Canadian Sherman Firefly questions

[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