The Yanks Are Coming!

I've owned these yanks for some time buying them bulk from Neil at SEEMS, finally had an urge to paint some so squad 1 is finally finished.

Not 100% certain as to the colours although they seem to match the colour pictures I have. Squad 2 and the command squad are ready for undercoat but no idea how long it will be to I get to them as I really should be doing more Germans.

Now I just need to find that artillery piece and but a second MG and crew and a decent size force to be fielded.

No flock on the bases as I plan to use varying flock on each squad to differentiate them.

"All American" - 82nd Airborne.

Two squads of the 82nd Airborne shortly after landing in France.

Captain Royce Rudham surveys the scene with his men in tow...

Figures are from Artizan.

"Currahee!" (Overpaid. Oversexed. Over here.) - 101st Airbourne.

An understrength platoon from 'Dog' Company of the 506th PIR, 101st US Airborne.

"Hey Joey - which way to Europe?" Pathfinders.

1st Squad, under Sgt. William 'Buck' Hemmings.

2nd Squad, under Sgt. Richard 'Tricky' Warden.

3rd Squad, under Sgt. Thomas 'Duke' Dukeman Jnr.

Command group, led by Captain Ronald Autumn.

Dusk falls on Sgt. Floyd McGrath and the support weapons team...

Painted using the Army Painter technique (speed painted!)

Figures are from Artizan.

M4 Sherman Tank.

US troops and a Sherman with Culin hedgerow cutter advance on a Belgian town.

The M4 was originally designed to replace the (stopgap) M3 medium tank, as a medium tank armed with a 75mm gun in a turret, and using many of the components of the M3 to speed production. Two versions of the tank went into production at the end of 1941. The M4 was a tank with a welded hull, characterized by the sharp cornered hull shape, while the M4A1 featured a cast hull with a more rounded shape. The reason for the two styles was that, in order to meet production targets, factories without the ability to handle hull castings were used. These firms could not produce the large armor castings needed for the M4A1 hull, but they were able to produce the welded M4 hull. (In the end, the welded hull variants out-numbered the cast hull versions.)

Sgt. Bill Hey and crew take time out of the cramped interior of their tank.

When the tank first entered combat in North Africa in 1942, it was quite successful, but combat experience showed a number of changes were needed. Some of the changes involved improving protection, as the tank’s armor was insufficient to stand up to the larger German guns. Additional armor was added at the depot level, by welding additional armor over vulnerable areas, such as the ammo storage bins. This armor was called “applique armor”. Additional soft armor was added by crews in the field. This took the form of sandbags, logs, tracks, and other similar materials. This type of add-on protection didn’t really help against anti-tank cannon fire, but was effective against Panzerfaust (Germany’s version of the bazooka) rocket propelled HE rounds.

Gunner Corporal 'Chuck' Miller keeps watch with his Thompson SMG.

The Sherman was first equipped with the with the L/40 75mm M3 Gun, which firing the usual M61 round could penetrate 77 mm at 100m and 61 mm at 1000m. Conditions later in the war necessitated the up-gunning to the L/55 76mm M1A2, which could penetrate 124 mm at 100m and 83 mm at 1000m using the usual M79 round. The M1A2 helped to equalize the Sherman and the PzIV in terms of firepower, although the M4 was still under-powered compared to the Panther's much more powerful L/70 75mm gun.

Corporal Miller in action.

The British-developed Sherman Firefly was up-gunned with the 17 pdr. gun. The 17 pdr. also was 76 mm and had a L/55 barrel, but it introduced a much bigger charge which allowed it to penetrate 140 mm at 100m and 120 mm at 1000m using Mk.IV shot. This gun allowed the Firefly a slight firepower advantage over the Panther, although the blinding muzzle flash due to unburnt powder from the increased charge was a handicap.

Sherman at the Imparial War Museum.

The U.S. Army restricted the Sherman's height, width, and weight so that it could be transported via typical bridges, roads, and railroads. This aided strategic, logistical, and tactical flexibility.

