Guys,
The Shermans in the picture are so new there are no machine guns mounted on any of them. No co-ax, bow or crew commander MG.No towing cables , Jerry cans , antennae , no nothing . Looks they were just dumped or driven on the side of a road somewere in England to be seviced , equiped and readied for action.
That there be no markings is not suprising as more important stuff needs to be done first like loading the MG's and radio equipment .
Nice , colour and stenciled markings is the stuff you do when in garrison not when you are about to embark on history's most important flotilla or Armada to date .
On the LCT's we see embarcation markings in chalk . It did the job.
The silly stars our allies insisted on us painting on the sides of our Shermans were just so nice to the Jerry's as aiming marks. Just like the nice standing MG mounts on US Jeeps. Better targets , soon jettisoned pieces of bad and ill conceived in garrison equipment.
I see a barrel of grease and a wooden box in front of the first one . Would that box contain a Browning MG ?
My two cents as an amateur history buff and modern military man.
Cheers . Salute a veteran and thank him today and every day of the year.
Robert