Canadian Sherman Firefly questions

[Alex van Riezen]

Hi all,

I'm currently researching this Canadian Firefly. It was lost in an ambush during the advance towards Putten on the 17th april 1945 in the Netherlands and later used used by the Germans. The strange thing is that the Germans replaced the muzzle brake with a German one from a PAK 40 afterwards. The vehicle is now in storage in the Netherlands, it still has the German muzzle brake. You can see pictures of this vehicle in 1945 in this link:

http://beute.narod.ru/Beutepanzer/us.../firefly-1.htm





I have the following questions:
- Which Canadian Unit lost this Firefly (probably 1st Troop, A Squadron, 8th Hussars)?
- Did this tank had a name?
- Are the names of the crew known?
- Is there a detailed combat report about the loss of the Sherman(s) on the 17th of April 1945?
- Was the muzzle brake damaged during this ambush? That may explain the German muzzle brake.


Some additional info about the Firefly which may help:
- Chassis number: C99205-5528
- Registration number: 30126631

Thanks in advance,

Alex van Riezen
The Netherlands

[John McGillivray]

Here is the original source of the photo.

http://mikan3.archives.ca/pam/public...397558,3397548



The regimental history of the Lord Strathcona's Horse confirms that Putten was cleared by the 8th Hussars and the Westminster Regiment on the 17th of April, 1945. Sorry I don’t have any more detailed information.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally posted by Alex van Riezen
Some additional info about the Firefly which may help:
- Chassis number: C99205-5528
- Registration number: 30126631

Alex,

Good to see you made it here. This Firefly is one of the enigmas among surviving Shermans in Holland, it would be great if we could find out more about it's history. This is very difficult with tanks, as - in contrast with aircraft - most if not all logs were discarded at some time after the war.

Anyway, at least there is a start now with a possible unit being identified.

As for the chassis or serial number, where did you find "C99205-5528"? It sounds more like the numbers cast-in one of the parts. Please read Sherman Register > Serial numbers on tips on where to find this Sherman's serial number. I do not have the serial number on file, but if you can get it I might be able to find out more.

The registration number looks like the original US Ordnance one. Where did you find it? From 1951 onwards, the Netherlands Army used many Shermans supplied by the US. These used to be identified by the US Army registration number without the "USA" prefix. "30126631" looks like late number, while this Firefly is quite an early one with direct vision slots (albeit plated over). This Firefly, as all ex-Commonwealth stock in use from 1945 until the mid-1950s, most definitely would have carried a 5-digit regsitration number.

Let's keep working on this, the story must be out there somewhere!

Regards,
Hanno

[Alex van Riezen]

Hi all,

Here are some corrections:

C99205-5528 is a number from a part on the front of the tank so please forget it.

I found the vehicle serial on stamped on two boss-es on the rear of the tank. It says 5228.

The registration number 30126631 is painted on both sides of the tanks is 100 % post war painted by the Dutch.

I quote this text from the excellent Panzerwrecks 1 book page 44: According to a Canadian Army report the vehicle still had it's name "Aventure" altough that cannot be seen here.

Is it possible that they mistyped the name and it should be "Adventure" or do they mean "A venture". And where would that name be placed normally on Canadian tanks?

Alex

[Alex van de Wetering]

Hi Alex,

Good to see you here!

Don't forget that the French language is also used by the Canadians; "Aventure" is french for "adventure".

I recon the name would be either painted on the transmission cover or on the hull sides, close to the front hatches.

Alex

[Alex van Riezen]

Hi all,

I found out that in the book Panzerwrecks part 5 there's a new picture of this Firefly.

I think the same photo is on the www.collectionscanada.gc.ca site in this link but you can't view the picture (yet):

http://mikan3.archives.ca/pam/public...241327,3208394

In this link you can see more (un)viewable pictures taken on the same day, probably nearby or on the same location:

http://search-recherche.collectionsc...ResultCount=10

Kind regards,

Alex van Riezen