Sherman at the Imperial War Museum.

The Sherman had good speed both on- and off-road. Off-road performance varied. In the desert, the Sherman's rubber tracks performed well. In the confined, hilly terrain of Italy, the Sherman could often cross terrain that some German tanks could not.

Tank crew at Fort Knox 1942.

A typical checklist of a tank crews equipment can be found on the Patton's Troubleshooters website.

M4 Sherman on Wikipedia.

Sherman M4 tank from a plastic 1/48 scale Tamiya kit. Crew are by Artizan.

WWII Squad Structure.

WWII Squads:

US Army Infantry Squad - 12 men: Squad leader (Thompson submachine gun 'SMG', M1 carbine, or M1 Garand rifle), 10 rifleman (M1 Garand rifle), 1 automatic rifleman (BAR). Organized as: Able Team (2 scouts); Baker Team (5 rifleman), Charlie Team (3 rifleman + BAR). One rifleman per platoon would generally carry a bazooka in addition to his personal weapon. There were 3 rifle squads per platoon in a rifle company.

US Airborne Infantry Squad - 12 men: same as infantry squad except that the BAR is replaced by a M1919A1 light machine gun (LMG). Same organization as the regular infantry squad. In practice the organization was flexible to the mission with one or more rifles often replaced by submachine guns and one man in the squad carrying a bazooka (generally one per platoon).

USMC Rifle Squad - 13 men (1944): The marine squad evolved throughout the war, adding additional firepower with each increment until settling on the 13-man configuration in mid 1944. Organized with a squad leader (Thompson SMG), and 3 x 4-man fire teams (3 rifles + 1 BAR each). In addition to the assigned personal weapons, the company commander could allocate 1 demolition pack and 1 flame thrower per squad as well as 1 bazooka per platoon, depending on mission requirements. These weapons would be carried by one of the squad's rifleman in addition to a personal weapon (often an M1 carbine to lighten the load). Since marines were often engaged in close-in fighting, they would frequently scrounge Thompson SMG's to replace rifles when available.

British & Commonwealth Infantry Squad (Section) - 10 men: Section leader (Sten SMG), Assistant Section Leader (rifle), 6 riflemen (rifle), Bren Number 1 (Bren LMG), Bren Number 2 (rifle). British and Commonwealth forces carried the .303 Enfield rifle (bolt action) throughout the war. The basic squad structure remained constant throught different battalion types (e.g., infantry, motorized, parachute), while the Para's were able to add additional Sten guns based on mission requirements. PIAT anti-tank weapons were allocated to squads from the company level as in the US forces.

Germany (Gruppe) – 10/9 men: The basic German squad centered around an MG34 or MG42 general purpose machinegun (GPMG); personal weapons for the gunners were pistols and rifles (generally), squad leader (MP40 SMG), 7 riflemen (Karabiner 98K 'Mauser' bolt action rifle). As the war progressed and manpower losses mounted the Germans were forced to reduce squad size to 9 men (dropping a rifleman). Panzergrenadier squads (halftrack mounted) had 8 dismounts with 2 GPMGs; Fallschirmjager (paratroop) squads were authorized 11 men, also with 2 GPMGs. In 1944 and 1945 many squads were below authorized strength even after replacements.

USSR - 10 men: The basic infantry squad included a squad leader (SMG), assistant leader (rifle), 5 rifleman (rifle), machinegunner (DP light machinegun), assistant gunner (rifle). Like the Germans, the Soviet forces suffered under terrible casualties and were frequently forced to reduce squad size. They also formed SMG squads of 9 or 10 men all armed with the PPsh 41 submachinegun for close-in assault. In some configurations, the SMG squad would be supplemented with an LMG.

Japan - 13 men: The squad consisted of an NCO squad leader, a machinegunner (Type 96 LMG), and 11 riflemen. All carried bolt action rifles (Arisaka) except the machinegunner. The Japanese did not employ submachineguns in any significant numbers.