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Special Thanks to Gary Barling, member C#0014, of Petawawa and IPMS Ottawa for gathering this material for the webpage
I
am starting to assemble an Academy “Achilles” and would like to finish it as
a Canadian vehicle. I have searched for a few days for some concrete facts that
would say there was such a vehicle, mostly it appears that there were M-10's
with three inch gun, I am a fan of 17pdrs and would really like to use that gun
on this kit, so far the best reference for that seems to be the PMMS site where
you state;
“Second
set of decals appear in Concord 7005 ‘US Tank Destroyers in Combat
1941-1945’ by Steve Zaloga and depict a vehicle of 4th Anti-Tank Regiment,
Royal Canadian Artillery, Netherlands, May 1945. This unit was part of the 5th
Canadian Armoured Division and I suspect would have had the divisional emblem
and an arm-of-service marking as well as the individual vehicle markings
provided. As usual, anyone wanting to depict a specific vehicle will have to
find photos, use the wheel, nose and other parts suitable for their subject and
maybe even change the tracks.”
There is also some reference to tool stowage, spare rounds, spare track. The
main drawback with the kit is that it is in effect an M10 with a 17-pdr in the
turret. Many minor changes were made to M10's in British service, some of the
tools on the rear hull were moved to the engine deck area and extra items were
fitted, these are not included but could soon be added. Turret interior fittings
do not match the official Stowage Diagrams, and while the radio in the
co-drivers position is a British No 19 and not an American set the ammunition
stowage in the hull is depicted as being in the fibreboard tubes, a style used
on M10 but 17-pounder vehicles carried their rounds bare. Spare track links are
included complete with British-style racks but without any indication that they
should be fitted on the nose armour.
My apologies if this seems a rather long question, what do you feel one must do
to complete this vehicle to represent that Canadian AFV? Can I still use the
17pdr? Do the rounds ride in the racks without the tubes?
I would greatly appreciate any help on this subject.
Thank you
Bruce Goff
Answer
on Canadian M10 17pdr
As far as I know, Canadian Army
use of the M10 followed British practice in that the Antitank Regiments in
Armoured Divisions used a mix of towed 17pdrs in two of their Batteries, one
Battery had M10 3" and one M10 17pdr in the early stages of the NW Europe
campaign, with the 3" ones being replaced by 17pdrs as they became
available. A listing of AFVs in use in 1st Canadian Army at the end of the
campaign shows 24 as the full strength in 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade, 4th and
5th Canadian Armoured Divisions and 1st Polish Armoured Division who also came
under the Canadians, so unless someone was mixing up the 3" and 17pdr types
under one heading all their M10 3" had been replaced.
Steve Zaloga's book on the M10 and M36 in the Osprey New Vanguard series (no 57)
has a colour plate of an M10 17pdr with 4th Antitank Regiment RCAC in 5th
Canadian Armoured Division in May 1945, this has the 5th's golden yellow Maple
Leaf on purple background and the 77 on red and blue arm of service square on
the front which would also appear on the back, plus C1 tac sign and name
CHIPPAWA, this may even be a partner vehicle to the Academy decal sheet's C2
CARIBOU. (The other set of markings for 93rd Anti-Tank Regiment in Italy is also
not totally accurate and does not give you all the markings for the original
vehicle)
Perhaps someone with more detailed knowledge of Royal Canadian Artillery use of
M10 would like to confirm this, add more detail, dates of introduction etc? And
were M10 17pdr used by Canada in Italy?
The kit does not have all the stowage modifications needed for an M10 17pdr or
even the original 3" version, the official Stowage Diagrams can be obtained
from the Tank Museum Library - see www.tankmuseum.co.uk and look for Plans Packs
- or else you could get the Wydawnictwo Militaria No 115 on the M10/M36 which
includes reproductions of them. As the 17pdr conversion was done in the UK,
vehicles issued to Canadian units should have had all the British modifications,
and 17pdr rounds did not come in fibreboard tubes.
Peter Goff
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