The Sherman Firefly vs. the Churchill Infantry tank
We have the upgraded, new Sherman going against an infantry supporter
Once again, the Allies are duking it out as the American Sherman Firefly goes head to head with the British Churchill Infantry Tank. In the previous article, I mentioned the Firefly, and we’ll go in depth on it here. I also mentioned that the Crusader was a cruiser type tank for the British, out of their two options of a cruiser or infantry tank. Here, we take a look at the other end of the spectrum by looking at the Churchill, an infantry tank. Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty.
This is the Sherman Firefly. Doesn’t look much different from the M4 Sherman.But the way you can tell the Firefly from the M4 is by the gun. The Firefly has a longer barrel and a muzzle break to its gun while the M4 does not. The Firefly is the tank the Allies could use against the German heavy tanks like the Panther and Tiger. Though the Germans caught on, and decided to take out any Fireflys first before taking out regular Shermans, the Firefly was impressive, when in skilled hands. According to Cowper and Pannell, during an impressive tank duel of World War II, a Firefly managed to take out three Tigers with five rounds, due to the accurate and skilled fire of Trooper Joe Ekins. Time to check out Trooper Ekins’ and Brad Pitt’s tank from Fury.
Essentially, the Sherman Firefly is just like the M4 Sherman. It had a little bit thinner armor coming in at 88mm and a slight increase in weight, tipping the scales at 34.75 tons. Yet, the real reason armor was down and weight was up was because the Firefly had a sweet new gun. The M4 Sherman had a 75mm gun, but it was weak. Firefly was given the new 17-pdr Mark IV QF gun (17-pdr roughly translates to 76mm gun). Though it may only be a milimeter of difference, the 76mm was a medium to high velocity gun, while the 75mm was a low velocity gun. this matters because the faster the round is going, the better of a chance it has to penetrate german tank armor. The Firefly is more of a battle tank, but let’s look at what an infantry tank looks like.
Here is the Churchill Infantry tank. Looks a little weird, doesn’t it? That’s because the Churchill has its tracks going over the top, similar to World War I tanks. The Churchill was designed to have heavy armor that can withstand any anti-tank gun in service during the design phase, good firepower, but slow speed, since it was to be fighting alongside the infantry, which meant it was moving at the pace of the infantry. Thanks to these design choices, the Churchill was a great choice in the fighting in Normandy, has the Norman fields were filled with bocage, farmland that was seperated by hedgegroves and trees. The Churchill’s track design allowed it travel normally in an otherwise unfavorable tank terrain. And we’re going to find out why the Churchill was so good.
The Churchill comes in weighing at 39 tons, a bit heavy, but still light enough to move. Again, movement and speed was not meant for this tank, as it was to move at the pace of the infantry. the Churchill had 102mm thick armor, making it a very thick tank that take a lot of punishment. yet, the Churchill cannot dish out that same punishment becuase it sported the weak 6-pdr QF Mark III gun. Thereason for this was because the Churchill was essentially relegated to a support the infantry role, and it was not designed to head to head with heavier, more powerful German tanks.
So let’s recap: the Americans bring the Sherman Firefly, same old tank, just new gun, and the British bring the Churchill, a support tank, not a battle tank. Each one serves its’ purpose well, but I’m going with the Firefly on this one because the Firefly can take out Tiger tanks, and that is impressive. Once again, if you feel otherwise or just want to find out on your own, let me know what you think or find in comments!
