Chapter Eight
America supplied the Eighth Army with three main types of tank, the M3 Stuart light tank and the M3 Lee/Grant and M4 Sherman medium tanks. While the Sherman became the single most important tank in the British inventory by virtue of its vast numbers, it was the Grant that arrived in the nick of time to save the Eighth Army in North Africa. The Germans first came up against American-built armour fighting with the British Army in Egypt and Libya and subsequently with the US Army in Tunisia. The very first Stuarts were delivered in July 1941 and were used to replace British-built light tanks; they were followed by the Grant (the introduction of the American Lend-Lease Act in March 1941 also enabled Britain to receive numbers of the slightly differently armed Lee).
After the British Army’s escape from Dunkirk and the loss of virtually all its equipment, a British Tank Commission was dispatched to Washington in June 1940 with a view to both getting British tanks built in America and procuring American tanks. In the event they ordered 500 M3 medium tanks dubbed the Grant by the British in honour of General Ulysses S. Grant. The first 200 were shipped to the Eighth Army in early 1942. For the coming Gazala battle the 4th Armoured Brigade was equipped with 167 Grants, giving them at last a tank with superior firepower to any German armoured fighting vehicle. By June 1942 a further 250 M3s had been successfully shipped to Egypt along with American instructors.
Following Rommel’s capture of Tobruk that very month, President Roosevelt proposed sending the US 2nd Armored Division to help, but as it would take up to five months to get them there it was decided to dispatch their Sherman tanks instead. Around 300 M4 Shermans, mainly the cast-hull M4A1 variant, were shipped to the Eighth Army by October 1942, along with a hundred new M7 self-propelled howitzers. Washington generously made good convoy losses by withdrawing further tanks issued to American units. Elements of the 2nd Armoured Brigade (1st Armoured Division), the 8th and 24th Armoured Brigades (10th Armoured Division) and the 9th Armoured Brigade (2nd New Zealand Division) were issued with the M4A1s. While the Sherman was easily superior to the obsolescent British Cruisers, they caught fire very easily and the British crews soon nicknamed them ‘Ronsons’ after the lighter, while the Germans called them ‘Tommy Cookers’.
The American-built Grant met with general approval; it was reasonably fast (unlike the Matilda), reliable (unlike the Crusader) and its 75mm gun could take on German armour and anti-tank crews on a more equal footing. The only problem was that the gun was mounted on the right side of the hull, thereby greatly restricting its arc of fire. The Grants first went into action in North Africa in May 1942 at Gazala, where their 75mm guns gave the Germans a nasty shock. ‘Up to May of 1942 our tanks had in general been superior in quality to corresponding British types,’ noted Rommel in his diary. ‘This was now no longer true, at least not to the same extent.’ He added, ‘The advent of the new American tank had torn great holes in our ranks. Our entire force now stood in heavy and destructive combat with a superior enemy.’
Rommel struck back, seizing Tobruk on 21 June 1942 and capturing about fifty tanks from the dispirited garrison. By the time he had captured Tobruk, his forces had taken or destroyed over a thousand armoured fighting vehicles and almost 400 guns, as well as seizing 45,000 prisoners. Rommel’s reward was elevation to field marshal. However, by October 1942 some 600 Grants had arrived in Egypt.
While the concept of the M3 was good, it was only really an interim fix and both the Grant and Lee tank types were replaced as the M4 Sherman became available. The first Shermans lost to German mines and anti-tank guns were those of the British 9th Armoured Brigade during the opening stages of the Battle of El Alamein on 23 October 1942. The first tank-to-tank engagement took place the following day between Shermans of the 2nd Armoured Brigade and tanks of Rommel’s 15th Panzer Division.
