I bought this book because i am generally interested in world war ii and wanted to learn more about the role tanks played in that war. In 2012, a soldier with the royal irish regiment named michael maguire was killed during a live firing exercise at the same range. We showed off this model of a german tiger tank before, including the conversion to fire a heavy bolt at around 50 ftlb of energy. The survival of an american armored division in world war ii is a 1998 memoir by belton y. Invariably, when this topic is raised in an online forum, someone will bring up the book death traps by belton cooper. The book contains only a couple of maps and virtually no photographs. When it was first introduced in the north african desert in mid1942, the m4 sherman was the most powerfullyarmed and most heavilyarmored tank in north africa. I have recently read belton coopers memoir death traps and generally liked it but i would like to make a couple of remarks on it. The m4 sherman was the workhorse medium tank of the u. Toy soldiers by giant, a large battlefield playmat, and among other accessories, the infamous exploding tanks.
British tank development in the second world war uk ed. He saw a lot of battle damage on american tanks from german guns. T34 can be consider as a death traps due to its deliberate crude design. So now im on a roll and hope my next book by mw phelps will be just as exciting. 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. 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. Arkham knight, the riddler will reveal himself to be in the middle of a dastardly endeavor as he does in every batman arkham game. Road blocks and tank traps and dragons teeth from ww2. Cooper, an ordenance officer in the us 3rd armoured division, across the west european campaign of wwii and as such fills a.
This is the second page of home guard relics still visible today 70 years later. He was a liaison lieutenant in the 3 rd armor division for the maintenance battalion. The united states world war 2 main battle tank, the m4 sherman was obsolete by. The average crew loss per tank loss was just under one man.
Death trap definition is a structure or situation that is potentially very dangerous to life. Cooper describes the dangers of travelling by jeep every day from the armored spearhead back to division, only accompanied by his driver, and travelling. It supports two to seven players, represented by differentlycolored tanks, with a range of weapons. With a forward by popular historian stephen ambrose and the. 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. From the high tech threat of sentry turrets and shrink rays to the mystical security of the vigil, theres. I have never before been able to learn so much about maintenance methods of an.
Yet it is in a one piece design, and it collapses down for easy storage. 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. 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. It can also be used in nearly any fate powered system. If you look that the statistics for wwii, then the us army had only 3% casualties for tank crews, while it had 18% casualties for infantry. Chuck miller e co, 32nd armored regiment, 3ad written in 1997. Cooperss book is somewhat unusual in that cooper served in a support unit instead of combat arms. 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.
And if he is irrelevant, then why would hunicutts books be considered relevant. I have never before been able to learn so much about mai. Death inside a tank click to read the veterans returning home series. The book kinda bias about riding a death traps, he still alive and well after the war. If you read death traps you understand the tone of the movie as well as why the eponymous tank is named fury. This was no surprise to the us army, and they had a whole plan worked out to use infantry, artillery, and air support in conjunction with tanks to help them deal with antitank guns and other tanks. 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. The 155 let go and struck the tank at the base of the turret, completely decapitating it. Death traps is a shocking firstperson story of the fatal vulnerability of americas tank force in france and germany in 1944 and 1945. Test out some of the devastating weapons on your unlucky opponents, and carve up some of the deformable terrain while you are at it. Coopers experiences in the battle to defeat germany. The book focus on the deficiencies of the medium tank, m4 in europe, and how these deficiencies prolonged the war and caused the needless deaths of us tankers. Read death traps the survival of an american armored division in world war ii by belton y.
