The M7 Priest - 105 mm Howitzer Motor Carriage 

A word on its "poor" mobility and armor. Even though it has tracks and armor, this is at the end of the day, a howitzer, manned by Artillerymen, the armor was there to protect against shrapnel and the tracks to maintain operational mobility and decrease time it take to set up and move the gun from firing point to firing point. It was as fast and armored as it needed to be to serve its role and let loose that Steel Rain

My Dad was in the battle of the bulge , he was in the 12th armored division , he was assigned to a M7 crew and told me at one point the 105 was pointing straight into the woods in front of them rather than being elevated for distance , he said it was at night and the big concern was the thin frontal armor , but they had more punching power than a Sherman with the 105 ,,,,, came morning about 30 yards in the woods was a German tiger tank with 2 holes in the front, one of the 105 rounds went in the front and turned in the tiger and exited from the side, the other round came out the back by the engine , but as they were passing through it ignited the ammunition in the tiger and killed the crew , just two damn lucky shots that saved the crew of the M7 . Anyway ,,,,,, thanks for your video and reading my fathers story.

The M-7 had an un- usual power plant. It was powered by a radial, air cooled, aircraft type engine. The regular Army motor pool guys were somewhat baffled with these airplane engines inside a tank like vehicle. When the M-7s were breaking down in the Phillipines, the infantry was stuck. My father in law had completed aircraft mechanic school before he was drafted into the ARMY in WWII. The Army, in all their wisdom, had trained him as a machine gunner. After arriving in the Phillipines, but before being sent into combat, he was called into the CO's office one day. The officer there ask him " Did you really go to aircraft mechanic school ? do you know what a Wright R975 is?" He said "Yes sir. Sure I do". He was re -assigned on the spot to repair several M-7 Priests that were out of action due to engine problems. He figures those M-7's probably saved his life. (The life expectancy of machine gunners in combat against the Japanese was very short.)

"O Lord, bless this thy Howitzer, that with it thou mayst blow thine enemies to tiny bits, in thy mercy."

A good upgrade to the venerable M3 Lee. A solid SPG and a good all around tank. I'm glad that it still got representation in films. I've never seen much of it, but I still hold it in a positive light. Though it's funny with how much it was used to represent German tanks.

This thing was shooting holy shots every time

Hello Johnny some facts related to Indo Pak war related to this :- By end of Partition , a Large portion of 25 pdr armed Sexton SPGs were in the Hand of Now Indian army , which made a good use of them during the 1947-48 Indo Pak war . Fearing they might be outgunned , Pakistan army later issued an order to purchase large amount of arms and ammo from the US , which also included the 105mm M101 and The M7 Priest which were used bu Pak forces during both 1965 and 1971 Indo Pak war. after this , The Pak army came to realise the need to upgun their existing stocks and purchased 155mm caliber M198 towed , GC-45 Towed , M109 Paladin SPH and 203mm M110 in order to outrange the howitzers of Indian army. It was easy for Pak to get this all because it was a member of CEATO at that time and also a pivot point for good Sino-US relationship and tackle Soviets in Afghanistan . Indian army at this point , were operating British era 25 pdrs, 3.7 inch mountain guns, Indigenously built 75mm Pack howitzer , 5.5 inch BL howitzer and 7.7 inch Howitzer. Despite good relations with Soviet , so far only 130mm M-46 and 122mm BM-21s have been produced, which cannot be put in effective use against counter artillery fire . After this purchase , Govt of India was rattled with fear and also seek for new 155mm Howitzer and somehow the two prime competitors which were Bofors 155mm vs GC-45. one way or another a scandal occured and that scandal / Bofors scandal almost literally killed the artillery developement for Indian army. till 2015 , no serious attempts were ever made in Indian armed forces history to procure or even develop Howitzers.

The 'Priest'.....was my first artillery shooter model I built..... in 1/35. Don't have it anymore but it was a Quite detailed model from 'Testor'. IF I remember.... it had a few 'ready' shells that you can place in a storage bin inside the carriage!

I have an original Kangaroo unit badge that I got in 1980 from a Canadian who was a driver of a Kangaroo in normandy! I loved watching the Rat Patrol as a kid and Hogan's heroes.

Any video with John Banner is awesome! Rest in peace, John. We miss you...😢

There is a M7 in a Normandy museum! Musée des Epaves Sous-Marines at Port en Bessin Huppain. At the end of WW2 a large number of wrecks rested on the sea floor all along the Normandy coast, particularly at Arromanches the location of Port Winston of the artificial harbour. In 1970 Jacques Lemonchois, the museum curator is asked by the French state to clear some of the dangerous wrecks. Jacques Lemonchois passion for history enabled him to save and preserve the items now displayed in the museum including a Sherman DD tank, M7 self-propelled gun and many personal effects. The US sergeant who escaped death swam out of the sinking M7 Priest. In 1984 he came to Normandy again because of the big D-Day commemoration. And saw his stuff from the sent M7 lying there, including a letter he wanted to send home. The American veteran burst into tears.

Fun fact about the Priest, along with the M3 Grant's, a lot of them, when they were retired by the Australian and British armies, were bought up by farmers and retrofitted for farm duties like hauling wheat and hay, as well as things like plowing fields. The Australian Grants are a really good example of this. Watch the AusArmor Grant restoration videos for a good look. This was a good video, man!

4:18 Call of Duty 3 featured these "Defrocked Priests" in the first Canadian mission, taking place during Operation Totalize and the final Canadian mission, being ambushed by a King Tiger.

There is still a lot of M7 Priests hidden away as relics on US Army Military Bases. I'm starting to think that everyone just forgets about them. For me growing up as a kid with a parent in the Military you'd always find them somewhere still intact just sitting around and they'd be amazing little playgrounds or forts, one M7 even had the 50. Cal still mounted (Disarmed and everything of course) but it was very fun to man a little fort of a tank.

"however this man is not armed with scripture, rather a 50.cal machine gun" close enough.

Interesting Fact: The Australian Yeramba was a SPG developed in the same way as the M7 Priest and Sexton. However, it was obsolete by the time it entered service in the 1950s and only 14 units were made, making them relatively obscure.

It’s a bit odd that the British consistently named American vehicles. I had no idea the Priest referenced a clergyman’s pulpit. Seems I often learn a tidbit or two from each of your episodes.

I've had the great fortune to reenact alongside a functional example of one of these at an event in Zephryhills, Fl. They asked for some people to help set up a Long Tom as well and you bet your butt I volunteered to help!

I like how in old movies you always hear that bullet hitting rock *ptjeu* *ptjeu* *ptjeu*, from a machinegun shooting nowhere near hard surfaces :)

Nice to see The Rat Patrol getting some recognition. Not the most accurate but always an entertaining watch!

I love "Hogan's Heroes." Good shot Johnny.

The Americans had Priests, while the British had Bishops,

The Priests carried a few HEAT rounds as a defensive measure in case enemy tanks broke through the front lines into rear areas.

There was also an M-7 at the beginning of the movie Battle of Britain. British also modified a Valentine chassis for an SPG, they called it the Bishop.

Finally, some war history vid that doesn't have an AI voice reading a Wikipedia article.

Ah memories. The vehicle I used to great effect in BF1942

I just saw one- in person and operable- at the new GETTYSBURG WW2 Museum.

For those in the United States and in the Midwest, the Russell Military Museum on the Illinois/Wisconsin border has an M7 Priest on display in great condition.

Always nice to awake to a new JJ video Would like to see one on where did the 2023 English summer go it was 6c this morning

Hello friends! The Alco M7 also in : I Mobster, Movie from 1942. Nice video .

The M7 was a beast in Company of Heroes.

I'm glad Rat Patrol and Garrison's Guerillas made the cut 2 of my favorites growing up

Hogan’s Heroes where the only time you Don't see a later model US or Russian tank playing the role of a tiger tank. Oh an the only show to have 1938 Mercedes-Benz G4.

I would argue the gun turret for the .50 cal is indeed scripture according to the teachings of Moses Browning, the Patron Saint of Hole Punching

There’s a very nice one on display at the Field Artillery Museum at Fort Sill. There’s a little platform so you can get a good look inside too.

