sherman tanks which the newsreels show parading past the famous statue of their namesake, General William Tecumseh Sherman on Grand Army Plaza by Central Park. An ESSO Newsreel reported that "79 flat cars hauled the mobile units to New York from Ft. Bragg, North Carolina." The M7, named "ABLE'S ACE" carries tactical markings of the 342nd Armored Field Artillery Battalion, an independent AFA Bn that arrived in Marseille in late 1944 and first entered combat on 23 January 1945. The unit served in support of various infantry and armored divisions of the 7th Army until V-E Day. It is assumed that the M7 in the photo was drawn by the 342nd when they returned to Ft. Bragg in anticipation of redeployment to the Pacific.




As best we can tell from the few surviving Federal Machine and Welder M4A2s and M7s, the company did not stamp the vehicle serial number on the rear towing lugs or anywhere else on the exterior. Here we have a photo of what we take to be a surviving FMW M7, one of three that we know of with the E9 modification and the flat fender braces. Although the extended end connectors are no longer installed, note the gap (1) between the tracks and the differential housing and the much wider front fenders (2). Pierre-Olivier reported seeing traces of the name "Arcole" and hints of the 5ème Division Blindée flag showing through the paint layers on the sides. A French post-1947 matricule number "828 148" was also visible on the differential housing (3) and on the left rear stowage bin. These markings would suggest that this M7 was provided to the French in the early 1950s as part of the Mutual Defense Assistance Program. The Priest also has some distinctly Austrian looking markings (4) prominently painted on both sides, which at least hints at the possibility that this M7 may have seen service with the Austrian Army. Unfortunately, P-O could not find any evidence of the vehicle's serial number.




The owner kindly permitted Pierre-Olivier to have a look around his shop and P-O was able to squeeze around the back and get this shot of a pair of items not seen in the General Motors Proving Ground photo of SN 4917 featured earlier. The air cleaners were vulnerable to combat damage, and we have shown a few instances where some units attempted to protect them by simply welding steel plates in front of them. As a result of battlefield reports, a "protector assembly" (1) was designed in late 1944. We don't have any FMW documentation but can cite our "counting heads" study of the M4A1(76) in which we found that supplies of the protector assemblies appear to have become available to Pressed Steel Car in May 1945. If the same held true for Federal Machine, then perhaps between 100 and 150 of their M7s were built with these components factory installed. Also not seen in the photo of SN 4917 is the triangular shaped gusset (inset 1, circled) which is present on both sides of this unit. The gussets are also noted in a small number of period photos. We would guess that they were intended to strengthen the side plates when the protector assemblies were installed. The boxes were hinged, and these are in the "up" position to permit the servicing of the air cleaners. Inset 2 shows the assemblies in the intended protective position as seen on the M4A1(76)HVSS in Griffith, Indiana.


US use in the Pacific Theater of Operations




A number of the regimental cannon companies of the 20 US Army infantry divisions deployed to the Pacific Theater of Operations were organized under a modified table of organization and equipment "TO&E 7-14S" published in February 1944. This authorized the companies to be equipped with "105-mm Howitzer, Self-Propelled." This would have replaced the July 1943 TO&E of "six 105-mm howitzers M3 with prime movers" with "six M7 HMCs with M10 armored ammunition trailers." Exactly when and which units were issued M7s has been hard to pinpoint, since not much is written about cannon companies in the Regimental AARs. This screen capture is part of some raw color footage strung together and cataloged as "BOMBARDMENT; AMPHIBIOUS OPERATIONS: SCENES AFTER OCCUPATION; INVASION OF ENIWETOX [sic]" on the National Archives website. The US Marine Corps history, "Central Pacific Drive", reports that on 18 February 1944, the 22nd Marine Regiment assaulted the island of Engebi in the Eniwetok Atoll. They were supported by "a platoon from the Cannon Company, 106th Infantry [Regiment, 27th US Army Infantry Division] with two 105-mm. self-propelled guns." Neither the USMC history or the official Army history ever refer to these as "M7s", but the definition of "105-mm. self-propelled gun" at this time would have been limited to the M7 and we do see a Priest in the film footage. In any case, at present, February 1944 is the earliest instance we have encountered of M7s in combat in the PTO. On Engebi, there is textual evidence that the M7s fought, "Near Skunk Point...1/22 encountered concrete pillboxes which were the key to the enemy defenses around the southeastern corner of the island. Two self-propelled 105mm guns from the 106th Infantry Cannon Company, weapons originally sent to the aid of Company A, were withdrawn upon request of Company C and sent to deal with the heavy fortifications. The self-propelled guns fired almost their entire day's allowance of ammunition, 80 rounds, in order to destroy two pillboxes, one of which sheltered 25 to 30 Japanese. Effective as they were, the self-propelled 105s were not especially popular with the infantry units which they supported. "They made a very inviting target for mortar and other small arms," commented a veteran of the Skunk Point fighting, "and, consequently, were not a very comforting thing to have around." The 105s, though, had revenge on their Japanese tormentors, for during the afternoon they wiped out an enemy mortar crew." Engebi was declared secured at 3 pm, 18 Feb. The 106th Infantry Regiment assaulted the next target, Eniwetok Island, on 19 February. There are several occasions in the Marine and Army histories when it is mentioned that "two Army self-propelled 105mm guns" supported elements of the 106th IR as well as the 3rd Battalion of the 22nd Marines. There are no mentions of the use of "self-propelled 105s" on Parry Island the final objective of the Eniwetok Atoll operation. We think that the screen capture shows an M7 landing on Eniwetok not Engebi, since the soldiers in the scene appear to be Army not Marines. The unit is shown debarking without wading trunk(s), although we suspect that the lower hull was sealed for shallow water fording. After watching the footage multiple times, we believe that there is a pintle mount for a 0.30 caliber machine gun (arrow) such as is seen in the photo in the next caption.




This Army Pictorial Service photograph is captioned, "Saipan. A self-propelled gun mount and a jeep stop beside American casualty after an unsuccessful attempt to storm Jap pillboxes." We take "6/20" typed on the caption to be the date, which would have to be 20 June 1944. On 15 June 1944, the 2nd and 4th USMC Divisions landed on Saipan's southwestern coast. Resistance was much fiercer than expected and the 20,000 man assault force suffered over 2,000 casualties in the first 24 hours. The 27th Infantry Division formed the reserve of the 5th Amphibious Corps and was ordered to land the 165th and the 105th Infantry Regiments on 16 and 17 June respectively. Elements of these units captured Aslito airfield on the 18th, and after that, their mission was to trap and "mop up" the enemy troops holed up around Nafutan Point in the island's southeast corner. It is thought that the photo shows part of this operation in which the 105th and 165th IRs attacked "heavily fortified built-in positions over exceedingly mountainous terrain." By a process of elimination, we would guess that the M7 was with the Cannon Company of the 165th IR, since the docs note that, at this time, the 105th was "without their organic cannon company, consisting of 75mm self-propelled guns [consequently] the regiment was incapable of suppressing the enemy while the infantry and engineers rooted them out." In the meantime, the 106th IR was still in floating reserve offshore. As noted in the previous caption, "a platoon from the Cannon Company, 106th Infantry with two 105-mm. self-propelled guns" supported Marine and Army units during the Eniwetok Operation. The records of the 106th IR for Saipan are a bit more helpful as they actually state that their Cannon Company consisted of 2 M7s and 6 M8 Howitzer Motor Carriages as shown in the radio diagram in the inset. We suspect that the 106th had this unusual arrangement during the Eniwetok Operation as well. It may have been based on the availability of M7s and M8s at the time. We might assume that the Cannon Companies of the 105th and 165th were similarly equipped but perhaps not, since it is mentioned that the cannon company of the 105th IR consisted of "75mm self-propelled guns." A comment in the 106th's files praises the performance of "the self-propelled mounts" and adds, "A truck drawn weapon as prescribed for the armament of the Cannon Company would have been unable to carry out the missions assigned." In any case, the M7 appears to have "CN 8" painted on the differential housing on the left side. It can be seen with an antenna (1) and a retrofitted .30 caliber machine gun (2). A pair of, shall we say, "flaps" (3 & 4), perhaps part of the waterproofing process, can be seen open on either side of the 105mm gun. The head lights are in the "high" position indicative of 1942/43 production M7s. We have looked but can't say that we have seen any 1944 production Priests in period photos from the PTO.




This Signal Corps photo is dated 29 October 1944 and captioned "Troops of the 381st Inf. Regt., 96th Div., take cover behind an M-7 tank while advancing on Catman [sic] Hill, Leyte Island, P.I.". The 96th Infantry Division landed alongside the 7th ID on Leyte near the town of Dulag on 20 October 1944. The 96th was responsible for expanding the northern sector of the beachhead which was dominated by Catmon Hill. The 381st and 383rd Infantry Regiments were involved in numerous assaults on the hill, while the 382nd IR bypassed the position to the west. Since the initial landings on the 20th, Catmon had been pounded for over a week by naval, air and land forces. It was finally taken on 28th October by enveloping attacks of the 1st and 2nd battalions of the 381st IR. The official US Army history states that the attack of the 1st Battalion was "supported by the massed fire of forty-five tanks and the Regimental Cannon Company." Perhaps to their relief, the assaulting units came to find that most of the Japanese troops had abandoned the hill two days earlier. It can be seen that the "shallow pulpit" M7 still has the lower section of a wading stack. It appears to have "CN 22" and some sort of symbol painted on the stack. Judging by the rounded bottom of the stack, it may have been from the M7 fording kit produced in the US. This looks to be another case where the gun travel lock was removed, and in this instance can be seen stored on top of the wading stack. The Leyte Campaign fulfilled General MacArthur's promise to return to the Philippines. After much hard fighting, the island was secured in early January 1945. The 96th ID along with other veteran divisions of Leyte next invaded Okinawa on 1 April 1945. The records of the 96th rarely mention the actions of the regimental cannon companies, although it was noted that the "self-propelled 105-mm. howitzer [was] extremely mobile in swamps and mountainous terrain. It was able to go several miles farther up the mountains than any other vehicles and gave excellent support in covering the mountain passes." The 96th fought in a number of key battles on Okinawa. In the final "Comments and Recommendations" section of their Operations Report, the Priests are at last named - "105mm Howitzer Motor Carriages, M-7" and numbered - 18, suggesting that there were 6 in each of the regimental cannon companies. Of interest is that 36 "76mm Gun Motor Carriages, M-18" are also listed as part of the division's "combat vehicular equipment." "Due to the addition of tank-like vehicles to the Inf Regts, it is... recommended that each Regt be authorized one Heavy Wrecker, M1A1", and that "An ordnance medium maintenance Co should replace the ordnance light maintenance Co now assigned to an Inf Div."




