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From Dan Fong, Web Staff:
The above photo is the only known side angle
of Pool's IN THE MOOD Sherman M4A1(76)W. A number of private
collectors and 3AD WWII veterans have prints of varying quality
made from the same, original, apparently long-lost negative,
but the above image is the most-detailed and sharpest that we
know of. The photographer, probably a G.I. amateur, is unknown.
The original negative suffered from some blurriness at the bottom
left that is probably a camera lens problem. The Sherman, painted
camouflage (barely apparent in black & white), appears to
be in motion, and Pool is assumed to be in the commander's hatch.
After looking through some of what is published
about S/Sgt Lafayette Pool's tanks named IN THE MOOD, the case
can be made that the M4A1 76mm Sherman pictured above is in fact
the third tank commanded by Pool to be named IN THE MOOD.
From the 22 September 1944 edition of YANK
magazine, in an interview with Pool's driver Cpl. Wilbert Richards
and bow gunner Pfc. Bert Close, we are given the locations that
the tanks were lost. The first M4 Sherman named IN THE MOOD was
lost near the town of La Forge Bois de Bretel, France. The second
in the town of Fromentel, France. The third was lost near Munsterbusch,
Germany.
From the division history published in 1946
entitled SPEARHEAD IN THE WEST, in its G-3 Supplement, we find
the dates that the 3rd Armored Division was operating in those
areas named in the YANK article. On 29 June 1944 the Division's
Task Force X, CCA (Combat Command "A") advanced to
La Forge Bois de Bretel. This would be the day the first IN THE
MOOD was lost. On 17 August 1944, as the Division moved north
to close the remaining avenue of retreat for the Germans out
of the Falaise pocket, the second IN THE MOOD would be lost in
a "friendly fire" incident when the USAAF bombed elements
of CCA in the town of Fromentel.
Lastly, in a book authored by noted military
historian Steve Zaloga and published in 2003 entitled M4 (76mm)
Sherman Medium Tank 1943-65, it's recorded that the first
M4A1 76mm was not issued to the 3rd Armored Division until mid-July
1944. This information, plus the information above, show that
the first and second Shermans commanded by Pool could not have
been the type pictured in the above photo since they were both
issued well before the M4A1 76mm became available. So we must
come to the conclusion that the picture shows the third of Pool's
tanks named IN THE MOOD.
The M4A1 76mm could have been issued to Pool
as early as 17 August 1944, the day he lost his second tank.
The third IN THE MOOD had a short operational history of a little
over one month or so, from 17 August 1944 to 19 September 1944
when it was hit and penetrated by German anti-tank gunfire near
Munsterbusch, Germany some 400 road miles after the presumed
issue date.
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