Also, I can see the Sherman in North York Cemetery from my window. Every time I look at it, I feel sorry for those Allied soldiers who had to take it into battle against Panthers and Tigers.
I'll have to see it to confirm, but if the Sherman in North York is a Firefly model (used extensively by the Canadians) then it would be one of the very best medium-weight tanks in allied use, even better than the T-34, to go up against a Panther or Tiger.
The Firefly was armed with the British 17-pounder anti-tank gun, considered one of the best allied tank guns of the war. The 17-pounder could penetrate the Panther's side armour at over a km distance (of course the Panther and Tiger could kill a Sherman at much further distances, but up close where the fighting usually is, whichever side hits first, kills first). Best of all, compared to the Panther and Tiger, the Sherman was quick, and (unlike the T-34) very reliable. The Sherman's main deficiency was its tall profile, especially after the earlier model's tendancy to catch fire when hit, and weak anti-tank armament (originally had 75mm gun) was addressed.
Indeed the Sherman Firefly is quite a legend in Canadian and allied service. Check out
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherman_Firefly
During the defense of Norrey-en-Bessin on June 9th 1944, 12 Panthers attacked to drive the Canadians out of the town. Within 1000 meters of the town, the single Sherman Firefly (out of 9 Shermans present) quickly knocked out five German Panthers with just 6 rounds.
14 June, 1944, during Operation Perch, Sgt. Harris of the British 4th/7th Dragoon Guards, in his Sherman Firefly, spotted two Panthers advancing from the east. He opened fire at a range of 800 meters, knocking out the lead Panther with his first shot, and the second Panther with his second. Relocating to a new position on the other side of the town, he spotted another three more Panthers approaching from the west, and killed all three with just three rounds. Harris and his gunner had knocked out five Panthers with five rounds.
August 1944, a single Sherman Firefly ambushed a column of Tigers, killing three Tigers.
With its high speed, high reliability and excellent 17-pdr gun, the Sherman, when well handled, could well challenge the Panthers and Tigers, even when the Sherman is outnumbered.
In the 1960s, Israel installed 105mm guns and diesel engines on their army-surplus Shermans, and these old tanks killed huge numbers of modern Soviet-built T-55 Arab tanks.
During the Korean war, Canada's Lord Strathcona's Horse regiment operated three squadrons of Sherman tanks, these being the 90mm armed M4E8 model. They didn't face any Korean tanks during their deployment, but could have done, as U.S Marines' landing at Pusan port in August, 1950 was met by a large number of T-34 tanks of the North Korean 42nd Armored Regiment. Luckily the USMC had the latest M-26 Pershing tanks, and quickly killed the T-34s. However, had the Canadians landed with their Shermans, I am confident that they would have killed the T-34s, since the Easy-8 Sherman and M-26 Pershing share the same 90mm gun.
