Jack Beckett

Jack Beckett has been editor since 2012. Huge fan of war history and rural history and a motorbike rider.

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Articles by Jack Beckett:

Sherman M4A4 Restoration Part 11: Now for the interior

Now my focus was on the rest of the interior. I wanted to have her finished before I went to Normandy in June 2004 so…

German Secret Weapons of WWII

Towards the end of World War II, Nazi scientists and engineers were working on a number of destructive and innovative devices. The Germans were losing…

Sherman M4A4 Restoration Part 10: Tracks

The tracks were nos but were a motley selection of bits and pieces. One side was in ten link sections so I just had to…

Sherman M4A4 Restoration Part 9: The transmission

Anyway, having got as much of the interior fitted as I needed, I started on the transmission. Again a lack of pictures but essentially all…

Sherman M4A4 Restoration Part 8: Blasting the hull

This is the hull after blasting. It seemed a pity to remove all of the original paint and markings but I did record everything I…

Sherman M4A4 Restoration Part 7: The Hull

As I mentioned, I spent several years getting bits together, the single most expensive was new track and roadwheels. However, the wheels turned out to…

WWII Ghost Bombers Complete Their Mission – True or Fake?

A B-17 Flying Fortress landed perfectly at an RAF airbase and completes the full landing pattern as well. The bomber comes to a full stop;…

Sherman M4A4 Restoration Part 6: Putting all the blocks together = one multibank

Having finished the blocks, I concentrated on the centre casing which joins everything together. Again, having two sets of everything helped but both sets of…

Sherman M4A4 Restoration Part 5: Rebuild of the Blocks

Starting this had made me realise how many gaps there are in my photo record. All the pictures are on film and it would be…

Sherman M4A4 Restoration Part 4: The Engines Continued

Now all the individual engines can be removed. This is best achieved by rotating the assembly to allow a vertical lift for each block. No…

Sherman M4A4 Restoration Part 3: The engine continued

The aforementioned fan was the only casualty in the recovery as a blade broke off as we unloaded in my yard. Due to the size…

Sherman M4A4 Restoration Part 2: The Engine

I spent about 9 years gathering parts for the restoration including a spare engine but I did remove the engine straight away to see just…