Cannon Companies are rarely mentioned in the unit records and histories of the Infantry Divisions that fought in the PTO, and when they are, their equipment is mostly described in very vague terms like "self-propelled guns." Maj. Wesley Curtis' 1950 Infantry School monograph provides some idea of the M7 timeline of the 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. He was the recon officer of the Cannon Company of the 27th IR and he specifically states that the company "was organized under a modified table of equipment...[which] was the case with most of the regimental Cannon Companies in the Pacific area." On 28 January 1945, he reports that his cannon company was at full strength with 6 M7s with M10 trailers, and that the Priests had been issued to the regiment "some seven months prior to this operation." We interpret that to mean circa June 1944, which would have been while the unit was training in Noumea, New Caledonia. Curtis' monograph describes the Cannon Company's first combat with the M7s at Pemienta Luzon on 29-30 Jan. The gist is that the 1st Battalion, 27th IR set up a blocking position at a crossroads at Pemienta, which trapped a Japanese column of the 2nd Tank Division. At a range of 50 yards, Sgt. John Charney's M7 fired an armor piercing shell that destroyed an approaching enemy tank which blocked the road and halted the rest of the column. The 1st Battalion including at least 2 M7s attacked the column and repelled several Banzai charges from an enemy desperate to escape the trap. By daylight 30 January, 8 tanks, 8 10cm howitzers with prime movers, and a number of other enemy vehicles lay smoldering in the road. There is a Signal Corps photo of the wreckage, but not of the participating M7s as far as we know. The photo above is dated 8 April 1945 and captioned, "Men of the 25th Division in combat with Japs in Balete Pass, fire a U.S. M-7 from its dug-in position point-blank into a Jap pillbox 250 yards away." Beginning on 21 February, the 25th ID fought its way through the Caraballo Mountains and finally took the pivotal Balete Pass on 13 May. More grim fighting remained until the exhausted division was relieved on 30 June 1945 after "165 days of continuous combat." The M7 can be seen as USA 4039654 indicating July 1943 production. Most photos of M7s in the PTO show them installed with the US produced hinged armor plate modification, but this unit, along with a few others of the 25th seen in period photos, is noted with a field mod in which a plate (1) was neatly welded on. We count seven men in this photo, although in the course of his narrative, Major Curtis states, "Each M7 in addition to its normal 5 man crew carried a radio operator equipped with an SCR-300."




In a written account of his service, Sgt. Donald C. Boyd driver of #2 Section of Cannon Company, 128th Infantry Regiment, 32nd ID states that the unit received "6 new M7s" on Hollandia while training for the Leyte assault. The Priests replaced the 81mm mortars that the cannon company had used in previous campaigns. This would have been in the summer of 1944 after Hollandia had been captured and turned into a naval, air and logistics base in support of the liberation of the Philippines. The long serving veterans of the 32nd ID, who had completed operations on Leyte around New Year's 1945, arrived on Luzon on 27 January, eighteen days after the assault landings of the US Sixth Army at Lingayen Gulf. The division was immediately deployed by I Corps whose mission was "to expand the beachhead to the north and east, and protect the Lingayen base." By 2 February the 32nd had captured Santa Maria, the western terminus of the infamous Villa Verde Trail. US planners did not anticipate that the Japanese would defend the Caraballo mountains with such ferocity. It was expected that the 32nd would quickly break through the passes and link up with the 25th ID attacking north along Route 5. As it was, the "Red Arrow Division" fought itself to exhaustion in the 4 months it took to clear the enemy from the Villa Verde Trail. The photo is dated 12 April 1945 and captioned,"105mm self propelled howitzer of the 126th Cannon Co, firing on Jap positions on the Villa Verde Trail, Luzon, PI." At this time, the mission of the 126th IR was to attack and tie down the enemy positions on Yamashita Ridge (in the background of the photo), which flanked the trail, so that the 128th IR could take Salacsac Pass Number 2 without being subjected to harassing fire from the dominating heights. The Pass was finally secured on 16 April. In his account, Sgt. Boyd mentions that "The engineers had scraped out a firing position for us" which was probably similar to that seen in the photo. The Priest carries the name, "Shiftless" and appears to have "Cn 3" painted on the right-side stowage box. The M7's Registration Number can be read as USA 4038389 indicating December 1942 acceptance. From that we would assume that the "folding auxiliary armor plate" modification was retrofitted, possibly before the Priest was shipped from the US. Naturally, the division's vehicles would have been road bound in this type of environment, and the Villa Verde Trail at the time has been described as "a goat path in the clouds." The bulldozers of the 32nd ID's 114th Engineer Battalion became high priority targets of the Japanese defenders. Sgt. Boyd notes that while under fire, his M7 retrieved a bulldozer that had slid off the trail. To their great credit, the engineers did all they could to improve the trail to enable the movement of supply and combat vehicles, up to and including medium tanks, specifically, a platoon of Shermans of B Company, 775th Tank Battalion. One of their M4s, which appears to have been left in place after it burned, is on display at the Mangili Tindaan Historical Nature Park not far from the scene of our photo.




This Signal Corps photo is captioned, "Heavy Armor to the Pasig---U.S. tanks proceed along Sasmarinas [sic] street in Manila toward the Pasig River, where they will take up positions for the pounding of Jap positions south of the river." Using "Google Street View", Pierre-Olivier was able to determine that the photo was taken on the 200 block of Dasmarinas Street because the buildings on the right though damaged at the time, are still standing. The swift advance of the 1st Cavalry and the 37th Infantry Divisions caught the enemy off guard and spared a good deal of the northern sections of Manila the ruination suffered by the area south of the Pasig, which the Japanese turned into a fortified zone that they were determined to defend to the last man. We think that the M7s shown in the photo belonged to one of the cannon companies of the 37th ID, since the 1st Cav. Div. does not seem to have had had cannon companies until it was reorganized as an infantry division at the end of the war. The official caption of this photo is undated. However, the M18 Tank Destroyer in the background would lead us to think that it might have been taken on 17 February 1945 as the AAR of the 637th Tank Destroyer Bn reports "One section, 2d Platoon, Company C in support of the 2d Battalion 148th Infantry [fighting on the south side of the Pasig] placed 76mm fire on the SCIENCE and PHILIPPINE HOSPITAL BUILDINGS, opening large gaps in the walls so that 105mm High Explosive shells could be fired into the buildings with weapons of the Cannon Company." There is some SC footage in which the lead M7 in our photo is seen firing across the river and also shows that the Priest had a Donald Duck cartoon figure painted on the side (inset). The M7 and the Jeep in the photo can be seen with some sort of code "6429-S-20-22" that we have not been able to decipher. We might venture a guess that the M7s were part of the cannon company of the 148th Infantry Regiment, 37th ID which was engaged south of the river "in bitter hand assault combat [and] drove the enemy from the Science Building on the Southeast corner of Philippine General Hospital area by 1150 and secured the two Eastern wings of the main Hospital building by 1330." As a matter of minutia, we take this shallow pulpit M7 to be in the "grouser box mod 3" configuration where the original small grouser box was replaced with one that was somewhat larger, taller and notched. We will try to get some comparative measurements in the future, but for now, note that the 5-gallon jerrycan seen here, would not have been able to fit inside the original grouser box.


   

Here we have some more Signal Corps footage from the US National Archives website. In it, the photographer, whose name appears to have been "Gae Faillace", holds up an improvised clapperboard that shows "19 February" consistently throughout the footage. With the unusual surname, we believe the scenes must have been shot by Sgt. Gaetano Faillace, who is reported to have been "General Douglas MacArthur's personal photographer during World War II and the American occupation of Japan." Faillace took the well-known "I have returned" photo of MacArthur wading ashore at Leyte, 20 Oct 1944. However, it would appear that he was working with a movie camera on 19 February. In any case, by that time, most of the 37th ID and the 1st Cav were fighting on the south side of the Passig around the campus of the University of the Philippines. Some of the armor had crossed the river as well. We wanted to show a couple screen captures of an M7 that is featured in Faillace's footage about 5 minutes in. On the left is a side shot where the M7 is firing at targets across the river. This unit can be seen with the rear canvas cover frame installed with crew gear hanging from it. Also visible is a knapsack hanging off the right side of the M7. Based on that, we believe that this is the trailing Priest seen in the previous still photo. Note the little "stick figure" man painted in front of the star (inset). The "little man" has been observed on M7s in two SC still photos dated June 1945, one of which identifies the unit as the 145th Infantry Regiment, 37th ID, which suggests that these M7s were in the cannon company of the 145th IR. In the screen capture on the right, it can be seen that some plates (1), possibly hinged, have been added to protect the air cleaners. This field mod is noted in a few SC photos of M7s identified as with the 37th ID. The same "6429-S..." mystery code (2) appears to be painted on the left rear fender.


