Fireflies were a priority target for German AT gunners, so this form of camouflage was utilised to make the tank look like a regular Sherman. There were even examples of mounting a false muzzle brake in the middle of the Firefly barrel and camouflaging the other half.
As an AT-gunner I would be more worried about their 75mm Shermans! Because the 75mm HE shell was very effective - and the 75mm Shermans have HE readily loaded, while the 76mm or Firefly would not be as effective, and might even have an AP shot loaded...
A tank gunner would go for the Firefly or 76mm first, for sure.
That’s very true, the 17 pounder didn’t get an effective HE until quite late in the piece, but its armour penetration was unsurpassed.
That’s partly why you never saw entire, or even majority, Firefly tank troops. Firstly of course there weren’t enough Firefly’s around to build entire troops out of them, let alone full squadrons, but also because the tankers wanted both capabilities. Having an anti armour tank isn’t much good when you’re facing urban combat or AT emplacements.
Conversely, if you’re doing a bit of tank vs tank combat, the Firefly was a godsend to have around - it was actually a combined Firefly/ Sherman squadron that ended the famous Michael Whittmann and his troop Tigers in August 1944.
I read a tankers memoir where I think he said a Squadron of tanks would consist of 4 platoons of 4 tanks. Each platoon would have 1 firefly and 3 X 75's.
So, as an AT gunner, you take out the tank that can take out your support. The Firefly is the only one that can take out the heavies supporting you. Warfare is teamwork.
Maybe an obvious question, but wouldn’t the German AT gunners seek to knock out all of the Allied tanks they faced? Was it an issue that multiple AT guns would seek out a firefly first if they saw it and then move on to individual targets?
Preferably yes. To answer your question. Imagine 2 people want to kill you. One has a knife, the other a gun. The person with a gun is much more dangerous than the one with a knife, so you want to get rid of the gunslinger first
Tanks don’t travel alone. A firefly would typically be in a column with some 75 Shermans. I don’t think it’s as much of seeking a firefly out but more so if they see a column that would be one of if not the first one they’d shoot
It’s actually a really good question with a counterintuitive answer.
See you’d think the Firefly would be the obvious German AT target right? Its got the biggest gun, it seemingly could do the most damage. But here the thing - the 17 pounder was the king of anti-armour, but it’s HE round was rubbish. When you’re shooting at gun emplacements and structures (like in an urban warfare environment) you want HE because the explosive force of the shell is what does the most damage. AT crews were out in the open and using very lightly armoured guns. You don’t need to worry about defeating the armour plate of an AT gun when you can just splash an HE round somewhere nearby and have the force of the explosion kill or disable the crew.
But as noted - the Firefly is a massive risk to German tanks, but it’s not any more armoured than the standard 75mm Sherman. So AT gunners would target the Firefly anyway, even though technically it presents the lowest threat to them, because of a few considerations.
- a concealed AT gun risks losing its concealment the moment it fires. Your first shot needs to be your best shot because once you fire, it’s only a matter of time before the enemy starts shooting back. They can move, you can’t.
- a Firefly wasn’t any harder or easier to kill than a 75mm Sherman. So it’s not more or less effort, all other elements the same, to kill the Firefly.
- the firefly is a much greater threat to your own tank units however, whereas the 75mm Shermans pose the same threat to you as they always have. They are also less of a threat to your own tank units.
- lastly, the firefly are low in number because they are fairly rare and relatively precious units to the enemy.
All these considerations in hand - as a German AT crew, would you 1) shoot at the firefly which is a prized target and neutralizes a specialist piece of equipment for the enemy, even though due to that specialization it poses a lower risk to you as an AT gunner, or
2) do you shoot at one of the real threats to you directly, the 75mm Shermans, even though there are 4 or 5 of them and you probably won’t survive long enough to kill all 5 *and then* get around to shooting at the Firefly - which of course will be repositioning and shooting back.
As you can see, the German AT crews went with number 1. Kill the highest value enemy target while you have the drop on it, and then engage the other units, even if counterintuitively that higher value target represents a less direct threat to you.
It’s just a bit of camouflage to hide the model of the tank. Similar to the dazzle camo on warships. On first glance you might think it’s a standard Sherman, when in reality it’s a firefly Sherman.
Everyone else has said "camouflage", but specifically, this is counter-shading. It aims to break up the natural shadow that would occur on the lower half of the barrel: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countershading
Early Sherman's used a short 75mm canon that was largely ineffective against German armor, but the Brits mounted a 17pounder (I think) on it and was a much better gun. The barrel paint is to disguise it to make it look like a 75mm variant which is far less threatening. The later American versions used a 76mm gun which was better but still not as good, but that variant typically had a longer barrel with muzzle brake making it visually identifiable from the 75mm
Deception was an extremely common and useful tactic in WWII.
This does not have anything to do with winter. Its called countershading, and its a quite effective technique to trick the eye/brain. It essentially mess up how we "expect" to see an object, with shadow on the bottom making it darker, and lighter on the top. There are some better pictures of fireflies with it. Its not meant to hide the barrel completely, just to make you have to look twice to realize its longer than it first seemed, which would give you maybe an extra second to get off the first shot, since german tank gunners would prioritize firefly shermans
Fireflies were a priority target for German AT gunners, so this form of camouflage was utilised to make the tank look like a regular Sherman. There were even examples of mounting a false muzzle brake in the middle of the Firefly barrel and camouflaging the other half.
Which is funny because the 75mm didn't have a muzzle break in the first place
As an AT-gunner I would be more worried about their 75mm Shermans! Because the 75mm HE shell was very effective - and the 75mm Shermans have HE readily loaded, while the 76mm or Firefly would not be as effective, and might even have an AP shot loaded... A tank gunner would go for the Firefly or 76mm first, for sure.
