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To: Reily
I do know early in the war we had no way of mounting a gun large then a 37mm in a turret hence the weird Grant tank configuration.

I as astounded to see that the M3 Grant/Lee was used until the end of the war. It was used in the Pacific and Burma theaters as the Japs evidently had poor antitank guns, let alone pathetic armor.

72 posted on 05/06/2019 6:15:58 PM PDT by Oatka
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To: Oatka
I (w)as astounded to see that the M3 Grant/Lee was used until the end of the war. It was used in the Pacific and Burma theaters as the Japs evidently had poor antitank guns, let alone pathetic armor.

I knew a WWII M3 tank crewman whose saddest day was when his M3 light tank was replaced with an M5 for the invasion of Sicily. Until he found out the M5 had a gyro-stabilized gun, and could shoot on the move, sometimes a necessity for the crews in the light *Cavalry* tanks going up against enemy vehicles with bigger, but not necessarily better, guns, often at night when long-distance range didn't count for much.

Finishing the war as a driver, he missed shooting at people, and so had a 2.36-inch bazooka wired to the tank's barrel, fired by means of his horn button. He said it was great at night, but the backblast necessitated an immediate relocation at night- the flash gave away your position instantly.


76 posted on 05/17/2019 12:07:54 PM PDT by archy (Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Except bears, they'll kill you a little, then eat you.)
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