Rather interesting obituary appeared today for Lance-Corporal James Baron, ex-2nd Armoured Bn, the Irish Guards, who died on August 18th.

He was awarded the Military Medal 'in the field' by Montgomery for ramming a Tiger II near Cagny on July 18, 1944. Apparently, he was the driver of a Sherman commanded by Lt. John Gorman which suddenly came upon four German tanks in a field, one of which was a King Tiger ( the first to be reported in Normandy ). The Sherman's first 75mm shell bounced off the Tiger followed by a cry of 'Gun's jammed, Sir!'.
Gorman ordered, 'Driver - ram !' and Baron accelerated downhill at full speed through a light hedge, hitting the Tiger on its' right track - disabling both tanks.

Lance-Corporal Baron died at the 'ripe old age' of 87.

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"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

Nice story Martin; do you have a reference for the newspaper this was in so we can access it on-line?

My father was in an OP Sherman in Italy on the Po in 1945. His tank commander was after a Military Cross, and when they saw a Tiger emerge he ordered the crew to "engage"... the turret was full of radio sets and so it only had a wooden gun. The only weapon was a .50 cal! My father believes the Tiger crew was inexperienced and got a shot off too early, so it hit the hardest part of the tank at the wrong angle and bounced off... the driver then reversed at top speed into cover before the second shot (with the commander still crying "engage" over the i/c!!) - otherwise I probably wouldn't be here...

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Paul Reed
Webmaster - Battlefields of WW2- http://www.ww2battlefields.info
D Day Ancestors: The British Army in Normandy - http://www.ddayancestors.com

Nice one, Paul - reminds me of the old Army saying : 'Victoria Cross for him - wooden crosses for us !'

The obituary appeared in 'The Times' today ( September 3rd ).

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"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

Nice obit Martin and Sommer thanks for sharing that interesting tidbit. When di he serve.....month an year as a Sherman commander if I may ask ?

E

That was nice. It was about the only way a Sherman could knock out a Tiger let alone a King Tiger! He did deserve that medal. [img]smile.gif[/img]

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American by birth, TEXAN by the grace of GOD!

Sad loss... Thanks for sharing, Martin!

And PzJgr is right, the only possible way to knock out one of those sh...s...

Nice on your father's experiences, Sommecourt. Really interesting. Also, thanks for sharing!

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"War is less costly than servitude, the choice is always between Verdun and Dachau." - Jean Dutourd, French veteran of both world wars

"A mon fils: depuis que tes yeux sont fermes les miens n’ont cessé de pleurir." - Mère française, Verdun

Sorry for the sad loss, he would be a great vet to spend a day with.

I saw this posting yesterday but had no time to post. This leads into a new posting ill be making as my last for the day.

[ 04 September 2002, 04:56 PM: Message edited by: C.Evans ]

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Lost are only those, who abandon themselves) Hans-Ulrich Rudel.

Mustard after the meal;

I enjoyed both stories, guys...thanks!

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