- Yes.
- No.
- In a future Dutch/BeNeLux techtree.
- In the French BeNeLux sub-tree
- Other (Please explain in the comments).
- I said “No” in the first question.
Hello everyone, I’m on a mission to suggest every single M4 Sherman tank used by the Netherlands!
This is the Dutch M4A3E9(105)!
One of the only photos I can find of the Dutch M4A3E9(105), now abandoned in a field in Artillerie Schietkamp
Source: Redirecting...
History
Spoiler
While not direct proof of anything, here we do see a model of a M4A3E9(105) in a Dutch Museum
Source: Foto'sThe mysterious origins of the M4A3E9 is unknown to me. But I’ve got two ideas where they might have come from.
As soon as the second world war had ended, the Netherlands was in a bad shape. Years under German occupation had left it broken and without any kind of Army. Getting the Army up and running again was a top priority for the Netherland leadership.
Luckily when all the allied forces were moving out of Europe they didn’t take everything with them. Many large militairy dumps could be found in various locations. In the Netherlands there were two large onces, one at the Deelen Airbase, and one near Enschede. The Deelen dump was filled with ex-Canadian equipment, and the Enschede dump with both British and Canadian equipment.
The total list of different gun and vehicle types present in those dump is far to much to list here. But during 1946 many of these vehicles were purchased for a cheap price. Everything bought from these dumps were given a class designation R1, R2, D or S.
- R1 stood for simple repair (Within 50 work hours)
- R2 stood for thorough repair
- D stood for disassembly for spare parts
- S stood for demolition.
Any of the vehicles with the R1 or R2 class would end up getting repaired and put in service.
Later it was determined that a total of 7373 vehicles were present in these militairy dumps.
The Bureau of Spoils of War would end up buying 1168 of these for a total of 1 Million Guilders. 253 of these were of the R1 class, 731 were R2 and 184 were of class D or S.That now starts to bring us to the topic of this suggestion. The dump in Enschede was mostly filled with tanks, and most of those were Shermans of various types. The Dutch would, at atleast some point, have every single main Sherman variant in service. From the M4 to the M4A4.
It’s unclear if the M4A3E9(105) came out of this dump, and just how many the Dutch had is also unknown. A lack of proper identification of tank types during these early days might have resulted in these M4A3E9’s being put together with the normal M4A3(105)'s.
Another possibility is that these M4A3E9’s were obtained in 1951 when the Dutch army bought more Shermans of the US Army. A total of 18 M4A3(105)'s were bought. But again there is no distinction made between suspension types, so these 18 tanks could have been of various M4A3 types.
At this point you might wonder, what does the E9 bit stand for? Well these are Sherman tanks with spaced out VVSS suspension. Allow me to show you what this actually means:
A photo of a Chilean M4A1E9
Source: Armorama :: Armor of the American Civil WarThe photo above is taken at a nice angle that properly shows how the suspension is moved more to the outside, and you have these gaps between the hull and tracks. The reason this was done was to allow for the installation of track extensions to both sides of the tracks. Normally crews can only put extensions on the outside of the tracks. But on the E9 it can be done on the inside too, as seen on the photo below:
A photo of a M4A1E9 with the “Duckbill” end connectors on both sides of the tracks
Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/TankPorn/comments/k8gc8c/an_m4a1e9_tank_with_extended_end_connectors_for/
These extensions made the tracks much wider then what was normally possible on Sherman tanks with VVSS suspension, and so it greatly improved their cross terrain performance.
A large number of the Dutch Shermans were used for training schools. And I’m guessing the same had been done for these M4A3E9(105)'s.
When the Dutch army started to move on and update their tank force with newer models, like the Centurion tank, the older Sherman tanks were started to be phased out of service. Luckily there is a great number of ex-Dutch Sherman tanks still present in museums and memorial nowadays.
Specifications
Spoiler
Mass: 31.7 tons
Crew: 5Powerplant: Ford GAA engine
Engine horsepower: 500 hp
Max speed: 42 km/h
Suspension type: Spaced out Vertical Volute Spring System (VVSS)
Track extensions available: “Duckbill” end connectors on both sides of the tracksArmour:
Hull: (47°, Large Hatch, Early 1-Piece Differential Cover)
- Front: 63.5 mm at 47°
- Sides: 38.1 mm at 0°
- Rear: 38.1 mm at 22°
- Roof: 19.5 mm
Turret: (105mm D78541 turret)
- Mantlet: 88.9 mm
- Front: 76.2 mm
- Sides: 50.8 mm
- Rear: 50.8 mm
- Roof: 25.4 mm
Armament:
- 1 x 1 105 mm M4 howitzer
- Ammunition storage: 66 rounds
- 2 x 1 7.62 mm M1919 machine guns (One coaxial, one in the front hull)
- Ammunition storage: 3000 rounds
The use of a roof mounted machine gun is unknown. Not all Dutch Sherman tanks used for training had the 12.7mm machine gun so I’m guessing this one didn’t have it too.
Ingame
Spoiler
I know what you might say, it’s just another M4 Sherman. And you’d be right! Normally the vehicles I suggest are unique vehicles I’d want to see ingame. But in this case it’s just a M4 Sherman.
The reason I’m suggesting this, and all other Dutch operated Sherman tanks, is because I feel that they are still a necessary part of a potential independent BeNeLux techtree (Not the sad sub-tree we have now). ← Written on the 29th of Januari 2025The Sherman tank was the backbone of the Dutch Army just after the second world war, so they do have some historical value to the Dutch.
Ofcourse the BeNeLux has been added to France, so this is now the only option where Dutch vehicles will go to. But it must be said that the Netherlands and France have nothing in common, and do not make sense to combine together ingame.
Another photo of the Dutch M4A3E9(105) abandoned in a field
Source: Unknown
That would be all for today, see you next time!
Sources
Spoiler
Main source:
- “Wiel en Rups, Voertuigen van de landmacht 1945-2015” book by Sander Ruys
- Redirecting...
Extra sources:
Engine:
Photo: