Back

Grant:

The Grant tank was once called the tank that saved the British in North Africa, as it arrived in time effectively combat the German armour.

The story of its use in the British Army started back in July 1940 the US drew up plans for the production of a new medium tank, the M2A1, but it was recognised that any new tank should be armed with a 75mm gun. It was pointed out that it was no possible to fit a 75mm gun into the turret of the proposed M2A1 as it was designed only to hold a 37mm gun and as no turret has as yet been designed to mount a gun of this size. However, in the previous year an experimental tank with a hull mounted 75mm gun had been built and it decided this was a good starting point for the new design. Based upon this a design was produced in which the 75mm gun was mounted in a traversing sponson on the right side of the hull, while a 37mm turret was to be retained on top of the hull, offset to the left. The design was produced at great speed and by March 1941 it was complete, with the first pilot models being available three weeks later.

Meanwhile, in June 1940 the British purchasing commission went to the US to buy tanks for the British Army, hoping the US would agree to produce British designs, but the US Government was adamant that their tank facilities were needed to US designs only. This mean that if the British were to buy tanks in the US they would have to be US designs, with the latest being the M3 Light (Stuart or Honey) and the M3 Medium. The British bought both, but with one modification to the latter, which was to have the turret was altered to contain the tanks radio and the machine gun in the cupola on the turret was removed to improve the silhouette.

In October 1940 the contracts were signed and the first deliveries started in early 1942 and went straight to North Africa and were used in May 1942 in the Gazala battle. Since the British gave their tanks names the modified M3 became the General Grant and the unmodified M3 became the General Lee. They received a mixed reception, with them proving reliable, but with the 75mm gun mounted in the hull this meant the hull had to be exposed to the enemy to fire it, thus preventing the tank adopting a hull down position. Nevertheless the 75mm gun gave the British crews parity with their German opponents and also the capability to fire HE shells at last as well as armour piecing shot from the larger gun.

The tank feature to main weapons, a hull mounted 75mm howitzer, offset to the right hand side in sponson, with a 37mm gun in the turret offset to the left of the tank. When it was eventually replaced by the M4 Sherman it went on to serve in Burma and the Pacific theatres, but a few were modified to carry search lights and became known as Canal Defence Light (CDL) Tanks in the European theatre of action. These had the turret replaced by spotlight. Some used to illuminate night crossings of Rhine and Elbe in 1945 and some of this variant were sent to Far East but never used. Other versions include Grant Command, some of which had turret gun replaced with dummy gun and extra communications equipment was added; Grant Scorpion III, with the 75mm gun removed and an anti-mine device added and Grant Scorpion IV, which was effectively the same as Scorpion III but with 2nd Bedford engine added.

Grant, Specification

Back

Sherman and Sherman Firefly:

The M4 Sherman if probably one of the best known tanks of the Second World War. It was developed from requests by the British for a tank with a 75mm gun in a rotating turret, instead of the sponson used on the Grant.

Two designs were considered, one using a cast hull and the other a welded hull, with both basing the engine and running gear on the M3 Grant. A welded hull model of the M4 was produced as the M4A1 and production began in February 1942, for delivery to the British. The basic Sherman has a turtle backed hull and a cast turret. The driver sat in the front left with an assistant driver/machine gunner alongside him. The engine was an air-cooled aircraft radial mounted in the rear of the hull. The drive shaft then passed along the floor to the transmission unit in the front, where it drove the track drive sprockets. The turret mounted a 75mm gun and a co-axial machine gun, with the gunner on the right, the commander behind him, with the loader/machine gunner on the left. The early Shermans have the characteristic of having rounded corners to the top of the front hull, while the latter one had "squarer" corners.

The 75mm gun soon became obsolete and the British re-gunned some of their Shermans with the 17-pdr anti-tank gun, which became known as the Firefly (Left). This gave them a method of knocking out the heavier German tanks at longer range. The Americans used a 76mm version to achieve the same. To accommodate the larger gun the coaxial machine gun was removed and a larger counter weight fitted to the back of the turret. Towards the end of the war the later models also had the hull machine gun removed so more of the larger 17-pdr ammunition could be carried. To provide protection against infantry some tank commanders often mounted a 0.30" Browning or BESA machine gun on the turret.

All models of the Sherman caught fire easily, which earned them the nickname of "Ronsons" by their crews and "Tommy Cookers" by the Germans, but it was the mainstay of the British Armoured Division until almost the end of the war, when the Cromwell had fully replaced it. A Diesel version was also produced which did not catch fire so easily, but this was not widely available.

Mine clearing flail versions were developed and used, along with the DD (Duplex Drive) version, which swam ashore on D-Day, during the Normandy Invasion. Other Shermans had bulldozer blades fitted to the front to allow the Armoured Regiments to deal with objects that might otherwise need the assistance of the Royal Engineers. This proved useful in demolishing some of the hedges in the Normandy 'Bocage', roadblocks and filling anti-tank ditches. They saw wide service in Italy as well as in Northern Europe. One is pictured right.