   

Here we have front and rear views of an M7 which, according to the caption, "plunged 150 yards down the side of a steep hill." No unit is given, but the tactical markings on the upper rear hull plate can be read as "6 63...CN 6" which we take to mean "6th Infantry Division, 63rd Infantry Regiment, Cannon Company #6." The photos are dated 24 April 1945, and the captions state that it "took 8 days and several methods" to retrieve the M7. From that we take it that this Priest was attempting to support the 63 IR during its final attacks on Mt. Mataba, a key objective on the formidable Shimbu Line, east of Manila. Mt. Mataba was finally taken by converging assaults of the 1st and 3rd Battalions, 63rd IR on 17 April. The souvenir history of the 6th ID notes that, "During the final assault, the infantry was supported by self-propelled mounts and tanks that were able to reach the area only by the herculean efforts of the 6th Engineers in pushing the supply roads to the very summit of the mountain." The track (1) on the left side is off the sprocket, but otherwise the Priest doesn't appear to have been badly damaged and there were no reports of casualties. This is one of the few examples seen in PTO photos that is not installed with armor plate ammunition protection, either by field expedient or from the US modification kit. The antenna base (2) suggests that the M7 was equipped with a radio. Note that a hand hold (3) has been retrofitted to the "awning" above the driver's station. In the "Summary of Lessons Learned" section of their Operations Report, the 63rd IR states "Cannon Company, equipped with M-7 mounts, are much better suited for direct fire missions than for indirect. The personnel of the company is not adequate for the establishment of Fire Direction Center...and Forward Observer Parties. The 105mm gun on the mount was found to be extremely effective when fired direct against caves and entrenched positions." Because of their vulnerable open tops, it was recommended that the M7s employ the "shoot and scoot" tactic for which they were well suited, "only four or five rounds" should be fired from a position, after which the vehicle should be moved "slightly."




The 77th Infantry Division, veterans of Guam and Leyte, were the first troops to engage in "Operation Iceberg", the codename for the Okinawa Campaign. In order to establish an advanced naval base, the 77th ID assaulted several of the Kerama Islands on 26 March 1945, a week before the invasion of the primary target, Okinawa, on 1 April. "All together, the 77th struck in six separate amphibious assault landings and followed up with nine more to capture the islets and secure the protected anchorage." Along with their landings at Guam and Leyte, including their decisive end-run assault near Ormoc, this has to be some kind of amphibious record. On 16th April, the division invaded Ie Shima, and secured the island by the 26th, after which it became a US air base, described by some as "an unsinkable aircraft carrier". The Ie Shima operation was more or less forgotten in the shadow of the "Typhoon of Steel" that was Okinawa, but the 77th suffered over 1100 casualties including 217 KIA taking the small island. The photo is dated 31 May 1945, and captioned, "Shuri Okinawa...A self-propelled 105 mm Artillery gun, bears the name of Ernie Pyle, in tribute to the beloved correspondent who lost his life with the 77th on Ie Shima. The carrier was on its way to the front when photographed." A few days after Ie Shima, the 77th ID deployed to Okinawa and took its place on the front lines, relieving the exhausted 96th ID. The 77th was known as the “Statue of Liberty Division” and their insignia (inset) can be seen on the helmets of some of the gunners. "Painting of the trapezoid on the helmets was considered a special ceremony." Reading the Division history, "Ours to Hold it High", and its Okinawa Operations Report, one gets the impression that the regimental cannon companies were entirely equipped with M8 Howitzer Motor Carriages during their campaigns up to this time. "The SP Gun, 75mm, M-8 was used as well as the M-18 [just prior to the Okinawa Campaign, the antitank company was equipped with eight]. Both weapons were used extensively for sealing caves and, in addition, performed valuable direct support fire for the infantry. The M-8 was used for both direct and indirect firing and both weapons delivered flanking support fire and overhead support fire from positions on high ground." The division preferred "a vehicle of less than 20 tons" for the terrain conditions under which it operated and both the M8 HMC and the M18 TD fit the bill. The first mention of the use of M7s that we have seen in the 77th ID records is from "Second to None", the history of the 305th Infantry Regiment. On 17 May 1945, "So far as we have been able to learn, the 305th in conjunction with the 307th was the first organization in the Pacific Area to make a night attack against a strongly held Japanese position...The RCT received excellent support from our light, medium, and heavy artillery, our M4s, M7s, M8s, M18s, and flame-throwing tanks." The Division must have had some experience with the M7, but rejected it for future operations, "The Carriage, Motor 105mm How, M-7, has a turret too open and is too heavy to provide the flexibility desired." In any case, pending further research, we would guess that the 77th ID's cannon companies received a few M7s as replacements while fighting on Okinawa, and "Ernie Pyle" was likely one of them. Note the added Browning .30 caliber machine gun with shield. The angle of this photo permits us to see that the grouser boxes are in "mod 2" configuration with the retaining bars of the outer box running through the little footman loops.




Period photos suggest that M7s were first used by the US Marine Corps on Okinawa, site of "The Last Battle." The III Amphibious Corps selected the 1st and 6th Marine Divisions for the 1 April 1945 assault, while the 2d Marine Division served as a floating reserve. "Marines in the Victory on Okinawa", part of the USMC 50th Anniversary commemorative series, states that "The Marine divisions preparing to assault Okinawa experienced yet another organizational change, the fourth of the war...Although the "G-Series" T/O [Table of Organization and Equipment] would not become official until a month after the landing, the divisions had already complied with most of the changes. The overall size of each division increased from 17,465 to 19,176...The most timely weapons change occurred with the replacement of the 75mm "half-tracks" with the newly developed [sic] M-7 105mm self-propelled howitzer--four to each regiment. Purists in the artillery regiments tended to sniff at these weapons, deployed by the infantry not as massed howitzers but rather as direct-fire, open-sights "siege guns" against Okinawa's thousands of fortified caves, but the riflemen soon swore by them." The Marines and indeed the entire Tenth Army were taken aback when the landings went virtually unopposed. Almost immediately, the 6th Marine Division was ordered north to capture the Motobu Peninsula for starters, with the ultimate goal of conquering all of northern Okinawa, fully 2/3rds of the island. The photo above is captioned "Tank borne infantry Marines of the Twenty-Ninth regiment [6th MarDiv] race for the town of Ghuta [sic] to occupy the Okinawa village before the Japanese forces take it." No date is given, but we believe that the caption writer was actually referring to the town of Chuta, which the 29th Marines took on 6 April. Both M7s can be seen with shallow pulpits which we take to indicate 1942 production, so not exactly "newly developed." It is thought that the 6th MarDiv drew their Priests around the time that the division was activated on Guadalcanal in September 1944. We suspect that the extended end connectors, folding armor modification and the track link "armor" may have been retrofitted at that time. The lead M7 is noted with an antenna suggesting that a radio was installed. Marine Divisions did not have cannon companies with 6 M7s like many Army Infantry Divisions. Rather, 4 were placed in each of the regimental weapons companies. Note that the rearmost "taxi" in the column is a Sherman tank. It would appear that shortly after snapping this M7 photo, the photographer, PFC Robert Keller, took the iconic image (inset) of exuberant Marines greeting him as they passed.




This USMC photo is simply captioned "M-7 tank destroyers are used as artillery. May 12, 1945 Okinawa" and PFC Bob Bailey is listed as the photographer. Bailey was "embedded" with the 1st Marine Division and 2 days earlier had photographed PFC Paul E. Ison, a demolitions man with L Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines as he sprinted across what came to be known as "Death Valley" during the bloody struggle for Wilson's Ridge from the 3rd to the 11th of May. After the "Flag Raising at Iwo Jima", Bailey's photo (inset) is probably the most well-known WW II USMC image. From Bailey's photographer credit, we identify the M7s as belonging to one of the regimental weapons companies of the 1st MarDiv. The 12 May date would suggest that the Priests were in support of the 7th Marine Regiment who relieved the exhausted 5th Marines, and captured the next objective, Dakeshi Ridge on the 12th after 2 days of extremely costly assaults. Like many USMC AFVs, these M7s are retrofitted with track "armor." Again, we see 1942 era shallow pulpits. We might mention here that ALCO produced 615 M7s in November and 566 in December 1942. These were by far the highest production months and represent fully 1/3rd of the company's total output of 3314 units from April 1942 through October 1944. Both have antennas which are noted to be installed on US Priests far more often in the PTO. Both can be seen with forward wading stacks. The "Deep Water Fording" kit produced in the US starting in late 1943 provided a forward stack to cover the air intake on M4 and M4A1 (radial) Shermans along with a rear stack. However, on the M7, only a rear stack was provided. The intakes on the M7's engine deck were simply sealed up according to both the 1944 and 1945 Technical Manuals. The stacks in the photo look like ones from the US kit, so perhaps the Marines adapted the M4/M4A1 kits to fit on their M7s? Or an alternate type was made in the Pacific Theater, possibly in Hawaii?




For the planned invasion of Japan, it was recommended that Infantry Division cannon companies be equipped with "M7 Series (or M37) 105 MM How, Mtr Carriage." This particular document does not specify the use of Ford engines (M7B1s) although that was the case with the Shermans (M4A3 with wide tracks) slated for "Operation Olympic." We would note that there is some film footage of the 3rd Marine Division training with M7B1s (inset) on Guam in late May 1945. They were scheduled to assault Kagoshima, Japan on X-Day along with the 2nd and 5th MarDivs. At any rate, despite its "Substitute Standard" classification, the M7 series continued in service for a number of years after WW II. Here we see a Priest performing the post war duty of "turning swords into ploughshares". After the surrender of Japan, a number of US Divisions occupied the country. One of their assignments was to destroy Japanese military equipment. The photo shows "The sole Ki-78 [prototype] being crushed by American forces at Gifu Air Field, after the war, in 1945." The 25th Infantry Division arrived in Japan in November 1945, and the Gifu prefecture was the responsibility of its 27th Infantry Regiment. Earlier we featured a photo of USA 4039654 of the 25th Infantry Division in action on Luzon in April 1945 and noted that it had a field modification in which a plate was neatly welded on. The M7 "demolition vehicle" appears to have a similar mod (1) and it can be seen that it extended across the rear (2) of the fighting compartment. Another field mod seen in wartime photos of a few 37th ID M7s is the additional protection for the air cleaners (3).


