Post by chadhill on May 11, 2014 8:00:40 GMT 8
I came across a stunning passage about the M3 Stuarts ammo supply in Colonel E. B. Miller's 1949 book Bataan Uncensored (pages 62-63):
"Saturday morning, December 6th (5th U.S. time), orders were received to pick up and distribute ammunition of various types. It was then that an ugly rumor was confirmed. The only ammunition available for our 37mm tank guns was armor piercing shells. No high explosive shells were to be had!...Armor piercing shells are merely large bullets of the caliber indicated, capable of piercing certain thicknesses of armor plate. This is of little or no use against personnel. High explosive shells burst on contact, exploding shell fragments over a wide area. This type of shell was non-existent in the Philippines. We would be compelled to depend entirely on our machine guns against enemy personnel. Our light tanks were extremely vulnerable and depended on speed, maneuverability, and fire power for their own protection. High explosive shells were most important for use against anti-tank guns and encroaching infantry. The success of our operations, either offensive or defensive, depended a great deal on availability of high explosive ammunition. In the later days of Bataan, the Ordnance Department manufactured a few rounds of homemade high explosive shells for us, but for the critical campaign ahead-none!
"After receiving the allotment of ammunition, I inquired about recuperating oil for the 37mm guns. They could not be fired without that oil. I reminded the issuing agency that we had requested the oil a long time before. The usual reply was made-it would be taken care of. It was not! It was eight hours after the bombing [of Clark Field; CH] had taken place before our guns were serviced with recuperating oil! Our 17th Ordnance Company actually had to go to Manila and get it, after the Japs had dropped their eggs!"
Miller was the C.O. of the 194th Tank Battalion.
"Saturday morning, December 6th (5th U.S. time), orders were received to pick up and distribute ammunition of various types. It was then that an ugly rumor was confirmed. The only ammunition available for our 37mm tank guns was armor piercing shells. No high explosive shells were to be had!...Armor piercing shells are merely large bullets of the caliber indicated, capable of piercing certain thicknesses of armor plate. This is of little or no use against personnel. High explosive shells burst on contact, exploding shell fragments over a wide area. This type of shell was non-existent in the Philippines. We would be compelled to depend entirely on our machine guns against enemy personnel. Our light tanks were extremely vulnerable and depended on speed, maneuverability, and fire power for their own protection. High explosive shells were most important for use against anti-tank guns and encroaching infantry. The success of our operations, either offensive or defensive, depended a great deal on availability of high explosive ammunition. In the later days of Bataan, the Ordnance Department manufactured a few rounds of homemade high explosive shells for us, but for the critical campaign ahead-none!
"After receiving the allotment of ammunition, I inquired about recuperating oil for the 37mm guns. They could not be fired without that oil. I reminded the issuing agency that we had requested the oil a long time before. The usual reply was made-it would be taken care of. It was not! It was eight hours after the bombing [of Clark Field; CH] had taken place before our guns were serviced with recuperating oil! Our 17th Ordnance Company actually had to go to Manila and get it, after the Japs had dropped their eggs!"
Miller was the C.O. of the 194th Tank Battalion.