155 Gun Motor Carriage Question

standard US Army uniforms for the period and weather conditions. I would have to look up the crew complement for the vehicle. There is no kit of the M30, but the ammo carrier only rarely appears in photos (i.e. apparently, they did not usually park immediately behind the M12, but moved up only when resupply was needed). Concord publishes a superb and inexpensive photo book on US Armored Artillery units, with many pictures of the M12 and M7 Priest, as well as some of the M30. Lots of marking schemes, as well as great shots for diorama ideas. If you would like a companion vehicle for your collection, AFV Club offers the M12's replacement, the M40, which appeared too late for the war (apart from two prototypes sent to Europe in 1945), and was used extensively in Korea.

The crew of the M12 was six men, and it is possible based on normal standards the crew of the T30 would also have been six. 155mm rounds weigh right at 100 pounds each (okay, 95-96) so it takes a lot of muscle to keep one fed.

Supposedly there were 100 M12s built, with 74 later being rebuilt for combat in Europe (e.g. new engines, tracks, late production M4 bogies vice the M3 ones they were built with, etc.) and an equal number of T30s to accompany them. But as they never lost their T designator and very little information is available, they may not have been completed. Most photos of M12s show them in action from rear area positions, where a high-mobility ammo carrier would not have been necessary.

Cookie Sewell