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Neil_Baumgardner

Probably old news to some, but I just stumbled across this: freespace.virgin.net/s...usnew.html

Neil

Dubliner · ***Power User*** Offline Joined: Jan 24, 2006 Posts: 94

nt

mike_Duplessis · ***Power User*** Offline Joined: Jan 24, 2006 Posts: 236

I recall that great old AFV News cover with the U.S. Fireflies. It raised the hairs on the back of my neck when I first saw it. I'm not near my references at the moment, but I believe the main 'subject' was a little Locust in the foreground but included 3/4 rear views of U.S. built Fireflies in the background. The late glass block commander's cupola definitely marked them as U.S.-made vehicles. Funny, the rear radio boxes appeared cast to me, not welded Brit-style, but I may be wrong on that.

binder001 · ***Power User*** Offline Joined: Jan 25, 2006 Posts: 363

The link you provided is part of Mark Hayward's sites that offer free updates/corrections to his excellent book on the Sherman Firefly. I thought it was very nice of an author to do this.

I first heard about this in the 1970s when I had a chance to pour over the Twelfth US Army Group "Report of Operations", especially the Armored Section report. They mentioned that 108 Firefly conversions were to be provided to US forces in the ETO. As stated in the website, quite a few of those were actually completed, but there is no record (YET!) of a US Firefly conversion being used in combat.

Unfortub=nately, when the US Army finally wanted Fireflies, there was adire medium tank shortage in the ETO. By the time the extra tanks were available, and the workshops had time and supplies to do the conversions, it was too late for them to get into action. It would be interesting to know what became the batch actually completed. With the end of the war and increasing deliveries of M4A3E8s and M26s the US Army would have dropped the few Firelies like hot rocks. Probably ended up in some European scrapyard along with the almost 500 "Leaflet" US-built CDL tanks.

Gary

mike_Duplessis · ***Power User*** Offline Joined: Jan 24, 2006 Posts: 236

About that Hayward Firefly book, I've got my hands on a copy (thanks to George Bradford!) and the book is TWICE as good as you could possibly imagine! Out-Hunnicutt's Hunnicutt. It does for the Firefly what Jentz does for the Panther. Well worth the purchase.

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