Belton cooper's book death traps belton tx

Cooper s experiences in the battle to defeat germany. When belton cooper was a young boy growing up in huntsville, he dreamed of building the world s first unsinkable battleship. The university of texas at arlington in partial fulfillment. The information in this obituary is based on data from the us government s social security death index. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. I eagerly awaited this book s coming out since i heard of its release. Battle of midway movie in the works page 2 general. This is fairly recent publication and goes into the design and use of the sherman in. Patton was primarily responsible for delaying the development and production of the m26. Oct 22, 2014 the gore was brutally realistic and makes you appreciate what these guys did even in the face of such destructive enemy weapons. A daily digest of texas news, the latest from texas monthly, plus a monthly message from our editors. If you want to talk about shermans, then i suggest you read a book entitled death traps by belton cooper.

To set the stage, its april of 1945 the last month of the. Now, to my knowledge there is no documents that confirm what cooper wrote in his. The 3rd armored division entered combat in normandy with 232 m4 sherman tanks. May 26, 2007 it was the first trip by this yankee to alabama. His stories are vivid, enlightening, full of lifeand of pain, sorrow, horror, and triumph. Sign up for news about books, authors, and more from penguin random house. The book relates coopers experiences during world war ii and puts forth an argument against. The georgia department of public health reported the number of positive cases grew by just over 200 overnight and there were five additional deaths bringing the states total to.

The survival of an american armored division in world war ii by belton y. Wasnt that scene inspired by a real life episode narrated in belton y. I have never before been able to learn so much about mai. On april 30, 2001, i drove to belton coopers house in a very nice neighborhood in birmingham, book, tape recorder, and gifts in hand, and. The book itself is called death traps and it refers to the thousands of crew members who died or were injured in sherman tanks because the tank was designed by a committee and it was no match for. Irwin depict engagements where shermans disable tiger. Later, cooper recalled the experience in a book, death traps. I read this book immediately after reading spearhead.

See more ideas about mini, mini cooper classic and cool cars. Aug 28, 2000 as a young ordnance lieutenant in the 3d armor division, it was belton cooper s job to travel with the combat units during the day and assist in coordinating the recovery, repair, and evacuation of the battledamaged tanks. He saw a lot of battle damage on american tanks from german guns. Read death traps the survival of an american armored division in world war ii by belton y. A history of the black cats from texas to france, germany and. Now, to my knowledge there is no documents that confirm what cooper wrote in his book about this particular occurrence. It keeps coming up in forum threads as people keep citing it, so i figured i may as well make my position clear in a more formal manner. Jun 22, 2015 tell me more about death traps, and how bad the sherman was. This was a heavy armored division that was the tip of the spear of the allied advance across europe. Ayer was influenced by the service of veterans in his family and by reading books, such as belton y.

Cooper, a veteran of the tank war, wrote in the book death traps, one of many sources mr. The book relates coopers experiences during world war ii and puts forth an argument against the us armys use of the m4 sherman tank during the war. Battle of midway movie in the works page 2 general game. Mar 18, 2018 invariably, when this topic is raised in an online forum, someone will bring up the book death traps by belton cooper. He was a liaison lieutenant in the 3 rd armor division for the maintenance battalion. After the initial surprise whereby they would have lost maybe a. For the same reason internet hobby historians love to rate the tiger ll as the greatest tank ever the m1 abrams is based off it dontcha know and routinely place rommel at the top of the list of. Two battalions detached from the 2nd armored division at fort hood texas. Cooper was an officer in a maintenance battlion in the 3rd armored div. His laments about shermans being no good against tigers and panthers are questionable, as his unit did not encounter tigers and panthers when he. Read belton coopers life story, offer tributescondolences, send flowers or create a belton cooper online memorial. Wikipedia article on the film mentions it was inspired by death traps, the autobiography of maintenance company officer belton y cooper.