British Use in China-Burma-India [CBI] Theater of Operations




Earlier, we cited an April 1943 Munitions Assignment Board document that had it that 84 M7s were on the way from the US to India. We suspect that this may have been the total number shipped. While the IWM's collections include a number of photos and films showing M7s serving in Burma in February and March 1945, we have not found much detailed information about the employment of Priests in the CBI. It would appear that their use in combat was limited to the 18th Field Regiment (Self-Propelled), Royal Artillery. Originally a towed artillery regiment that fought with the BEF in France, the unit was evacuated from Dunkirk in 1940. Subsequently replenished, in February 1941 it was restructured from two to three batteries (the 59th, 93rd and 94/95th Batteries), before being transferred to India, arriving in Bombay in November 1942. According to the "The Royal Artillery 1939-1945" website, the regiment became self-propelled in December 1943 when it was authorized "24 x 105mm Self Propelled M7 Priest, 10 x Sherman Observation Post." The same source states that in January 1945, its vehicle strength was reduced to "16 x 105 mm Self Propelled M7 Priest", which seems significantly under-strength, but perhaps reflects the limited number of operable Priests available in theater at the time, or the maximum number that the Army could support with 105mm ammunition during the upcoming campaign in Burma. The above photo was taken on 7 March 1945, and shows S-215863, “DEEPCUT” of D Troop, 93 Battery. We can only assume that this vehicle was named after the village of Deepcut in Surrey, as some of the other Priests of the regiment are seen with the names of other British villages, such as Dunkirk, Docking and Chudleigh. All of the members of the crew are wearing the standard British issue WWII Bush Hat, pinned up on one side, and while this headgear is typically associated with Australian soldiers, the “slouch hat” was also worn by numerous British units, and we would point out that no Australian Army troops served in the CBI. The "deep" pulpit and the "plain" sprocket suggest that this was a 1943 production M7, and likely factory installed with the canvas cover support frame modification. The recuperator housing appears to have had the hemp rope wrap-around treatment covered over with a piece of fabric. Other IWM photos of "DEEPCUT" show the M3 Grant type sand shield completely intact on the left side. Courtesy of Imperial War Museum Photo SE3366.




In "My Burma Campaign" Rex Wait describes the regiment and its mission, "...equipped with the American 105mm howitzer on a Sherman tank chassis...At the time we were sent into Burma, in December 1944, I was a humble subaltern, the Troop Leader of Fox Troop, 94/95 Battery. Being something of an oddity, our Regiment was not assigned to any particular Division. It came directly under the Brigadier, Royal Artillery, at 14th Army H.Q., and we wore the 14th Army flash on our shoulders. The Regiment could thus be made available to support the armoured units of any of the Brigades in the Divisions of 33 Corps and 4 Corps as the Army Commander might require." As the sole self-propelled artillery unit in the CBI, the regiment was a 14th Army asset, and its batteries were individually seconded out amongst the army’s brigades and divisions as required. The above photo shows a Priest of the regiment headed for Rangoon, after the city had fallen according to the undated Office of War Information caption, "Allies in Rangoon. Climax to the brilliant achievements of Indian and British troops in Burma, was the fall of the capital, Rangoon. Smashed and disorganized in their flight south, the Japanese gave up the city without resistance." In conjunction with the attack of the 14th Army from the north, the Allies launched Operation Dracula, an airborne and amphibious assault on the city. Heavy resistance was expected from "a deeply entrenched Japanese "suicide garrison"" but the disorganized enemy evacuated Rangoon, and the 26th Indian Division liberated it without a fight on 2 May 1945. The 14th [XIV] Army formation marking (inset) can be seen on the Priest's upper rear hull plate. Many of the regiment’s vehicles display names beginning with the troop letter on the hull side and a close examination of the photo appears to show this M7 to have a name beginning with the letters "CE...", hence we believe it served with C Troop, 93 Battery. The first part of the WD Number can be read as "S-215XXX", so in the same range as “DEEPCUT”. Like “DEEPCUT”, it strikes us as a 1943 production M7. Neither is seen with the added ammunition protection, either done in the field or from the US modification kit.


US use in Korea




The photo above is dated 23 April 1951 and captioned, "Elements of the 19th Inf Regt, 24th US Inf Div and a tank of Co D, 6th Armored Bn attached to the 24th US Inf Div move into new positions in a counter-offensive to the enemy's attempt for a push south of the 38th Parallel in Korea." The Korean War began on 25 June 1950. The first 7 months can be thought of as the "active" period of the war, characterized by the UN retreat to the Pusan Perimeter, the Inchon landing and breakout in mid-September, and the "bug out" from North Korea in the face of the Chinese intervention and attack in November. After that, there were a series of inconclusive offensives and counteroffensives, followed by a bloody stalemate in which the conflict ebbed and flowed around the 38th Parallel. Oddly, the M7 series does not seem to have been employed in Korea until the Spring of 1951. Indeed, the photo above is the earliest dated "combat shot" we have found. The caption is somewhat baffling as it identifies the M7B1 as a "tank" of "Co D, 6th Armored Bn." The writer was likely referring to the 6th Medium Tank Battalion, which was detached from the 2nd Armored Division at Fort Hood and arrived in Korea in August 1950. After a period of organization and combat readiness training, it was assigned as the organic tank battalion of the battered 24th ID, the first US Army unit rushed from Japan to Korea after the start of the war. The 6th MTB was the first to deploy with the "new" M46 Patton Tank which was basically an M26 Pershing conversion rebuilt with an 810 HP engine, new transmission, new gun with bore evacuator, and improvements to the suspension. On 17 September 1950, the 24th ID's "War Diary and Command Report" lists the 6th MTB's AFV holdings as 72 M46s, 6 M45s, 2 M24s (light tanks) and 6 M32s (tank recovery vehicles). The M45 was the 105mm armed variant of the M26 Pershing, intended to replace the M4A3(105)HVSS Sherman in the US Army inventory at the end of WW II. The 24th ID records mention the 6th MTB's "Assault Gun Platoon" on numerous occasions. We believe that the M45s were in the Assault Gun Platoon of the 6th MTB's Headquarters Company as authorized in a 1949 Medium Tank Table of Organization and Equipment, the last US Army TO&E that included 105mm Assault Guns. This configuration appears to have been unique to the 6th MTB, that is, we don't find evidence that any of the other tank battalions that deployed to Korea had Assault Gun Platoons. There are a small number of Signal Corps photos that show M45s with tactical markings of the HQ and Service Company, 6th MTB fording the Geumho River at the start of the breakout from the Pusan perimeter in mid-September 1950. In addition, a 1951 Operations Research Office Report entitled "The Employment of Armor in Korea," has it that a total of 8 M45s were "fielded" in Korea, with all "Lost" by 21 January 1951. There is no mention of the use of M7s in the scant records of the 6th MTB that we have searched, but we might theorize that they replaced the "lost" M45s in the Assault Gun Platoon. Note the "tiger face" painted on the right front fender. Before the start of "Operation Ripper", the US offensive of early March 1951, these sorts of animal faces were instructed (or perhaps simply authorized) to be painted on the fronts of US tanks in Korea. It was thought that the sight of such beasts would scare and demoralize the superstitious enemy. As for other markings, the Priest appears to have "Annie Oakley" painted under the pulpit and "A24" painted on the pulpit. To our eyes, it looks like some other tactical markings were scrubbed from the pulpit and a "6" was painted over top. Another photo of this scene shows another M7B1 with "tiger face" and "2" painted on the pulpit. If any readers can shed light on the unit of these M7B1s, we would be pleased to have a report.




We can document that at least four National Guard Armored Field Artillery Battalions equipped with M7s were shipped to Korea in early 1951. Most of the information comes from oral or written histories of individual soldiers. For instance, Sgt. Conrad Grimshaw of Service Battery of the 213th Armored Field Artillery Battalion wrote a memoir about his 6 months' service in Korea. The 213th "Mormon Battalion" was composed of guardsmen from small towns in southern Utah. They shipped out in late January 1951 aboard the USNS General M.C. Meigs. Grimshaw reported, "Aboard the ship were the following units: 213 Armored Field Artillery Battalion; 300 Armored Field Artillery Battalion; 987th Armored Field Artillery Battalion" among others. These three battalions were initially equipped with M7s, and the evidence suggests that they brought their Priests with them. The Meigs arrived in Pusan in mid-February and the 213th AFA Bn set up in an assembly area nearby where the unit continued to organize and undergo combat readiness training. In early April, the battalion was shipped to Inchon by LST and finally deployed on the front lines near Kapyong. Battery B fired the 213th AFA Bn's first rounds in combat on 22 April at the start of the Chinese Spring Offensive, 22-27 April 1951. In this action, the 213th was placed in support of a number of the hard-pressed units of the IX Corps including the 27th British Commonwealth Brigade made up of British, Canadian and Australian troops. UN forces gave way at first and Sgt. Grimshaw reported that during the "bug out", one howitzer was left behind when it slipped off the road and could not be recovered. The Signal Corps photo above is dated 25 May 1951 and captioned, "Men of the 1st howitzer platoon, B Btry, 213th Armd FA, IX Corps, fire into enemy positions north of KapYong, Korea." This M7B1 is installed with the armored exhaust deflector (1) which we suspect was retrofitted by modification kit. A name beginning with "Babe" and a female figure can be seen painted on the pulpit. The Priest is "ramped up" to obtain a bit more elevation. GI snapshots show that the 213th had a mix of M7B1s such as "Babe" along with M7s, including one or two Federal Machine M7s with E9 suspension. The Chinese/North Korean offensives of April and May ultimately failed, and UN forces went over to the offensive in late May. Once again, the 213th AFA Bn found itself back in the Kapyong Valley which is reflected in the photo. On 27 May 1951, Headquarters and A Battery were attacked by a "force of more than 4,000 Chinese" who had been bypassed by the UN offensive and were attempting to retreat back to their own lines. The 240 Utahns somehow managed to hold off the Chinese throughout the night, and early the next morning the unit sent out a combat patrol "using one of its self-propelled artillery guns as a tank." Ultimately, this action "resulted in the capture of 831 prisoners and inflicted hundreds of casualties on the enemy." Incredibly the gunners suffered "no significant friendly casualties." HQ Battery and A Battery were awarded the Presidential Unit Citation. The events of this epic stand are related by a number of the participants in the documentary film "Miracle at KapYong: The Story of the 213th." (link) In October of 1951, the 213th AFA Bn turned in its Priests and was issued "155mm trail models pulled by tractors." Sgt. Grimshaw reported that this was due to a shortage of 105mm ammunition. In May 1953, the unit was issued some of the massive 240mm howitzers and "After that, they fired both 155mm and 240mm guns."




