I know the M3 Lees cousin, the Grant served well for the British in North Africa. And I think the dual gun systems on these tanks is somewhat interesting even if it was simply for a stop gap measure untill enough Shermans could be manufactured. However, had the US completed phasing out the Lees by the time of operation Torch? If not, did any Lees see any action against either the Vichy French or the Africa Corps?

Chuckster I believe by the time of the Normandy Landings the Lee had been fazed out. Operation Torch and the North African campaign may have been there last action. I do not think they saw action in Europe as fighting vehicles.

Many were given to the Soviets in the early lend/lease program. Because of the superiour german fire power the Lee was called "Coffin for 6 brothers" by the Russians.

So many in Russian service saw action on the Eastern Front during the battle of Kursk.

Here's a link.
http://www.battlefield.ru/library/lend/grant.html

Supposedly a few made it to Sicily, and fewer still on to "the boot". This was discussed on one of the boards months ago, and someone posted a pic of an M3 in Italy.

I think I'm right in saying that Lee/Grant tanks were converted to produce the CDL vehicles (CDL stood for Canal Defence Light), a tank with a powerful searchlight that shone through a slit in the front armour to produce a stroboscopic effect. The Lees were particularly suitable due to the large fighting compartment. The light was mounted in place of the 75mm in the hull. Without the turret mounted 37mm, the tank would have been unarmed. Their first documented use in action was during the crossing of the Rhine in 1945 - so there's a Grant in Europe for you!

In fact it was the other way round. The CDL housing replaced the 37mm turret. Some photos show a dummy gun. A few (two have turned up in photos on other forums) Grants saw service in Italy as command tanks in Sherman equiped Commonwealth regiments. The commanders prefering the roomier hull. Other than that is use by the western Allies in Europe was limited to ARV's(M31) or artillery prime movers (M33). They did soldier on till the end in the Far East with the Commonwealth forces.

Yes sir,--- in Squadron Signal's "Sherman in Action" there is a great pic of the 752nd Tank Battalion, attached to the 5th Army, in the Plaza Emanuel, Bologna, Italy, near the end fo the war. Mixed among the Shermans, M18's, and M5's, sits a lone M3 (kind of off by itself). Pretty cool pic that would make a great dio, (if one could afford to buy all the vehicles to populate it).

Steve

Sorry Steve, but its actually a M31 retreiver. You can see the i-beam boom and its supports on the front of the hull. There's another M31 in the picture as well. Its behind two M4A3(76)'s in the left front of the picture.

Chuckster, yes the M3 Lee was used by the US Army in Africa. They were part of operation 'Torch" but because of there weight the tanks cut not be off loaded until a port was captured so the brunt of American tank use fell on the Stuart which some were landed by assault craft on the beach. There was combat with Vichy tanks and the stuarts destroyed all opposition.
The Lee was used by the US Army in Tunisia and many were destroyed or captured at the battle of Kasserine Pass in February of 1943. The Lee was used as a tank until the end of the African campaign (May 1943) after that the M4 medium tank was issued as replacement and remaining Lee's were handed off or converted to other uses including Armored recovery vehicle, tractors and cargo haulers.
Another note of intrest. During the Torch landings (Nov 1942) the first use of the LVT occurred in the MTO. They were used to haul supplies from ships to the beaches during the landings.