Irwin depict engagements where sherman s disable tiger tanks by shooting the drive sprockets or shooting white phosphors rounds, the phosphors rounds produce a deadly smoke, when this smoke is sucked into the tank. This was a heavy armored division that was the tip of the spear of the allied. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. Whomever wrote that piece did not do their research properly. New dsc show greatest military clashes the high road. Belton cooper was a mechanic during the war, and thus lacked a good overall perspective of the shermans. Nov 09, 2004 they rolled out some of the belton cooper author of death traps interview footage they always use. In his 1998 book death traps, belton cooper, who was a lieutenant in the 3rd. The book, commonly found, is wellwritten, an easy read, and provides good insight as to the thinkings and workings of a junior grade ordnance officer in a field unit. When norman had to clean the tank of the remains of the dead assistant driver, it was quite evident the filmmakers read coopers death traps. This is an apolitical forum for discussions on the axis nations and related topics hosted by the axis history factbook in cooperation with christian ankerstjernes. Belton was an ordnance officer in the 3rd armored div or spearhead division.

With a forward by popular historian stephen ambrose and the backing of a major publisher, death traps has become quite well known amongst ww2 history aficionados. Coopers experiences in the battle to defeat germany. Death traps, belton coopers aptly name book about american armored divisions in ww2 evidences this fact. During the european campaign, the division had some 648 sherman tanks completely destroyed in combat and we had another 700 knocked out, repaired and put. You can enhance belton coopers memory by upgrading beltons public record with words and pictures, signing beltons memory book, recording an audio. Jul 28, 20 i believe i have tracked down the source of this claim which didnt surprise me at all. With a forward by popular historian stephen ambrose and the backing.

Iirc the history channel itself actually did do a full hourlong program on the sherman or maybe it was us wwii tanks in general as part of their heavy metal series. Death traps the survival of an american armored division in world war ii, by belton y cooper. If you read death traps you understand the tone of the movie as well as why the eponymous tank is named fury. Death traps the survival of an american armored division. Mark sisson is the founder of marks daily apple, godfather to the primal food and lifestyle movement, and the new york times bestselling author of the keto reset diet. As a young ordnance lieutenant in the 3d armor division, it was belton coopers job to travel with the combat units during the day and assist in coordinating the recovery, repair, and. Fury, starring brad pitt, a raw look at warfare the new york times. For the same reason internet hobby historians love to rate the tiger ll as the greatest tank ever the m1 abrams is based off it dontcha know and routinely place rommel at the top of the list of greatest generals ever. This has been repeated everywhere from internet forums to the history channel. Belton coopers memoir of his world war ii service with the 3rd armored division in europe is a gem. The survival of an american armored division in world war ii, published in 1998. Belton cooper was a mechanic during the war, and thus lacked a good overall perspective of the sherman s performance.

Furthermore, we should put those sources in context. As a member of the 3rd armored division maintenance battalion, he had liaison duties that took him far and wide, so he saw more of the war than most junior officers, and he writes about it better than most anyone. Ambrose, from his foreword in a downtoearth style, death traps tells the compelling story of one mans assignment to the famous 3rd armored division that spearheaded the american advance from normandy into germany. In his 1998 book death traps, belton cooper, who was a lieutenant in the 3rd armored division during world war ii, working as a liaison officer for the divisions armor repair units, made the claim that. And if he is irrelevant, then why would hunicutts books be considered relevant. In his 1998 book death traps, belton cooper, who was a lieutenant in the 3rd armored division during world war ii, working as a liaison officer for the divisions armor repair units, made the claim that general george s. In belton coopers death traps on page 175 he claims the german tanks had a qualitative superiority of as much as five to one over our m4 sherman.

