Work in Progress by Art
Flores
Notes:
The American M4 medium
tank proved to be not only the most important US tank used during the
war, but also the best and most numerous tank in British service. As
was the practice of the time, the British named the M4 after an
American general, in this case Civil War general William Tecumseh
Sherman, famous for the quotation 'War is Hell'. The Americans adopted
the name. M3 Sherman MkI's were first used at El Alamein in October
1942 and the British introduced most of the US versions as they became
available: the Sherman II (M4A1), Sherman III (M4A2), Sherman IV (M4A3)
and the Sherman V (M4A4). Out on the battlefield, generally two to
three Shermans were lost for every Panther or Tiger destroyed, but
whereas German industry could not make up their losses by mid-1944, the
US and British production lines were delivering a seemingly endless
supply of Shermans and other tanks. Production of all Sherman tanks
reached 55,000 by the end of the war.
By the end of 1942, the
A3 model went into production, entering both theaters of war the
following year. For the A3, the 75 mm gun was replaced by the
higher muzzle velocity of a long-barrel 76 mm gun. This more
formidable gun required a larger and more angled turret for support.
The British army
purchased largenumbers of M4s or took them over aspart of the
Lend-Lease programme. Tothe British the M4 was the GeneralSherman (or
simply Sherman)
The first Shermans went
into actionwith the British at El Alamein in October1942. Thereafter
the Sherman wasthe most numerous tank in British armyservice for the
rest of World War II.
Below
are work-in-progress pictures. Click to enlarge, look for more soon!
The first image is too dark, saturated and flat. Next, the images will
be lighter and have more contrast.
