Canadian Sherman Firefly Mk Ic (Hybrid) questions......
 

'Evening All,

I'm wondering if someone can help me sort out some details on Canadian Sherman Fireflies - Mk Ic (Hybrid). I'm building a 1/16th scale model of this vehicle, using the well-known Tamiya 1/16th scale M4A3 105 MM kit (with HVSS) as a starting point, but as it's an older kit, requiring major work to the lower hull and suspension to back-date it, in addition to missing some rear hull details as well.

Did Canadian Shermans in NW Europe - especially Fireflies, have the British Leaf-Spring Towing attachment fitted, or were they removed in service? If usually fitted, would anyone have a good photo or photos, or schematics of Towing Attachment and the mounting brackets? The position and orientation of the brackets on the lower rear hull are not very clear to me, and the info I have isn't really helping.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Chris Preston,
Victoria, BC

This has good pictures of the spring drawbar mounts on a Firefly. The addition of the tail smoke meant the bar itself had to be removed but that would have post dated the fitting of the springs and by then, the need for tanks to tow guns had presumably diminished.

Tanks fitted with the offset hinged drawbar could retain them as that was fitted to the left of centre.

http://www.primeportal.net/tanks/rob...rman_vc_17pdr/

Sherman Firefly detail photos
 

Many Thanks Adrian,

These are exactly what I needed. Would you happen to know if the leaf springs and towing pintle were kept on the vehicle or usually removed by the crew, in service?

Cheers,

Chris Preston,
Victoria, BC

It's not unknown to see the spring and hook laying on the front of the tank but how widespread that was, I wouldn't like to say.
I suspect they were retained early on but likely discarded later on.

I suspect the crews would not have carried useless weight. The tanks had a short life expectancy, but the recovery and refit units were close behind the lines. There has been discussion of just how effective the Canadians were at getting their broken or damaged tanks back to the line units.

The other factor I suspect is the staff recognized the Fireflies were hunters, not draft animals. Therefore, why put a tow fitting on a tank that needed to move quickly to get its gun into position? There were plenty of other tanks in the units that could be used for towing.