Fury, the movie

Patton was a field commander, had nothing to do with tank development.
M4 Sherman - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wiki FWIW.

Geoff
Who notes lack of diesel engine development in the US of A was an error of disastrous proportions. The M60 was the first tank with Diesel standard.
I gave you the author's opinion. I do believe he would have had immense input to the equipment the armored corps got.
 
My great uncle J.B. Jennings was a Sherman tank driver. He was killed in an ambush, three days before the end of the war in Europe. As I understand it a German soldier was laying in a roadside ditch, as the tank passed he popped up and shot it with a Panzerfaust. The engine was destroyed and the tank burned furiously. The crew bailed out and were promptly gunned down. According to my mother, they had just crossed either the Rurr or Rhien river. He's buried in Spartanburg SC. I wonder what he'd think of the movie. I'll wait till it's in the Red Box, probably in a month or so.
 
......I found it vaguely unsatisfying. Maybe because its format didn't have the structure of say, Saving Private Ryan, which uses the present time as a way to wrap up the experience of the then young Ryan when he visits the cemeteries at Normandy. I would rate it above most war movies, but not the very best......

Vito,
I agree. I think Fury would have been a much better movie if there had been a narrator or text at the beginning and/or the end of the movie giving a historical perspective the story. A lot of people who see the movie might leave with a better perspective if there was more "structure" to give better context to the story.

"Best job I ever had."

John
Scoundrel and Ne'er-Do-Well in Training
 
It's got to be better than, "Troy." I tried to sit through that and didn't manage. Swore at the time that I'd never see another Brad Pitt movie.

But, "Fury" may change my mind.

As for the discussion here about "Top" being the Top Kick or First Sgt., in the USAF, we called the First Sgt. the First Shirt. Don't really know why, unless because his was the shirt with the most chevrons on the sleeve.
 
My wife and I enjoyed the movie although she felt it was a little violent. I told her war is like that and she agreed.
I'm no expert on arms and equipment of the era but it looked to be pretty much correct to me. I knew the German tanks were hard for us to kill and the movie sure brought that out. I'm not sure on tactics used then either but agree sending the 4 tanks out alone seemed strange to me too. Guess maybe you use what you have at times.
They sure did make that tank to appear roomy but sure that was needed for filming purposes. I've only been in an armored personnel carrier but it was pretty tight inside too.
 
It was the British, with gallows humor, that dubbed their Lend Lease Shermans as Ronsons. Armor crew still had a better survival rate than infantry apparently.

Cooper wrote from memory and personal opinion. His book should be viewed as a perspective memoir and not a technical history. Amongst other gaffes, Cooper confused the German Sdkfz7 prime mover half track with the Hanomag infantry carrier half track. Thus he wrote of German infantry half tracks being unarmored, when in fact they were probably better protected than contemporary American half tracks.

But the grass is always greener in war time...German reports from the Italian theater exist of their evaluation of captured Shermans.The reports were favorable and the examining German officers commented that they wished they had some of their own.

American doctrine at the time stressed the use of tanks for purposes other than fighting other tanks. Tank destroyers and anti tank guns were supposed to deal with other tanks.

M26 tanks, roughly analogous to a Tiger I, were entering service in ever greater numbers by early 1945, beginning with a test group of 30 preproduction models sent as soon as they were ready.

Upgunned Sherman tanks served with the IDF for a very long time.
 
I saw it yesterday and thought it was very well done. As the war was closing to an end, Hitler forced women, children and men of all ages to fight for Germany. In the end, I won't give it away, feelings on both sides of the war come into play and is shown on both sides in American and German soldiers killing human beings without cuase is unforgiving to mankind and useless. I commend all of the actors for an outstanding job in the filming of Fury.

Nick

I knew a WWII vet who described having to shoot very young German soldiers toward the end of the war when Hitler had run low on adults. His unit was experienced and battle hardened. It was painful to have to kill these young kids but they could not afford to let them get too close. It remained a painful memory for the rest of his life.
 
