Sherman Crab T147955 “Avalon” Overloon. Regiment? Damage?

[Alex van de Wetering]

The Broekhuizen castle was defended by about 18 Fallschirmjäger.....they had an excellent view over the fields and were protected by the thick walls of the castle. The castle was heavily shot at by tanks, until the last remaining Germans surrendered. The castle is only a ruin today. It seems it also had a moat at the time and a small bridge, with the concrete bases still remaining.
I am not sure if the red crumbling brick in the pictures is actual battle damage, or just erosion, but it is the side pointing towards the British forces.

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[Alex van de Wetering]

The first picture shows the old lawn (?) of the castle and the ruins can just be seen through the trees......This is the direction of one of the previous attempts to take the castle on November 28th.
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The second picture is taken 180 degrees from the first and shows the old access road to the castle.
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The third picture shows another old road....at the time, this road ran along the castle and into town. An attempt was made by 2 flails to take this road, but they got bogged down quickly.....these tanks were later recovered.
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The fourth picture shows the view from the German positions towards the British attack.
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The 5th picture is taken at another access road into Broekhuizen....along the Maas river. This is approximately the location where Sam Halls flail was hit by a Panzerfaust.
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[Alex van de Wetering]

After visiting Broekhuizen, I also had to visit "Avalon" in the Overloon museum again.
I took some measurements of the remaining welds on the left and right hand side of the hull. The welds on the RH match up with that of the (ex-wading) box on the LH, so I am now sure Avalon had one of these boxes on each side. The other weld remains on the LH more towards the rear match up exactly with the brackets for the Sherman V rear hull storage box....So, the box that can be seen on early museum pictures....either laying on the front of the hull, or in front of the tank, is most likely to have come from the left hand side of the hull. Avalon had two of these boxes, as a very crushed example can also be spotted on the rear of the hull in early museum pictures.
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Also....a more close-up pictures of some of the hits in Avalon. The larger holes seem to have the same diameter all the way through.....no taper.
A ring of small hits can be seen around some of the larger holes.
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Last but not least....I also visited Groesbeek war cemetery (You can see I was already losing daylight!), to visit the grave of Lt. Cooper. As mentioned by Michel, Cooper was killed by a shoe-mine while attempting to recover the Flail tanks on December 1st.......76 years ago, tomorrow.
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[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Alex van de Wetering

Last but not least....I also visited Groesbeek war cemetery (You can see I was alreasy loosing daylight!), to visit the grave of Lieutenant Cooper. As mentioned by Michel, Cooper was killed by a shoe-mine while attempting to recover the Flail tanks on December 1st.......76 years ago, tomorrow.

Great photos Alex, and thank you for visiting Lt Cooper's grave on the eve of the day he was killed 76 years ago

[Tony Smith]

Excellent and timely thread!

[David Dunlop]

Alex.

There are some photos on this site of the castle prior to and right after the battle.

David


http://www.castlesontheweb.com/photo...417&sessionid=

[David Herbert]

Someone's home.....

David