The M4 Sherman - In The Movies 

Therapist: Wide Sherman isn’t real, it can’t hurt you *W I D E* Sherman: 4:36

Chieftain had made a good point that I hadn't really thought about. It was very important for America to make a simple, yet reliable tank that could survive and operate far from its factory infrastructure. Was the Sherman the best tank? No. But it was the best tank to roll off the assembly lines that was easy to make and operate. Due to a lot of myths people seem to think that if a Tiger shot a single round 5 Shermans spontaneously combusted.

There's alot of misconceptions about the M4 Sherman tank mostly because of the book by Belton Y Cooper. Cooper was a soldier fighting in France with the 3rd Armored Division during World War Two. His book is based mostly on his personal experience but keep in mind his job was to recover and repair damaged tanks. So because he saw so many destroyed Sherman tanks he came to believe that the Sherman wasn't very good in combat against German tanks. I always wondered what he would think of the Panthers or Tigers if he had to repair them. Basically he would say they were unreliable and prone to malfunctioning. The M4 definitely had its disadvantages but was more reliable and efficient in combat compared to its German counterparts. Also the M4A3E8 was a major improvement and had a more capable 76 caliber main gun compared to the 75. The 75 had a better high explosive charge against German infantry which was much more common than enemy tanks as the war came to an end.

The Sherman was designed to fit the role required by Armored Doctrine. Against the Panther and Tiger tanks it struggled. The Tiger was a limited role Breakthrough tank that rarely faced American armor. The Panther was an overreaction to the appearance of the T-34. It made for a great long range, tank destroyer but never actually replaced the older, Panzer IV in armored units. High velocity, Tungsten cored shot was available in late ‘44, but Tank Destroyer units had priority. By that late in the war, so few German tanks were encountered that it never became a priority for most Sherman units. The fact Israel was still using them in the Seventies is a testament to their sound design and engineering.

Thoroughly loving your videos, Johnny! I had a relative who was a gunner on M36 Jacksons in WWII. He hip-shotted a Panther with the 90mm, and thought he was pretty damn cool. Then he found out the tank had been abandoned by its crew, because it had broken down. He said it was like getting a kiss from your sister.

Shout out to Girls Und Panzer the sports anime, very funy and has some amazing 3d models and battles even if the plot is paper thin. Has alot of love and historical references

One of the icon vehicle of ww2. People cannot pictures ww2 without M4 Sherman. It just that it was so "Universal" that it saw combat all across two major theatre. Yes it had it down flaw, but it easily get corrected, and from a hand of experience, well trained crew. It was very deadly and two variants, the Easy eight and firefly, makes the German tankers and AT gun worried. Even after 40 years since it introduction in ww2, it saw it last major fight with Israel as I-sherman or outside Israel as Super Sherman. Imagine if this Sherman is the one that face German tank, what the German will react with a Long Barrel 105mm gun Sherman with additional armor plate

I'll say it again and again it's so good to see Girls und panzer featuring in these tank videos

Another myth that the sherman's armor was very thin isn't quite true either since it's frontal armor had a nice slope to it and could deflect a lot of standard AT guns used in the majority of German units like in the stug But ultimately ordinance found that the winner of most engagements was the one who fired first the Sherman tank was probably the "best" tank of the war due to it's flexibility and being easy to highly mass produce without suffering too much in quality like the T34 did

Sherman was probably the best all around tank in the war

This is gonna be tricky to make another "Tanks in movies" video because I can't really think of any other tanks that were used a lot in movies and TV other than the T-34. Keep up the work!

I love the Sherman. It was very reliable and when it needed repair or maintenance it was relatively easy to do, unlike the German tanks which were over engineered and difficult to repair and as a result if they did break down or run out of petrol, they would be destroyed by their own crews.

Also in Fury. Brad's E8 don't relly need to go behind the tiger as its long 76mm gun can just penetrate the tiger's front armor. And it's bizarre that the tiger crew shot the rearmost sherman first.

The Chieftain has some excellent videos about the Sherman and many of the negative myths surrounding it, overall it was a good, capable, reliable, easy to produce tank. Yes a Sherman could come of second best against a Tiger but if you use another analogy that’s like saying a Cruiser is no good because it comes off second best against a battleship.

When i hear the word „Tank“ this is the first Vehicle that comes to my mind! I saw a Sherman in the Panzermuseum Munster and it blew my mind! If you stand next to it, its really huge. I love this Tank! Great Job America 👌

Who else here loved Girls und Panzer? I sure as hell do!

