and we're going to look next at the RAM which is a Canadian tank and I should
say to begin with the RAM we're talking about is the animal a kind of big hairy
male sheep so the symbol of general Worthington who was head of the Canadian
Armour section and that's why the name was chosen to this tank it's quite an
interesting tank because while the Americans were building the m3 medium
which we know as the Li or grant the Canadians went for a turreted tank
instead so it's actually a little bit ahead of the Sherman it runs on basic m3
suspension although this one which is a late model has the later model
suspension with the return roll or further back but it's basically the m3
suspension and m3 engine means it's got the line tool of the Continental in the
back driving forward into an m3 transmission so we don't really need to
go through that part again but the basic tank is very interesting for a start the
Canadians were running out of welded plate they mainly gone him for castings
so for exactly the same reasons the Australians did with the AC one Sentinel
they chose them casting and armored casting from the upper hull of their
next cruiser tank and their mummy actually imported from Great Britain a
chap called le carré who was a member of the mechanization board who was sent
over to Canada he was a bit of an expert on casting he done or arranged the
castings of the Matilda turret among other things and take car was sent over
to Canada given the jobs designing the turret the hull for the the RAM it's an
interesting vehicle so you've got a totally cast owl the first thing to know
it's only got a 60 inch diameter turret ring it's 69 inches on the Sherman
although that doesn't sell very much it made the difference between the kind of
guns Carrie and how it would seven it's one
of the reasons it was never used in action as a gun tank now being done to
the British Way of doing things rather than the American it has the driver on
the right-hand side which would expected a British tank and a sub turret on the
left this one's been blanked off I'll tell
you about that in a minute but normally it had the sub turret with about 120
degree of movement in it which was used as a instead of a howl machine gun so
that was a feature of Tiran although the latest models of the RAM had the machine
gun mounted in the hull exactly the same way as on a Sherman except totally on
the opposite side but that's the reason that's why this tank is built as it is
it's got this totally cast hull the smaller time it's a turret ring and then
the cover of the engine exactly the same as on a Sherman but it was just that
little bit in front of the Sherman as far as being built as confirmed the
turret he's arranged to mount the 6 pounder gun which is why it had that
bolt on front and was designed to take the 6 powder to begin with the 6 pounder
wasn't available all they could do was the 2 pounder so you do see what they
call the RAM one with the 2 pounder gun mounted in the turret which is almost
pointless really when the 6 pounder came out that was brought in and it became
the RAM 2 with a bit more push a bit more firepower in it this particular
one's actually got the American 75 in and then there's no reason why of
6-pound that can't be converted into a 75 except that the smaller turret ring
means it's less room inside to serve it but in this case it doesn't matter
because the tank was actually used by the Dutch army and it was used as a
target tank in other words it went driving up the ranges well infantry fire
rifles and machine guns at it just for a bit of fun I suppose but that's why all
the orifices on it including the end of the battle where
the cap is all the orifices machine gun turret in the front of the turret and
the driver's hatch they're all welded shut or covered over with welded plates
and that stand to keep will itself so it in those respects it's not really like
any other operational tank but it's quite it's the only example of a ram
we've got and probably the only example we ever will have so it we ignore those
things if we can just show it as a gun tank which is very modest with the
Canadians never used them as gun tanks they were issued with Germans during the
Second World War but they did have a few with turrets which we used as some opie
tanks or command tanks that kind of thing they tended to use him in that
role only until the RAM kangaroo came along we've already done the round
kangaroo in a tank chat before and the ground kangaroo is the same basic
vehicle with the turret removed and the turret sort of opening used for
transporting troops and it was one of the most successful infantry carriers of
the Second World War but this is the gun tank from which the RAM kangaroo was
developed and those have the really the main features of it it's driven as I say
by the 9 cylinder air called continental engine which is typical of the Sherman's
and has a cast hull that Hal designed by le carré an english member of the
mechanization board who really was successful and that's the basic sort of
layout of this vehicle it makes it quite an interesting tank from many points of
view although it was never used in action and probably doesn't have that
cachet that a fighting tank has it's still an interesting tank to study ok
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