I would like to know why death traps by belton cooper is considered irrelevant. Dec 18, 2007 his stories are vivid, enlightening, full of lifeand of pain, sorrow, horror, and triumph. Naturally, some of that s being part of the us combinedarms situation, rather than shermanspecific qualities, but at the end of the day, inside a sherman tank was one of the safest places in eto to be for a combat trooper. The survival of an american armored division in world war ii 9780891418146. Jan 29, 2015 invariably, when this topic is raised in an online forum, someone will bring up the book death traps by belton cooper. The technical inferiority of american to german armor in world war ii is well documented and very familiar to students of that conflict. Belton cooper s memoir of his world war ii service with the 3rd armored division in europe is a gem. Fast forward to the 14 minute mark and you see moran mention belton coopers death traps. Death traps is a somewhat unique book among books written about wwii in. The survival of an american armored division in world war ii ebook. On april 30, 2001, i drove to belton coopers house in a very nice neighborhood in birmingham, book, tape recorder, and gifts in hand, and rang the front doorbell. Invariably, when this topic is raised in an online forum, someone will bring up the book death traps by belton cooper. Fury is a fictional film about a tank crew during the final days of the war in europe. Fury is both the name of the movie and an m4 sherman tank thats home to a dysfunctional family of us army soldiers.

Sep 30, 2016 for the same reason internet hobby historians love to rate the tiger ll as the greatest tank ever the m1 abrams is based off it dontcha know and routinely place rommel at the top of the list of greatest generals ever. It was a literal death trap for the crews manning it. You can enhance belton cooper s memory by upgrading belton s public record with words and pictures, signing belton s memory book, recording an audio memory or lighting a candle. German tanks in ww2 had gasoline engines, not diesel. After the initial surprise whereby they would have lost maybe a dozen men, any sane commander would have ordered a retreat to a safe distance, break out the antitank rockets and blow up mr pitt and co. M4 sherman tank was deathtrap page 3 the leading glock. This is an apolitical forum for discussions on the axis nations and related topics hosted by the axis history factbook in cooperation with christian ankerstjernes panzerworld and christoph awenders ww2 day by day. Cooper served as an ordnance liaison officer of the us 3rd armored division from the invasion of normandy until the end of the war. The m4 sherman tank was hell on wheels and a death trap. Coopers death traps, about american armored warfare in world war ii. M4 sherman tank was deathtrap discussion in the okie corral started by bill keith, jun 22, 2015. Cooper som bog pa engelsk 9780891418146 boger rummer alle sider af livet. Sep 14, 2017 finally, this scene wasnt thought up by some script writer, it s taken from belton cooper s death traps. In belton coopers death traps on page 175 he claims.

The survival of an american armored division in world war ii is a 1998 memoir by belton y. This is fairly recent publication and goes into the design and use of the sherman in 194445 in western europe. Cooper s death traps, about american armored warfare in world war ii. Belton cooper s book death traps is a good book about the sherman. The book itself is called death traps and it refers to the thousands of crew members who died or were injured in sherman tanks because the tank was designed by a committee and it was no match for german panzers with far superior armour and firepower. Rebecca cooper, a very pretty lady, full of southern charm, answered the door. Death traps the survival of an american armored division in. The pershings delayed production weapons and warfare. Jan 30, 2015 but the wikipedia article on the film mentions it was inspired by death traps, the autobiography of maintenance company officer belton y cooper. Cooper saw more of the war than most junior officers, and he writes about it better than almost. Finally, this scene wasnt thought up by some script writer, its taken from belton coopers death traps. Cooper is a very polished writer, and the book is very readable. From some checking on the arm chair general, there seems to be some discussion as to its historical accuracy. The survival of an american armored division in world.

The survival of an american armored division in world war ii by benton y. An important contribution to the history of world war ii. They rolled out some of the belton cooper author of death traps interview footage they always use. The book relates coopers experiences during world war ii and puts forth an.

Was the ww2 memoir death traps by belton cooper historically accurate. As a member of the 3rd armored division maintenance. Coopers insight makes this book an interesting read from a historical point of view death traps definitely has a significant amount of historical contents. Death traps by belton cooper is a memoir of his us army service in world war 2. Churchill among the worst of them literally hitler reddit. Ayer was influenced by the service of veterans in his family and by reading books such as belton y. Belton coopers book death traps is a good book about the sherman.