Info on 147th RA Regt photos requested

Hi Kevin,

Thanks for that. Should have been more specific first time around i.e. mark II is M4(A1)-based. I found this, too, in a book on armoured vehicles, and all the circumstantial evidence indicates that this obtains, though I myself have not yet found any documentation laying out the detail i.e. factory orders, accounts in the war diaries or the regimental files. Do you know of any yourself? The author has obviously see some. Cheers.


Also,

account of 147th in Priests from EYA:


"At Thetford, we had a two week pause for rest, maintenance of vehicles, & a complete replacement of the SPs. Our first lot were American made, with complete machinery & gun sights calibrated in mils instead of degrees; the two systems did not sit well together, and entailed conversion tables. So it was with relief that we got 24 new British-made 25pdr SPs, the ones we had first trained on at Rhyll."

 

Hello Phil,

One of the books wouldn't be "One Man's War - An Essex Soldier in WWII" by any chance?

Cheers
Kevin

Kevin

Indeed it would, excellent little book, well worth reading.

Phil

 

Hi Kevin, good to see you on here. 86 Field did their initial assault training with Bishops before swapping to M7 Priest and then finally Sexton for D Day so no reason why 147 didn't do likewise.

13 Shermans were probably distributed as follows:

1 x CO
3 x Bty Comd's
6 x OP's
3 x GPO's

Derek

Hello Derek,

Yes I have only recently discovered this excellent site.

Thanks for the probable Sherman distribution. I must admit I never thought of the GPO's as I believe some regiments used "de-frocked" Sextons.

Steve,

Thanks for that additional info on the Priests. As Derek has stated that some regiments trained on Bishops then onto Priests and finally Sextons. That must have been frustrating, 25 pdrs, 105mm and back to 25 pdrs.
There is a nice article on the Sexton SP Guns by David Fletcher ( Bovington Tank Museum ? ) in issue 53 of "Wheels & Tracks".

Cheers
Kevin

 

A very late update on this thread: distribution of the 13 Sherman tanks in 147 Fd Regt RA was one for the CO and one each for the TC and the GPO in each of the six troops. They were numbered (or rather, 'lettered') as follows:

Commanding Officer – Sherman Z

A Tp TC – Sherman RA
A Tp GPO – Sherman GA
B Tp TC – Sherman RB
B Tp GPO – Sherman GB
etc.

Michel