As we are allowed to discuss WWII- I have heard Russians say in TV
interviews say they weren't too keen on receiving the Shermans as part of
the arms shipments. Of course the Brits called  the Sherman the Ronson
(after the cigarette lighter) while the Germans called it the Tommy Cooker-
for its tendency to burst into flames. The great thing about the Sherman was
they were produced in huge numbers and were cheap and reliable. Allied
aircraft notably typhoons increasingly took out any German armour that moved
as in the carnage of the Falaise pocket. I admire the bravery of the many
allied tank crews who took on a Panther or even worse a Tiger tank in a
Sherman- most didn't live to tell the tale. The shells normally bounced off
unless they hit them accurately from the side at close quarters - that's if
they could get that close. One of the lucky breaks of the Normandy landing
was Hitler insisted on keeping his best armour well in reserve. One of the
reasons German and Russian tanks were advanced was because they actually
co-operated on tank development in the 1930s when the Germans were not
supposed to have any. One of Stalin's nice tricks like in his pact days
handing over the exiled German communist party cadres to the SS for disposal
in the concentration camps.

paul courtney

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ron May" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, August 02, 2004 11:00 PM
Subject: Re: history films


> Ian,
>
> More than paid for all those Russian arms, we also shipped hundreds of
tons
> of material to Russia. A late friend's husband was in the merchant marine
and
> got a medal from Russia for surviving the Murmansk Run, in which a great
many
> American ships were sunk by Nazi u-boats. A lot of those "superior" tanks
were
> American Shermans with red stars painted on the turret.
>
> Ron May
> Legacy 106, Inc.