M10 17 pdr S237818

[Mike Slusar]

Hello Kevin

Thank you so very much for this. Up until a few weeks ago i never knew this picture existed, then i stumbled onto your post from 2008. I have been piecing together my fathers war history and have always wondered if pictures would surface somewhere. As you can imagine i have viewed countless pictures of M10s over the years since my father passed away (2007) without finding anything related to his regiment.

The picture shows something like debris or foliage covering the far end of the lettering so i'm positive that the name on the tank is LEILANI. This is confirmed in a book written by my dads commanding officer Lt J.F. Connor 14th Bty 5th A/Tk Regt RCA

The book is called World War 2 - The Way I saw It, and it states the following
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Several months earlier we had decided to give names to our M10s. The lettering was uniform, six inches in height and painted on each side of the hull. The names had to be those of ladies beginning with the letter "L". They would be of the crews own choosing.

L 1, Sgt Slusar's M10 was named LEILANI
L 2, Sgt Garrah's M10 was named LAURA
L 3, Sgt McAlinden's M10 was named LENA

The only female name beginning with "L" that Sgt Gray could come up with was LUPINO. Not a Christian name but he and his crew were quite satisfied with it, so L4 bore Lupino on each side of the hull.
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As you already know when we discover more evidence to support our research it uncovers more leads and clues that leave us asking more questions. My questions are who took this photo? Was it an allie or axis photographer? Where would I begin the search for the original photo? If this photo was taken their could be more photos of the rest of "L" troop.Where would i be able to view paperwork confirming the census number is attached to the 5th A/Tk Regt?

Once again Thank you for your kind efforts in getting this photo reposted.

Cheers