Henry, you wrote to Mr. Baker:
> Pardon my ignorance, but, what is a "Sexton" and or what do they look like.
> Thank you,
> Henry
The Sexton was Canada's equivalent to the American M-7 series Priest
Self-Propelled Gun. Very similar in layout but lacking a machine gun
cupola, the Sexton used the same suspension/drivetrain, the same
Continental R975 series engines, but mounted the well-proven
British/Canadian 25-pounder gun/howitzer in place of the American 105mm
howitzer. Manufactured by Montreal Locomotive Works in Montreal, Quebec,
Canada (2,122 in '43-45), they were introduced into action for the first
time at the beginning of August, 1944, in Normandy, after our stock of
American M-7s were converted to 'Kangaroo' troop carriers (another story
- http://www.1cacr.org).
You'll note that the pics of the Sextion indicate that it was
right-hand-drive; it was indeed, an extension of our production of the
Ram tank, which actually predated the Sherman in terms of service
production, but also used the same lower hull and drivetrain. The Ram
was manufactured as a derivative of the American M-3 Lee/Grant, but
according to a rough British specification which required
right-hand-drive (as was our CMP vehicle type).
If these Sextons are truly down to $5K a pop, they are an unbelieveable
bargain, for this is a combat-proven Commonwealth vehicle with a LOT of
history behind it! Hell, not a half-hour from me lives a great old guy
who was a gunner on one of these during '44-45... talk about a useful
resource!
I'm going to investigate this further, and I urge any other Canadians on
the list to do this too. The only downside is actually GETTING the
damned things here, given the expense of shifting 25 tons... but if the
price is as G.R. says, there will NEVER be a better opportunity...
I want to see more of these on the road. The Old Guys deserve it.
-- Regards,Geoff Winnington-Ball MAPLE LEAF UP! ==> Zephyr, Ontario, Canada ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Maple Leaf Up - The Canadian Army Overseas in WW2 http://www.mapleleafup.org <sunray@mapleleafup.org> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1st Canadian Armoured Carrier Regiment http://www.1cacr.org <info@1cacr.org> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"G.Baker" wrote: > > Here is a link to some pictures of the Sextons. > > http://tired-iron.mounet.com/sexton.htm > > -----Original Message----- > From: ygmir [mailto:ygmir@onemain.com] > Sent: Saturday, September 08, 2001 12:43 PM > To: G.Baker > Subject: Re: [MV] M75 and Sexton for sale > > Pardon my ignorance, but, what is a "Sexton" and or what do they look like. > Also, what is the condition as far as operating of these vehicles? > Thank you, > Henry
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