Hi Andrew:
The problem with the mud packed wheels may well have resulted in reducing the paired sets to one each but it would have put the tyres way over their safe load limits and I suspect that the gun would have sunk even more deeply due to the weight on much less surface area. Nonethless, I have seen odder things done and, as your Dad said, always believe his war stories!
I have used the modern M109A2 in the anti-tank role and there is a reason why there is no anti-tank ammo made for it... we fire straight High Explosive (HE) with a super-quick fuze and the mess it makes of a 52 ton Centurion leads me to believe that there was little left of the much lighter built 15 ton Japanese tanks after being struck by the 155mm round! I have watched five ton turrets flip up in the air when hit by the 155mm. I suspect that the Japanese simply drove over what little there was left of their previous tank(s) in that V shaped valley!
Mike
