“Killer” M4A2 on Roi-Namur - the famous photo in 1/35

[nimrod484]

Hi all,
Like many, I’ve always found this photo of Killer and crew with Type 94 tankette on the back to be really interesting.

I’m aware of several previous related builds, including this excellent one of the related Type 94 tankette by Mike Garcia in 1/16 scale:

Takom 1/16 Type 94 Tank with interior

I find Takom 1/16 Type 94 an interesting kit. Just about all hatches open and you can see the inside very easily, especially at this scale. Takom never released an interior or a version with one though. Not really their thing I suppose. I thought maybe some one would create one, but no. So I bought a 3D printer and got a CAD program online and started on one. Have everything in place. Not all is cemented in place yet, for ease of painting, but it should convey the idea. Maybe a little ambitious?…

Blockquote

Anyway, in researching this scene over a fair few hours, there appears to be some amount of error in comments about the action on Roi-Namur, e.g., on Reddit, related to this photo, and also there is not much easily accessible background information of any depth on the 4th Tank.Battalion Shermans that were involved.
So, prior to doing a diorama based on this photo, I thought it would be good to put together and share what I think is a really interesting bit of history from the Pacific campaign that relates to and informs the photo scene of Killer and its crew.

Several great references covering the event from a broad view about the operational aspects:

https://www.marines.mil/portals/1/Publications/Breaking%20the%20Outer%20Ring-Marine%20Landing%20in%20the%20Marshall%20Islands%20PCN%2019000312400_1.pdf

https://www.usmcu.edu/Portals/218/TheMarshallsIncreasingTheTempo.pdf

https://www.marines.mil/portals/1/publications/the%204th%20marine%20division%20in%20world%20war%20ii%20%20pcn%2019000412800.pdf

Next, focusing on the 4th Tank Battalion, I found this period document in the National Archive after some heavy sleuthing - MARINES 4th DIV - 4th Tank Bn Rep of Marshall Islands Ops.
This document is amazing and covers the Company C Shermans of which Killer was a member. The relevant pages are below with the link for further details and reading about the Stuarts in A and B Companies.
Short background

Company C

The Conclusions and Recommendations which follow the above includes fascinating info about Deep Wading Equipment and the wooden planks attached to the Sherman hulls.

https://catalog.archives.gov/id/78410090

For me, that document is an amazing action report…

More to follow. As for the diorama, I’ve just started on the figures…

[TanksForTheMemory]

That’s a great idea for a diorama and thanks for the background info.

I guess the obvious question that springs to mind is how on earth they managed to get the tankette onto the rear of the Sherman!

[nimrod484]

Thanks.
Company C had an M32B2 Tank Retreiver with them and it put it on the back of Killer. The source I found for this information is the Company C commander’s book Tanks on the Beaches aka this extract-

It may have been the M32B2 Lulubelle that was later in Saipan that did it.

Actually, I’ve been again visiting your excellent diorama The Road to Singapore for inspiration re how you did the interior for the Japanese tank as the Fine Molds Type 94 is just a shell. I’ll get round to that build and the other tanks in the coming months/years…

[Tank_1812]

@nimrod484

For me, that document is an amazing action report…

I will have to check that out more.

GySgt McCard was awarded the Medal of Honor for his action as M5A1 crew man.

Robert H. McCard

Look forward to seeing how your project progress.

[nimrod484]

Yes, thanks for posting. He was in A Company. Seems comparatively few tankers won the Medal of Honour in WW2. This is my first Sherman tank build so please feel free to pass on any advice re M4A2s.

[nimrod484]

The book Tanks on the Beaches co-written by. C Company CO Robert Neiman that I quoted above has some very relevant pictures, 1 of which I had never seen before.

The best thing, though, is that all of the Killer crew are identified. Here they are:

Killer and crew, 3rd Platoon, Company C, 4th Tank Battalion.

If anybody has any information on any of these men or access to their service records in the US, it would be great to learn more about them.

And here are the two Japanese tanks - a Type 94 TK and Type 97 Te Ke - prior to the Type 94 being loaded onto Killer’s rear hull.

Another well-known view.

Neiman refers to the locations Roi and Namur islands in referring to the event so it is not clear exactly where it occurred. I’ll stick with Roi-Namur….

And lastly, the tankette on Maui.

[Tank_1812]

Yes, A Co, my old unit. The only other Marine tanker to be award the Medal of Honor was Sgt Timmerman. 2nd Tank Battalion.
https://www.usmcu.edu/Research/Marine-Corps-History-Division/People/Medal-of-Honor-Recipients-By-Unit/Sgt-Grant-Frederick-Timmerman/

By and large from HQ (Army and Marines) perspective a tank crewman is not an individual but part of a crew and the MOH is an individual award so not many have been awarded to tankers.

[Tank_1812]

Besides Tank on Beaches, Marine Tank Battles In The Pacific by Oscar (Ed) Gilbert is another great book on Marine tankers.

Seems it was also the first time the grunt phone was used.
https://www.usmcu.edu/Outreach/Marine-Corps-University-Press/MCH/Marine-Corps-History-Summer-2023/The-4th-Tank-Battalion-in-the-Pacific/

Another possible resource.

Marine Corps Records

As you know more you can use this to search the names but view it is paid site. There is a free trial period so I would wait til you have more.

U.S., Marine Corps Muster Rolls, 1798-1958 - Ancestry

I will see what else I might be able to find. Another possible resource Marine Corps Tanker Association https://www.usmctankers.org/

[nimrod484]

Thanks very much for all that info. Oh, you were in 4th Tank Battalion? When?
If you check out the Recommendation and Conclusions part of Neiman’s Action Report, the original source for the Ingenuity article, there is related info. I plan to get the book you mentioned. Looks good.
I had read the case study, which was where I found the Neiman source. Have you read the Tanks in Hell book?

I’ll see if I can have some success with any of the links to getting service records for the crew.

Jeremy

[Tank_1812]

It was the late 90’s.

I have read Tank in Hell and should still have it somewhere in the stash but that was like a decade ago when I did.

[nimrod484]

Pretty much finished the figures. I tried Tamiya Quick Type putty this time and found it so much easier to work with, mainly because the texture is stiffer than other putties I tried.
I’m pretty happy I could get a reasonable likeness to the original picture or my diorama based on the original photo was a dead duck.

Just some dog tags, laces and straps to do.

[Tank_1812]

@nimrod484

Pretty much finished the figures.

They look great.

[nimrod484]

Here is Lulubelle, M32B2, after loading the tankette on to the rear of Killer.

[nimrod484]

Thanks. Yeah, they came out better than I expected, to be honest.

[metalhead85]

Excellent work on those figures Jeremy

[nimrod484]

Thanks very much.

[nimrod484]

Thought I’d start with the Te Ke.

There is another picture of it on Roi-Namur. It had a machine gun in the turret and not the 37mm option.

This the Fine Molds kit which covers both armament options and crew compartment interior. The instructions provide good coverage of interior. I just added some cosmetic fixes, modified the front right secondary fuel tank, and modified one MG ammo storage compartment. It would be possible to scratch build the engine based on the pictures in the instructions but I’ll do it for the Type 94 instead.

[nimrod484]

Decided to switch out a 37mm-round rack and scratch build an MG ammo rack given this version had no cannon.

Just discovered the Type 94 tankette I have from Fine Molds is the wrong version for the one one the back of Killer, which is a late version.

The difference is the rear wheel… learn something new everyday. Luckily, I can pick one up for about $20 in Japan.