Figure 1.--Here while villiagers cheer then on, an American armored force crosses a river on a easily thrown up baily bridge quickly and could support the M4-Sherman. They would not have supported a German Panther or a Tiger. This in addituin to the huge number of trucks and other vehicles along weith the needed fuel rovided the Americans and their British and Cabnadian allies unprecedented mobility. We believe the photograph is a 3rd Armored Division tank, somewhere in Belgium.

The M-4 Sherman had its advantageous features. we read more about its weaknesses and the strengths have are often ignored. It was reliable and comparatively inexpensive to produce. Unlike the German tanks, the Sherman and the Soviet T-34 were actually designed to be mass produced. That is part of the reason that the Western Allies and the Soviets had so many more tanks than the Germans. It was highly mobile and fast. And it was was produced in huge quantity. Numbers are important for several reasons. One was that the American infantry got far more tank cover than the Germans. It was easy to service. Loosen a few bolts and you can get at the engine. This is an often under appreciated strength. But if a vehicle is complicated to service, it means that large numbers were as effectively out of action as if they had been damaged in combat or even for routine maintenance. Thus not only did the Americans (and their allies) have far more tanks to begin with, but many more were operational at any given time. The Sherman was not a gas guzzler like the German Panthers and Tigers. While America had the needed petroleum, fuel economy eased the logistical problem which was the Allies major constraint after the D-Day landings. Another issue was training. The Sherman was not only easy to maintain, it was easy to operate. Any 18-year old kid that could drive a stick-shift car (and this meant most Americans) could operate a Sherman with minimal training. This was not the case for the German tanks. They were marvels of engineering, but ease of contraction, operation, and maintenance were not part of the German wheelhouse. In addition the M-4 could get into positions that the Panthers and Tigers could not. This proved to be a very important factor in th Ardennes Bulge offensive where the Germans faced narrow forest roads and weak bridges over the many streams. The Panthers and Tigers in the Ardennes were often stopped by a stream because of the absence of strong bridges. The lighter Shermans was usually able to get across. And even when there were no bridges, the Allied engineers were able to put up easy to assemble temporary bridges to get them across (figure 1). Panthers and Tigers require far heavier bridges meaning a much more substantial effort was needed. Also to be considered given that the Allies major problem after the Panzers were stopped at the Channel (1940) was shipping. And the Sherman in quantity was within the transport capability of the United States--both rail and maritime.

Created: 2:02 AM 2/10/2023
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