Honey tanks

What was a Honey tank? Where can I find a picture of one?

Belville

 

In "Brazen Chariots" the author describes how the US Stewart M3 tank was given that nickname. It was accredited to the first British driver who stepped out of the tank exclaiming "She's a honey!"
Try this site:
http://www.trackpads.net/tanks/sosfindlay/usm5s.htm

 

look here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M5_Stuart





In "Brazen Chariots" the author describes how the US Stewart M3 tank was given that nickname. It was accredited to the first British driver who stepped out of the tank exclaiming "She's a honey!"
Try this site:
http://www.trackpads.net/tanks/sosfindlay/usm5s.htm



I thought the name came from service in the Western Desert and was related to its easy to live with nature (they had auto boxes??) and its superb reliability.

Kev

 

Many thanks, These links have given full information and photographs. I am researching a man who was killed while commanding a troop of Honey tanks on reconnaissance in Germany in April, 1945.
Belville

 

A friend of my father's told me he'd been in one of these knocked out by a Tiger - it shot the engine right out of the tank. He ran the fastest 1/4 mile of his life to get back to safety, with alleged Tiger in pursuit. Amazingly, no crewman was injured.

By the time he told me the story it was more than 20 years later, and he was a chubby little lecturer, so it made an incongruous tale - but I had no doubt he was describing a true incident.

Regards,
MikB

 

The M5 version had fewer machine-guns than the M3, but fewer rivets. The rivets had a cute trick in battle of being knocked out by shells and flying around the inside of the tank, smacking crewmembers, with grave results.

A speedy machine, but its 37mm gun was inferior to German and Italian weapons. On the other hand, the US Marines won the Battle of the Tenaru-Ilu-Alligator Creek at Guadalcanal when their five M3 Stuart tanks charged the Japanese defenders, who lacked anti-tank weapons, crushing the Japanese attack force...literally.

A good reconnaissance machine, speedy, mobile, it was not a main battle tank.

 

:icon_sadangel: Were the m5 stuarts the ones that reputidly 'brewed up' as the brits described whenever they were hit by enemy fire? This was cos the ammuntiion racks were to high similar to the shermans.

 

Hi all

In March 1945 I joined the 4th Queen's Own Hussars, then in the line in Italy.

I had spent the previous three months training on Sherman MK IVs and had always been happy to have a bit of armour between me and the outside world.

When I was eventually shown my new tank I was horrified to find it was a "Honey" and, as the turret had been taken off, there was no protection whatsoever from enemy fire.

If you want to read the rest of the story, have a look at:
BBC - WW2 People's War - The Day I Should Have Died: 4th Queen's Own Hussars in Italy

Cheers

Ron

 

Owen

I must point out something on the BBC site that has caused me, and some of my friends, much amusement.

If you use the link above to go back to the original posting, have a look at the banner to the upper right that shows the different categories.
Click on the ARMY ikon and up will come a larger picture.

The BBC finally finished up using Cpl.Ron Goldstein as representing the British Army

Ah me...... fame at last !

 

Hi
Many thanks for those cracking photos.
If my memory serves me rightly, my Honey had a 30mm Browning mounted forward and a 50mm aft. They were both swivel mounted and the 50mm was strictly for anti-aircraft use.
Other arms we had on board were a 2inch mortar mounted on the right hand side facing front, a Thomson sub-machine gun, a boxful of grenades and of course we all had our Smith & Wessons revolvers.
A turret would have been nice, but then, you can't have everything !

 

Gentlemen

When you saw these "restoration" Honeys did any of them have the canvas canopys installed ?

These were exactly like those one used to see on a pram and would lay on the back of the tank until required and would then be unfolded and locked into place.

Cheers

Ron