Design Notes
As with all works of fiction, there was some degree of artistic license in the design of Armoured Warrior. The most glaring omission from fact to fiction involves the use of combined operations. Single tank-versus-tank duels, such as those described in the story, were not a regular occurrence. Most often, tanks acted in co-operation with other elements, such as infantry, artillery, engineers, anti-tank guns, trucks, motorcycles and aircraft. At first, Armoured Warrior attempted to incorporate all of these facets into the initial story line. But the ensuing battles became so unwieldy that too many options presented themselves to the reader. This made the story unmanageable and confusing. Although it is acknowledged that combined operations played a pivotal, if not crucial, role in battlefield operations, these are considerably scaled back to enhance the readability of the story.
Another change involves the use of imperial versus metric tables of measure. Back in the 1940s, distances were measured in "yards" or "miles". But since the late 1970s, Canadians have converted to the metric system, thereby gradually phasing out all references to, or memory of, imperial tables of measure. To include such measurements in a story that is aimed primarily at young students of Canadian history would simply confuse them. With apologies to purists, it was deemed necessary to convert "miles" into "kilometres" and "yards" into "metres".
The story's main hero is the Sherman M4A4 with a 75mm gun, of which 7,499 were manufactured between July 1942 and September 1943. Any references to the tank's exact specifications were intentionally omitted due to the numerous upgrades and variations of the Sherman design. In fact, nearly 50,000 Sherman tanks were built during the war years incorporating nearly a hundred variations. Keeping track of these variations proved difficult and, in the end, the detail did not greatly enhance the story line.
Anyone who has travelled on board a tank will also tell you that these were very noisy machines. Despite the almost constant roar of a 350 horse-power engine, the characters in Armoured Warrior often converse and engage in light banter as effortlessly as if they were sitting around a kitchen table. Obviously, this would not have been the case and most of the chatter would have been done over the tank's internal radio. In any event, conversation between crew members in the heat of battle would have been strictly limited to target identification and gun operation.
Finally, one of the greatest impressions one gets from reading accounts from actual tank crews is their sense of professionalism in carrying out their duties. Crew members worked diligently, trusted each other implicitly and obeyed their crew commander unfailingly. Armoured Warrior gives some idea of the "quiet effectiveness" of a Canadian tank crew, yet allows some of the characters to speak their minds at key instances. Their role in the story is to explain the pros and cons of any given situation, while leaving it up entirely to the reader, you, to make the final decision.
Any resemblance between the names of the characters in the story to actual individuals, either living or dead, is purely coincidental.
