Scale: 1/24
Code: FV07007

M4A3E8 Sherman

The M4 Sherman was America's best World War Two tank and one of the top 10 tanks in history. The M4A3E8 was the best WW2 version of the Sherman, with a better suspension, armor plating and a more powerful gun. "Thunderbolt VII" was the tank of Gen.  Creighton Abrams, namesake of the M1A1 Abrams tank.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

During World War II, the M4 Sherman served with the US Army and US Marine Corps. US service history accommodated the large transfer of US Shermans to the allied forces of the United Kingdom (including Commonwealth), Soviet Union, Free French government-in-exile, Polish government-in-exile, Brazil, and China.

The US Marine Corps used the diesel M4A2 and gasoline-powered M4A3 in the Pacific. The Chief of the Armored Force, Lt. Gen. Jacob L. Devers ordered that no diesel-engined Sherman tanks be used outside the Zone of Interior (ZI). The US Army used all types for either training or testing within the United States but intended the M4A2 and M4A4 to be the primary Lend-Lease exports. British needs also claimed a large share of the M4 and M4A1.

The first US Shermans in combat were M4A1 used for Operation Torch in November 1942, shortly after the first M4A1 Shermans saw battle with the British 8th Army at the Second Battle of El Alamein in October 1942. Additional M4 and M4A1s replaced M3 Lees in US tank battalions over the course of the North African campaigns. The M4 and M4A1 were the main types in US units until late 1944, when the preferred M4A3 with its more powerful 500 hp (370 kW) engine began replacing M4s and M4A1s as the main US version. However, older M4s and M4A1s continued in US service for the rest of the war.

The first 76 mm gun Sherman to enter combat in July 1944 was the M4A1, closely followed by the M4A3. By the end of the war, half the US Army Shermans in Europe had the 76 mm gun. The first HVSS Sherman to see combat was the M4A3E8(76)W in December 1944.

After World War II, the US kept the M4A3E8 "Easy Eight" in service with either 76 mm gun or 105 mm howitzer. The Sherman remained a common US tank in the 1950-1953 Korean War but the Army replaced Shermans with Patton tanks over the 1950s. The US continued to transfer Shermans to allies which contributed to wide foreign use worldwide.