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Hi All,

We’ve posted 8 bare bones galleries of various M41 Walker Bulldogs across the US. As with the bare bones M60 galleries, if you need more photos, just let us know.

First up is the M41 on display at Veterans Memorial Park in St Petersburg, FL.

www.vgbimages.com/AFV-...907_gRP9xB

M41 and M56 on display at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Cedar Rapids, IA.

www.vgbimages.com/AFV-...647_bVTLBW

M41A3 SN 2506 or 2510 on display at the Veterans Memorial in Johnny Appleseed Park, Fort Wayne, IN.

www.vgbimages.com/AFV-...146_gnLWHW

M41 on display at the MN Veterans Memorial in Bunker Hills Regional Park, Andover, MN.

www.vgbimages.com/AFV-...004_bqmzhL

M41 on display at AMVETS Post 78 in DeSoto, MO.

www.vgbimages.com/AFV-...808_kjcLHq

M41A3 SN 3010 or 3007 & painted RN 3018349 on display at VFW Post 5076 in Garland, TX.

www.vgbimages.com/AFV-...250_L8bjD6

M41A3 SN 404063 on display at Liberty Park in Plano, TX.

The AFV register has SN 404063 as given from TACOM. If that is correct, then the rear plate info on M41s has no correlation to the actual serial number - in this case the rear plate has 2920 and what looks like 2915 on it.

Also, I love that this tank has ladders for the kids to climb up to gain access. Hard to believe that in this era it’s actually encouraged and facilitated to have the kids clambering around on something that will crack your head wide open if you tumble - and I’m glad to see it! I remember having a lot of personal responsibility as a child - playing involved a lot of calculated risk - like, “Wow, I could fall off that and break something. IS it worth it? Sure!!” Turned out it was good training for the rest of my life. I miss those days. But I digress……

www.vgbimages.com/AFV-...263_2NJ9Js

M41 on display at the 201st Infantry - Field Artillery Memorial Park, in Morgantown, WV.

www.vgbimages.com/AFV-...327_5Mz8tv

Thanks VB!

Somebody finally got inside one of these and was able to determine that the left number on the exterior plate is the build or construction number and the one on the right is the Ordnance serial number.

The odd serials in the TACOM list are often from part numbers cast into various pieces, even mundane objects like headlight sockets.

The one in Fort Wayne was on "Harry Baals Drive", named after a local politician or civil servant whose last name was pronounced "bales". I wanted to get a photo of a street sign but couldn't find any . . . I think I read somewhere that the city had changed the name because they couldn't keep up with the sign thieves.

KL

- Kurt_Laughlin

Somebody finally got inside one of these and was able to determine that the left number on the exterior plate is the build or construction number and the one on the right is the Ordnance serial number.KL

Thanks Kurt!
With that information, I went back and updated each gallery's info with Build No. and SN. I'll find my other M41 photos in other galleries and amend them when I get the chance.

Listed below are the Build No. and SN info for the above posts:

War Veterans Memorial Park - St Petersburg, FL - M41 Build No. 3023, SN 3019

Veterans Memorial - Ft Wayne, IN - M41A3 Build No. 2510, SN 2506, Painted RN 251006

Amvets Post 78 - Desoto, MO - M41 Build No. 2518, SN 251?

VFW Post 5076 - Garland, TX - M41A3 Build No. 3010, SN 3007, Painted RN 3018349

Liberty Park - Plano, TX - M41A3 Build No. 2920, SN 2915

Andover, MN - Cedar Rapids, IA - Morgantown, WV can’t read the rear plates

Here's some fun with the numbers . . . There's a way to analyze serial numbers to estimate total production. (See German Tank Problem.)

So far, with your numbers above, I have recorded thirteen SNs with 3611 being the highest. Using the formulas in the link I can estimate the total production at 3889 or 3938 tanks compared to Hunnicutt's total of 3729.

I have also done this analysis on M5 3-inch antitank guns where I have an observed sample of 54 with the largest being 2486. The estimate is 2531 compared to an actual production of 2500. With the more visible M6 carriages the numbers are 67 and 2498, estimating production at 2534, again compared to 2500. A 1% estimation error is pretty good for military intelligence purposes, I think.

KL