FACT SHEET

No. 16

RAM TANK
wouldencounter, but in ensuingtankbaltlesitproved virtually
useless againstthcmoreheavilyarmoured tanksilwould meetin
Nonh Africa. This requirement fcr only mounlinga 2 pdr gun
resultedin a 60-inchdiameterturrclring,within whichit would
proveto be verydifficull to mountanythinglargerthana 6-pdr
anti-tankgun. The Canadians,most notably then Col. F.F.
Wonhingron,the father of the lRoyal] CanadianArmoured
Corpqobjectedtothesrnalldiameterturretring,contcnding thai
nothingsmallerthana75-mm antitankgunwouldbcacceplable.
A compromisewas found when thc dcsign was aileredto
incorporate a flalscrew-onplatelor thclurretfront.In thisway,
the6-pdrgun,whichhadjustcomeintoproductionin February
1941,couldbesimplyboll€dintoposilion in placeofthe2-pdr.
Ran's oJthe5th Cdn.4 fll1d.Die.ffossa snall box8i /d.r bri.1
8e Unfo(unatelyan opportunityhadbeenlost lo makelhe Rama
in Eneland,Ma! 1943.INACPA 192267) gunlankviablcforthcduralionof WorldWarll andjt nevefsrw
actionasa 8untank.
AftertheBritkheva€uation oi Dunkirt andlhctallof France in
June1940,B tain found herselfwith virtually no effeclive,
Burcaucrstic indecisionhaddelayedlhcproduclionoflhc 6-
modeh,armouredvehicles,particularlytanks.With thcspoc(re
pdrgunevenaf(erRommel'searlyI 94I succcsses hadrevcalcd
ofa Germaninvasionofthe BritishIsleslooming,it wasrealized
theinadequacy ofthe 2-pdrgun.As a rcsultthcfirst fifty Rams
thalBritishheavyindusllywasunable tomakegoodlhesclosses,
off the production line were fitted with thc 2-pdr and wsre
The inte m solutionwasto turnto othersources ofsupply,and
designated RamMk.I.Oftheremnining 1899Rams,l8l5 were
withintheCommonweallh,Canadian industrywasconsideredto
possess arm€dwilhthe6-pdrgun,andweredesignatedRamMk.Il,w
thegreatest potentialfor massproduction.
wereproduccdwithoutany armamenl,andweredesignaled
By thelatesummer of 1940theUnitedStateshadstartedwork 84
RamMk.II Observation Posl(O.P.)lanks.Thc first RamMk.I
on the M3 GeneralLee mediumtank and the British Tank
came off theassembly linein Novcmbcrl94l andproductionof
Missioninitiallyproposed orderinglhis {ypcwith modifications
theMk.IIbeganin JanuaryI942.By earlyaulumnlheslhand4th
10mcetBdtish requirements to b€ carriedout at the Canadian
Canadian ArmouredDivisionshadbeenfbrmedanddespalched
TankArsenal.Inthelateautumn.however.lheBrilishrealized
roEngland. Thereftc twoArmouredDivisions,andthe2ndArmy
thattheM3 Leepossessed seriousliabililiessuchastheIimiled
poorarmoured protection Tank Brigade, wercequippedwith a mixtureoftankswilh Lees
traverseof the75-mmmainarmament,
andcrants (a variantof (heLec with a lowcrprofilc lurretand
andahighsilhouetle. Th€reforein JanuaryI 94I theBritishIn teF
spacemadefor a No.19wirelessset)makingup tbr shortages
Depanmental Tank Committeedccidedon a compromisc. The
provensuspensionandautomo(ivecomponenlsof theLeewould
be used,but a new, Iowcrprofile hull anda tunet wilh a 360-
degreetraversewouldcomprisetherestoflhedesign, whichwas
approvedon 9January,1941.TheMontrealLocomotiveWorks
wasgiventhetaskofdcsignandproduc(ion. As little wasthen
knowninCanadaabout heavyarmourcasting,helpwasenlisted
from the American Locomolive works. A prototype was
completedbyJunel94l andloanedto theU.S.Army for testsar
th€AberdeenProvingGround in Maryland.TheRamwasgiven
the U.S.designation M4A5 in early 1942.
The new tank met mostof the exp€ctations of the B.itish
TankMission,but onegla.ingoversightsoonbccameapparent.
Al lbis early slageof the war the Bri(ish considercdthcir 2-
A Rati ARV Mkl retrieres a nie.l Ran 11oJthe 5th Cdk. Arh.L
pounder(pdr)gunto beeffectiveagainstmosttypesofarmourit
Div. in Edghrd, May 1943. (NAC PA 192268)