We won the war in Europe with for the most part, an inferior tank when it came to firepower. The German's did have heavier tanks with more powerful guns. But they were few in number and very difficult to maintain and they guzzled fuel like crazy. Most of the German armor consisted of the Panzer Mark IV with their version of the 75mm high velocity gun. The effective range was better than the Sherman's 75mm but a Sherman using tactics could knock out a Mark IV even with the low velocity 75mm canon. The British had a good fix with the 17 pounder anti tank gun fitted to the Sherman (Firefly). They could knock out Tigers and Panzer V's. The American's came out with the tank destroyers M36 Jackson and M18 both with high velocity guns that would penetrate Tiger I, Tiger II and Panzer V armor and a good stand off range. The M26 came late in the war and did destroy some German armor, but was to late to be a seriously effective tank. The big mistake the German's made was not sticking to one model and making adaptations to that model the way the allies did. The German's did not have the manufacturing capability of America. Regardless, they made the war difficult and costly for the allies. They could have made even more costly had they stuck to the one design and modified it as the battlefield demanded. The Panzer V was their best design in my opinion. They could have up gunned and modified the turret to fit the 88mm gun at a much lower cost in material and man power than trying to build heavier and slower tanks that had trouble getting across bridges and down narrow roads. The vast majority of Tiger I and II's were not destroyed by Sherman's of any variety. They were destroyed by Allied air power, P47's and P51's. and in many instances were just abandoned with mechanical problems or lack of fuel.

Not sure why everyone jumps to Sherman vs tiger, if you're going to compare tanks compare the tanks with their actual counterpart. You wouldn't compare a Lee Enfield to an MG42 because while yes they're both firearms they fill completly different roles in their relevant armed forces. So compare Shermans to the other medium tanks of WWII. T34, Panzer IV, Crusaders, Cromwells or Panthers most of them went through a lot of retrofitting throughout the war and addressed their weaknesses. A t34/76 from 1941 was basically pieces of cobbled together steel without a big enough turret but a brilliant sloped armour idea but compare that to a 1945 T34/85 then you've got a tried and tested design built in a factory that's been making these for years. A M4A4E8 Sherman was a well designed and refined medium tank that outclassed late war Panzer IVs and was capable of taking on late war panthers. All the models that came before led to what was the product at the end of the war regardless of which country.

Thanks for showing scenes from Tank.

The thing is with a Sherman it did its job well (supporting infantry with its HE shells) and it was easy to ship, maintain, and repair, plus it could basically drive from normandy to Berlin without breaking down. It's poor armour was partly negated by the fact that it was rare to face tanks,you would more likely die from arty or mines.

That’s the first time I’ve heard the transport aspect mentioned as being *extremely important.* There was a *long* logistical tail with U.S. stuff.

Another great video and commentary, Johnny. In my city, they are restoring a Sherman, the Holy Roller, one of only two to make it from Juno to the end of the war. The other is in Sherbrooke. In Owen Sound, a city north of me here is s an Easy 8 sitting outside. And I'm glad you used Humphrey Bogart's Sahara, one of my favourite movies. Cheers! from London.

My favorite WWII tank, so many variants such as the Sherman Firefly with the 17 pounder, DD variant, and the T34 Calliope with rockets. Another Japanese animation Sherman are in is besides Girls und Panzer is Strike Witches: Road to Berlin where the Calliope variant is mainly seen. But my favorite Sherman variant will always be the M4A3E8 Easy 8. It’s well balanced and takes the lessons form the war and the Easy 8 nickname rolls off the tongue.

Excellent video - I, for one, was never happier to see a Sherman on screen than in the movie Life is beautiful (perfectly poignant and bittersweet). Also, top lolz at the "You know this one" movie reference. Cheers!

8:19 "this thing only got like 4 inches of armor" that's the same thickness as the Tiger H1 UFP... And no, numerical superiority was not involved in tactics, numerical superiority was a default on all allied engagements, as the smallest american unit was 5 tanks, that means 5 tanks is the smallest armored unit you are gonna face. PD: Jesus, the amount of media with americans using Fireflys is ridiculous

All things considered the best tank of ww2. We used them up until 1971 war, even having a version which had the D52 76mm gun from Soviet PT 76 tank. Read about Battle of Asal Utter where they outperformed Pakistani M47 Pattons in combat.

The Sherman actually had a main gun stabilized in the vertical axis. Unfortunately, the gunners were often not properly trained in the stabilization system's functions because of concerns over secrecy. But it worked well if used by a properly trained gunner.

I love the mention of Kelly's Heroes (my favorite movie). I did know it was filmed in Yugoslavia, but I didn't know how they sourced the tanks. Very cool, thanks for including it.

