Talk:Sherman Firefly

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well, ill try and find better sources. but i read there were 2,200 mark 4 shermans(by british designations) and a similar number of mark2's. there were also some 1's. rich tea man.

[edit] information and image contradiction

Quote from the M4 Sherman page, in relation with the Sherman Firefly:

' The Americans were offered the 17 pounder, but the US Ordnance Department resisted having a British gun to replace the American cannon. '

And to add to this point, the first two lines of the Sherman firefly page:

' The Sherman Firefly (M4A4 VC Firefly) was a British variation of the M4 Sherman tank, fitted with the more powerful 17 pounder main gun. '

This is what I understand out of this:


The Sherman Firefly, was a Sherman variation, used by, and only by the British. The US Ordnance Department refused having their Shermans fitted with the British gun (17 pounder). As to follow up with this idea, I would say that the Americans would probably refuse to use the Firefly altogether, a British tank.


So what is wrong with this picture? The image used has its own information sheet (on the ground), and clearly shows an American flag, meaning obviously that this tank, as I or anyone would believe that it is a Sherman Firefly, as it is in the article of the tank in question, was in use by the Americans during the Second World War.

Could this be clarified? I could be wrong

pat 20:05, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

Pat,

The picture is very odd - the tank is Belgian (see the small Belgian flag on the lower hull, next to the numbers "50055"). Now whether this tank is a former British Firefly or a former American M4A1(76) (armed with an American-made 76 mm gun M1) is anyone's guess - the Belgians had both types after the war. See this link: Sherman Register - Belgium

GMan552 05:51, 30 April 2007 (UTC)

The vehicle shown is a Sherman Firefly, the 17-pdr's rounded muzzle brake is quite distinctive (see here: Image:QF-17-pounder-batey-haosef-1.jpg) as is the gun's mantlet and the additional armour plate welded in front of the driver's and bow machine gunner's compartments. The tank is possibly a Firefly used by Belgium post-WW II or it may be a Belgian-crewed British WW II vehicle. The tank carries the British 'Bridge Classification' symbol (the '30' on a yellow circle - 30 tons weight) but that may have been carried by Belgian Army ones as well. Ian Dunster 14:06, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

It was a Sherman Firefly gunner who knocked out one of germanys leading tank aces during d day. there was an article in the mail several weeks ago about this and how several units who werent even in the area claimed the kill. the article goes on to explain what happened and how the Firefly got the jump on the german tank ace.Corustar 01:07, 11 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Gonna do some rewriting

The Book "British Armor in the Normandy Campaign 1944" has some good information that is lacking in this article. I will be reworking some of the information to expand the section and improve it.

-- Wokelly (talk) 20:59, 16 November 2007 (UTC)

Okay finally got around to rewriting the page. Added a bunch of new stuff, some new sections etc. Still need to do some stuff to it, find page numbers for sources for example. Given its length it would be nice to have a few more pictures. Personally I dont understand any of that copy right crap so I cant upload crap. If possible I would like pictures of a Firefly IC and IC hybrid. If anyone can help and upload those pictures it would be much appreciated. If you are having trouble distinguishing between the types its pretty easy one you realize the difference.

The Sherman Firefly picture we currently have is a VC, notice the curved lower hull that is bolted together.

A Sherman IC looks like this: http://www.etamiya.com/shop/images/tamiya_scalemodel/32532.jpg. Notice the lower hull is welded and not curved but more angular.

A Sherman IC hybrid looks like this: http://ww2photo.mimerswell.com/tanks/usa/med/m4/03797.jpg. Notice the curved upper hull.

So if someone could get pictures of both of those types that doesnt screw with the copyright stuff it would be much appreciated. Besides that we could just use a few pics overall to spice the the page. I just threw in some random pictures from the wiki commons for now.

Wokelly (talk) 05:44, 25 May 2008 (UTC)