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M4A1 Sherman Medium Tank |
Our unit fields an operational M4A1 Sherman Tank. The tank is owned by the Chino Air Museum, but is maintained by members of our 66th Tank Regiment. Unit members volunteer many off-hours to ensure the tank is in good running condition as well learning how to operate the vehicle and to become a competent tank crew. All the parts and supplies that go in to tank maintenance and upkeep often come out of the 66th's pocket, including gas and transportation of the vehicles. Running this tank is truly a labor of love.
The tank is customizable for appropriate scenarios. We decorate with the correct paint schemes and stencils. Below are several patterns the same tank, "Detroit Iron," has undergone in the past in addition to the current one above.
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Camouflage
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White ID bar
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Yellow ID bar
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Stars Only
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The markings variated with time and per unit, and a lot of markings were done by preference. The stars with white identification stripes was a pattern in common use by the US Army in 1940. However, the 1st and 2nd Armored Divisions chose to differentiate themselves by using the color yellow instead of white in order to differentiate their equipment from other units. By 1943, the stripe was dropped and eventually the star was painted over when friendly tanks were having the star confused with the German Balkan Cross at ranges greater 1000 yards. In Sicily, some units chose to paint a circle around the star to make it more recognizeable, however 2nd Armored chose to leave their tanks unmarked. It wasn't until landing in Normandy shortly after D-Day did the crew remark their tanks, this time with unit number of the tank painted in yellow on the sides of the turret. After D+14, these identifiers will painted over and the tanks went back to an unmarked pattern or a camouflage scheme. |
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The Sherman is a complex piece of machinery, however it's relatively simple in maintenance when compared to the more technical designs of the German tanks. Thus, Shermans were easily produced. Further, the overall design was implemented in a wide range of variants and platforms. The tank crewed five members: a driver, an assistant driver/bow machine gunner, tank commander, gunner, and loader. We typically crew four as we don't have a need for a loader. The gun is a propane charge gun which provides a loud bang with a nice flash. The machine guns are working M1919s fixed to shoot semi-auto or can be removed to accommodate fully-auto M1919s supplied by qualified weapons handlers during movie and TV shoots.
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