Thanks for talking about the Sherman from a balanced perspective. The M4 was designed intelligently and also enjoyed several years of isolation from the war for unmolested development. It used the tried and tested engine and suspension from the M2 / M3 medium tanks. The transmission cover and suspension bogies were bolted on for easy replacement, the turrets were cast for faster manufacturing, and the hulls, welded and cast, were properly tempered and ballistically superior to German counterparts. The gyrostabilizer was sophisticated, the power traverse system was world class, the gun could knock out any tank when the Sherman hit the battlefield. Some things weren't great. The radial engine was absolute garbage in a tank and we couldn't wait to get rid of them for V8-powered M4A3s. The original periscope sights were terrible, and the mechanical linkage to the gun fell our of adjustment constantly. The original cast M4A1 had numerous small weak spots like viewports and bulges for crew hatches. There was only one turret hatch for 3 people. But the US was able to produce enough tanks and constantly update these features into better and better tanks. When the T23 medium tank was canceled, the standardized turret ring size of the M4 meant the T23 turret was used to upgun 76mm Shermans. The T-34-85 required the hull to be redesigned for a larger turret ring. The suspension system of the M4 was able to take the 7.5~ tons of additional armor for the M4A3E2 "Jumbo" with just a slight reduction in speed. The HVSS M4A3 could have its front armor *doubled* in the "Thunderbolt" style to make improvised Jumbos. By comparison the Panzer IV G/H/J model had maxed out the frontal armor at 80mm and suffered from front suspension damage during hard braking. Probably the only real criticism you can make is that armor branch was being fussy that the Firefly or 76mm-in-the-standard-turret weren't comfortable enough to institute, but then again, the actual field commanders did not want 76 Shermans until meeting the huge numbers of Panthers in France. But the Americans can and did just shove bigger guns onto the Sherman body, like the 90mm armed M36 and M36B1.

The Americans really loved using the letter "M" for their equipment. M1 Garande. The M1 carbine, the M14, the M16, and of course, the M4 Sherman.

When you used the clip from "To Hell and Back" l wish you had left in the rebuttal from the GI, when the commander said "only 4 inches of armor" the soldier reply's with "how thick do you think this GI shirt is". That in it's self makes the argument about armor all the way around.

I love that it's Oddball's Sherman towing out the shuttle in that episode of Cowboy Bebop!

a little add on, the E8 was NOT the 76mm version, it was the version with wide tracks and HVSS, the 76mm was mounted on tanks without the E8 designation, being called things like the M4A1 76(w), or M4A3 76(w)

a couple of quick notes, in the BoB scene, at 4.45, the British unit represented did not use the Shermans as shown, they were equipped with the A27 Cromwells as shown as well as the A30 Challenger, not shown. The Unit was A Sqn 15th/19th The Kings Royal Hussars, who were the armoured recce regt of the UKs 11th Armoured Division, temporarily attached to the 506 PIR. Also I have been, pre covid, involved in the restoration of and ex Israeli/SLA M50, belonging to Eden Camp in North Yorkshir,e in England. as an afternote, I served with the 15/19H, from 1974-86.

if you , or anyone else , wishes to see an amazing range of Sherman tank variants , including dozer and 155 mm self-propelled gun versions , I HIGHLY recommend you visit Yad La Shiryon , Israel's memorial to the IDF tank corps , and tank museum at Latrun , Central Israel , where you can also view a Stug 3 , M3 Lee and Grant tanks , and several captured Russian tanks ( the list goes on and on )

Remember, in January 1942 we had zero Sherman’s, only the M3s. In less than 4 years, the US developed and produced hundreds of thousands of tanks. And whether or not you like it, the M4 was good enough to do the job and stay in service until the 1990s. Get over it.

Another excellent post Johnny, very cool...nice editing and segues 👍👍

i love it like 5:35 is just labeled “You Know This One”

Early Sherman types were nicknamed "Tommy Cookers", due to them being bought and used by the English who has not focused as much on their tanks in the interwar years. As you mentioned, the ammo rack was not very well defended in the earlier models, so they could explode if the tank was even hit from the front. This would of course turn the inside of the tank into a blast furnace, what thing we see in movies and games where a straight flame comes out from the top of the tank, killing the English crew inside. Hence, Tommy Cooker. WW2 humor was daaaaark, man.

