Canadian War Museum's M4A4 "Forceful III"

[Patrick Johnson]

Hello,
Now that this tank is inside the Museum and "out of the elements", I am wondering if the interior of this GGFG Sherman is now accessible to Museum staff? If so, does anyone know how complete the interior is? I'm either looking for some good interior photos of this vehicle or interior photos of one of the operational Sherman M4A4s over in Holland. My ultimate goal is to determine the shape of the shelf supporting the 19 set and the general layout of interior fittings around it.
My current project consists of replicating the rear 30" of a Sherman turret bustle for my operational 19 set. The M4A4 Sherman is a personal choice for me since it was issued to my uncle's tank regiment, the Lord Strathcona's Horse (R.C.), and he commanded one for nine months prior to commanding a Firefly. My set is fully complete with all control units, cables and aerials, all I need is an accurate picture of the placement of each component. Pictures will eventually follow if I'm successful.
I look forward to hearing your responses!
Thx, Patrick

[David Herbert]

Hi Patrick,
The radio shelf and 19 set installation is nominally exactly the same on any 19 set equipped Sherman that has a 'low bustle' turret (like a M4A4) except a 17pdr equipped Firefly of course. This includes the Canadian Grizzly. The turret setup in a Ram II is very similar but not identical.

When I say 'nominally' it is because there are random differences from one vehicle to another but not following from deliberate design changes but from the whims of the guy installing it or the crew using it. This gives you some latitude which might be handy !

Hope this helps, David

[jdmcm]

I got this diagram from Michel Perrier last week when I bought my 19 set for my Sherman...maybe this will help...sure is a lot different mounting than the US radio set

sherman 19.jpg

[jdmcm]

Sherman firefly (photo courtesy of www.theshermantank.com)

VC-WirelessBustle-2.jpg

Standard 75mm turret (photo courtesy of www.theshermantank.com)

wireless.jpg

[tankbarrell]

That installation diagram is a 76mm and a little different to a Sherman V. The last photo is mine.

[jdmcm]

Ahhhh! So is that the same installation in yours that Patrick is after? And how do you keep it so damn clean in there? As an aside, was the filming of Fury tough on it?

John