Operation Infatuate II: Sherman tanks at Westkapelle

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Hanno Spoelstra

The armoured support element totalled 24 armoured vehicles:

• 2 Sherman V gun tanks
• 10 Sherman V Crabs
• 8 Churchill AVREs: 4 with SBG bridges, 2 with fasciness
• 4 D7 Armoured Bulldozers

When summarising this thread, one can conclude that of the 12 Shermans committed to this Operation, 2 of the Sherman gun tanks landed and went into action.
Of the Crabs, 3 did not land. Of the 7 that did land, 3 were bellied on the landing beach. While contemporary sources mention either 2 or 3 of the Crabs made it off the beach, this analysis proves in fact 4 Crabs made it off the beach and into the village.

For now I would ask if anyone can add any more identifiers for the Sherman tanks, like WD census numbers, unit markings & names. And let's not forget about the crews!

Last picture for today is this one from 1946, showing three Crabs in relative position to each other in the Zuidstraat.
From left to right: Sherman V Crab T-148656, with Sherman V Crab DANDY DINMONT behind it, and Sherman V Crab Turret No.2:
4d0a6c46c6aa49e634863f5afbd33b25f3f891a996b6911d96b9ac45a104bc18.jpg
(Source)

The photographer is looking East, as the light house can be seen in the background. This lighthouse is an iconic landmark as it was built on top of an old church tower. Therefore it is located almost 1 kilometre inland, rather than directly at the seafront.

I will provide more detail on the landing and subsequent actions later. It was a harsh Operation - the Commandos involved found it much harder fighting than during Operation Overlord!

Thanks,
Hanno