It has been mentioned that the interior of Fury looked too spacious. According to the movie makers, the mockup with false
"walls" was 10 percent larger than the actual tank that was used.

Shooting interiors would have been next to impossible in a real
tank.

The stuff inside the Fury tank was all borrowed from collectors as were the many vehicles used for filming.

The production used 4 or 5 real Shermans, late models and Fury was one with the 76 gun. The Tiger was from a museum and
only shown in modest moving on a concrete strip because of its
weight. The firing of its gun was movie magic.

In the final fight, the German SS wore the latest fatigues designed to defeat infrared spotting, developed in the
final phases of the war.
 
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Saw this yesterday with my SIL, very good movie and very well done!
I'll probably go and see it again with my son since he couldn't join us! ;)
 
I saw the movie this weekend and enjoyed it.

I thought 1st SGTs were called "TOP", brad is a Staff SGT. Also aren't Staff SGTs E-6? Someone mentioned Staff Sgt is E-5??
 
I knew a WWII vet who described having to shoot very young German soldiers toward the end of the war when Hitler had run low on adults. His unit was experienced and battle hardened. It was painful to have to kill these young kids but they could not afford to let them get too close. It remained a painful memory for the rest of his life.

Sarge bills father--took a photo off of a Hitler Youth whom he and his men captured knocking out a bunker. There were 4 HJs in said bunker--none older than 16.This photo written on its back--by Sarges dad--sai :"We lost 10 men taking this ***damned bunker." That said it all for me. Anyway,the photo was of the MG crew and two riflemen who were assigned as bunker protection. None of the kids were killed-but some were wounded. I remembe Sarge telling me that he had asked his dad what they didwith the kids? and he said his dad said: "We whipped their little butts, then sent them to the PW-collection point."
 
Lots of times in combat units when there were casualties the senior surviving sergeant was the de facto first sergeant. In Vietnam, there were "field firsts" who were not the actual first sergeant. (Allegedly, the actual first sergeants wouldn't go into the "bush" because they were "peacetime" soldiers.) The "field first" was often the most experienced E-7 platoon sergeant.
In war the job of the 1st Sergeant is to keep the unit supplies moving to the right location to resupply the unit. This obviously takes work in a fast moving armor unit, especially under Patton.
Geoff
Who was an E-6 Staff Sergeant in the Platoon Sergeants slot (for an E-7) many moons agone.
 
Many years ago I was eating lunch with a coworker who was Infantry in Vietnam post 1970. For some reason we were talking about ages and he mentioned that one time he went to talk to his 1st Sgt. because he was feeling uncomfortable about having to shoot what looked to him like 14 year old kids. The first Sgt asked how old he was and he replied that he was 18. The 1st Sgt pointed out the he was 29 and to him it looked like the whole *** war was being fought by kids.

That's probably true of most wars. My dad liked the show Black Sheep because it was one of the few shows about the Pacific theater. However he commented a few times on how old the actors were. At 23 in 1945 most of the other members of his squadron called him Gramps.
 
Interesting when you talk about soliders moving up due to losses.
My Father was wounded somewhere about half way across France and got sent home. At that time he was the acting Platoon Sergeant. The highest rank he ever actually achieved was PFC.
They had to make do with what and Who they had.
 
I saw the movie today and thought it was excellent. It certainly didn't glamorize war.
I've never seen S&W sweetheart grips, though I do have a set of clear grips from WWII for a 1911.
 
Just returned from seeing it and I very much enjoyed the movie. The wife usually doesn't care for war flicks, but said that this was a good one.

Funny, my wife hates guns and war movies. But put Brad Pitt in it and she watches with a happy smile on her face. Doh!!!! :)
 
anyone here spot Clint Eastwoods son: Scott--in this movie yet? I THINK I did and he was carrying a Carbine. Now--im not sure if he was the soldier with or without a helmet??
 

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