MasseyH wrote: So once I discover one of these beasts, just how will I be able to tell if it was made in the MH plant in Racine and not in the Cadillac or GM plant in Detroit? Will it have a big "Massey Harris - Better Built Military Equipment" sign on it??? Is there a tag? will it say Racine? I know my tank bag box does say"Massey Harris Racine WI - Tank Division"
GTE
Knowing for certain that a M5A1 was built by MH (rather than Cadillac or American Car and Foundry) is really pretty easy. Look closely at the trapezodal armor plate on the right front of the tank. MH-bulit tanks are fittingly stamped "M-H" in that plate. Also stamped into that plate is the construction number of the tank.
There are a variety of numbers associated with US tanks - and this is good time to discuss these. The M-H construction number stamped into the tank pretty much means nothing to anyone but MH.
Painted on the side of the tank (and other US Army vehicles) is the Army registration number. This is the number that begins "USA".
The registration number can be compared to a non-expiring license plate number - this is the number that typically the army uses to keep track of the vehicle. Under normal circumstances, these numbers do not change during the vehicle's military service (however, preserved/restored tanks are often painted with erroneous numbers).
Thus, if the number is visible in a vintage photograph, by matching it with the data below, you can tell if it is a M-H tank. If the registration number visible on a Stuart does not fall in the ranges below, then the Stuart in the photo was built by Cadillac or American Car and Foundry.
Embossed into the tank is the Ordnance Serial Number - this number too is sometimes used by military accountability, and normally it too does not change.
The model/registration/serial numbers for the MH-built Stuarts are:
M5 3064984-3065233 3268-3517
M5A1 3065234-3065483 3518-3767
M5A1 3059072-3059571 9768-10267
M5A1 30102715-30103048 15501-15834
By the way, none of these numbers are the same as the M-H construction numbers.
Hope this helps!
Respectfully,
David Doyle