"Holy Rollers" that is so funny. Those Brit's sure gave some pretty good nicknames to equipment. The info about the Ronson lighter nickname was interesting to say the least. I will remember that tidbit about the vehicle, why? I dun know, ha ha.

And the priest said, "Thou shall take up a howitzer to wage holy war so you may blow the enemy away." Armors 1:1

I neve heard of the m7 preist

Maximum of 69 rounds for the gun? Nice.

First, there might be only 15 "runners" but there are quite a few "Priests" on display in parks and Museums. Secondly, a piece of trivia: an M7 was used on the front and back album cover for Paul Revere and the Raiders' "Hard 'N Heavy with Marshmallows" in the 1960s. More trivia: you can tell the M7 on a "Lee" chassis as the rear sides are "notched" like the tank, the M7B1 (built on an M4A3 Sherman chassis) doesn't have the notches (like the tank it was based on). The post-WW2 M7B2 has a higher gun mount and a taller MG "pulpit". The M7 had a smaller "cousin", the M37 Howitzer Motor Carriage. The M37 was based on the M24 Chaffee light tank chassis. It was found that the lighter chassis would handle a 105 just as well as the medium tanks used for the M7. The end of the war caused M37 production to stop, so it couldn't fully replace the M7 until newer SP 105s came along in the 1950s. M37s show up in "Patton", and "Battle of the Bulge" and one is in the early part of "Battle of Britain" tricked out as some sort of German assault gun.

This would be the Allied counterpart for the German Hummel and Wespe.

My local military museum has one of these posted out front. Amazing piece of machinery.

My first introduction to the M7 or at least it's 'kangaroo' variant was in COD 3 when we played the first Canadian mission of that game as it's gunner but later on have to dismount. Seeing this brings back those sweet memories of old WW2 shooters bringing some info on the extras section of the game menu where it gives you a brief introduction to weapons, vehicles, aircraft and equipment used during WW2 plus the small details of uniforms used as well.

we had one in the playground of the L&C fairgrounds, i remember climbing all over it as a kid

I just went to a US Army base in Helena, Montana (home of the first Special Forces Unit) and I saw 2 of the 15 M7 Priests

The first use of a tank for a self propelled gun was in WW1 when the British converted a number of tanks to carry the 60 pounder. It was meant to be used while mounted but in many cases the gun was dismounted before use as the artillery viewed it as a method of transporting the gun just as it had been when horse drawn. But gradually the did leave it mounted as this speeded up its use, especially during the 100 Days Campaign when German forces were on the run.

One quibble, the British called it a "Priest", because they used ecclesiastical names for all self-propelled artillery (Bishop, Deacon, and eventually the Sexton). The "pulpit" at most made it easy for Americans to "adopt" the name (or at least remember it) since, after Tunesia, the British stopped using the vehicle (at least as SPA). Direct fire wasn't TOO uncommon, and the M7 probably destroyed more Japanese tanks than any other American vehicle (or at least got most of the kills on Leyte, blasting dug-in Ha-Go and Chi-Ha tanks).

Love these videos❤️ I hope you make more content like these, probably on topics like, Banzai Charges, Vietnamese Tunnels, Huey Helicopters and the likes...

My grandfather was n the RHA and they expected to be fitted out with these but they were not until much later in the war. The reason given was they were already good at moving quickly. The real attraction of these types to the crews is the ability to avoid counter battery. Their shoot and scoot ability made them very much admired by artillery crews.

Noice, maybe future video about modified pick-up trucks like the Toyota brand variant technicals?

And thus began the time honored tradition of strapping a big fucking gun to some kind of vehicle and pretending it ISNT there to blow up traffic (we all know it really is, though)

There are 2 on display at Ft.Hood. they're in need of some restoration but are in good shape overall

Target destroyed. The Mass has been offered. Go in peace.

they need to bring these 105mm SP guns back!!!

one of my favorite military vehicles! It is a life long dream to one day own one along with a half track.

Nice video. And it wasn't too preachy! ;-)

Will you do a review on the M10 wolverine or the M36 destroyer

3:00 NOICE.

I have a pristine one in my city in Italy!

