Clearing the way for Monty (1 Viewer)

[wwiibuff]

Mine sweepers clear the roadway for Monty's Grant tank.

 

[Jack]

Mine sweepers clear the roadway for Monty's Grant tank.

Duke

Looks good! I know it is no T-34 but the Grant has always my favourite tank. I always wondered how it got on in tank versus tank action.

Jack

 

[wwiibuff]

Duke

Looks good! I know it is no T-34 but the Grant has always my favourite tank. I always wondered how it got on in tank versus tank action.

Jack

Thanks. Although the Grant/Lee tanks did finally give the Allies a larger gun (75mm in the sponson but only 37mm in the turret) the 75mm had a narrow arc of fire. Also the tank had a high profile making it an easy target for the Germans. The Sherman solved some of these problems a little later.

 

[Jack]

Thanks. Although the Grant/Lee tanks did finally give the Allies a larger gun (75mm in the sponson but only 37mm in the turret) the 75mm had a narrow arc of fire. Also the tank had a high profile making it an easy target for the Germans. The Sherman solved some of these problems a little later.

It looks a more complex build than the Sherman but I suppose the bigger gun not being in a turret made that part of the construction more straightforward. It is, as we say, a vehicle that looks like it was made by a committee.

But back to the dio - love the setup!

 

[wwiibuff]

Jack,

Following up on the Grant... I just remembered many years ago I was in southern England on vacation and went to the Bovington Tank Museum. I was looking at the Grant tank they have on display there and I noticed an older gentleman was watching me studying it over. He walked up to me and said that he was a medic (don't remember if this is the British term for it or not) in the 8th Army and was at the aftermath of a tank battle involving many Grants. He said "the carnage was terrible" refering to so many destroyed Grants and their crew. He was a little choked up with watery eyes as he described the destruction. I guess I'll always remember the brief conversation with that British WWII vet. I put my arm around him and thanked him for his service.

 

[TomNT]

Awesome Duke, i like this dio even more than your Priest dio.

Tom

 

[TomNT]

Jack,

Following up on the Grant... I just remembered many years ago I was in southern England on vacation and went to the Bovington Tank Museum. I was looking at the Grant tank they have on display there and I noticed an older gentleman was watching me studying it over. He walked up to me and said that he was a medic (don't remember if this is the British term for it or not) in the 8th Army and was at the aftermath of a tank battle involving many Grants. He said "the carnage was terrible" refering to so many destroyed Grants and their crew. He was a little choked up with watery eyes as he described the decimation inflicted on some of the tank crews. I guess I'll always remember the brief conversation with that British WWII vet. I put my arm around him and thanked him for his service.

Very touching story Duke, thanks for posting and your post reminded me of a doco that i watched on TV last year about the recovery of Shermans from the battlefield. The vet on the program was part of a team that recovered the tanks and he described the carnage inside just like the vet that you met at Bovington.

Tom

 

[wwiibuff]

Very touching story Duke, thanks for posting and your post reminded me of a doco that i watched on TV last year about the recovery of Shermans from the battlefield. The vet on the program was part of a team that recovered the tanks and he described the carnage inside just like the vet that you met at Bovington.

Tom

Thanks Tom. Death inside a tank surely must be a horrible way to go.

 

[Blowtorch]

Duke

I always wondered how it got on in tank versus tank action.

Jack

It was mentioned in a german report that ricochets were sometimes enough to put this tank out of action as they would cause the bolts to snap & go bouncing around in the crew compartment

 

[Jack]

It was mentioned in a german report that ricochets were sometimes enough to put this tank out of action as they would cause the bolts to snap & go bouncing around in the crew compartment

Well, clearly my favourite tank was a bit of a dog!

 

[Jack]

Jack,

Following up on the Grant... I just remembered many years ago I was in southern England on vacation and went to the Bovington Tank Museum. I was looking at the Grant tank they have on display there and I noticed an older gentleman was watching me studying it over. He walked up to me and said that he was a medic (don't remember if this is the British term for it or not) in the 8th Army and was at the aftermath of a tank battle involving many Grants. He said "the carnage was terrible" refering to so many destroyed Grants and their crew. He was a little choked up with watery eyes as he described the destruction. I guess I'll always remember the brief conversation with that British WWII vet. I put my arm around him and thanked him for his service.

These things must stay with you a lifetime. On my first trip to England in 1986 I saw a naval memorial (Portsmouth?) with a small vase of flowers left by a women whose brother had gone down on the Hood. It struck me then, as it has many times later, that these things have an impact that does not just fade away once the dancing in the street on VE Day finishes.

Sorry to hijack the thread.

 

[larso]

"I know it is no T-34 but the Grant has always my favourite tank. I always wondered how it got on in tank versus tank action."

I've read that the Russians referred to it as a "grave for seven brothers".

 

[TomB]

Well, clearly my favourite tank was a bit of a dog!

Bit of a dog maybe but they look impressive...I saw one in a now defunct army museum (Dizzy Lamb) in Perth.....Lee or Grant depending on turret I think ....looked massive and unstoppable.... but no good in a fight...all go and no show.....cheers TomB......Ps .it was suppose to be the tank used in the movie" Sahara " with me old favorite Bogey,

 

[wwiibuff]

Just remembered I have a picture of me and the Grant at the IWM in London when I visited last summer. I think I also have a picture of the one when I was at Bovington, but that was many years ago and I don't know where those pictures are (actual pictures not digital!)

 

[Desertkiwi]

Just remembered I have a picture of me and the Grant at the IWM in London when I visited last summer. I think I also have a picture of the one when I was at Bovington, but that was many years ago and I don't know where those pictures are (actual pictures not digital!)

Seeing the Pic of you with the Grant, makes ya realise how hellish it must have been, being stuck in one, when Jerry & co were throwing everything plus the kitchen sink at ya.......frightening stuff{sm2}

Thanks for posting Duke.

 

[TomNT]

Seeing the Pic of you with the Grant, makes ya realise how hellish it must have been, being stuck in one, when Jerry & co were throwing everything plus the kitchen sink at ya.......frightening stuff{sm2}

Thanks for posting Duke.

You’re not wrong Toddy and coupled with the 50+ degree North African heat that the tankies had to endure inside the Grant, it just goes to show how brave those blokes were.

Tom

 

[Rob]

Great work as usual Duke, a fine scene and you gotta love the Grant.

Nice story re the Tankie too. Those guys had some stones to fight in those things and we owe them a grest deal.

Rob

 

[Guy]

Well done . Very nice dio . Love the worn look of the tank. I don't think however that Monty would have been so close to the actual detecting and digging up of the mines
I add a picture of the Grant on display in the Brussels Military museum
guy:smile2:

 

[jazzeum]

Very well done as usual Duke. The photo of you with the Grant appears to be the same one they have at the Imperial War Museum. I will hunt for the photo I have. Maybe Rob knows if they're the same.

 

[Rob]

Very well done as usual Duke. The photo of you with the Grant appears to be the same one they have at the Imperial War Museum. I will hunt for the photo I have. Maybe Rob knows if they're the same.

It certainly is Brad, currently up at Duxford for restoration work while museum closed.

Rob