| British tankers eat their rations alongside their M3 Grant medium tank. The British version of the American M3 had a bigger cast turret design and was manufactured to British specifications in order to accommodate the United Kingdom Royal Army’s standard radio equipment in the bustle. The United States Army’s M3 medium tank brought much needed firepower to British and Commonwealth forces in the North African desert campaign in 1942. Their appearance was a surprise to the Germans, who were unprepared for the M3’s 75 millimeter (3-inch) gun. They soon discovered that the M3 could engage Nazi formations beyond the effective range of their 5 centimeter (1.96 inch) Pak 38 antitank gun, and the KwK 39 of the Panzer III, their main medium tank at the time. The M3 was also vastly superior to the Italian M13/40 & M14/41 tanks. Only the relatively few Semoventi da 75/18 self-propelled guns were able to destroy it using HEAT rounds. Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel (November 15, 1891 – October 14, 1944) noted this pertaining to the introduction of the M3 medium tank in North Africa: “Up to May of 1942, our tanks had in general been superior in quality to the corresponding British types. This was now no longer true, at least not to the same extent.” The introduction of the Panzer Mark IV ausf F with a long-barreled 75 millimeter gun and the Panzer Mark VI Tiger I with an 88 millimeter gun rendered the M3 obsolete; the casemated main gun was difficult to train on target, and the early M3s suffered from spalling when the riveted construction would break off when hit and turn into shrapnel inside the tank. These factors led to the quick replacement of the M3 Grant and Lee with the M4 Sherman. | |
| Image Filename | wwii2198.jpg |
| Image Size | 613.26 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 3000 x 1931 |
| Photographer | Bob Landry |
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| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | April 25, 1942 |
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| Country | Libya |
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| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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