The 'Winter Kills' video clip at 2:38, besides the M7 and the ambulance, what are the other three military vehicles shown called?

Yeah, I got blown up by the M7 Priest on numerous occasions, as a German sniper, at Tunisia (Battlefield 1942)! 😆😆😆

When's the t14 video coming out. Lol

That armored personnel variant would be hilarious in COH game. 20 dudes just showing up behind everyone in an up armorers tank chassis.

CoH1 will always be a masterpiece

A really interesting piece of armament

The 50-cal fired holy bullets

if you haven't already could you do a video on the British 25 pounder?

Sorry for being late but its great you made a video on some armoured things, anyways keep up the good work johnny :)

If i got killed in combat, this is the priest id like to deliver my last rites.

Crew: "HAVE YOU PRAY TODAY?" *sees a battalion of enemy armor and infantry* Nah I'd win intensifies

1:02 Yep, definitely the German Tiger tank. Look at how over-engineered that thing is! /s

The M7 helped advanced the Normandy invasion a week after the landings. Especially in Falaise pocket.

We have an M7 Priest (along with a M42 “Duster”) here in Knoxville, TN near the Tennessee college of applied technology campus. It’s not been to taken care of but at least it’s behind a fence and is guarded by security cameras as it is on military property.

The tank museum near me just closed down, but the armor museum on long Island NY just bought the M7 my museum had and plan to get it running again.

The first Kangaroos were de turreted Ram tanks (a Canadian tank based on the M3 running gear). The infantry jumped out of the fighting compartment like Joeys. That is the origin of the nickname. But there must be more to the naming on ecclesiastical lines because the Bishop predates the Priest.

I always like seeing American tanks repainted as german armor! lol! The movie Patton had american tanks (I'm assuming) to be German Tigers.

Man, I love these vids!! 100%👍👍👍

I like how everyone in Hogan's Heroes is afraid of an open topped SPG, like they couldn't just climb into it lol!

Holy howitzer? Be gone demon by Holy High Explosives shell

My papa drove and commanded these in the Korean War, but he has described to me one that has a 155mm howitzer on it several times, but I can’t find any records to say that happened

3:46 A sentence I thought I would never before hear...

1:20 He's preaching the Gospel of John Browning 😂

.50 will give you a instant relationship with the Creator, and that sounds like scripture to me.

Nice, and you have given me the name of the movie Sahara, I have been meaning to watch it again. Nice pun.

There was one in Baumholder Army kasserne in Germany. I remember the museum curator had it under cover and told me they were rare. I didnt realize how few are left.

Needs some frocks, particularly the camo type, these guns.

There is Sexton in Polish war museum in Warsaw , you could get inside it kinda cool as a kid

22 The President also sent us a large number of self-propelled 105 mm. guns, which are most useful weapons for contending with the 88 mm. high velocity guns, of which the Germans have made so much use. One ship in this convoy-this precious convoy-was sunk by a U-boat, but immediately, without being asked, the United States replaced it with another ship carrying an equal number of these weapons. All these tanks and high velocity guns played a recognisable part, indeed an important part, in General Alexander's battle." Hansard Debate on the address HC Deb 11 November 1942

We have a beautiful M7 priest on static display at our local national guard base.

4:12 Tank stands on ramp with angle it means range angle of cannon on chassis can not operate as close support mortar with steep angle. That is price paid converting regular howitzer on two wheels installed to on tank chassis.

Sexton😨

The Priest, the Grant, and the Lee are my top 3 picks for most interesting vehicles of the war. As much negativity as the Grant or Lee garner, I love the "land ship" concept of battlewagons bristling with weaponry.

With all those young, sad widows, I bet the M7 wasn’t the only priest seeing action

He should cover the M14 weapon used during the Vietnam War

the second video on the "holy rollers" released this week. though the tanks the templin institute analysed were quite different

"I bless the rains down in Africa!"

This video and the Krag one made me re-watch Hogan's Heroes. Great vid as always!

Brilliant presentation, as usual.

Hogans Heroes is such a legit show.

The word chassis is pronounced shassy (French origin). Mind you this is a country that pronounces vehicle as veehickle and talks of the innernet. Like it is some inner tube.