The 300th Armored Field Artillery Battalion was a Wyoming National Guard unit that was also shipped to Korea aboard the General M.C. Meigs, arriving in mid-February 1951. After a period of combat readiness training, the unit was deployed on the front lines and conducted its first fire mission on 15 May in support of the 2d Infantry Division during the Battle of the Soyang River. For the next 7 days, the "Cowboy Cannoneers" "delivered devastating artillery fire...inflicting thousands of enemy casualties." In this its first combat action, the 300th was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation. The caption of the photo is dated 1 July 1951 and is entitled "Extending Wyoming's Boundaries." The 300th AFA Bn's commanding officer, Lt. Col John Raper is shown posing with a Wyoming Highway Department road sign that "his men spirited out of the States. The sign has followed the "Cowboy Artillery" all over Korea. In the background, the crew of a 105MM self-propelled howitzer prepares to fire a mission." The "bucking horse and rider" as outlined on the highway sign, is basically a symbol of Wyoming that was first placed on automobile license plates in 1936. It can be seen painted on the Priest's upper rear hull plate (arrow). Possibly based on this photo, the highway signs are specially made for units of the Wyoming National Guard to take with them wherever they go. The M7B1 carries the name "HELL BOUND" and the Registration Number can be read as USA 40152831 (December 1944 production) in another SC photo of this scene (inset). According to that photo's caption, "HELL BOUND" was with B Battery, and the 5 men pictured servicing the piece were from Cody, Wyoming. No location is given in the captions, but based on the date, it is thought that the 300th would have been in the area around the Hwacheon Reservoir and Yanggu firing missions in support of the 7th ROK Division or 1st Marine Division on "Line Kansas" just above the infamous 38th Parallel. According to the Army Historical Foundation, "The 300th remained in Korea for the remainder of the war, taking part in battles at the Punchbowl, Bunker Hill, Bloody Ridge, and Heartbreak Ridge. In the final weeks of the conflict, the 300th earned a second Presidential Unit Citation for actions at Kumsong. In all, the 300th fired 514,036 105mm howitzer rounds in 805 days of combat." From "fired 514,036 105mm howitzer rounds" we take it that the unit retained its Priests throughout its service in Korea. A few GI photos suggest that, at some point, the 300 AFA Bn was issued some "high angle fire" M7s as replacements.




The 987th Armored Field Artillery Battalion, an Ohio National Guard unit, was the third AFA Bn listed as having been transported to Korea on the General M.C. Meigs. Warrant Officer James C. Neely wrote a memoir describing what happened when the 987th was ordered forward to support a reconnaissance in force by the 6th Republic of Korea and the 1st Marine Divisions. It is not clear if this was the unit's combat debut, or if they had been involved in earlier actions, but on 22 April 1951, the first day of the Chinese Spring Offensive, the 6th ROK Division routed under the weight of the massive attack which left the 987th AFA Bn exposed in an untenable position "trapped on a one-way road" between the towns of Sachang-ni and Chunchon-ni. In the pandemonium of the ensuing "bug out", "the battalion was unable to extricate...nine guns, so the officers ran these over the cliff into the river gorge, preventing the Chinese from utilizing these as captured artillery pieces". Neely states that the battalion's surviving M7s supported the 1st Marine Division in a rear-guard action and "Hold Mojin bridge until all elements are crossed." The 987th continued to use M7s until they were reportedly replaced with M43 8-inch self-propelled howitzers in October 1952. An item in a "Combat Information Bulletin" submitted by the 987th and dated September 1952 is headed "Use of Modified 105-MM Howitzer" and states "Approximately 75% of the fires of the battalion were high-angle fire. No difficulties were experienced using the modified 105-mm howitzer, self-propelled, M7 (with well). Frequent shifting of the carriage is necessary because of the limited traverse at high angles". The unit, which had lost 9 or 10 of its original M7s, appears to have received some replacements that were rebuilt at the Tokyo Ordnance Depot and specifically modified for high-angle fire. The insignia of the 987th, a red bull on a yellow triangle (inset) is noted to have been painted on the sides of their M7s. This Priest can be seen as USA 4040215, indicating that it was produced by ALCO in October 1944, their last month of M7 production. Note the fitting on the gun cradle (arrow) which we take to be a recognition feature of an M7 modified for high-angle fire as explained in the next caption. This Priest has also been retrofitted with extended end connectors. The louvers on the stowage box seen here are not in the standard 1944 M7 configuration, suggesting that the original may have been damaged and replaced, perhaps at the TOD. James Neely's memoir includes an internal link to the personal photos of MSgt John Engel of B Battery which appear to have been taken throughout 1952 in the central sector of the front. A pair of high-angle modified M7s named "Brown Noser" and "Brown Bomber" are featured. In addition, there is a photo of an M43 HMC that is dated "Oct 1952." Photo courtesy of the Ohio National Guard Heritage Center.








We do not know when the nomenclature "M7J1" was adopted but assume that the "J" refers to Japan. The Signal Corps photo above is dated 29 September 1954 and captioned, "Combat vehicle storage in Tokorozawa Ordnance sub depot storage area in Japan." The sign on the left reads "Carr Motor M7J1 105mm How" (inset) and there are at least 8 Priests in the shot. We suspect that the 105mm guns are attached to the front travel locks. All of the M7s appear to have Extended End Connectors installed, which, judging by their presence in period photos, may have been a requirement for M7s rebuilt at the Tokyo Ordnance Depot. The unit in the center can be seen as USA 40190456 which indicates that it was produced by Federal Machine & Welder in May 1945. We consider the flat fender braces and the "E9 hole" in the sprocket to be recognition features of FMW M7s. Thus, we take it that there is another example off to the right. Note the size and placement of the stars with a small divergence on the shallow pulpit jobs. The Ordnance Technical Committee recommended that the M7 and M7J1 be declared obsolete on 20 April 1955. In the discussion, it was noted that, "The M7J1, a modified M7 authorized in FECOM [Far East Command], was later disapproved by OCAFF [Office of the Chief of Army Field Forces]. The vehicle incorporated an emergency fix to allow for high angle fire." The number of M7J1 conversions is not given, although the doc does state that there were 1254 M7s and M7J1s on hand in the US inventory worldwide, with most in depots in "Unserviceable" condition. Although the OCM does not express it outright, the implication is that all M7J1s were converted from M7s, that is with radial engines. We wonder about that since we have shown that there were a number of M7B1s deployed to Korea and can't help but think that some might have been shipped to the Tokyo OD for rebuild. Of interest is that the M7B1 was not being declared obsolete at this point. Instead, it was recommended that the remaining M7B1s be rehabilitated and rebuilt for high angle fire to M7B2 standard. This appears to have been done to satisfy US Army requirements while waiting for the long delayed T98E1/M52 105mm Self-Propelled Howitzer to enter production.




The 176th Armored Field Artillery Battalion was a Pennsylvania National Guard outfit that had only 6 weeks of training at Camp Carson, Colorado before being shipped out to Korea. The 176th arrived at Pusan in mid-February 1951 and underwent an additional 5 weeks of training at a nearby camp, after which it was shipped by LST to Inchon where it was attached to the 25th Infantry Division. According to an account by Capt. M. W. Goss, battalion S-3, "On 7 April 1951, the battalion fired its first round of 105mm in anger. They were attached to the 25th Division, reinforcing the fires of the 159th FA Bn in support of the 24th Infantry regiment." If the date is accurate, that would be the earliest use of the M7 in Korea we have encountered. The battalion supported the 25th ID and the 1st ROK ID throughout the Chinese Offensives of April and May 1951. It would appear that, like the 300th AFA Bn, the 176th fought with Priests to the end of the conflict. The photo is dated 17 July 1953, which was 10 days before the armistice/cease fire. The caption reads, "Tank Retriever towing self-propelled gun carrier that is being reclaimed by "A" Btry, 176th FA Bn, Eighth Army, Korea. Equipment was destroyed prior to evacuation of area during heavy fighting with Chinese Communists in Korea." We've zoomed in on this M7 which can be seen with tactical markings of B Battery, 176th AFA Bn. The Registration Number can be read as USA 3034675 indicating an M7 produced in August 1942. The early side hinged stowage bins are still present although they have been topped with the "blanket baskets" typical of 1944/1945 production. The placement of the stars and the addition of EECs strike us as indicative of a Tokyo Ord. Depot rebuild job. We would speculate that this M7 and other AFVs of the 176th AFA Bn were abandoned during a "bug out" when they came to an impassable, rain swollen creek. This would have been at some point between 13 and 20 July 1953 during the final Chinese push of the Battle of the Kumsong Salient. In a recorded interview with his son in 2004, Corporal William Didycz says of the debacle, "We had lost everything: tanks, trucks, tents, everything but our skins, the clothes on our backs, and our rifles." Cpl. Didycz, who stated that he arrived as a replacement two days before the start of the final Chinese Offensive (ca. 11 June 1953), describes the M7s in an interesting way as "105 mm howitzers [that] were mounted on tank chassis. Howitzers are unique in that they could fire at a high trajectory, like over hills that Korea was full of. Being mounted on tank (M4A3 E8) [sic] chassis meant that we were mobile over terrain that trucks pulling howitzers couldn't negotiate. It was a great idea for a tactical weapon, but a lousy one for the men in it. Tanks themselves were death boxes; this was a death box without a lid." He goes on to relate how the battalion was quickly re-equipped in Seoul, "I couldn't believe that they had more of those ancient M4A3's [sic], but sure enough, they did. I was given a new deuce and a half (2-1/2 ton truck) loaded with supplies, and in short order we had formed a convoy of tanks, trucks, jeeps, and half-tracks and were on our way back north." We would observe that the gunners in the various accounts consistently refer to their M7s as "tanks."




