| Original caption: “Thirty-seven millimeter anti-tank gun at Camp Carson training camp in Colorado.” United States Army soldiers operate an M3 37 millimeter (1.45 inch) antitank gun. Note the gun sight, the depression in the gun shield for the sight, the sticks arranged in the gun shield for camouflage, and the raised wheel segments of an early model M3 gun. The M3 gun fired different rounds, including high explosive, canister, and armor-piercing steel (AP-T). In the Pacific, the M3 gun could destroy Japanese tanks throughout the war. The 192nd Tank Battalion was equipped with M3 light tanks with M6 guns, the tank-mounted version of the M3, when the unit engaged Japanese tanks. But they were suppressed by superior Japanese air attacks. M3 guns shredded Japanese tanks and the Ichiki Battalion on August 21, 1942, at the Battle of the Tenaru River on Guadalcanal. Even in 1945, the M3 gun was in high demand at Iwo Jima, when the 1,000 pound (450 kilogram) weapon could be manhandled to blast Japanese positions, despite its anemic explosive charge. Marines would “scallop” the gun shield, cutting irregular shapes, to improve the camouflage silhouette. But the M3 gun wasn’t able to defeat Nazi German armor in North Africa after the Torch Landings in November 1942. At Kasserine Pass, towed M3 guns were vulnerable, as their prime movers were soft-skinned vehicles that couldn’t move the guns easily under fire. The General Motors Corporation M6 WC55 light truck had to back into firing position and had an open fighting compartment with no armor. They were kept back by the United States Army in Tunisia until they were withdrawn. The Army Ground Forces (AGF), which directed weapons development, claimed the frontline troops were misusing the M3; those critics, who were stateside and removed from combat, didn’t understand the distances that armored warfare was being fought at the time in the desert. So, the M3 was still the gun that equipped American antitank units during the Sicily landing in July 1943. Criticism rose so that the British 6 pounder (57 millimeter, 2.24 inch) was adopted as the M1 antitank gun. Even the paratroopers adopted the M1 by the Normandy invasion in June 1944. The M3/M6 gun equipped the M3/M5 Stuart light tank and the M8 Greyhound armored scout car throughout the war. The M6 gun disabled a Panzerkampfwagen V Panther tank, either by a lucky high shot descending through the turret roof, or a low shot glancing off the ground and through the belly plate. But that was a difficult shot to replicate. As an artillery support weapon, the M3 lacked explosive power. The M63 round contained 39 grams (1.37 ounces) of Trinitrotoluene (TNT), which hardly had the power to take out buildings, let alone fortifications. Only direct fire could silence bunkers through the firing slot, and that kind of attack required almost suicidal bravery on the part of light tank or armored car crews. However, the M3 gun was adequate to deal with the expected primary opponent, other reconnaissance vehicles of a similar class. 18,702 M3/M6 guns were manufactured from 1940 to 1943. Aircraft used a different, similar autocannon model. Camp Carson was the location for many tank destroyer units’ training, including the 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion, the 660th Tank Destroyer Battalion, the 811th Tank Destroyer Battalion, the 821st Tank Destroyer Battalion, the 822nd Tank Destroyer Battalion, and 823rd Tank Destroyer Battalion. The 614th, 821st, 822nd, and 823rd, activated on July 25, 1942, were segregated African American tank destroyer units. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0914.jpg |
| Image Size | 1,010.91 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2924 x 2427 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | United States Army Signal Corps |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | April 24, 1943 |
| Location | |
| City | Camp Carlson |
| State or Province | Colorado |
| Country | United States |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | NLR-PHOCO-A-48223911(11) |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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