Quote:
Originally Posted by Cross
Quote:
Originally Posted by redcoat2
British and Polish Anti-Tank Regts in Italy started to receive 17-pdr M10s from September 1944 – whenever they were taken out of the line for recuperation and re-equipping.
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As SP doesn't discriminate between theatres - as far as availability is concerned - I should mention that British units in France had the 17Pdr M10 Achilles in time for D-Day. But they were in short supply. |
I am in no way implying that the availability date for the British 17-pdr M10 is incorrect. The first 17-pdr M10s were delivered to units earmarked for Normandy in May 1944. I’m only looking at the availability of the NZ M10. If the British in Italy were starting to get 17-pdr M10s from September then it is possible that the New Zealanders – who were also in Italy - were getting them at around the same time
The conversion of the M10 to the 17-pdr M10 was quite slow at first because the work was originally undertaken at only one Royal Ordnance factory in Woolwich. Conversion rates increased in September 1944 after other RO factories in Ellesmere Port and Nottingham joined the effort. 430 M10s had been converted by the end of September and 708 by the end of November.