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Gents,

I'm looking for any photos of the M103, -A1, -A2 in service or test for an article I'm putting together. I have photos of a preserved T43 and M103A2 but would like photos in service if anyone out there has them. Original prints will be digitised and returned. Good digital copies (300DPI+ large format JPEGs)of originals are acceptable. I'm only looking for copies of photos where the sender has the copyright or, as is the case with US and Canadian Archive photos, the photo copyright gives explicit permission to copy. All sources will be credited.

Also, if these are personal photos, any anecdotes from the vehicle's service will be gladly accepted for possible inclusion in the article. I'll make sure everyone who submits gets a copy of the final article as well.

Thanks a lot, guys. I don't normally slide over into the "modern" era, but I've always like the big ol' M103 and have a chance to produce an article for a magazine if I can get some good "in action" photos to balance my preserved vehicle shots.

Also, if you know of any other forums where I could profitable post this request, please let me know.

Contact me here or at my home address:

tankmodeler at rogers dot com

Paul

Paul,

Found these 4 photos on Flikr from a 1954 Life article on the T43/M103 testing in Delaware.

www.flickr.com/photos/...otostream/
www.flickr.com/photos/...otostream/
www.flickr.com/photos/...otostream/
www.flickr.com/photos/...otostream/

BB-61

- BB-61

Paul,

Found these 4 photos on Flikr from a 1954 Life article on the T43/M103 testing in Delaware.

www.flickr.com/photos/...otostream/
www.flickr.com/photos/...otostream/
www.flickr.com/photos/...otostream/
www.flickr.com/photos/...otostream/

BB-61

Shooting high-angle from the middle of a pond? What specific capability does this test validate? I was not aware of a need for "indirect fire during a 50-year flood" requirement in any specifications...

Tankmodeler: I have a couple shots of the Ft Lewis M103 that I took last month. I used to have others but suspect I lost them in the disastrous "external drive crash of 2008". If you want them, I'll post them or send them.

Chuck

I don't know of a test area in Newark Delaware. My wife's family is from that area. I'll have to do some research. Were any M103s built at the Newark Tank Arsenal? I know they built M48s and I think M60s but I didn't think they built M103s.

I wonder if the testing was done at the Churchville MD annex of Aberdeen. It isn't that far away and the misdirection could have been a 'security' issue

- BB-61

Paul,

Found these 4 photos on Flikr from a 1954 Life article on the T43/M103 testing in Delaware.

BB-61

Those are great photos, but I can't use them because they are copyright to LIFE. But, they are exactly what I'm looking for. Now al lI need is to find some.

Thanks,

Paul

As I mentioned in another thread, by coincidence I wrote up the Newark plant this week for background information on the vehicles at Shelby. All M103's were produced there:

Location ID 57800: Chrysler Assembly Plant, Newark, Delaware

Most likely this is a test of waterproofing at fording depth or fording in general (the ability to enter and leave a muddy slope; the ability to travel on soft stream bottoms when the buoyance of the tank may reduce the ground pressure enough to impact traction).

I have seen a number of photos of tanks sitting in streams, especially overhead shots. My impression was that the easy way to get a near vertical shot was to park the tank beside a bridge and film from the walkways.

KL

Blackdog,

Cool! Can you tell me where you got this image?

Paul

It's one of the few photos we have on the walls inside the Mechanized Museum. As far as I know, it just showed up one day and so we put it on a wall! I don't think that there is an author indicated anywhere on it. It's a lot higher quality than the photograph can show, it's about 12" by 48" though (would be a pain to scan). I might be able to take a couple of photos of it and then use autostitch to put them together, if you're interested.

Brian

Actually, that would be kinda cool, if you could. Then I can get someone to take out the dark background tone in Photoshop & it would make a cool two page spread in the magazine.

The higher the resolution, the better, please.

Paul

- tankmodeler

Actually, that would be kinda cool, if you could. Then I can get someone to take out the dark background tone in Photoshop & it would make a cool two page spread in the magazine.

The higher the resolution, the better, please.

Paul

I took some photos on Wednesday to make a panorama out of but unfortunately the lighting was poor and they turned out pretty blurry and uneven. If you want, I can go back tomorrow (since I'll be there anyway) and try again. I might even just take it off the wall so that way the black screws are not visible. This is a 50% scaled version. If I can get some sharp photos, it can be twice the resolution. All I ask is that you credit the Marine Corps Mechanized Museum, Camp Pendleton, California, www.themech.org.

Here it is:

www.surfacezero.com/ju...03pano.jpg

Shooting high-angle from the middle of a pond? What specific capability does this test validate?

Hollywood shot, No round was fired, just a charge.

The M58 Gun of the M103 series used a separate charge from the projectile, in this case a brass shell (M45 Propelling Charge) which held a silk bag with the propellant, the case was closed on the end with a closing plug. There was a dummy one in Skidgel Hall at Knox displayed out side the Master Gunner classroom (door stop). Pretty big shell.

- blackdog

I took some photos on Wednesday to make a panorama out of but unfortunately the lighting was poor and they turned out pretty blurry and uneven. If you want, I can go back tomorrow (since I'll be there anyway) and try again. I might even just take it off the wall so that way the black screws are not visible. This is a 50% scaled version. If I can get some sharp photos, it can be twice the resolution. All I ask is that you credit the Marine Corps Mechanized Museum, Camp Pendleton, California, www.themech.org.

Here it is:

www.surfacezero.com/ju...03pano.jpg

Thanks. If you can get a sharper picture without going to too much trouble, I would appreciate it.

Paul

Hopefully this isn't too late... it's still not perfect, but an improvement over the previous edition....

www.surfacezero.com/ju...03pano.jpg