Questions regarding Sherman Fireflies used in NWE

[David Herbert]

Originally Posted by Frank v R

Hi Ewen, just for your info the Sherman photo you posted is of a M4A2E8 76mm, Canada did not use the E8 during the war

To be pedantic, it is a M4A2 HVSS 76mm. Nobody used 'E8's other than for testing. They were built in single figures as test vehicles for what became HVSS when it entered production. The 'E' stands for 'experimental'. The widespread use of E8 or easy eight is a complete fiction that has no basis in wartime official literature but seems to have been invented by early authors on WW2 armour and then copied until it became regarded as fact. See Hunnicut's Sherman book for an acurate summery of the designations of the various projects that lead up to HVSS.

It also does not indicate a seperate type. All Sherman types that were still in production when HVSS was released as production standard were redesigned to take it. It is just a late version of whatever type of Sherman, which at that point in development were already "Ultimate Series", a term that covers vehicles with the final version of many features (like big hull hatches, electrical fittings, ammo stowage, transmission housing, glassis plate, etc). The HVSS development just failed to mature before the other Ultimate Series production started, resulting in a significant number of tanks being built with the older VVSS.

Please stop calling them 'E8's, they are not !

David