Rommel was equally impressed by the Sherman: ‘Their new tank, the General Sherman, which came into action for the first time during this battle [El Alamein], showed itself to be far superior to ours.’ Understandably he was not happy about this development. Indeed, the turning point for Rommel had come – by this stage his forces were completely outnumbered in terms of both manpower and equipment. Crucially Montgomery’s Eighth Army had 170 Grants, 252 Shermans, 294 Crusaders, 119 Stuarts and 194 Valentines ready for its knock-out blow. Four British Churchill tanks were also present at El Alamein. After fierce fighting, Rommel was thrown back with the loss of over 400 irreplaceable panzers. Montgomery lost half his tank force but some 350 were repairable.
American-built armour first went into action with the American Army against the Vichy French in North Africa. When American units were deployed overseas, they normally exchanged their medium M3s for M4s, and the only unit not to do this was the US 1st Armored Division. This unit formed part of the Centre Task Force of Operation Torch during the landings in Algeria on 7–8 November 1942. Although Shermans replaced the 1st Armored Division’s battle casualties, M3s remained on its strength throughout the campaign. The Sherman first went into action with the Americans in Tunisia in January 1943.
Armour enhancements were not all one-sided. During early 1942 Rommel was supplied with the Panzer Mk III Ausf J armed with the long-barrelled KwK39 L/60 50mm gun which proved very useful against the Grant and the Valentine. Adolf Hitler initially wanted the L/60 installed in the Mk III in the summer of 1940 and was not pleased to see the initial Ausf J armed with the shorter L/42 gun when it went into production in 1941. While this variant ended up armed with either the L/42 or L/60, all subsequent Mk III Ausf L and M were fitted with the longer gun. From April 1942 spaced armour 20mm thick was also fitted to the gun mantlet and hull front, including on those deployed to North Africa.
The most common Panzer Mk IVs were the Ausf D, E and F1, which made up around 25 per cent of Rommel’s armoured formations. They were armed with the short 75mm KwK37 L/24 anti-tank gun, which was inferior to the later 50mm gun of the Panzer IIIs. In the summer of 1942 Rommel began to receive the up-gunned F2 armed with the long-barrelled 75mm KwK40 L/43 gun; this could penetrate 85mm of armour at 1,000 yards and was superior to both the British 6-pounder and the Grant’s 75mm gun, which could only pierce 45mm of armour at 1,000 yards.
At the same time Rommel also received the Panzerjäger 38(t), which married captured Russian 76.2mm anti-tank guns with Czech-manufactured 38(t) tank chassis, and the Geschützwagen Lorraine Schlepper (f), which comprised a tracked French artillery tractor mounting a German 150mm howitzer. None of these vehicles was supplied in any significant numbers.
Similarly Rommel received just three Sturmgeschütz Ausf D assault guns (armed with the short 75mm gun) and just twelve sIG33s (which mounted a 150mm field gun on a stretched Panzer Mk II chassis) during 1942. The Tiger I, with the powerful KwK36 L/56 88mm anti-tank gun did not arrive until the following year, by which time the Allies were already well aware of its capabilities following its performance on the Eastern Front. By mid-1942 Rommel increasingly lacked adequate armoured fighting vehicles, supplies and reinforcements in the face of ever-growing numbers of American-supplied tanks.
