Since no names are recorded, and his source is stated as as reported, i give little credence to the story itself, but i wonder if the movie director heard this same story and adapted it to the film. 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. Ayer was influenced by the service of veterans in his family and by reading books, such as. At least one of ashtonwolfes renditions of a factual crime influenced a story by doyle 3. Dec 18, 2007 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. Yain a downtoearth style, death traps tells the compelling story of one mans assignment to the famous 3rd armored division that. Written by 3rd armored world war ii veteran belton cooper of birmingham, alabama, and first published in 1998, death traps has received wide acclaim in military circles. Cooper, a veteran of the tank war, wrote in the book death traps, one. Aug 03, 2014 seeing our mounting tank losses made me realize that our armored forces had been the victims of a great deceit, belton y. Hanoi shan appears in three accounts by ashton wolfe, the suicide room. Invariably, when this topic is raised in an online forum, someone will bring up the book death traps by belton cooper. Hundreds of photos, including many never published before with riveting accounts of armored warfare in world war ii compares the sherman to other tanks, including the panther and tiger author is a worldrenowned expert on the sherman tank and american armor some tank crews referred to the american m4 sherman tank as a death trap. As american tanks raced across france, one fact became immediately clear. The survival of an american armor division in world war ii has 1 available editions to buy at half price books marketplace.
So critical was the need for replacement combatready tanks that cooper and his recovery team had to go to extreme lengths to pick up the pieces from the. 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. The glory and the horror of the desert rats as famous brigade are stripped of their tanks. May 22, 2019 simply put, in the heat of battle it was as dangerous inside of a sherman tank as it was outside of one. I dont believe the sherman on the whole was anything but a rousing success. Death traps by belton cooper is a memoir of his us army service in world war 2. The survival of an american armored division in world war ii, published in 1998. Death traps is as much a history book as it is a memoir, which makes it a fairly heavy read. The true saga of spearhead heroes of a different sort. The united states world war 2 main battle tank, the m4 sherman was obsolete by 1944. Cooperss book is somewhat unusual in that cooper served in a support unit instead of combat arms. Death traps the survival of an american armored division in.
All crewman would want the most armor and most powerful guns. The main theme of the book is that m4 sherman was, as the title implies, a death trap to the men that operated them. Ashtonwolfe became friendly with sir arthur conan doyle 2, the noted mystery writer. Over 52,000 copies have been sold, and a third printing is set for 2006. Without a doubt, this is one of the finest wwii memoirs ever written by an american. Cooper, an ordenance officer in the us 3rd armoured division, across the west european campaign of wwii and as such fills. The writer kinda forgot that they are on the offensive back then which makes them get shot first. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. Coopers experiences in the battle to defeat germany. The battle of arracourt appears to have been the biggest tank battle of the postdday western front, between the third armys 4th armoured division and two german waffen ss panzer brigades. As a young ordnance lieutenant in the 3d armor division, it was belton coopers job to. While i am sure many can make different choices based on a whole host of different factors, here are my picks for the five worst tanks ever.
The book contains only a couple of maps and virtually no photographs. In his book death traps belton cooper believes that the m4 got many american servicemen unneedlessly killed due to intentionally poor construction. Was the ww2 memoir death traps by belton cooper historically accurate. Sep 12, 2017 ive seen the negative analysis of the sherman. Coopers death traps, about american armored units in world war ii and the high casualty rates suffered by tank crews in. The united states world war 2 main battle tank, the m4 sherman was. If you enjoy reading ww2 tank history combined with mechanical maintenance of the sherman, then go along with b. Death traps the survival of an american armored division. The survival of an american armored division in world war ii belton y. Tank busting blowing up the myth of the mighty m4 sherman. Cooper served as an ordnance lieutenant in the 3rd armor division 3ad, acting as a liaison officer between the combat commands and the division maintenance battalion.
The resulting losses were staggering and america simply. For the same reason internet hobby historians love to rate the tiger ll as the greatest tank ever the m1 abrams is based off it dontcha know and routinely place rommel at the top of the list of greatest generals ever. Uhoh, it looks like your internet explorer is out of date. Cooper served with united state armys 3rd armored division fighting the germans in 19441945. For example, the author states that the ford v8 used to power many m4 sherman tanks was originally a british aircraft engine. Despite apparently being outnumbered, the 4th armoured division won out after several days fighting with casualties of just 32 afvs compared to german losses in excess of 200 afvs. One on one, the sherman tank with its 75mm main gun was overmatched by the more heavily armored and heavily gunned german tanks that it faced across the battlefield. Dispelling the myths surrounding the m4 sherman knowledge glue. Coopers book, death traps about americas sherman tanks in wwii, and had brought my copy for him to autograph.
It is written in the style of a memoir, but it also presents itself as a history of the 3rd armored division, the unit in which cooper served as an ordnance lieutenant. Jan 29, 2015 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 survival of an american armored division in world war ii is a 1998 memoir by belton y. The 3rd armored division entered combat in normandy with 232 m4 sherman tanks, writes.