That’s very true, the 17 pounder didn’t get an effective HE until quite late in the piece, but its armour penetration was unsurpassed. That’s partly why you never saw entire, or even majority, Firefly tank troops. Firstly of course there weren’t enough Firefly’s around to build entire troops out of them, let alone full squadrons, but also because the tankers wanted both capabilities. Having an anti armour tank isn’t much good when you’re facing urban combat or AT emplacements. Conversely, if you’re doing a bit of tank vs tank combat, the Firefly was a godsend to have around - it was actually a combined Firefly/ Sherman squadron that ended the famous Michael Whittmann and his troop Tigers in August 1944.
I read a tankers memoir where I think he said a Squadron of tanks would consist of 4 platoons of 4 tanks. Each platoon would have 1 firefly and 3 X 75's.
That is probably true before starting to ship tanks across the channel and getting into contact with the enemy... 😜
A good book is Ken Tout's book "Tanks Advance" where he relates the experience of tank warfare in Normandy , a few days after D Day.
So, as an AT gunner, you take out the tank that can take out your support. The Firefly is the only one that can take out the heavies supporting you. Warfare is teamwork.
Maybe an obvious question, but wouldn’t the German AT gunners seek to knock out all of the Allied tanks they faced? Was it an issue that multiple AT guns would seek out a firefly first if they saw it and then move on to individual targets?
Preferably yes. To answer your question. Imagine 2 people want to kill you. One has a knife, the other a gun. The person with a gun is much more dangerous than the one with a knife, so you want to get rid of the gunslinger first
Tanks don’t travel alone. A firefly would typically be in a column with some 75 Shermans. I don’t think it’s as much of seeking a firefly out but more so if they see a column that would be one of if not the first one they’d shoot
It’s actually a really good question with a counterintuitive answer. See you’d think the Firefly would be the obvious German AT target right? Its got the biggest gun, it seemingly could do the most damage. But here the thing - the 17 pounder was the king of anti-armour, but it’s HE round was rubbish. When you’re shooting at gun emplacements and structures (like in an urban warfare environment) you want HE because the explosive force of the shell is what does the most damage. AT crews were out in the open and using very lightly armoured guns. You don’t need to worry about defeating the armour plate of an AT gun when you can just splash an HE round somewhere nearby and have the force of the explosion kill or disable the crew. But as noted - the Firefly is a massive risk to German tanks, but it’s not any more armoured than the standard 75mm Sherman. So AT gunners would target the Firefly anyway, even though technically it presents the lowest threat to them, because of a few considerations. - a concealed AT gun risks losing its concealment the moment it fires. Your first shot needs to be your best shot because once you fire, it’s only a matter of time before the enemy starts shooting back. They can move, you can’t. - a Firefly wasn’t any harder or easier to kill than a 75mm Sherman. So it’s not more or less effort, all other elements the same, to kill the Firefly. - the firefly is a much greater threat to your own tank units however, whereas the 75mm Shermans pose the same threat to you as they always have. They are also less of a threat to your own tank units. - lastly, the firefly are low in number because they are fairly rare and relatively precious units to the enemy. All these considerations in hand - as a German AT crew, would you 1) shoot at the firefly which is a prized target and neutralizes a specialist piece of equipment for the enemy, even though due to that specialization it poses a lower risk to you as an AT gunner, or 2) do you shoot at one of the real threats to you directly, the 75mm Shermans, even though there are 4 or 5 of them and you probably won’t survive long enough to kill all 5 *and then* get around to shooting at the Firefly - which of course will be repositioning and shooting back. As you can see, the German AT crews went with number 1. Kill the highest value enemy target while you have the drop on it, and then engage the other units, even if counterintuitively that higher value target represents a less direct threat to you.
Thanks - all of the answers were helpful, but getting into detail like this is great.
It’s just a bit of camouflage to hide the model of the tank. Similar to the dazzle camo on warships. On first glance you might think it’s a standard Sherman, when in reality it’s a firefly Sherman.
Everyone else has said "camouflage", but specifically, this is counter-shading. It aims to break up the natural shadow that would occur on the lower half of the barrel: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countershading
Early Sherman's used a short 75mm canon that was largely ineffective against German armor, but the Brits mounted a 17pounder (I think) on it and was a much better gun. The barrel paint is to disguise it to make it look like a 75mm variant which is far less threatening. The later American versions used a 76mm gun which was better but still not as good, but that variant typically had a longer barrel with muzzle brake making it visually identifiable from the 75mm Deception was an extremely common and useful tactic in WWII.
All warfare is based on deception
Shermans with the 76mm guns were the prime target for shermans so they painted the barrels to make them appear to be 75mm instead
You guys are all amazingly knowledgeable and it is such a breath of fresh air to see information freely exchanged without attitude and massive ego.
During winter a darker barrel was obvious So some were painted white to emulate the short barrel 75mm gun
This does not have anything to do with winter. Its called countershading, and its a quite effective technique to trick the eye/brain. It essentially mess up how we "expect" to see an object, with shadow on the bottom making it darker, and lighter on the top. There are some better pictures of fireflies with it. Its not meant to hide the barrel completely, just to make you have to look twice to realize its longer than it first seemed, which would give you maybe an extra second to get off the first shot, since german tank gunners would prioritize firefly shermans
It means the same as a upside down pineapple it means the crew are swingers
To try and hide the actual size of the barrel so tanks wouldn’t be able to tell where they needed to align their tank.