Any ideas on this Achilles wireless setup

[Jakko Westerbeke]

Originally Posted by Jack Geratic

The M10 and Achilles were based on the Sherman M4A2 hull, but were obtained to equip AT units

It’s probably a good idea to mention here that the British/Commonwealth views of vehicles like the M10 is that they were not tank destroyers but self-propelled anti-tank guns. Which is to say: American doctrine was that these vehicles would essentially rush forward to stop an enemy breakthrough, or go tank-hunting, while the British view was, basically, that they were anti-tank guns that happened to not need a vehicle to tow them, making them more mobile and easier to reposition. This probably affected the radio to be fitted as standard to them, though the unit they were to work with would as well, I suppose.

I recently read Chris Camfield’s new book on the Archer, which talks about the radios fitted on page 112. It seems Archer had a No. 18 set as standard, which was also issued to towed 17-pounder units from Normandy on. However, it had all kinds of issues, mainly being underpowered and going off frequency if the vehicle moved, and so units preferred to replace them with No. 19 sets if they could get them. Not sure what was in the M10 in British/Commonwealth service,* but it could well be much the same?


* All this talking about M10 vs. Achilles also makes me want to note that “Achilles” was a nickname for all types of M10 in British service, but it was rarely, if ever, used in. The normal name in service was “M10” for any vehicle of the type, and “3-inch M10” or “17-pounder M10” (or variations on those) if a specific variant was meant. Somehow, after the war, “Achilles” stuck for the 17-pounder version only — and having read the Archer book and its explanation about the name, in Appendix 3 on page 141, I’m now inclined to think “Achilles” might just have been actively rejected by the War Office just like “Archer” was. (In short: “Archer” was a Ministry of Supply designation, which the British Army did not want to use.)