The M4 Sherman is arguably the best tank of the war - it loses a game of top-trumps to almost anything else sure; it's not as well armoured as some tanks, not as well armed either, not as fast, not as easily concealed, etc etc. But the reality is that Shermans could be pumped out like nobody's business, they were reliable, had good survivability (despite the tommy cooker myths) and the short 75mm was a capable and useful gun for fighting everything except big cats - which happened to be the vast majority of the fighting. Additionally they supply train was impeccable with a surplus of spare parts and replacements, and the allies could easily recover and repair any Sherman that wasn't worth less than just bunging the surviving crew into a new one. The Sherman had it's faults, but where as other designs were meant to win engagement after engagement, the Sherman was meant to win the war. It was only truly outclassed as a weapon of war once the British Centurion showed up. A tank that truly revolutionised tank design, taking all the above listed qualities of the Sherman, and then giving it everything it was missing - a big gun, plenty of armour, etc.

probably said in the comments, but: shermans actually had burn rate on par with other tanks of the time. but they also had a much higher crew survivability, than other tanks, because the crew could escape in about 6 seconds. "oh buggar, the tank is on fire"

Incredibly entertaining to have gritty war films and anime girls in the same video analysis of the M4 Sherman

Sahara and its Jim Belushi remake are two favorites of mine.

I like the Captain America shot at the end. 😂🇺🇲

Great video!

Awesome classic military history tank

It’s interesting to think how much different the reception of Fury (the movie) would be if Fury (the vehicle) had been built off of a 75 Sherman like perhaps a Grizzly. Many scenes would make much more sense as well as beefing up the “triumphant underdog” qualities of the movie. I do understand that they likely selected an E8 Sherman due to it simply being much more “muscly” in appearance, and thus more visually impressive on screen but they had some very rare assets at their disposal and a lot of very respected extras filling the background. They came so close to making the average armored vehicle buff’s dream movie but just went a **liiitle** too Hollywood and tipped the scale.

post war tests showed that the reason why the wet storage worked was not because of the water but because the ammo was low in the hull instead of all across the tank which reduced hits to ammo. The armored box also stopped shrapnel.

The Sherman effective(Not actual but calculating slope) frontal armor of 3.6 to 3.7 inches was better than any Axis tank in 1942 and 1943 and was comparable to the tigers 4inches of frontal armor. The only German tanks(no spgs or TD) on par with or better than the Sherman seen in large numbers were Panzer 4 G, H, and J and the Panthers

Great tanks. Tanks for the video, take care, and all the best.

There’s also the M4A3E8 with an M24 suspension in Mothra 1961

Johnny, cool video! in "What did you do in the war daddy? "(1966) we see a US Army Sherman and a German (conversion) Sherman.But why are some called Pressed Steel or Fisher Sherman's...? is that the factory or something?

In Fury, the interior shots of the Sherman, it was not a real Sherman but a mock-up which was different than The interior of a real Sherman tank

Ah, I see you're a man of culture as well.

The M51 is basically a Sherman on steroids

You missed the Warner Brothers 1951 "The Tanks are Coming" which features numerous M4's of various models. It also features a M26 Pershing. It covers the 3rd Armored Division actions from the Normandy breakout to the Siegfried line. From a story by Sam Fuller it naturally has a character named Lemchek. Check out, available on DVD by demand.

Johnny Johnson is the equivalent of Ahoy combine with IMFDB.

Seeing GuP is such a treat in this vid aha~

If there was justice in this world, the m10 would have as much love as the Sherman

And before I forget - good video!

The Sherman was made for infantry support not anti tank roles. Sure if you put a 76mm on it, the M4 Sherman will be able to do some damage to enemy tanks. But the 75 was better for anti infantry roles. It's not always about better guns or better ammo it's more about how effective the tank is. The Sherman was also able to fill any role the US needed the Sherman to do and it could also have attachments for clearing mines. The M4 Sherman was also able to be manufactured quickly and cheaply. The Shermans were very effective at taking out enemy fortifications and infantry. So it was the best tank for any role the US needed it to do and it was the best at supporting infantry

M4 is my favourite tank Even on the gup series

Well done bro 👍👍👍 next KV-1 movies 🍿🍿🍿

4:40 holy cow that’s a wide boi.

My grandpa was in a sherman m4 on Utah beach

The Sherman was the perfect tank for America. We would of failed if we had any other tank. We had to fight on every single latitude and longitude of the entire planet, and there was only one tank that could realistically do this. The Sherman.

Nice one Jonny. Top hole. (Whatever that means) There was a WW2 re-enactment in the park over the road from me a few years back (six guys in British Army rifle company kit, 29 in Waffen SS gear………… yeah, I know) So, anyway, I suggested to one of the ‘Nazis ’ that the Panther wasn’t as good as a Sherman because of reliability, logistics and production chain issues etc. Bugger me! Did they go into one about that! But it was just ‘Top Trump’ arguments. They literally swarmed me with well rehearsed specs etc. My parting shot was to tell them they were all definitely wearing the right uniforms for them. Personally, I couldn’t put on one of those uniforms let alone walk about in it all day giving it ‘the Big I Am’. So, here’s a question (as in one I don’t know the answer to)….. has there been a Firefly Sherman ever in a film? I can’t think of one.