Here we have a photo of another M7 of the 176th AFA Bn being recovered. This Priest looks to be damaged but certainly not "destroyed" as written in the caption. Since no towing cables are visible, this unit appears to be moving under its own power. From this angle, the 1944 M7 configuration of the engine deck can be seen. Further inspection shows louvers on the sponson stowage box. The high mounted grouser box is just visible on the glacis, which indicates a unit with "low" headlights. This combination of features surely identify this Priest as a 1944 production ALCO M7. However, an interesting oddity is visible in this photo - a notched upper rear hull plate, typical of 1942/43 production M7s. As mentioned previously, the notch was eliminated from the 1944 design and the upper rear hull plate went straight across. We have shown that some surviving 1944 M7s are seen with upper rear hull plates with the notches filled in, which appears to have been an effort to use excess parts from 1942/43 production. We have zoomed in on the engine deck in the inset, where it is possible to see the filler pieces used to blank off the rectangular holes of the "fuel tank compartment ventilating grilles" of 1942/43 production M7s, so the change was made there. We might hazard a guess that the notched upper rear hull plate slipped through the cracks when this M7 rolled off the line at ALCO. Some 105mm rounds can be seen stowed in a horizontal orientation (red arrow) on the left-hand side and there is a vertical metal plate visible, which we assume was installed to prevent the rounds from sliding forward. We believe that this was part of the reconfiguration of the ammo stowage when an M7 was converted for high angle fire. Although we can't document it, we would guess that most or all of the M7s rebuilt at the Tokyo Ord. Depot would have been modified for high angle fire, simply because that was what was wanted/required in the mountains of Korea. It is mentioned that the Tokyo Ordnance Depot was almost self-sufficient and was able to provide 75% of the materials it needed in house. Another possible explanation for the notch may be that the original upper rear hull plate was damaged and was replaced by another plate cannibalized from a 1942/43 M7. We would note that this M7 is not installed with the Barber-Colman type exhaust deflector or its fittings as used on 1944 M7s, but appears to have the earlier curved exhaust deflector. In any case, a pair of Tank Recovery Vehicles, one radial engine M32B1 and one Ford engine M32B3, can be seen involved in the recovery operation. It is thought that the armored field battalions would have been equipped with at least two such retrievers in the Service Company. The Chinese and North Koreans became masters of the art of infiltration, and artillery units were prime targets of their attacks since they accounted for perhaps as much as 3/4 of the casualties they suffered. An 8th Army Command Report states that "the enemy infiltrated to the rear of the artillery positions and placed a fire block on each side of the road, making it impossible for the artillery to move its vehicles and weapons through the road. As of May 1951, "The loss by US Artillery units has been 212 weapons and by Korean [ROK] Army units 196 weapons." Since the front lines in Korea were for the most part not continuous, UN artillery units had to learn the hard way how to "fort up" and provide for their own defense.




This Signal Corps photo is dated 28 May 1950, about a month before the start of the Korean War and is captioned, "Red River Arsenal Helps on MDAP [Mutual Defense Assistance Program] Parking Area: One of the vast parking areas of the vehicles that were returned to the United States upon cessation of hostilities of World War II. The vehicles have been "cocooned" and are periodically inspected. From these "stockpiles" the vehicles go through the process of being torn down and completely rebuilt. When leaving the paint shop after their final coat of paint, the vehicle is as serviceable and complete as a new one." Red River Army Depot is located near Texarkana, Texas and according to the US Army webpage, "In 1946, the depot was assigned the responsibility of storing combat vehicles returned from the war. Over 58,000 vehicles were stored on the depot and is believed to be one of the largest numbers ever stored at one installation." The Mutual Defense Assistance Act was signed into law on 6 October 1949 "To promote the Foreign Policy and provide for the defense and general welfare of the United States by furnishing military assistance to foreign countries." The act was primarily intended to provide assistance to members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization which was established in April 1949. The treaty provides that each member state will come to the defense of any other member states that are attacked by third parties. MDAP was expanded to include assistance to other states whose defense was deemed important to the defense of the US. In the photo, the M36 series Tank Destroyers appear to be sealed or "cocooned" but the first two rows of Priests, which look to be M7B1s, can be seen with fighting compartments open to the weather, which would likely have made them much more difficult to refurbish. Some of the units in the far-right rows may be sealed. The high headlights and a few shallow pulpits visible would be indicative of M7s. The list is far from complete, but countries known to have received M7 series HMCs as MDAP include Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Turkey and Yugoslavia. The MDAP documents we have scanned only go up to 31 January 1954, and as of that date, 561 "Carriage, Motor, 105mm, How. (all models)" had been shipped to the above-named countries. Most would have to have been M7 series, since the M37 HMCs meant to replace them were only produced in small numbers.




The photo above is dated 6 September 1955 and has the brief caption, "Repaired vehicle park at Tokyo Ordnance Depot, 8160th AU [Army Unit], Tokyo, Japan." There is what we take to be a Federal Machine and Welder M7 in the center of the photo. The vehicles can be seen sealed for overseas shipment such as was done at US Tank Depots. Note the cut down HVSS Sherman being used as a tractor. Starting in 1948, the Far East Command in Japan hired thousands of workers to repair and rehabilitate "Mountains of materiel collected from the battlefields of Guam, Saipan and Okinawa" as part of "Operation Roll Up." The salvaged guns, ammunition, trucks and Armored Fighting Vehicles may have provided the margin that saved UN Forces from defeat in the first 7 months of the Korean War. For its part, the Tokyo Ordnance Depot, which grew to be a huge, and pretty much self-sufficient operation, rebuilt hundreds of AFVs during the course of the Korean War. It was reported that the Depot could turn out two rebuilt Patton Tanks a day at a cost of $700 each. After the truce, the depot repaired and rebuilt tanks and other AFVs that were supplied to recipients of MDAP.




We don't have the MDAP figures for the Republic of China (Taiwan), but the island nation has received a good deal of military equipment from the US since the 1950s. The photo which was taken in Taipei during the "Double Ten" [October 10] Parade in 1956 shows a Federal Machine and Welder M7 sans EECs. The front mounted gun travel lock and the fittings on the gun cradle suggest that it had been converted to M7J1 in Japan. FMW M7s were produced from March to July 1945 and would have been built with the later E8543 "sharp nosed" type differential housings, but this unit has had that replaced by an earlier E4186 diff with a step in the middle that is typical of the M10 Tank Destroyer series. A bit of a 1942/1943 production M7 can be seen in the photo as well. This unit also had its original differential housing replaced, in this case with an E8543 "sharp nosed" diff. Photo courtesy of https://taipeiairstation.blogspot.com/2012/04/double-10-parade-taipei-1956.html




We believe that there may be a surviving M7J1 conversion on display in Taiwan at the Armor Academy and Military Base, HuKou, Hsinchu. We base that ID on the hinge fitting visible on the front deck, which was for the front gun travel lock. Indeed, there is an older photo of this M7 on the net which shows the gun travel lock still installed. The cradle of the 105mm gun appears to be made of lumber, so no male fittings there. The Priest can be seen as another example with what we call, for want a better term, "melted rivets" on the lower hull. The E8543 differential housing is noted to be the early type with the cast in steps. So, this may be an early 1944 production (March or April) ALCO M7, like SN 2843 at Ft. Sill. There are some weld scars on the side which may or may not have been for a retrofitted side door? Our Canadian friend, Jim Goetz, has a "bucket list" goal of seeing all of the surviving Shermans and variants in the world, and there is what appears to be an ALCO M4 at this museum as well. During his visit to Taiwan, Jim was disappointed to find that the Armor Academy was closed to foreign travelers due to the sensitive political situation in that area of the world. In any case, if any readers in Taiwan would be in the position to take a few photos of the upper rear hull plate, the engine deck and the fighting compartment, we would be happy to have your report.  Photo courtesy of 玄史生 on Wikipedia Commons.




Meanwhile, back in the US, both the M7 and M7B1 continued in service with US Army training units. The photo shows an M7 of the 98th AFA Bn, 1st AD during the joint Army-Air Force Exercise Longhorn at Ft. Hood, Texas, 30 March 1952. The "Chief of Section" is identified as Sgt Glen Walls of Marion, Virginia. The M7 carries the name "CASSINO" and can be seen as USA 4040048, indicating ALCO August 1944 production. After nearly 8 years, this Priest still looks pretty close to "as built" although we would think that the original "plain" drive sprocket had been replaced with a sprocket typical of those made by Chrysler (1). The T-shaped towing shackles (2) begin to appear in Sherman production in October 1944, so these are likely postproduction retrofits as well. Judging by this photo, the larger grouser boxes appear to have been capable of holding 5 track blocks (3).




