| Original caption: “M3 tank crew members, in training at Fort Knox, Kentucky, get extensive practice in meeting every situation that may arise on the battlefield.” The crew of this M3 model “Lee” tank simulates bailing out after being hit. The lead crewmember carries a Thompson M1928A1 submachine gun with a 50-round drum magazine. These were difficult to load and reload and often rattled, so 2030-round box magazines were preferred. The crewmember behind him carried the tripod for the M1919 air-cooled 30 caliber machine gun held by the crewmember following him. Jumping off the engine deck and the top 37 millimeter (1.42 inch) turret, the crewmembers have either a Smith and Wesson or Colt M1917 6-shot revolver. Note the 6th crewmember pointing his Thompson at the camera on the extreme right and the 2nd M3 Lee behind him. The M3 Lee tank, informally named by the British for American Civil War Confederate General Robert E. Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870), had a riveted hull. It is a scaled-up version of Rock Island Arsenal’s M2 medium tank, which was declared obsolete even before production began. Instead of the M2, Chrysler was contracted on August 15, 1940, to build a 1,000 M3s at the rate of a 100 a month by August 1942. At the time, the United States lacked jigs big enough to mount the 75 millimeter (3-inch) M2 or M3 low-velocity gun, which could fire armor-piercing or high-explosive shells on a centrally rotating turret, so it was mounted in a side sponson. As the M4 Sherman tank was being developed, 5,000 M3s were eventually manufactured by early 1943 as an interim measure. Initially, they were competitive on the battlefield and remained so in Asia and the Pacific throughout the war against Japanese tanks. But Nazi German armored vehicles quickly eclipsed the M3 in firepower, maneuverability, and armor. The riveted early M3 Lees could “spall” when hit, their bolt heads shearing off and ricocheting around the tank, cutting through the crewman’s flesh. Late-model M3s were welded to help prevent this until the cast-hull M3A1 Lee version was issued. The early M3 had the M2 gun, which needed a counterweight. The 1st Armored Division “Old Ironsides” was activated at Fort Knox on July 15, 1940. The Division trained for 2 years at Fort Knox, the Louisiana Maneuvers, the Carolina Maneuvers, Fort Dix, New Jersey, and finally in Northern Ireland. The Division returned from the Carolina Manuvers on December 6, 1941, the day before the attack on Pearl Harbor. The 1st Armored Division entered combat with 2 battalions of M3 Stuart light tanks with M6 37 millimeter guns; 3 battalions of M3 Lees with low-velocity M2 or medium-velocity M3 dual-purpose guns and MM6 37 millimeter guns; and 1 battalion of early M4 Shermans, which joined the Division in the United Kingdom, armed with medium-velocity M3 dual-purpose guns. All had high silhouettes, which made them excellent targets. The Division went overseas in April 1942 with 158 light tanks and 232 medium tanks. Of the 14,620 officers and men who embarked with the 1st Armored Division in 1942, 7,096 would be battle casualties; 1,194 were killed in Action; 5,168 were wounded in Action; 216 were missing in Action; and 518 were Prisoners of War. The division received 5,478 Purple Hearts. Photographed by Alfred T. Palmer (March 17, 1906 – January 31, 1993). A native of California, Alfred T. Palmer traveled the world during the 1920s and 1930s as a photographer for shipping lines. In 1940, he was selected to lead the photo department of the Office for Emergency Management. In 1941, he moved to the Office of War Information. After the war, Palmer was a staff photographer at National Geographic Magazine. He later produced films for the United States Maritime Commission, the State Department, corporations, and humanitarian groups. Palmer visited the 1st Armored Division before it left for overseas and took dozens of color and black-and-white photographs. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0911.jpg |
| Image Size | 759.69 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2920 x 2340 |
| Photographer | Alfred T. Palmer |
| Photographer Title | Office of War Information |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | June 1, 1942 |
| Location | |
| City | Fort Knox |
| State or Province | Kentucky |
| Country | United States |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | NLR-PHOCO-A-65599(2) |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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