The independence palace, also known as reunification palace is a landmark in ho chi minh city and built on the site of the former norodom palace. Apr 29, 2003 in a downtoearth style, death traps tells the compelling story of one man. However, unlike the germans and the soviets, america did little to uparmor or upgun this main battle tank, leaving it fatally vulnerable to nextgeneration german tanks, such as the tiger, panther. Cooper, he relates a story of heroism by a tank crew member that is very familiar to the last scene of the movie fury. Later, cooper recalled the experience in a book, death traps. Cooper as he travels from normandy france to german soil, right to the end of the war in europe. Cooper served as an ordnance liaison officer of the us 3rd armored division from the invasion of normandy until the end of the war. Belton coopers book death traps is a good book about the sherman. Armored thunderbolt goodreads meet your next favorite book.
Jun 20, 2017 vietnams capital, hanoi, located in the north, is gritty, chaotic, and noisy. Crossing the road can be a death trap, try dodging an endless stream of scooters, bicycles, motorbikes and cars that zoom past with little regard for pedestrians or traffic lights. The survival of an american armored division in world war ii. Fury, starring brad pitt, a raw look at warfare the new. The sherman had a good crew survival rate when compared to other allied and late war german tanks because it had relatively large hatches for the crew to get in out of the tank. Someone who merely wish to read an exciting war story is best advised to look elsewhere, but for anyone who has a serious interest in world war ii armor, this book is an essential read.
Why does the sherman have disproportionately high survival. Death traps is a somewhat unique book among books written about wwii in so far that it features the accounts and feelings of a man who by his own admission. The overwhelming bulk of german tank losses were caused by combined air. Cooper describes the difficult maneuvering in the hedgerow country, the confusion of the battle of the bulge, the liberation of nordhausen concentration camp and the destruction of an entire column of tanks and. Why wwii soldiers nicknamed the sherman tank death trap.
Death traps is a memoir, not a researched historical work. The inferiority of american tanks in world war ii george c. People beep their horns incessantly for no reason at all constantly. Fury, starring brad pitt, a raw look at warfare the.
To make matters worse, the committee was apparently dominated by yankees, who decided to name this tank m3 the grant, after the union general and later president. His laments about shermans being no good against tigers and panthers are questionable, as his unit did not encounter tigers and panthers when he. He served in the unit responsible for recovering damaged and destroyed tanks. T34 can be consider as a death traps due to its deliberate crude design. It was the site of the end of the vietnam war during the fall of saigon on april 30, 1975, when a north vietnamese army tank crashed through its gates. 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. Why wwii soldiers nicknamed the sherman tank death trap we. Death traps is a shocking firstperson story of the fatal vulnerability of americas tank force in france and germany in 1944 and 1945. I had also seen him on the history channel speaking about the deficiencies of americas tanks engineering disasters. Worthwhile reading, however, quite a bit of erroneous detail. Cooper, author of death traps and a member of the 3rd armor division maintenance unit, recounts knowing how inferior the sherman was after seeing its physical destruction firsthand. Get your order fast and stress free with free curbside pickup. Cooper, author of death traps and a member of the 3rd armor division. When belton cooper was a young boy growing up in huntsville, he dreamed of building the worlds first unsinkable battleship.
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. Ayer was influenced by the service of veterans in his family and by reading books, such as belton y. Jul 28, 20 one of my favorite quotes in death traps which shows coopers ignorance is the following. Compare say the size of access hatches on a sherman and a cromwell an. I would like to acknowledge several people who helped me write this book, not necessarily in the order of their importance. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read death traps.
These are the recollections and perceptions as the man saw them, recited some 50 years after the fact. The survival of an american armored division in world war ii by belton y. American tank crews quickly learned that these death traps were no match for heavier german tanks such as the panther and king tiger. The survival of an american armored division in world war ii by stephen e.
Great book, with a bunch of minute details about ww2 battle tanks you never heard of. Death traps is well worth reading, but the work is not without its faults. From the author of the international bestseller a higher call comes the riveting world war ii story of an american tank gunners journey into the heart of the third reich, where he will meet destiny in an iconic armor dueland forge an enduring bond with his enemy. 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. Death traps is easily one of the bestknown memoirs of any us junior officer during world war ii, and certainly so for the us armored forces. The premise of the book, even the title, is that m4s were rolling coffins, and got destroyed a lot. Cooper 1998, hardcover at the best online prices at ebay. Dec 18, 2007 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. After severe tank losses and comparable losses in the crews, the armored regiments ran out of good tank crews. The survival of an american armored division in world war ii, page 1. Belton cooper was a mechanic during the war, and thus lacked a good overall perspective of the shermans performance. So those loss figures represent the literal worst case scenario for a us armored division in the eto.
Even death traps points out that the 3rd armored division lost the most tanks of any american armored division although we do need to take into account account that fact that it was one of two supersized armored divisions in the u. With a forward by popular historian stephen ambrose and the. The book kinda bias about riding a death traps, he still alive and well after the war. The survival of an american armored division in world war ii ebook written by belton y. Cooper served as an ordnance officer with the forward elements and was responsible for coordinating the recovery and repair of damaged american tanks.
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