Seventy-one rounds of ammunition in open racks at shoulder height — surrounding the crew on all sides. Bare shells stacked along the walls, around the turret base, next to the assistant driver's elbow.<br /><br />When a German round punched through, it was not the gasoline that caught fire first. Every tanker believed it was. The Army tested that assumption — and the result changed everything about how the Sherman was built.<br /><br />The crew of five had roughly fifteen seconds. The commander could reach the turret roof in two and a half. The gunner needed five. The loader had no hatch of his own — he waited for the men above him to get out or die. The driver and assistant driver could not reach the turret at all. Their only exit was a hatch in the belly — half an inch of armor, barely big enough to squeeze through, underneath thirty-three tons of burning tank.<br /><br />Crews went into combat with hatches strapped half-open. They accepted shrapnel for a faster way out. Some units drilled evacuation until it was automatic. Others received replacements who had never been inside a tank before.<br /><br />The 3rd Armored Division started with 232 Shermans. In 231 days, 648 were completely destroyed.<br /><br />🔔 Subscribe for mor