Research:
Jim BondandDon Dingwall. Editor: Fred Gaffen.
Photos:\ational Archives.
Publishedby Friendsofthe CanadianWar Museum
 ammunitionloading.Another similar variantwas a towing
vehi€lefor the 17-pdr.gun with which anti-tankartilleryunits

An ArmouredRecoveryVehicle(ARV) wasconveftd from

standard Ramgunlanks.TheRamARV Mk.I wasequipped only
for towingdisabledlankshavinga dommygun andextralool
slowageboxeson the reardeck-A very smallnumberofRam
ARV Mk.II's wasproduced andequipp€d wilh a25lonrecovery
winch,a rearearthspadeanda dummyturret.
OneRamthatretaineditsturret,though notitsmainarmament.
wastheRamObservation Post(O.P.)lank.This vehicl€,which
servedwilh self-propelled artilleryrcgimenlsfor th€durationof
the campaignin North WestEurope,was equippedwith map
tables,an extrawirelesssetandoperator.
The impressive performance ofKangaroosin Normandylcd
A Kahsaroo,79thAnouted Div., 1l April 1945.(NACPA t59250)
lo thedecisionhy Headquarters, FirstCanadian Army, to have
ofRamsonpracticallya weektoweekbasis.By theendof 1942 someKangarcosconvertedto flame{hrowingtanks.Combat
the5thArmouredDivisionhad219Ramsonstrcngthandthe4th experience with theWaspMk.2c,which wasa flamcthroweF
had | 28. equippodUniversalCarrier,showedthat it was too lightly
Priorto theinvasionof Sicilyin July I 943,theWesternAllies armourcdand its mobility acrosssoft groundwas poor.The
porlormancc oftheBadger,asit wasnowknown,withtheweight
haddccidcdthatthcM4 Sherman scriesof tanks,whichwasthen
oomingoffthc U.S.productionIinesin Iargenumbers, wastobeof turct and main armamentremoved,was describedas
rhestandard m€diumtank,Productionoflhc Ramcontinuedin "sprightly"andtheconversion was authorized. Badgersbegan
Montrealuntil July 1943whenthe faciliticswcrcconvertedto ariving onthecontinenti n NovemberI 994,andwereissucdto
the productionof an M4Al Shermanvariantknown as the the Lako Superior(Motor) Regimenlof the 4th Armoured
Grizzly. All operational armourcdunitsoftheCanadianArmy Divisionandro rhe2ndArmoured Brigrde.There$ereminor
problemsanddelayswhichhampered trainingbut tbeBadgcrs
Overseas wereequippedwith Shermans by mid 1944,but the
wereusedto goodeffectby the Lake Superiorsin Marchafld
Ramcontinued i nusefor trainingpurposes, TheRambecame the
April 1945,In April the 51hArmouredBrigadeof the 5rh
hasisofa numberofexperimentalvohicles,
After thedisasterof Dieppeon | 9 August i 942,Canadian ArmouredDivisionusedBadgerssuccessfully duringandafter
cngineerofficers had recognizcdthe nccd for a spccialized thc crossingof thc IjsselRivcr,
armoured vehiclecapableofbridgingobstacles. Accordinglyin As thewarprogrcssed, trialswereheld1oallcmpttomounta
1943a slandardMk.II was fittedto cafty a SmallBox Cirdcr 75' mm main armamentin the Ram,Some40 Ramswcre so
lilled andthe trialswcrcquitc succcsslulbul thc modification
Bridgo capableof spanninga 3o-footgap. The bridge was
attached to twolugsonthefronttransmission coverandwashcld wasneverput into service.
out in frontat a shallowanglebycablesrunningfrom thefiont
of (hebridgeoverthetankturretto thetank'sreartowinglugs, Thesupcrfi cialsimilarityof thcRamtankandthcAmcrican
Onreachingagapthccahleswercrcleascd, lcttingthcbridgcfall M4 Sherman series,combined with thealmostidenticalrunning
gcar,has lcd 1o much spcculationaboutlhc influcncecither
acrossthe gap.Trials of the Ram as a basisof an Armoured
desiSnmighlhavehadon theother.his almostunbelievahlethal
Engine€rVehicle were conducted,but theseprovedthat i{s
interiorwas too confinedto hold the crew and ca(y all the therewere no meelings and discussions amonSst thedesigners
andengin€€rs involved on lhe paralleldevelopments.It seems
engineering equipment required,Thatrole wasassumedby thc
unprofrtable to pursuethe argumentas both vehicles,in their
BrilishChurchilltank.a numberofwhich sawactionin North
WestEurope. scparateways! wcre valuablcto the Allied war cffort and
After D Day in Jun€1944,theRamwasthebasisofa number induslriallvto thcir rcsDective countries.
ofbighly successful conversions. The"Kangaroo"wasthefirst
practical armourcd pcrsonncl carricr to be used by thc
Commonwealth Armies,Othervehicles,suchasthe Universal
Carier.hadbccntriedin lhisrolc.butnonchadthecombinalion
of armourand mobil'ty necessary to keepup with supporting
tanksandto transportinfantryontoan obj€ctive underheavy
{ire. The "Kangaroo"was a Ram tank wilh its tunet andgun
rcmoved,It was crewedby a vchicle commande/machinc
gunnerandadriver,bothin thetrontofthe hull,leavingenough
roomin thc now cmptyfightingcompartmcntfor 8 10I I fully
equippedinfanlrymen.Wilhin the 2lsl Army Group,the lst
Canadian ArmouredPersonnel CarrierRegimentandthe49th
RoyalTankRegimentservedaspartoflhefamed79thArmoured
Divisionwilh approximately onehundrcdKangaroos cach.
Thc"Wallaby"wasa Ramwith its lurretremovedandused
as an ammunitioncdrier. It was fitted with a circular.plat€ in Kanearaostransporting pe anneLaJtheRojal Hanihon Liehl
Dlaceofthe turret.with an armouredhatchin it for access and lnfan|ry south of Gtoaingea, Holknd, 13Aplil 1915.
(NACPA 130937)
 A Radgerol the'th Cdn,Amd. Div., Putte, Holtand,t S Aprit t 945. (NACpA t3t03t)

