Hey y'all! I got a su-weet deal on the Tamiya M4A3 Sherman kit, the one that has the 'short' 75mm. As I am limited on my knowledge of Sherman use, I am wondering, was this version used thru Europe in WW2? I was thinking about possibly adding sandbag & maybe even log armor, but wanted it to be accurate, hence the inquiry - thanks!!!

Yes, this version was used in the ETO in WWII. They arrived in late ‘44 and saw action from that point onwards. I’d have to check my library references, but I’m pretty sure that you’ll see some with improvised sandbag armor and such.

Here is some good info and photos on the M4A3 75mm Wet

http://the.shadock.free.fr/sherman_minutia/manufacturer/m4a375w/m4a3_75w.html

[quote]Hey y'all! I got a su-weet deal on the Tamiya M4A3 Sherman kit, the one that has the 'short' 75mm. As I am limited on my knowledge of Sherman use, I am wondering, was this version used thru Europe in WW2? I was thinking about possibly adding sandbag & maybe even log armor, but wanted it to be accurate, hence the inquiry - thanks!!![/quote

The 75 mm in the M4A3 is not considered short, there were 2 75mm guns used on tanks in WW2 first was the was the M2 75mm it was a short barrel used in the M3 Lee/Grant and was also used in early prototypes of the M4 Sherman the longer M3 75mm was used in all production M4 Sherman from the M4 to the M4A4
What you may be thinking short 75mm because of the longer barrel M1 76mm used in the M4A3 with the 76mm

Thanks y’all!!!

When I said ‘short’ I was thinking in comparison the gun on the E8, but yes thanks for the clarification!

The wet stowage M4A3 with 75mm gun was used in the final nine months or so of the war in Europe. The original dry stowage M4A3's, built by Ford, were allocated to training formations in the US, and only tanks with the Wright Continental Cyclone radial engine (i.e. M4 and M4A1) were sent to the ETO. After a year of use, it became apparent that the the Ford GAA engine was more reliable and required less daily maintenance than the radial engine, and the Army switched its preference to the M4A3 at the beginning of 1944, and production was restarted at the Fisher Plant in Grand Blanc Michigan, this time with the revised 47 degree wet stowage hull and high bustle turret.
However, thousands of M4 and M4A1 tanks had been prepositioned for Operation Overlord, so it was decided to use them exclusively during the opening stages of the invasion. Once the Normandy breakout happened in August, the M4A3 started to appear in newly equipped units, and as replacements for existing units, as stocks of dry stowage M4 and M4A1 tanks were exhausted. 200 M4A1 wet stowage tanks with 76mm guns were issued as well, split between the 2nd and 3rd Armored divisions. M4A3 tanks with 76mm guns began to appear in the fall. M4A3E8 tanks with 76mm guns also appeared, starting in December, 1944. A very small number of M4A3E8 tanks with 75mm guns also appeared in April, 1945.
The original dry stowage M4A3's were returned to the factory for rebuilding in August, 1944, as the training program wound down, and they started to appear in Europe as replacements by the end of the year. There is, as yet no plastic kit of this version.

I get confused on the different versions and modification. Thanks for clearing that up Gerald.
Andy

It arrived in the autumn of '44.
Here's some good info on the kit.
http://www.usarmymodels.com/MANUFACTURERS/Tamiya/tamiya.html

Which one (number) did you get? The original, or the "Frontline breakthrough"?

Thanks, Gerald. Very interesting and helpful.

I never knew there was a 75mm M4A3E8. Why did they do that??

Every time I think I understand the versions and variants of the M4, I find out I don't know nuttin'.

Because the medium velocity M3 75mm gun had a superior HE round compared to the high velocity M1 76mm gun. The majority of US armor action in the ETO was not against German tanks, but was against targets needing HE rounds.

As mentioned, the 75mm was in demand for its high explosive round. It could also fire smoke, which the 76 initially could not. Fisher only started building 75mm tanks with HVSS in December, 1944, and continued until March 1945. The turnaround time from factory floor to front line was usually four months, so only the December batch reached combat zones before combat ceased. The 16th Armored Division had a few on hand when they liberated Pilsen, Czechoslovakia in May, 1945. Most of them never left the US, and the Army had over 600 of them after the war. By 1947, the 75mm gun was deemed obsolete, and these tanks were refurbished with 76mm turrets salvaged from unused M4A2 and M4A1 tanks.