The sign next to this tank reads this to be an M4A4(76) (this is wrong) and that it was retrieved from the camp Elsenborn in 1998. Because the Remember 39-45 Museum is dedicated to the US Army, this British Sherman Firefly tank has been changed to look like a standard Sherman tank with a short barrelled 75mm US tank. This is the reason why the tank has US markings instead of British ones.

This surviving M4A4 Sherman Firefly Tank is exhibited at the Remember Museum in Thimister-Clermont Belgium.

The British OQF 17-Pdr gun and mantlet were replaced with an US 75mm main gun and M34A1 mantlet, and the British-added turret loader’s hatch was welded, so that the turret looks like an American one, but the hull still supports some British fittings,

There are hundreds of surviving Sherman tanks with the standard 75mm short barrelled gun but preserved 17pdr Sherman Firefly tanks are in short supply. It seems criminal to do this type of restoration. I know why they have done it but I believe it is still wrong. Hopefully in the future this Sherman tank will be given another restoration and turned back into a Sherman Firefly once again.

This restored M4A4 Sherman Firefly 17pdr Vc Tank is exhibited at the Remember Museum in Thimister-Clermont Belgium.

Location

The Museum is inside a large barn in a farm. Set your Sat-Nav to the village of Thimister-Clermont in Belgium and then select the road Les Beolles and the farm is number 4. Opposite the entrance on the other side of the road near the car park is this M4A4 Sherman Firefly tank.

Specifications

The M4A4 Sherman Firefly tank was powered by a Chrysler A57 multibank petrol engine that produced 470 hp. The rear engine compartment had to be lengthend on this version of the Sherman tank to take this engine. It had a top road speed in small bursts of 25 mph (40 km/h) but could sustain a cruising speed of only 20 mph (32 km/h).

It had an operational range of around 120 miles (193km) before the tank crew needed to refuel. Its armour thickness ranged from 25 mm to 89mm. It needed a crew of five men: commander, gunner, loader/radio operator and driver. There was no hull mounted machine gun but a .30 cal Browning M1919 machine gun was fixed next to the main gun in the turret. A .50cal machine gun was often fitted in a mount on top of the turret.

The British Ordnance Quick Firing OQF 17-pounder gun was originally fitted to the turret of this tank. It was one of the few Allied tanks that to take on the German Panther and Tiger tanks and win. The shells from the short barrelled 75mm gun that is now fitted to the turret  could not penetrate the frontal armour of either of those tow tanks.

This restored M4A4 Sherman Firefly 17pdr Vc Tank is exhibited at the Remember Museum in Thimister-Clermont Belgium.

The Remember 39 – 45 Museum

The small Belgian village of Thimister-Clermont was liberated in September 1944. Marcel Schmetz was an 11-year-old boy and lived on the farm just outside of the village. A Company of American GIs, about 110 men, bivouacked on his family’s farm during November that year. For Marcel this was an amazing time. During the German occupancy of Belgium were shortages and restrictions. That was now lifted. The American troops shared their rations, sweets and chocolates with the farmer and his children.

He got to know the men from D Company, 25th Infantry Regiment very well. Unfortunately after 3 weeks they were ordered out, back to the front line, as the German Ardennes offensive, the Battle of the Bulge had started. They left a lot of equipment at the farm expecting to return. Marcel’s family stored all the American soldiers’ personal items in one of their farmyard barns. The soldiers never return to collect it.

In 1994 Marcel and his wife Mathilde Schmetz opened a museum housed in one of the farms barns. They called it the Remember 39 – 45 Museum. Over the years new items of equipment have been added, like the Sherman firefly tank, to make a visit to this small museum more fascinating. It is always open the first Sunday of every month but you can ask for special tour by phoning them first.

The Remember Museum 39-45 is open the 1st Sunday of each month from 9am to 6pm or on appointment for groups of 10 people minimum. The visitors will have a guided tour in either English, French, Dutch, Wallon or German.

Read more in these two tank books