Also true. One of the interesting ones to find out when you look at the stats was that the American-crewed Shermans were one of the most survivable tanks in the war, but British-crewed Shermans were running in line with most others (making them significantly less survivable than the American ones).
This is largely because the British classed them as "Cruisers" for the purpose of their army, which were tanks that took on an effective role on par with cavalry. And like the cavalry of old, British Cruiser tanks were crewed by the insane and the unhinged, who would do things like "Shove extra shells into every last nook and cranny" and "carry extra fuel tanks outside of the armored ones", which ends rather explosively as I am sure you can guess. But since the British were the first to get the Shermans into combat, and those issues existed then in Africa, it was the reputation they got even if they didnt deserve it.
Another interesting thing is that when Shermans and T-34's fought in Korea, the Shermans usually won. Because it turns out the T-34 also has an overly inflated reputation (being much more dangerous to crew and easier to destroy than the reputation says), and while both had similar guns and armor, the Shermans had significantly superior "intangibles" (things like crew ergonomics, optics, magazine placement, etc) that allowed it to usually be the one to get the first shot off and win the fight.
Add "death before dismount" and "Drive me closer, I want to hit him with my sword" to the cavalry description.
Having seen Nick Moran do his "oh bugger, the tank is on fire" drill quite a few times, i wonder if some of the survivability difference can come down to the Brits having early Shermans with small hatches and no loaders hatch at first.
Also Sherman crews in the same war. Contrary to popular culture, Shermans weren't death traps and had better crew survivability than most other armor.
Also true. One of the interesting ones to find out when you look at the stats was that the American-crewed Shermans were one of the most survivable tanks in the war, but British-crewed Shermans were running in line with most others (making them significantly less survivable than the American ones).
This is largely because the British classed them as "Cruisers" for the purpose of their army, which were tanks that took on an effective role on par with cavalry. And like the cavalry of old, British Cruiser tanks were crewed by the insane and the unhinged, who would do things like "Shove extra shells into every last nook and cranny" and "carry extra fuel tanks outside of the armored ones", which ends rather explosively as I am sure you can guess. But since the British were the first to get the Shermans into combat, and those issues existed then in Africa, it was the reputation they got even if they didnt deserve it.
Another interesting thing is that when Shermans and T-34's fought in Korea, the Shermans usually won. Because it turns out the T-34 also has an overly inflated reputation (being much more dangerous to crew and easier to destroy than the reputation says), and while both had similar guns and armor, the Shermans had significantly superior "intangibles" (things like crew ergonomics, optics, magazine placement, etc) that allowed it to usually be the one to get the first shot off and win the fight.
Add "death before dismount" and "Drive me closer, I want to hit him with my sword" to the cavalry description.
Having seen Nick Moran do his "oh bugger, the tank is on fire" drill quite a few times, i wonder if some of the survivability difference can come down to the Brits having early Shermans with small hatches and no loaders hatch at first.