Lieutenant Bill Heptinstall's M4 Sherman from New Zealand's 20th Armoured Regiment
Lieutenant Bill Heptinstall's M4 Sherman from New Zealand's 20th Armoured Regiment, lays knocked out down the side of a road next the Tiger I tank that destroyed it. The Tiger has been self-destroyed and abandoned by its crew, possibly leaving it there as a road block. Florence, Italy. August 4th, 1944. From the 13th of June to the 13th of July 1944, the New Zealand 20th Armoured Regiment was given a rest period in the Liri Valley, after its part in the push to Rome. It was a time of training and refitting for the Sherman equipped unit. On the morning of the 13th the Regiment began its march back to the war, this time it was to be part of the attack on Florence. By the 17th the Regiment was in position near the front for a brief rest at Lake Trasimene. Then on the evening of the 22nd the Regiment moved again some 70 miles to Siena, and finally to Tavarnelle on the 26th. The 27th was the day the war returned, a reconnaissance patrol dodged enemy mines but was halted by a blown ...