John H. Hartwig, US Army tank gunner WWII

John H. Hartwig, US Army tank gunner WWII

John H. Hartwig was a gunner on an M4 Sherman tank in the 4th Armored Division during World War II. He was part of the 4th Armored Division on their dash towards Germany. His two Bronze Star Medals and one Purple Heart Medal are evidence of his extensive combat experience.

He was discharged after 1 year and 5 months in Sept 1944 with a foot injury due to cold.

"The gunner was usually the next senior man behind the commander in the tank. He sat right in front of the commander and used the commander’s hatch to get in and out. He had his own set of turret controls, and only he could control the elevation of the main gun. Along with the gun controls, he had all the controls for the stabilizer in front of him. In early Shermans, he only had a periscope with a reticle, it had a fixed 6x power zoom, but also could be looked through with no zoom. Later gunners had the periscopes and a direct view scope. He was dependent on the commander to get him near a target and then took five to six seconds for him to pick up the target. This took a much longer time on German tanks like the Panther, with gunner target acquisition times in the minutes, not seconds.

The gunner controlled the main gun, and the coaxial mounted M1919A4.30 caliber machine gun, though he was still following the commander’s orders on what to shoot. Each weapon was fired with a footswitch on the gunner’s footrest, and a manual lanyard for backup use. The gunner controlled the turret either with a hydraulic system independent of the tank’s motor, and a manual system that just used a crank and gears. You would think the gunner would have the best view out, but in tanks, most of the time, at least in the older models, their view was very limited, but for the era, the Sherman was better than most other tanks. A good gunner working with a good loader in the 75mm armed Sherman could get off, two or three aimed shots in a very short time, a very big advantage in tank combat.

A Tank gunner also had to be able to shoot, like all other WWII tanks, the Sherman lacked any kind of aiming aid for the gunner other than his scope and periscope. Limited range finding could be done with the reticle in the sight, based on the known height of something, but it was not very exact. The gunner’s brain was really the tool that did the correcting based on experience, skill, and innate ability and feedback from the commander on fall. Modern tankers have it much easier in this area, since modern tanks have laser rangefinders, and sensors to check for windage, temperature, and barrel wear, and a computer to use all the data to compute the aiming corrections for the gun. That was something that probably couldn’t even be dreamed of by a WWII tanker. Better rangefinders were right over the horizon though." https://www.theshermantank.com/sherman/the-crew-and-their-stations-the-human-part-of-the-tank/

4TH ARMORED DIVISION

After six months’ training in England, the 4th Armored went into action in Normandy. It started breaking through from the day it landed. It played a key role in cutting off the Brittany peninsula, made a lightning sweep across France north of the Loire River, defended the Moselle bridgehead against crack panzer units, and made the first crossing of the Saare River.

The 4th Armored did not rest on its laurels after the brilliant rescue of the 101st at Bastogne. After Bastogne, the Division drove its way through the Eifel Mountains, secured the high ground over the Kyll River, and shelled and captured Bitburg. Then the “Breakthrough” outfit really shifted into high gear. In an all-out blitz it roared 65 miles in 48 hours, coming to a halt opposite Coblenz. Here the Division joined the Seventh Army and began a successful hunt for V-l rocket launching sites.

Working with the Seventh Army, the 4th Armored crossed the Rhine near Worms and gave the territory in that vicinity a terrific pasting. It aided materially in the rapid advance of the Seventh Army by seizing intact a bridge across the Main River, and then drove on to Hanau, 10 miles east of Frankfurt-am-Main. Here the 4th Armored fought off numerous counterattacks by the heaviest German armor.

Six months after they had been in combat the men of the 4th Armored Division had received 1,959 decorations.

The 4th Armored moved so fast that it often stretched its supply lines to the breaking point. But it never slowed down. In one day it took 8,000 prisoners. At the close of the war the 4th Armored had joined the 90th Infantry Division and moved with it into Czechoslovakia.

From Fighting Divisions, Kahn & McLemore, Infantry Journal Press, 1945-1946.