Model Forum / General / Models / October 2004

The implementation was fixed before D-Day.  Each division or corps or
whatever had an attached AAA unit.  Toward the end of '44 however, the
heavier AAA units were stripped out and the troops fed into the infantry.

That being said, there were 3614 M16s made or converted during the war.

I think the ability to attack ground targets may have added to this
vehicle's longevity.

If you want an interesting diorama, put one in the parking lot of the
Perfect Circle foundry in New Castle, Indiana in October of 1955, when the
IN NG was called out after large scale rioting during a labor strike.

KL

It got used in WW2, tore up enemy ground formations in Korea and ended its
career with the quad .50 sitting in the back of Vietnam guntrucks.
Rob Gronovius
Modern US armor at http://www.armorama.com/motorpool

FWIW   A friend of mine who served in a heavy ordnance unit attached to
Patton's 3rd in the big one told me the following story. Late 1944! They
were on the move and crossing a river on a pontoon bridge. He was driver
of a 5 ton truck, another gent in the truck with him. There were MP's
controlling access to the bridge so as not to overload it. George
notices a halftrack with a quad 50 sitting by the approach as he was
waved on to the bridge.
    About the middle, with another vehicle stopped ahead of him he heard
the guy in the truck with him start swearing and looked where the guy
was pointing. There was a German fighter coming down the river to his
left, skimming the water. Talk about trapped like a rat!
    At that point, that halftrack pulled partly out on to the bridge and
cut loose. The German fighter simply nosed down and hit the water and
disintegrated. The German fighter's engine, propeller still slowly
spinning, bounced off the water and sailed over the bridge, landing in
the water on the other side.
    When George got to the other side he pulled off the road and dug out a
bottle of Cognac he had "Liberated" and was saving for a special
occasion. He legged it back across the bridge and presented the bottle
to the gun crew, figuring they had definitely saved his butt. They were
more interested in having him sign their combat report as witness so
they got credit for the kill, since the German Fighter was at the bottom
of the river. That would make a neat diorama!
    George was a "workaholic" type, but he said that in later years he
could always tell when things were getting to him and it was time to
take a vacation because he would start to see that engine sailing over
his head in his dreams.
    And no, he didn't know what kind of German fighter it was, he was a
truck driver and welder.

                            Bill Shuey

    One of the higher scoring US aces met his end at the
   hands of this vehicle - he had chased a German figher onto
   the deck, and attracted the attention of a M-16 crew. They
   didn't provide anough lead, apparently...

    In the Pacific, I read a report about a squad that was
   pinned down by a sniper, until an M-16 came along. So long
   sniper, and palm trees he was hiding in...

                            Bruce

About 30 years ago I worked for a man who had served in Korea in the AAF. He
told me one story about how some T-34s were threatening the airfield at
night. Some M16s kept pouring fire onto the tanks. They couldn't kill them,
but thousands of rounds of .50BMG made them keep the periscopes down, filled
the machines with noise, and generally made things pretty uncomfortable for
the crews. I think he said they eventually withdrew when they realized they
couldn't get to the airfield before daylight.

The M16 earned the nickname "meat chopper," so yes, it was used frequently
against ground targets in the ETO. An export version was built on the American
Harvester halftrack as well, the M17, which was supplied as Lend Lease aid to
the Soviets.
GPO

I recall seeing a movie many years ago (I think it was "The Eagle Has
Landed") where there was a US halftrack with a M3 Lee tank turret
mounted on the back. I have never seen a photo or reference to this
version of the half-track and assume it was a phony mock-up in keeping
with the fictitious theme of the movie. Can any AFV enthusiast
confirm?

James.