The below pictures show some of the over various versions of Shermans.

An AOP version was provided to the artillery, which in order to accommodate the extra radios needed for this role, had the 75mm gun replaced with a wooden dummy one, though the hull and co-axial machine guns were retained. 

Sherman, Specification

Back

Cromwell:

The Cromwell tank was introduced in 1944 and was also known as the A27 or Cruiser MK VIII. It started life in 1941 when Leyland Motors suggested a tank design using an adapted Rolls-Royce Merlin aero-engine, of Spitfire, Hurricane and Lancaster fame. At that time there was a short of the Rolls-Royce engines (called a Meteor for this application) so two designs were progressed. One using the Liberty engine became the Centaur and the Meteor engine version became the Cromwell. Once Meteor engines were available the Centaurs were fitted with them and became Cromwells, too. Production began in January 1943.

The Cromwell used the Christie suspension system and with the Meteor engine, it had a very impressive turn of speed and great manoeuvrability. The new engine proved more reliable that some of the earlier engines, which gave the Cromwell a good reputation. The engine was fitted with a governor, but as with the A13, this was usually decommissioned by the crew, to give a higher top speed. (NB. I once spoke to someone who had served in the Guard's Armoured Division and they were definitely not allowed to touch the governor!) Originally, the armament was to be the 6-pdr, but this was changed to a new British designed 75mm gun, which could use American ammunition, which made supply easier in the European theatre of operations.

The tank went through eight marks including an AOP version, for artillery observers, which retained the 75mm gun and was equipped with two extra No. 19 radios in the turret and one in the hull, but as they carried no trained gunner, it was not that effective. To achieve this some of the BESA machine gun ammunition bins were removed, which meant the crew had a limited quantity to defend themselves against infantry attack. The 75mm gun was operational including the ammunition which was kept in the radio operator's seat and in bins outside the turret basket in the corners of the compartment. The very nature of an AOP tank meant that it could assist the leading units of the Division and remain intact at the same time. The tank was commanded by an Artillery surveyor, usually a Major or Captain, who brought two radio operators with him, the remaining operator was from my the Armoured Brigade HQ Squadron. The crew of an AOP could call on the artillery regiment to mark a target with pink smoke to guide the Typhoons from 2nd Tactical Air Force or the artillery could bombard the target directly. There was an ARV version with no turret, but with a crane and winch for recovering damaged tanks and guns. A Command Tank version was also made which at regimental and squadron level were normal gun tanks with extra radios in the front gunner's compartment as per the AOP version. However, one of the Cromwells assigned to 22nd Armoured Brigade was designated as the Brigade command tank and had the turret stripped out and the gun replaced with a tree trunk. The turret was then welded to the hull so that it could not turn. Additional radios were fitted and operated by Royal Signals. This was the Brigade command tank which went right through to the end of the war. An identical vehicle was also used for the 7th Armoured Division HQ command tank.

The MK I was originally produced in 1943 with a 6-pdr and 2 machine guns. The other major variations were MK II, with wider tracks and hull machine gun removed and 75mm gun, MK III and MK IV which were the Centaur MK 1 & MK 3, refitted with the Meteor engine, MK V had a welded hull, MK VI was the close support (CS) version (left) with a 95mm (3.7-in) Howitzer, MK VII was a MK IV with added armour and wider tracks and the MK VIII was a MK VI with added armour and wider tracks. It was in the CS version that Royal Marine Assault Squadrons landed on the Normandy beaches to bombard the German defences as close range.

The markings on the CS version (pictured left) are to allow easier target sighting by accompanying troops or from the turret.

Cromwell, Specification;

Back

Challenger:

A version of the Cromwell was also produced with a larger turret and 17-pdr gun, which was know as the Challenger (A30). The Cromwell chassis was lengthened by adding another road wheel, with a large turret being designed to accommodate the breech and recoil system of the 17-pdr gun. Although ungainly and with poor performance, it did work and was approved for production in February 1943 with 200 being built.

It was mainly used by the Armoured Reconnaissance Regiments, of Armoured Divisions, such as the 8th Hussars, who used it from the autumn of 1944. Due to its high silhouette it was vulnerable as a battle tank so it was generally used as Tank Destroyer, with 1 being issued to each troop. Some units preferred to use Sherman Fireflies in preference to the Challenger.

Challenger, Specification;

Back

 Chaffee:

The US Light Tank M24 (Chaffee) named after General Adna R Chaffee, was designed began in mid 1943, in order to replace the M5A1 (Stuart) Light tank, which suffered from insufficient armour, lack of room in the turret and overheating of the engine. The first production vehicle appeared in April 1944. A small number reached Europe to take part in the Rhine crossing and the closing stages of the war, being used in a reconnaissance role.

The Chaffee was of conventional design, being powered by two Cadillac V-8 engines with Hydramatic transmission and torsion bar suspension. The turret mounted a M6 75mm gun, which was derived from a special aircraft cannon design.

Chaffee, Specification

Browning 0.3 inch Machine Gun, Data: