SHERMAN THE MAKING OF A WAR WINNER

The M4 Sherman medium tank was produced in huge numbers during WWII and became the Allies' most prominent yet controversial land weapon of the conflict

- MICHAEL E HASKEW

Among the iconic Allied weapons of the Second World War, the M4 Sherman medium tank emerged as perhaps the most decisive, but also without doubt the most controversial.

The M4 was distinctly American, and the influence of prevailing land warfare doctrine shaped its development, along with the obligatory influences that dictate the genesis of armoured fighting vehicles to this day – firepower, mobility and armour protection. Prior to US entry into the war, the American military establishment watched with great interest, and frankly some astonishment, as the German blitzkrieg slashed across Europe with incredible speed and efficiency.

In response, American armoured doctrine revolved around the use of tanks as penetration and exploitation weapons. Tank-versus-tank fighting was considered only as a secondary aspect of land warfare, and when enemy tanks were encountered they were to be dealt with by open-turreted, fast-moving tank destroyers. The tank itself was to be an infantry support weapon.

While Britain and the Empire stood alone against the Nazis and President Franklin D Roosevelt declared the US to be the great “arsenal of democracy”, American factories supplied tremendous amounts of war materiel to the British armed forces via Lend Lease. Among these weapons were the early production tanks, rolling off the assembly lines and loaded on ships for the perilous crossing of the Atlantic. The earliest of these to reach British forces in substantial numbers was the M3 Grant/Lee tank.