Posted this on the Axis page but have not got much in the way of response , so seeing it started as an allied tank ….. Planning a Japanese captured M3. Anybody know if the repainted them (one photo I've found looks like it might have some camo. IJA Khaki?? And did the replace the .30 Brownings with their own 7.7mms? (Did the tanks on Bataan have the cheek mounted .30s?) Last, from what I read they were captured by 2nd Tank Regt. and handed over to 7th Tank when the 2nd was sent to Java. Were the M3s used against the Americans in 44-45? Thanks.

As far as I have been able to determine from searching around the best information comes from Akira Takizawa, who states that the Japanese captured M3 tanks in both the Philippines and Malaysa. 12 tanks captured in the Philippines remained there for use as garrison vehicles and eventually in defense against the US invasion, though I don't know how many were still operational. The same thing was done with M3 halftracks, trucks, P-40s and everything else, including naval vessels. They would have been kept in their original paint color with Japanese insignia painted on them. The .30 cal Brownings would have been kept in service along with most everything else captured as they were taken with significant amounts of ammunition and were very useful. Tanks captured from British stocks were deployed in Burma. I have seen one photo of a tank repainted in multi-colored camouflage but all others appear to carry only Japanese insignia-Japanese flags, chrysanthemum and Kanji script, generally stating that a specific unit captured the subject vehicle.

Looking at photos of the tanks, none of them appear to have the sponson mounted .30 cal. Brownings.