This photo is dated 17 August 1954, "Bouncin Betty Fires Away--Battery B, 161st Armored FA Bn, Liberal's unit of Kan [Kansas] National Guard fires off a round during a two-week field training session at Camp Carson, Colo." "Bouncin Betty" can be seen as 40152404 indicating PSC June 1944 production. The M7B1 has been retrofitted with an armored first aid box (arrow) attached to the rear of the right-side stowage bin, but "still" has the original sheet metal exhaust deflector. The road wheels are "mixed" with the first three being the "welded spoke with small holes" type, the next being the concave type and the last two being the original type welded spoke wheels. The men in and on the M7B1 are identified from left to right as "Sgt Darrel Hickey, Cpl John Leaming, Cpl Al Flores, Cpl Ronald Puliam, Sgt Dwain Dyson, 1st Lt Cecil E. Davis and behind Lt Davis is Cpl Wallace Molin." The two men in the lower right are unidentified, but there are a total of nine men in the shot. "FM 6-74, 105-mm Howitzer M2A1 on Motor Carriage M7B1 and M7B2" dated March 1954 appears to have changed the number of men in the crew of the M7B1 and M7B2 from seven to eight. It describes a "section" as the "personnel required to serve one gun and its equipment." And defines the makeup of the gun section as "Chief of Section (CS), A Gunner (G), assistant gunner (No. 1), Four cannoneers, numbered from 2 through 5, and A motor carriage driver (D)." The inset from the Field Manual shows the positions of the crew when the section is mounted.




Pressed Steel Car produced a total of 826 M7B1s, which was less than a quarter of the 3314 M7s manufactured by ALCO and 176 by Federal Machine. Even so, the Ford engined Priests represent the largest number of survivors with about 34 M7B1s and 58 M7B2s recorded to date. We use "about" with the totals because almost half of the surviving M7B1s appear to be backdated M7B2s, done no doubt because restorers prefer to own or present a WW II era Priest. Ordnance Committee Item 35296 dated 6 May 1954 includes some historical reference including a request on 21 November 1952 by Army Field Forces No 1 "for the rehabilitation of the 105-mm Howitzer Motor Carriage M7B1 to include high angle fire." Rock Island Arsenal designed a pilot model "of an M7B1 incorporating, primarily, a +65 degree elevation. This was done by raising the Mount, M4A1 15 inches and depressing the floor 4 inches. Elevating arcs from the 105-mm Howitzer field piece were used [and] adequate armor shielding for the raised mount was provided." The RIA pilot was found acceptable after some modification by Army Field Forces No 1 at Ft. Bragg. "A second pilot was then produced by a commercial rebuild facility who modified the vehicle in accordance with the test and also incorporated some additional changes and refinements. Some 78 vehicles have been modified by this facility and additional vehicles will be modified in base shops." No dates are provided and the "commercial rebuild facility" is not named. Reading between the lines of the reference sections of the OCM, we would guess that RIA produced the pilot model in early 1953, and that the commercial facility produced 78 units sometime in 1953 and 1954 before 6 May 1954 when OCM 35296 designates them as "M7B2" and reports that there are 78 "units on hand." From our study of Shermans, we have found that there were two commercial facilities rebuilding AFVs in the 1950s: Bowen-McLaughlin in York, Pa. and Brown and Root in Houston, Texas. Except for "Brown and Root" dataplates on a few surviving Shermans, we have not come across any documentation about B&R. We did scan a contract card for Bowen-McLaughlin showing that they were engaged by the Government to rebuild 98 "105MM How. Carriage M7B1." The company signed the contract on 12 December 1952, and if we have read it correctly, the cost per unit was about $7500. This contract could have just been for the rebuilding of straight M7B1s, or Bowen-McLaughlin may have been requested to perform a high angle conversion before the "M7B2" nomenclature was adopted. We are not aware of any period factory photos, so here we have a front shot of the M7B2 on display at the National Guard Post in Tullahoma, Tennessee. The most obvious change is the heightening of the pulpit (1), followed by the multi-part shield (2) for the raised gun mount. Note that this shield covered over the transmission oil filler cap. The curved gun shield can be seen to have had some material (3) welded on to raise it up as well. We consider the location of the cable clamp (4) on the differential housing to be in the M7B1 "as built" configuration. On the other hand, we consider the footman loops (5) to be retrofits and would observe that these have been noted on a number of surviving Ford M4A3s that we have determined were rebuilt by Bowen-McLaughlin in the 1950s. Of course, as built, this diff would have had little strip steps (6) which are now missing on both sides. The item (7 and inset) attached to the grouser box appears to be the comb device typically seen on AFVs processed through the Lima Tank Depot in Ohio.




The Transportation Corps did not disagree or "non-concur" with OCM 35296 which described the military characteristics and designated the high angle conversion as "M7B2". However, they did note for the record that "this modified version of the M7B1 is both wider and higher than the reported dimensions of the M7B1" and that this would affect overseas rail and US highway movement. According to the 1944 M7 and M7B1 Technical Manuals, the pulpit protruding from the side gave these models an overall width of 113 5/16 inches. The M7B2 OCM lists the width as "Irreducible - 115-1/2 inches". We don't see how the M7B2 conversion widened the vehicle, but there it is. The height of the M7B1 is listed as 100 inches, and that is for "vehicle only" without the antiaircraft machine gun or fittings installed. We have not had the opportunity to measure an M7B2 for ourselves but can note that an M7B2 information plate, which might have been mounted below the dataplate, gives the overall width as 113 1/2 inches and the "lowest operable height" as 117 inches. We take this to be the "vehicle only" height without the AA MG mounted, and if so, would indicate that the pulpit was raised 17 inches. The plate also provides the "overall height" as 131 inches which we take to mean with AA gun installed. The drawing above from the March 1954 "FM 6-74, 105-mm Howitzer M2A1 on Motor Carriage M7B1 and M7B2" provides some of the dimensions of what is obviously an M7B1. This field manual appears to have been written for the M7B1 with reference to the M7B2 added as an afterthought. There are no photos or drawings of, or specific references to the M7B2 in this FM.




"Thanks for your service." The Tennessee National Guard’s 1175th Transportation Company is headquartered in Tullahoma. In this left rear view of their M7B2 one can see the armored exhaust deflector (1) with the rods holding it in the "up" position. With one or two exceptions, the surviving M7B2s, are seen installed with the armored deflector (or its fittings). This would lead us to think that it was a "must" modification of the M7B2 program. A new stowage box (2) is noted on almost all survivors to the extent that this strikes as a "must" mod. From what is seen on a few surviving examples, it may have held a communications wire spool (inset). The pyramid shaped objects (3) on the stowage bins were obviously "door bumpers". As best we can determine they were not factory installed on 1944 production ALCO M7s or on PSC M7B1s, but they do show up in a few photos of FMW M7s. The baskets may have been moved over or resized a little when the bumpers were added. Of course, our subject is missing the blanket baskets, but we are certain they would have been factory installed when this unit rolled off the line as an M7B1 at PSC. Since this Priest has single rear towing lugs, we would judge that it would have been produced in either January or February 1945. Earlier we mentioned that we "think" that the M7B1s were built with the later "short" trailer towing pintles, but this example is seen with the earlier "long" pintle (4). We would observe that most of the surviving M7B2s in the US have the long pintles and the armored exhaust deflectors, as if a conscious effort had been made to install the longs in conjunction with armored deflectors. The few period photos available suggest that most of the M7B2 conversions simply retained their M7B1 Registration Numbers, either in the 40152XXX range or 40172XXX range for the last 198 units. The RN of the Tullahoma can be seen as USA 40233533, which is off the M7B1 "radar screen" of Ordnance assigned RNs. So, at first, we wrote off this RN as made up which is often the case with surviving US WW II AFVs.







This photo is dated 7 August 1956 and captioned, "Men of the 54th AFA Bn. 3rd Armd. Div. on 105 SP. Howitzer waiting for order to fire while on the Grafenwohr [Germany], Range." There are eight gunners visible in this photo and some of them are blocking the pulpit and the gun, but we think enough of the pulpit is visible to identify this as an M7B2. There is also what we think was one of the "additional changes and refinements" added to the M7B2 - a stowage box that held a communications wire spool. On the other hand, such a spool is mounted just behind the box, perhaps for convenience, but it can be seen that the spool would fit inside the box, resting on the cradles shown in an inset in a previous caption. We recorded the Registration Number from the original print as USA 40152826, so this one retained its M7B1 RN, indicating it was accepted at PSC in December 1944. This unit can be seen with the armor plate exhaust deflector, but rather than relocate the crowbar up 3 1/2 inches to clear the deflector hinges, it has been relocated to the left rear side. This is observed in the photo of USA 40232712 at APG mentioned previously and on a few surviving M7B2s in the US such as at Camp Shelby and Starkville, Mississippi. Again we see a mix of roadwheels including a convex example at the rear. Most or all of the track end connectors appear to be the "wide guide horn" type (circled). These are thought to have been castings produced post WW II.