The M3 General Stuart light tank was the first American tank to be supplied to the Eighth Army. Simply known as the Stuart, its British crews also affectionately dubbed it the ‘Honey’. (US Army/NARA)
This frontal shot of the American M3 General Lee (identifiable by the machine-gun cupola on the turret) shows how limited its sponson-mounted 75mm gun was, with only a 30-degree traverse. Despite this, it was to play a significant role at El Alamein. (US Army/NARA)
A British tank crew restock their Grant’s ammunition. It was an unusual design, with a 37mm gun in the turret and a 75mm gun mounted on the right-hand side of the hull. (Author’s Collection)
A Grant passes a burning Panzer Mk I on 6 June 1942, during the Gazala fighting. By October 1942 nearly 600 M3 Grant/Lee tanks had been delivered to the British in North Africa. Ultimately there was little Rommel could do against such decisive numbers. (Author’s Collection)
A British Sherman, which appears to be the cast-hull M4A1 type, takes on ammo during a lull in the fighting. The British Eighth Army had received about 270 Shermans by October 1942. Churchill claimed that he had ‘gone on his knees’ to persuade President Roosevelt to send these tanks and then complained bitterly when he was informed they could not go into battle immediately. (Author’s Collection)
Smiling American tank crew undergoing training on the Sherman at Fort Knox, Kentucky. Plans to send a US armoured division to help in Egypt were not practical so the tanks were sent instead. (US Army/NARA)
With the Sherman tank came the Howitzer Motor Carriage M7 known as the Priest. Combining the chassis of the M3 medium tank and a 105mm howitzer, it provided much-needed self-propelled artillery. Once again they were diverted from production intended for American troops. (US Army/NARA)
Grant tanks plough their way through the mud and rain in Tunisia. After the campaign those remaining were sent to the Far East to fight the Japanese. (Author’s Collection)
A series of photos taken of three different M3 Lee crews serving with the 2nd Battalion, 12th Armored Regiment, 1st Armored Division, at Souk el Arba in Tunisia. The men seem in good cheer though it was their M3s rather than the Shermans that bore the brunt of the initial fighting following the Allied landings in French North Africa. (US Signal Corps/NARA)
American troops bringing ashore an M7 self-propelled gun in North Africa. (US Army/NARA)
American air crews being congratulated by Major General Russell L. Maxwell USAAF in front of a British Grant. Maxwell commanded the USAAF detachment deployed to Egypt in the summer of 1942 to fly in support of the RAF. This ensured that American bombers as well as tanks fought with the Eighth Army. (Author’s Collection)
A British Sherman M4 A2 or A4 (with the three-piece bolted nose casting) taking part in a landing exercise involving a Landing Craft Tank in North Africa prior to the invasion of Sicily on 10 July 1943. The lack of such craft greatly hindered the Allied landings in French North Africa and meant that the medium tanks had to be landed at the quayside. (Author’s Collection)
Starting life with a 37mm gun, the Panzer Mk III received successive improvements, of which the version depicted here was the ultimate in Afrika Korps service. The long-barrelled L/60 50mm gun achieved velocities of up to 3,930 feet per second, enabling it to engage most British tanks with success beyond 1,000 yards. It did not, though, become available until early 1942. (NARA)
By August 1942 Rommel had received only twenty-seven Panzer Mk IV F2s armed with the longer L/43 gun, which he employed to spearhead his offensives since its gun could penetrate all British and American armour at a distance. While more of these panzers arrived between August and October 1942, they could not match the quantities of tanks reaching the Eighth Army. (Author’s Collection)
The Panzer IV F2 was a good tank but it was never available in North Africa in decisive numbers. This appears to be the follow-up Ausf G fitted with the new muzzle brake, which went into production in May 1942. This model is in Tunisia, as the Schürzen armour on the turret was not introduced until 1943. (Author’s Collection)
The Panzerjäger 38(t) für 7.62cm Pak(r) also arrived in North Africa in the summer of 1942 providing a useful self-propelled anti-tank gun capability in the face of the Grant. (Australian Army)
A column of British ‘Honey’ light tanks passing a burnt-out Panzer Mk III. In the foreground is a Sturmgeschütz or assault gun; in early 1942 Sonderverband (Detachment for Special Employment) 288 took three Ausf D to Africa, seeing action at Gazala and Tobruk. (US Army/NARA)
German efforts to strength DAK forces were too little too late. In December 1942, following the Allied landings in French North Africa, the 10th Panzer Division was shipped from southern France to Tunisia. This knocked-out Panzer III belonged to the division’s 7th Panzer Regiment. (NARA)
The Tiger I represented the most powerful panzer deployed to North Africa. Elements of two battalions were shipped to Tunisia from Sicily, but they were insufficient in number to have any great impact on the fighting. (Author’s Collection)
A US M2 half-track (the M3/M5 personnel carrier had a slightly longer hull) photographed at Oran, Algeria, in early April 1943. The first production M2s, designed for reconnaissance and as prime movers for artillery, were delivered to the American Army in May 1941. (US Army/NARA)