Sherman death traps book

He misses the point of this book by playing the part of a notsoaccurateselfproclaimedfactchecker and misses the story of the bravery of the crews who knowingly went. Death traps on apple books apple books apple apple. Death traps is as much a history book as it is a memoir, which makes it a fairly heavy read. The survival of an american armored division in world war ii. It is written in the style of a memoir, but it also presents itself as a history of the 3rd armored division, the unit in which cooper served as an ordnance lieutenant. The m4 sherman had a hatch for all crew, except for the loader. I would say this is the least useful new vanguard or vanguard book on the sherman at this point. The book therefore stressed that the germans often would keep firing at a disabled tank to ensure it would catch fire.

The reader should not expect a typical soldiers tale, however. Most tanks at the time ran on diesel, a safer and less flammable fuel than gasoline. Racing along the front lines to ensure the delivery of tanks to frontline units, the author was clearly too busy. Ive seen the end footage of this video many times before but ive never seen it with the captions. Sherman, was the founder and past ceo of apotex, a generic drug firm. He served in the unit responsible for recovering damaged and destroyed tanks.

We do not apologize to nazism, socialism, communism, etc. Racing along the front lines to ensure the delivery of tanks to frontline units, the author was clearly too busy to snap pictures during his service in world war ii. The 3rd armored division entered combat in normandy with 232 m4 sherman tanks. Nov 22, 20 death traps, belton coopers aptly name book about american armored divisions in ww2 evidences this fact. Springpowered trap door folds down to inside floor and is held by treadle latch. The sherman trap is a boxstyle animal trap designed for the live capture of small mammals.

Since that time, the sherman trap has been used extensively by researchers in the biological sciences for capturing animals such as mice, voles, shrews, and. The survival of an american armored division in world war ii belton y. Invariably, when this topic is raised in an online forum, someone will bring up the book death traps by belton cooper. If youre interested in reading a quality rebuttal against belton coopers antisherman book death traps, heres one of the best from amazon. Coopers book, death traps about americas sherman tanks in wwii, and had brought my copy for him to autograph. I had also seen him on the history channel speaking about the deficiencies of americas tanks engineering disasters. Reliable information about the coronavirus covid19 is available from the world health organization current situation, international travel.

With regards to ww2, many socalled experts have determined that the american m4 sherman tank was one of the worst weapons fielded by the allies. This book is an early new vanguard book and shares a lot with nv 73, that focusses just on 76mm shermans. The book relates coopers experiences during world war ii and puts forth an argument against the us armys use of the m4 sherman tank during the war. All crewman would want the most armor and most powerful guns. The 3rd armored division entered combat in normandy with 232 m4 sherman tanks, writes belton cooper, author of the appropriately named death traps, a study of u. Death traps is an interesting and very readable memoir of a time when american soldiers went into battle with second rate weapons, and the price they paid to defeat a better equipped foe. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. The book itself is called death traps and it refers to the thousands of crew members who died or were injured in sherman tanks because the tank was designed by a committee and it was no match for german panzers with far superior armour and firepower. The writer kinda forgot that they are on the offensive back then which makes them get shot first. If one or both turret crew members were deadinjured they might not be able to open it and get out. Death traps the survival of an american armored division. Patton and other generals whose belief in mobility over heavy armor kept the sherman medium tank as the standard. The survival of an american armored division in world war ii, published in 1998.

It keeps coming up in forum threads as people keep citing it, so i figured i may as well make my position clear in a more formal manner. The m4 sherman tank was hell on wheelsand a death trap. My father always said he preferred his m24 chaffee light tank over the sherman. The united states world war 2 main battle tank, the m4 sherman was obsolete by 1944. The survival of an american armored division in world war ii ebook written by belton y. Life death on a tank tank crews documentary youtube. Cooper, author of death traps and a member of the 3rd armor division maintenance unit, recounts knowing how inferior the sherman was after seeing its physical destruction firsthand. Death traps was one of the inspirations behind director david ayers 2014 film fury. Cooperss book is somewhat unusual in that cooper served in a support unit instead of combat arms. Tank busting blowing up the myth of the mighty m4 sherman.

Aug 21, 2016 with regards to ww2, many socalled experts have determined that the american m4 sherman tank was one of the worst weapons fielded by the allies. The m4 sherman tank was hell on wheels and a death trap. The 3rd armored division entered combat in normandy with 232 m4 sherman tanks, writes belton cooper, author of the appropriately named death traps. Numerous and frequentlyupdated resource results are available from this search. Here you will find videos and documentaries related to wwii, modern wars, cold war, vietnam, etc. Despite these gripes, death traps should not be ignored. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read death traps. Oclcs webjunction has pulled together information and resources to assist library staff as they consider how to handle.

Sep 12, 2017 ive seen the negative analysis of the sherman. The book, commonly found, is wellwritten, an easy read, and provides good insight as to the thinkings and workings of a junior grade ordnance officer in a field unit. New vanguard 3, sherman medium tank 194245, by steven zaloga and peter sarson. Dispelling the myths surrounding the m4 sherman knowledge glue. Sep 18, 2011 the field manual covering the use of the sherman fm 1733, the tank battalion, light and medium of september 1942 devoted one page of text and four diagrams to tank versus tank action out of. Lets clarify this once for all the sherman tank was not one of the best tank of the war. The sherman s powerplant was a 400horsepower gas engine that, combined with the ammo on board, could transform the tank into a. Ii, where his units central task lay in the the immediate, postbattle recovery of those knockedout m4 sherman s which could be repaired in the field, and the marking for the salvage teams of those brewedup m4s tanker speak for catastrophic battle damage resulting in fire which could not. Later, cooper recalled the experience in a book, death traps.

For the same reason internet hobby historians love to rate the tiger ll as the greatest tank ever the m1 abrams is based off it dontcha know and routinely place rommel at the top of the list of greatest generals ever. Cooper served with united state armys 3rd armored division fighting the germans in 19441945. M4 sherman tank crew tell how shocking it was youtube. Why wwii soldiers nicknamed the sherman tank death trap.

Jan 30, 2015 death traps and fury fury is a relentlessly grim world war ii movie, and as the source autobiography death traps makes clear, it should be. Dec 18, 2017 the lights inside barry and honey shermans multimilliondollar home in a tony north york neighbourhood were beaming monday night, two forensic vans and a toronto police cruiser still parked. The book contains only a couple of maps and virtually no photographs. Zalogas conclusion was that the sherman and panther were very comparable, but in battles during the bulge if i remember correctly showed that superior training gave the americans the edge over the germans at that point of the war. The insight cooper provides offsets the literary problems. Sherman traps have been the worldwide standard in live animal traps, helping facilitate research in a safe, environmentally friendly way. Death traps a look at sherman tanks in wwii mouse click the following post oct 18, 2019 at 2. In a downtoearth style, death traps tells the compelling story of one mans assignment to the famous 3rd armored division that spearheaded the american advance from normandy into germany.

Death traps the survival of an american armored division in. Was the sherman tank of ww2 fame a death trap or a good. T34 can be consider as a death traps due to its deliberate crude design. Sherman traps are an environmentally friendly way to research small mammal populations and can be used for mammal collection, teaching and environmental impact studies.

He said it had the same 75mm gun but it was faster and they could get out of trouble quicker. Coopers experiences in the battle to defeat germany. For example, the author states that the ford v8 used to power many m4 sherman tanks was originally a british aircraft engine. Barry and honey sherman were murdered, private investigators.

The survival of an american armored division in world war ii by benton y. Death traps, belton coopers aptly name book about american armored divisions in ww2 evidences this fact. While cooper does not mention it, i am sure this also added to the reputation of the sherman tank to be a death trap as it would burn when hit but some of the fires could have caused after the crew had bailed out. I dont believe the sherman on the whole was anything but a rousing success. Sep 30, 2016 for the same reason internet hobby historians love to rate the tiger ll as the greatest tank ever the m1 abrams is based off it dontcha know and routinely place rommel at the top of the list of greatest generals ever. Sherman in the 1920s and became commercially available in 1955.

Apr 29, 2003 the book itself is called death traps and it refers to the thousands of crew members who died or were injured in sherman tanks because the tank was designed by a committee and it was no match for german panzers with far superior armour and firepower. How accurate is the m4 shermans reputation as a death trap. Its highly opinionated, but that is the privilege of a war memoir. Much of the hate against the sherman has been perpetrated post war and sadly most of it is from belton cooper. When it comes to the history of armored warfare in the second world war, the us m4 sherman tank is always sure to draw controversy and a good bit of discussion. About death traps an important contribution to the history of world war ii. Cooperss book is somewhat unusual in that cooper served in. Cooper served as an ordnance officer with the forward elements and was responsible for coordinating the recovery and repair of damaged american tanks. This book covers both the 75 and 76 tanks, but not overly well. The book kinda bias about riding a death traps, he still alive and well after the war. It seems odd to me, most often when i have a conversation with a normal person about the sherman tankmy wife says im weird for doing it, if they have heard of the sherman, and read a book on it, theyve read death traps, and have never heard of steven zaloga, r.

I have never before been able to learn so much about maintenance methods of an armored division, with precise details that underline the importance of the work, along with descriptions of how the job was done. Oct 23, 2014 the 3rd armored division entered combat in normandy with 232 m4 sherman tanks, writes belton cooper, author of the appropriately named death traps, a study of u. Someone who merely wish to read an exciting war story is best advised to look elsewhere, but for anyone who has a serious interest in world war ii armor, this book is an essential read. Yes, it sucked under some aspects but it was a totally effective war machine, it contributed to the victory of many important battles. However, formatting rules can vary widely between applications and fields of interest or study. In his book death traps belton cooper believes that the m4 got many american servicemen unneedlessly killed due to intentionally poor construction. Finally, if the sherman was such a death trap, why did the us army use it later in korea or the israelis use it in the 1967 war. When belton cooper was a young boy growing up in huntsville, he dreamed of building the worlds first unsinkable battleship. The survival of an american armored division in world war ii is a 1998 memoir by belton y. Death traps by belton cooper is a memoir of his us army service in world war 2.

Since that time, the sherman trap has been used extensively by researchers in the biological sciences for capturing animals such as mice, voles, shrews, and chipmunks. Sherman folding traps have the advantage of folding down to a size and shape which is easy to transport. The main theme of the book is that m4 sherman was, as the title implies, a death trap to the men that operated them. Compared to its german opponents, it was undergunned, underpowered and underarmored.

There are a great number of mistakes in this book, beginning with coopers ridiculous claim that general patton was responsible for. I surprise how much attempt you place to make this type of excellent informative website. Sherman trap small folding aluminium nhbs wildlife survey. Worthwhile reading, however, quite a bit of erroneous detail. The driver could get out through the viewport, while the bow gunner was most likely to remain stuck having no hatch of his own. Cooper was an ordnance officer with the 3d armored division in w. American tank crews quickly learned that these death traps were no match for heavier german tanks such as the panther and king tiger. During the european campaign, the division had some 648 sherman tanks completely destroyed in combat and we had another 700 knocked out, repaired and put. Death traps the book the true saga of spearhead heroes of a different sort written by 3rd armored world war ii veteran belton cooper of birmingham, alabama, and first published in 1998, death traps has received wide acclaim in military circles.