5:37 that is an accurate movie title

In the future, I wonder whether films will use special effects to put more authentic-looking tanks in their scenes. If they can make a dinosaur, they should be able to make a tank. Another option would be polymer tanks that would weigh less than many cars and could be powered by small car engines. Obviously, they would be useless militarily, but they would work for making films.

What a tank

4:39 W I D E S H E R M A N Denise (Maxi version) starts playing

4:37 my soul left my fucking body

Good movies Johnny

Sherman which haf the 75 mm gun with w good crew could fire a round every three seconds. This can be seen in james Hollands book brothers in arms which follows the Sherwood rangers yeomanry which states that th Sherman crew would just pound a tiger till the crew bails out. Because when a couple shella hitting you every other second its veey scary

I am curious, what other tanks besides the well known ones like the Sherman, the T-34 and Tiger 1 were featured in movies.....I was wondering if any featured the M26 Pershing tanks....

It was a good tank all around

The M4A3 76mm gun was only effective against the tiger at short ranges with little angle of deflection. It was ineffective against the panther from the front. Both the tiger and panther were very vulnerable from the side.

On the Eastern front, the Shermans didn't have a great reputation. Besides the T-34 variants, the Red Army also used KV and IS tanks against the Germans to great effect, both tanks heavier than the T-34. The T-34, however really came into it's own when fitted with the 85mm gun. The feeling I get about the Sherman and the complaints about it is that it was equivalent to the T-34, similarly had a smaller cannon in earlier models (the ones supplied as Lend Lease), and simply didn't have the firepower to compliment their speed and compensate for their lack of armour. As a point of interest, T-34 tanks were still in service in Laos in 2019. I haven't more up-to-date information than that.

2:09 is a ( captured) Sherman Firefly , which wasn't to my knowledge used by the yanks

The British wedged a heavier gun into the turret of the Sherman making it more effective against the German Tigers.

this is off topic but this isn't surprising because its russia still having the most tanks to this day it, says there are 84,070 t-34s IN WORKING CONDITION so that is why they are used the most with recreation of the tiger tank and so on but its still cool though tell me if i'm wrong or something

At Drive Tanks in Texas you can drive one. And you can fire its gun.

At 6:46, you made a slight error i believe. If you Refere to "Frontal armor" and mean the front plate of a Tank, then no, the long 7,6 was not able to penetrate the Panthers upper front plate. Only the Turret and the lower front plate could be penetarted, and only with precice hits. Otherwise good video, glad you included "The Bridge"

I actually got several Sherman tanks in my collection including two of them used by the Free French Forces.

I liked the movie Fury, but I wondered why the concealed Tiger did not shoot the "Firefly" Sherman first before he broke cover. I guess that would have been the end of the movie if Brad Pitt was killed in that scene.

Can you make a video on the m2 bradley

i heard a story that when a Tiger shot a Sherman, the shot went trough the Sherman saving the crew

Who is Will, and why do they keep firing at him?

At the very end there, I know you put that "error" there deliberately to test if we are paying attention. "Life is beautiful" was 1997, not 1977.

i dont think you mentioned the dd sherman or the calliope sherman in the video. both models of shermans seem to be forgotten by most historian and info videos.

damn, thought i'd get to see the scene of the Sherman crewed by frenchmen rolling up to assist the French forces in The Longest Day

The M4 Sherman tank was like the Indy cars during World War Two by doing laps around the tiger & panzer tanks It was like David vs Goliath battles A lot of the German tankers hated the m4 Sherman tank because it was so fast and nimble I’ve never been to a tank museum Before Shalom dove 🕊️ of peace ☮️

4:43. I'm laughing so hard at this mock up! What is that even? It looks more like someone recorded this clip for a meme and widened the Sherman. LMAO!

No mention of the Firefly? :(

Mentioning Fury: The Sherman Brad Pitt sits in also had massive plot armour bolted to it

4:40 Mock-up looks more like an enlarged M22 Locust.

The Tiger may have thicker armor and a more powerful gun, but the Sherman is faster, more agile and much cheaper to produce. For every one German Tiger, we could produce several M4 Shermans.

That captain America clip reminded me, isn’t it hilarious that in marvel, nazis were forced to fight the literal embodiment of the Ubermensch? And he was American to boot?

great vid

Where are you from btw?