Death traps is a very good memoir by belton cooper. Cooper served as an ordnance officer with the forward elements and was responsible for coordinating the recovery and repair of damaged american tanks. Between the worn brake pads and the loose steering wheel, that car is a death trap. A tank rumbles through a training area an hour away from army pvt. Simply put, in the heat of battle it was as dangerous inside of a sherman tank as it was outside of one. Influenced by scorched earth, the gameplay is realtime instead of turnbased. I was a corporal and gunner on an m4 sherman tank in e company, 32nd armored regiment of the 3rd armored division during. It mimics the traditional figure four trap trigger system carved out with sticks. Antitank guns larger than 57 mm could be hard on the sherman and some guns could cut through them like butter. At one point, a german tank came through an opening in a hedgerow and encountered an m12 with its 155mm gpf zeroed in on the gap. It was a literal death trap for the crews manning it, so poorly armored it stood little chance against german tanks. Road blocks and tank traps and dragons teeth from world war two lancashire.
The royal tank regiment rtr uses the 63tonne challenger 2 battle tank as their main vehicle. Tank trap was a classic helen of toy war game that featured 3d g. Death trap definition of death trap by merriamwebster. 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. An important contribution to the history of world war ii. The tankinfantry assault team concept remains strong since world war ii where infantry provided all around protection from threats to 35ton m4 sherman tanks armed with a 76mm main gun. The writer kinda forgot that they are on the offensive back then which makes them get shot first. Patton, the armys leading tank expert, entered the fray. The death traps is a punkrock band from breda, the netherlands.
Its an alright game if you have more than two players, five max from the. The survival of an american armored division in world war ii by benton y. The survival of an american armored division in world war ii belton y. Death traps is well worth reading, but the work is not without its faults. Personally id rather be in an lav than a t72 because when i get it with something, i have the 0. Although many armored commanders favored the pershing, the tank debate continued until lt gen george s.
I would like to know why death traps by belton cooper is considered irrelevant. The house was in such bad condition that the contractor wouldnt allow his workers inside because he. Why the us only had a heavy tank that could stand up to the heavier german armor is a story i have never read before. Pathfinder df4 deadfall trap self reliance outfitters. Clearly, it helps sitting behind steel armor for most of the time. I chose top rating for death trap because it kept me intrigued with never a boring moment. Cooper is a very polished writer, and the book is very readable.
In my cover story for this months popular mechanics, i look at 20 kinds of hazards, both natural and manmade, that can cut short a life with little warning. Branson tragedy isnt first deadly duck boat accident. American tank crews quickly learned that these death traps were no match for heavier german tanks such as the panther and king tiger. Death traps the survival of an american armored division. Yes, how jessica persuaded her new husband, the alabama policeman, to fire eight bullets into alan and terra bates her ex and his new wife as they sat on the sofa in jessicas house, stuff them into the trunk of their car, and drive it to georgia where thye set it afire is quite disturbing.
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. Written by base raiders author ross payton and caleb stokes of hebanon games, death traps volume 1 is a collection of five unique death traps is perfect for any base raiders game. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Hidden game on powerslave and it is only unlockable on the ntsc version. The amphibious boats, which date back to world war ii, have a history of fatal accidentsincluding. If you want to understand how an american armored division functioned during ww2 this is the book to read. In the book, he only gives a few examples of actual tank on tank duels. Death tank is a 1996 competitive multiplayer, 2d artillery game developed by ezra dreisbach of lobotomy software. Ive seen a lot of post with t72s burnt out or are burning out while its crew is in there being roasted alive.
Crisp graphics and amazing effects, coupled with addictive game play makes each battle a visceral experience. Twodimensional tank games have been around since the nascent days of ibms dos operating system, and snowblind studios will. Death tank is a fastpaced action game that requires quick reflexes and cunning strategy. The pdf4 deadfall trap can easily be set with one hand holding the trap trigger, and the other holding up the. This allows the tank to acheive higher road speed, gives a smoother ride for the firing platform and promotes track retention. The terrain on which this occurs is heavily deformed during play. The m4 sherman tank was hell on wheelsand a death trap. The m4 sherman tank was hell on wheels and a death trap. If the sherman tank was a death trap, we would see casualty figures that would truly stand out compared to the rest of the frontline troops.