Hi All, Here is another great photograph from page 22 of the Brown Album in the Kenny I. Knotts Collection on the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center site: Niels has identified the detracked (or is it dethreaded?) Sherman as being a vehicle of either A or B Company, 70th Tank Battalion. The jeep belongs to Kenny's unit, the 307th Airborne Medical Company, 82nd Airborne Division. Ben Major has a Unit History page here on the WW2 US Medical Research Center site. This location is going to be a hard nut to crack but at least this post is a start. Anyone any ideas? Thanks, Pat
I prefer 'detracked' myself, Pat. ;-) Some clues - Note the concrete pole. Suggests this road had some importance. - first jeep (I guess) seems to be transporting a wounded man. (Note his foot) This suggests they are heading towards some medical facility. - Aboard the second jeep is a 101AB man (helmet) - There's a lot of stuff hanging from this Sherman. In general this suggests they are either moving or have recently landed. I'd put my money on this being within a few days of the invasion. At this stage I think detailed 307Med records could be the most interesting. Those could contain information on key locations and also how the platoons(?) were divided in support of 82AB units. Of course there are other interesting medical formations that could provide clues but determining the units involved will probably be a lot more difficult.
Thanks Niels, Some good points to ponder. I suspect the photograph below from page 24 of the same Brown Album is taken on a different road but quite possibly on the same trip: Note how the front seat passenger is sitting at the same angle in both photographs and the guy on the stretcher in the camera jeep seems to be holding his feet in the same manner. I don't this photograph is taken on the N13, more likely a step down in status but a step above the lane with the detracked Sherman. If you are correct in your date window, I would take it that the troops marching on the road are 4th, 9th or 90th Infantry Division men. Can't see any shoulder patches. The jeeps also appear to be going to the rear as the troops advance. Regards, Pat
For what it's worth, on the same page as the Sherman is also this photo. [Note these wounded have their heads to the rear of the Jeep, unlike the other shots we already discussed] It is captioned as "On the way to the Beach with wounded" and we are probably looking to the rear of the jeep. The location is the D-67 just west of Exit 3. And the 1944 photographs shows it was lined with simple wooden poles, this might be an important detail later.
Thanks Pat, fortunately there aren't too many buildings like that ;-) Trying to locate the dozer tank as well. Currently thinking it might be near the southern exit of SME, just north of the German road block there.
Hi Niels, I have posted the dozer photo on a new thread in the Research Currently Underway / Ground Forces / German / section here. Regards, Pat
Another thought: Since many of the roads were quite narrow, there was a traffic plan. Many roads became one-way roads to prevent traffic jams. I'm guessing the MPs were responsible for regulating the traffic and their records might indicate when this system became operational. Because of the importance I'd expect this got priority. FOLD3 has several maps showing the road-network and how it was organized. (To give one example, the location I figured out yesterday was one of those one-way roads.)These do not say when this system became operational however. But even if we can't be sure about the correct date, this system could help to find specific locations by eliminating travel in a specific direction.
This one appears to be taken on the N13 in SME, looking south from just north of the Hotel de Ville. Looks like the Jeep is towing a trailer loaded with supplies. Heading for the hospital? BTW there's another shot of this location in the other album.
Hi Niels, Unlikely I know, but if the negatives of these prints have survived it would be a bit easier to find some of the more difficult locations. I noted some of the prints seem to have deeper tones than some of the others; most probably caused by a different type of B&W film. Thanks for the traffic flow map; that should certainly help to narrow the possibilities for the detracked 70th TB Sherman. As you have already noted, the damage may be slight, perhaps to the extent that the track was shed without incurring any battle damage. If such be the case, they were probably only at that location for a relatively short period of time. Regards, Pat
Hi! My observation (maybe already outdated, but still a try) to the question raised by Pat early 2013, if the Jeep in the picture bottom left on page 22 (Knotts pictures) and the picture of the Jeep top right on page 23 (also Knotts) are identical, is that both Jeeps show a rope 'pattern' of some sort in their front which do look very similar to me. I think this is another piece of evidence both pictures show the same Jeep during the same sortie. Hans
Hi Hans, Yes, I agree; these two and possibly others in the collection were very likely taken on the same jeep run. The weather and light seems to be the same also. Regards, Pat