The Sherman had an antiaircraft machine gun Browning M2. Here is something from an interview with a Russian armor officer who spent most of his time in Shermans: 50 without getting outside the vehicle, but the play would be to the aft of the tank. Looking at some pictures of M4A3 cupolas, it looks as if the commander could use the. Being an infantryman, he will undoubtably claim that the tankers never did anything to expose themselves to any danger, if it could be avoided. A fascinating question, I'll ask my old man in the morning. 50 was useless, we got rid of it or never used it', and nothing pops up along the lines of 'Every time we went into action we used all our. hedgerows, but that can be taken two ways. 50 and main gun against a steeple that housed an observer.ĭoubler in 'Closing With the Enemy' mentions 'heavy machinegun' fire from tanks vs. Another Ambrose passage quotes a Sergeant flagging down a tank and convincing it to use the. Infantry could follow the tank into the field and mop up what remained when the tanker got done firing.'įrom Ambrose (may he rest in peace), so should be taken with a grain of salt. tank could fire its cannon into the far corners, using white phosphorus shells, guaranteed to burn out the Germans at the machine-gun pits, and hose down the hedgerow itself with its. Light internet searching and a quick glance at some books reveals only some stuff like:

50 on a Sherman actually took out a Marder II. I dimly recall a game of CMBO where my AA. 50 altogether more often than not - it actually posed a hazard to the tank commander's head when travelling through brush and low handing trees - CW tankers of course loved to wear their black berets rather than helmets.Īnyone care to discuss the employment of the. 50 is awesome, why wouldn't they have used it?'Ĭommonwealth tankers deleted the. out there that would indicate otherwise? Basically all I get at the GIC forum is 'well, I would have done it, so it must have happened' and 'gee, the. 50 would rarely have been employed in an anti-infantry role.Īre there any AARs, histories, reminiscences etc. 50 round is sub-optimal for engaging infantry at close quarters due to its flat trajectory (and I would presume low rate of fire of the gun itself)Īll of which leads me to conclude that at battle ranges of say 0 - 300 yards or so, the. To engage infantry with it, the tank commander would have to exit the cupola, due to the size of the gun and the location of the mountĬ) the. 50 calibre MG on the Sherman was primarily intended as an anti-aircraft weapon What my research indicates - based primarily on the reminiscences of a Canadian recce crewman (postwar), as well as one or two WW II Sherman historians, and some personal observations, as well as a US Army report circa 1951 (Korea vintage) is thatĪ) the. Thought I'd open it up to some guys who actually know a thing or two. Having an 'interesting' discussion at the GIC forum about the use of the.

M4 sherman commander gun