Hey lads. Could someone present a list or pic of 'standard' (I use this term loosely) items as stowage for rear deck or glacis? More info on the type of covers or tarps (ie. dimensions) stowed...
Know of oil cans, rations, fuel cans, camo nets, spare wheels, sandbags etc

Very hard question to answer. I've never seen a 'list' of items to be stowed externally on any tank. A unit commander could say 'every tank in this unit will have two spare wheels and a cammo net' and each crew would add their own items to that; or it would be all down to the crew; or all imposed by the CO.
It would also depend on the situation. A crew going into combat could well leave most items at their jump off point to reduce the fire risk, to be picked up later; whereas a long move by road and all sorst of extra items would be carried outside to make the interior more comfortable.

Sorry Dave but when I said 'list' I simply meant could someone 'list' stowage inclusions...
See what you mean re where they happen to be at the time may affect what they stow; I guess that could even include crates of wine beer foods etc from primary production areas? Hmmm.....

Hi Bradley,
Being one who loves stowage, my normal stowage on a Sherman will include among others.
Ration Boxes
Ammo boxes
Tarps
Personal bags
Wood (for protection and putting over mud)
Jerry cans
Chains

Hope that helps

just about anything and everything a G.I. could come across and find usefull..from sleeping bags and tarps to extra ammo and rations to cases of wine and baskets of produce....

This might be something to consider:

In reading through official field manuals for the various machines, they include full inventories of what's supposed to be included in every tank. You get items like nos. of canteens, boxes of pistol ammo, cooking gear, hand tools, etc. By perusing one of these lists, you could perhaps get an idea of some items that weren't properly replaced in their official storage area on the tank. Have these items lying around for your diorama?

Mike Powell has reproduced the M4/M4A1 manuals here:

http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/books/easy1/t002.htm

I find it would depend a lot on the theater and time period. Early war sherms in N Africa or Italy would have different storage than N.W. Europe. For early commonwealth some additions would be Petrol Flimsies, a Funnel for fueling and "billy" cans for brewing up. As for Jerry cans I like to mix types .e. German with U.S. or Brit pattern and for an early war maybe a desert cammed jerry with a white"X" (for water). As for anything else, whatever the crew could "acquire" to aid their comfort/ survival. A lot of times all it would appear as is mound with a trap tied down over it and other times you can see bikes, civie weapons (shotguns) or furniture. Read once about a Honey tank in N African with a pillar bed tied to the rear deck. Allied tank crews were adapt at "liberating" comforts.

US soldiers can be some of the craftiest scavengers around. Anything they can get to increase firepower, protect and comfort can be salvaged. I have seen bicycles, chairs, stools, even a manequin (maybe to use as a decoy??)

Thanks lads! Just what the doctor ordered
Just need a Sherman with a rear hull the size of a soccer pitch for what I want to do now... :-)

I have even seen a pic of a Sherman with a bust of Hitler strapped to the front glacis plate

I don't know if it was a unit thing or what it really represented but I have seen several pics of Shermans with a top hat attached over one of the headlights. I don't know why.

All of these posts talk of extemporaneous stowage, what the crews picked up and strapped on to make their life longer or more comfortable. Under all that was an actual official storage list. Both the Brits & the US Army had official lists of what went where and woe betide the training tanker that could not locate everything blindfolded on a stormy night!

I have never seen an official drawing locating everything in the US stowage list although the manuals have a text list of everything carried and where it was supposed to go. The Brits produced a set of "Stowage Diagrams" for every vehicle they used and they are a wealth of info not only on the stowage, but also on the interiors of their AFVs. The drawings are taken from actual photographs and are extremely accurate depictions of the inside and outside of their vehicles. Everything is shown and labeled. From flashlights (torches) to smoke bombs to main gun ammo, it's all listed and shown in these diagrams. If you want to know what the official list was, these two sources have it, for sure.


HTH

Paul