SPECIFICATIONS
CREW:5 (Commander,
cunncr,Loader/Radio
Operator,
Driver,Co-drivcr)

COMMUMCATIONS: OneNo.l9Wireless Set DIMENSIONST

t ngth t9'0'
Onel" SignalPistol widrh RamI " 9'5"
RamII - 9' 10"(earlymodel)
MAXIMUMSPEED: 25M.P.H. 9'1" (latemodel)
Height 8',9"
CRUISINCRANGEI 144milesa! I8 M.P.H. ARMOURI Turfet Fronl - 3"
Rear - 2.5"
ENGINE: RamI Continenral
R9?5-EC2 Sides- 2.5"to 3"
400H,P.ar2400R.P.M. HUU Front- 2" to 3"
Ramll conrinenrat
R975-EC2 Rear - 1.5"
(earlymod€l) 400H.P.at 2400R.P.M. Sides- l.25"to 2.5"
Contin€ntal
R975-Cl ARMAMENT: RamI
(lat€model) 400 H.P.ar 2400R.P.M. OneQ.F.2-pounderMk.IXor X (l7l rounds)
FuelConsumption 0.9M.P.c. ThreeBrowning.30-calibremachineguns
(4275rounds)
OneThompson.45-calibresub,machineguns

RamII
OneQ.F.6-pounderMk. III orIV (92 rounds)
Three.30calibreBrowningmachineguns
(4000rounds)
OneThompson.45-calibresub-machine gun