Here we count at least 10 M7B2s photographed at the railhead in DeRidder, Louisiana on 31 October 1955 in preparation for "Exercise Sage Brush [31 October-15 December 1955], the largest joint Army-Air Force maneuver since World War II." Ominously, the maneuver featured the use of the "atomic cannon" and "began with a simulated atomic bomb set off at Fort Polk." The caption identifies the M7B2s as belonging "to the 94th Field Artillery of the 4th Armored Division, Ft. Hood, Texas." However, the tactical markings on the foremost Priest are for the 22nd Armored Field Artillery Bn, 4th AD. Both the 94th and the 22nd, along with the 66th AFA Bn were organic to the 4th AD. As in WW II, each battalion would have been equipped with 18 self-propelled guns. "C20" can be seen with the "long" pintle (1) jutting out below the armored exhaust deflector (2). Most or all of these M7B2s are installed with armored first aid boxes (3) on the right-side stowage bins. These are present on some of the surviving M7B2s in the US. The first two M7B2s don't seem to have the little "door bumpers" protecting the blanket baskets. The M7B2 was classified as "substitute standard" with the conversion program designed to meet the Army's requirement for a 105mm self-propelled howitzer with a minimum of + 65 degrees elevation. It was intended to be used until it could be replaced by the M52 105mm Self-Propelled Howitzer (inset) in which the entire crew operated in a fully enclosed turret capable of rotation 60 degrees left or right. In mid-1955, it was anticipated, optimistically perhaps, that the M52 would "be classified as Standard type and issued to troops during the last half of calendar year 1955." Some internet sources have it that the M7B2 was used during the Korean War. We have not found any evidence that that was the case and think that M7B2s are/were being confused with M7J1s.


   

The Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) joined NATO on 6 May 1955 during the height of the Cold War. A few months later, to the alarm and objection of many, the Bundeswehr was established. The US provided a good deal of the military equipment required to build up the nascent armed force. According to a "Status of MDAP Operations" document, Germany was allocated 162 "Carriage, Motor, 105mm How (All Models)" of which 105 had reportedly been shipped as of 31 January 1954. Of interest is that the document reports that 1229 "Tank, Medium, M46, M47, M48 series" had been allocated and shipped to Germany as of 31 January 1954. This would have been before the country joined NATO, so possibly represents the negotiation and planning process that was taking place at that time. Various internet sources have it that Germany received a number of M7B2s starting in 1956 and used them until 1966, when they were replaced by M52 105mm Self-Propelled Howitzers and M109G SPHs. The "conventional wisdom" on the internet appears to be that a total of 127 M7B1s were converted to M7B2s. This seems a bit low to us, but the only figure we can document comes from Ordnance Committee Item 35296 dated 6 May 1954, where it is stated that "Some 78 vehicles have been modified by this facility and additional vehicles will be modified in base shops." Some internet sources state that Germany alone received 127 M7B2s. Be that as it may, the largest number of surviving M7B2s appear to be former Bundeswehr vehicles. They are noted to have been retrofitted with a pair of large headlights with brush guards on the transmission housing (outlined in yellow). The electrical cable for the lights came out of the outermost bolt holes for the transmission housing and then the cables went down to small plates located underneath the headlights. The left-side light was right where the cable clamp would be located on a regular M7B1/B2, so the cable clamp (1) was moved up the transmission housing to just below the grouser box. The rear view shows a few other retrofitted items. The brackets outlined in red held an interesting addition. The illustration photos are undated and come from the Hunnicutt collection. It is thought that these modifications were made starting in the early 1960s. Readers might be interested in "Panzerhaubitze 105 mm M7B2 Priest", a Bundeswehr training film dated 1957. Four M7B2s are seen in the footage and in this case, they look to be nearly as built, without the retrofitted lights and reflectors. We wouldn't be surprised if these were the only Priests in service at that time. In 1957, the total number of soldiers in the Bundeswehr appears to have been about 10,000.




Here we have a photo of the upper rear hull plate of a Bundeswehr M7B2 on display at the Panzermuseum in Munster, Germany. It can be seen that the shovel (1) was relocated outboard from its M7B1 factory position. This new location is seen on most but not all surviving M7B2s, both in the US and abroad. It is also on a few surviving M7B1s in the States, so we would guess it was a modification done post war in the US. Item 2 strikes us as distinctly German. It is the Bundeswehr "Leitkreuz", a convoy fixture which has a light in the middle that reflects off the white cross. It serves as a point of reference for trailing vehicles during black-out driving at night. This is probably the only surviving M7B2 that still has this object intact. The Leitkreuz appears to have been installed on Bundeswehr vehicles starting sometime in the 1960s. We are told that items 3 were "blackout stop lights", and items 4 were "reflectors". The standard factory taillights (5) appear to have been replaced on this example. Counting heads suggest that the fittings numbered 6 were installed as part of the M7B2 conversion, and we are informed that they were intended to hold a machine gun tripod. Indeed, the fittings are similar if not the same as the tripod fittings seen on the left front of the hull on many Grant and Lee Medium Tanks. With thanks to Michel Van Loon.








Earlier we mentioned "the multi-part shield for the raised gun mount." Pierre-Olivier was able to get a photo of the Panzermuseum M7B2 showing the pieces (1 and 2) added to the top of the shield and cut to follow the contours of the curved gun shield. The "awning" (3) of the original design was also cut to follow the contour. Note the curved plate (4) added to the gun shield. This is observed on all of the surviving M7B2s.


   

Ordnance Committee Item 35296 dated 6 May 1954 provides a brief description of the M7B2 conversion process which states that the gun mount was raised 15 inches, and the floor was depressed 4 inches. The photo on the left shows the fighting compartment of the M7B1 on display in Missoula, Montana. Note the way the trails (1) were welded to the sponson sides. This was the standard configuration used on M7s and M7B1s. The photo on the right is of the M7B2 in Tullahoma, Tennessee and shows how "spacers" (2) were welded on to the tops of the original trails which raised the gun by 15 inches. The heightened gun travel lock appears to have been fashioned by inserting and welding in a section from another gun travel lock right in the middle. The depression of the floor by 4 inches is a bit subtle, but the drop can be seen below the I-beam as indicated by the arrow. The vertical ammunition containers look to be unchanged on the M7B2. The depression of the floor by 4 inches doesn't seem to have greatly affected the number of rounds carried. In the military characteristics section, OCM 35296 lists the ammunition capacity of the M7B2 as "68 rounds". This is but one less than the 69 rounds given in the August 1944 M7 Technical Manual. Oddly, we could not find a listing of the 105mm ammunition capacity in the August 1944 M7B1 Technical Manual. Quite a few surviving Priests are missing the box (3) just to the left of the driver's door. The inset shows that this served to protect the Panoramic Sight from water and other types of damage when not in use.


   

A description in OCM 35296 suggests that the M7B2 conversion required a bit of cannibalization: "Elevating arcs from the 105-MM Howitzer field piece were used..." The photo on the left shows the left side elevating arc (1) as seen on the M7B1 in Helena, Montana. The photo on the right shows the much higher elevating arc (2) required for the M7B2 as seen on the example on display at Camp Shelby, Mississippi. The inset drawing is from the M2/M2A1 Howitzer Tech Manual and shows what we believe were the arcs that were used for the M7B2 conversion.


   

We would note that a number of the "M7B2 back to M7B1" conversions are seen to have retained the higher elevating arcs. The photos above show a pair of backdated M7B1s and provide a good view of the higher arcs, which are characterized by 4 holes, assumed to be lightening holes intended to reduce the weight of the component.




The M7 Technical Manual refers to the "Identification and Speed Data Plate." The plate lists the maximum speeds in the five forward gears and one reverse and advises that "The engine is equipped with a governor to limit the road speed in all gears, as shown on the plate on the front hull wall. CAUTION: Do not permit the vehicle to exceed these speeds when driving downgrade, to avoid damage to power train and engine." It has been noted that some mechanically inclined crew members disabled the governors on their AFVs. The main photo shows the standard location of what has come to be called the "dataplate" (1) in US WW II "tank circles". The dataplates are mostly missing from surviving M7 series, but Pierre-Olivier noticed this on one of the two M7B1s in Helena, Montana and took a few photos. It can be seen that the Priest is identified as an M7B1, manufactured by "Pressed Steel Car Co. Inc." Unfortunately, the "Serial No." stamping (2) is not readable. Judging by a few PSC Sherman dataplates, the year of manufacture should be stamped into the box (3) at the lower left. We have seen the surname "GRUHLKE" stamped into the box (4) at the lower right on a couple PSC Shermans. (Leonard Gruhlke was the head of the Inspection Department at PSC.) Sorry to say, none of that is readable in this case. The "Vehicle Cruising Speeds" are readable as 2 MPH in first gear, 6 in second, 10 in third, 16 in fourth, 25 in fifth and 3 MPH in reverse. (These speeds are about 1 MPH more than those seen stamped on ALCO M7 dataplates.) This M7B1 has "USA 40152523" painted on the sides and rear. This is a valid M7B1 Registration Number corresponding to Serial Number 4060, built in August 1944. However, the other M7B1 in Helena has the same RN painted on, which throws the whole thing in doubt. Unfortunately, PSC and Federal Machine and Welder did not stamp the Serial Number on the rear towing lugs (or anywhere else on the exterior as best we can determine) of their M7s and M7B1s, so the SN on the dataplate or the French ABS stamping on the front is the best shot we have of getting a Serial Number from these models.




Earlier, we showed the dataplate of the ALCO M7 that went down with its LCT on D-Day and was recovered and is now on display at the museum in Port en Bessin. The examination of a few surviving examples suggests that ALCO stamped the Serial Number on the left rear towing lug (only) of the M7s it manufactured. The photo is of the stamping as seen on the M7 SN 958 that Jim Goetz examined at the Philippine Military Academy in Baguio, Luzon. At present, we think there are about 30 surviving ALCO M7s in the world and we have been able to record the SNs of around half of them. Pakistan appears to have what we take to be a former M7J1 on display at Ayub National Park in Rawalpindi. A description with the photo states that "Pakistan received 150 units in 1955 under the MAP program which went on to serve the army throughout the cold war." Should any readers have occasion to see this Priest, we would be happy to have your report.


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