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Author Topic: Old ww2 footage of cw operator on a tank  (Read 548 times)

KC6RWI

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Old ww2 footage of cw operator on a tank
« on: June 17, 2022, 08:05:20 PM »

I found this utube, its a german surrender,
On one tank and a  Gi has a key strapped to his leg and he is busy sending, you can't see the radio,
but its real footage. I can't remember if he had headphones on but he is riding outside.
Maybe some clever ham can read the key, there are people who can read lips from old footage.

Its at 5:30

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIKGmaXmfCQ
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WA2EIO

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Re: Old ww2 footage of cw operator on a tank
« Reply #1 on: June 18, 2022, 06:13:32 AM »

A few of the comments mention "...field promotions..." and that is a good possiblility.
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AE0Q

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Re: Old ww2 footage of cw operator on a tank
« Reply #2 on: June 18, 2022, 09:38:13 AM »

You can see what he is sending.
At 5:40 the Army radioman on the tank sends "IELD PROMOTIONS BU"  in the closeup shot.  Those are the only letters you can see him send.
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AC2EU

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Re: Old ww2 footage of cw operator on a tank
« Reply #3 on: June 18, 2022, 02:25:22 PM »

THe SCR 508 tank radio was FM only with no CW option as far as I know. He must have been using another radio that may have been sitting on top of the tank somewhere?

WB8VLC

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Re: Old ww2 footage of cw operator on a tank
« Reply #4 on: June 24, 2022, 10:27:54 AM »

That looks like a Ford Kiddie car as some Sherman crews called then, or the official Army designation was an M8 also called the Greyhound Armored vehicle by some so it's not even a tank by any means. 

It's a light weight support vehicle that my dad, an M4A1 Sherman driver used to call the Ford Kiddie car.

It had no real armor protection and only a short range 37 mm main gun and no real armor that afforded the crew any chance of surviving anything that the enemy had in light armor or medium arms.

They were mostly used for command vehicles and also for front line scouting in areas that were known to have no German armor nearby and as a result of its command vehicle uses the M8 would have had a long range HF radio in addition to having the short range FM radio which was the same radio that the Sherman's, Grant's, Sheridan's and M26 Pershing's used so a CW operator with a leg key would not be unusual in that vehicle.
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KC6RWI

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Re: Old ww2 footage of cw operator on a tank
« Reply #5 on: June 25, 2022, 11:30:43 AM »

That sure sounds like an authentic piece of historical fact, a Ford Kiddie car, as always it an
amazing forum with the info that can be gathered from the users.
Do you think the radio man was asked to sit outside and send to add something to the film?
Or is it hot inside those Kiddie cars?
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WB8VLC

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Re: Old ww2 footage of cw operator on a tank
« Reply #6 on: June 27, 2022, 02:19:39 PM »

Nope it was just one Sherman Drivers take on the M8.

 I never had the opportunity to talk to other tankers so I don't know what others may have called it.  My dad was from Detroit and he never liked Fords so his name for the M8 probably reflected this.

The war was basically over so why sit inside a hot armored vehicle during what was probably a nice April day when you can sit outside and enjoy the cute Czech girls coming up showing the GI's their gratitude.
« Last Edit: June 27, 2022, 02:22:03 PM by WB8VLC »
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