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Some of the first jumbos......a jumbo is a vehicle mounted drill designed to drill horizontally. They made the M3 in to two-boom jumbos (two drills)
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The subject of half tracks came up earlier. I can tell you Uncle Sam must have given those things away to farmers after the war since you used to see them in various states of disrepair dotting the farms around eastern NM as late as the 1980s.
Farmers did unspeakable things to those poor half tracks before running them into the ground. ![]() |
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A friend owns this one and he shoots it at Knob Creek. I rode in it last time but next time he said I can be in it when it shoots.
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Not necessarily a Stuart, but an M8 Greyhound with a 37mm cannon took out a Tiger I during the Battle of the Bulge. In the immortal words of Oddball, “you have to shoot them in the ass!”
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Quoted: Always thought the Soviet BT serries of light tanks were cool https://www.worldwarphotos.info/wp-content/gallery/ussr/tanks/bt-2-bt-5-bt-7-tank/Soviet_tank_BT-7_8.jpg https://www.worldwarphotos.info/wp-content/gallery/ussr/tanks/bt-2-bt-5-bt-7-tank/BT-7_tank.jpg View Quote ![]() Soviet Tank BT-7 (Red Army) |
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Quoted: Poor girl rusting away and forgotten. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/53558/20201020_144846-1761775.jpg View Quote Looks to be fairly good shape to me. Someone is painting it, which helps control the corrosion. |
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WWII magazine recently had a great article about the Americans kicking Japanese butt with Stuarts before the Bataan death march. It was apparently the first American tank battle victory in the war, albeit short lived.
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Quoted: Not necessarily a Stuart, but an M8 Greyhound with a 37mm cannon took out a Tiger I during the Battle of the Bulge. In the immortal words of Oddball, “you have to shoot them in the ass!” View Quote Reead another account where a Stuart did a "Huanted Tank" number and took out a Tiger 1. It hit right where the turret met the hull and peened the metal such that the Tiger's turret couldn't be rotated. Easy fix, but the Stuart won. |
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I'll assume you have watched @manicmoron vid on this
![]() Inside the Chieftain's Hatch: M5A1, Part 1. Tank Chats are good too ![]() Tank Chats #75 M5A1 Stuart | The Tank Museum |
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Quoted: Look for a book called “Brazen Chariots” by Major Robert Crisp. Deals with the British fighting with M3 Stuarts in the African campaign. View Quote Came here to post this. It’s probably been 35 years since I last read that. The story of the dude picking up crabs from the silk pajamas stuck with me. |
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View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Not necessarily a Stuart, but an M8 Greyhound with a 37mm cannon took out a Tiger I during the Battle of the Bulge. In the immortal words of Oddball, “you have to shoot them in the ass!” https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-6ZLK2LZ/0/3b713e6b/O/i-6ZLK2LZ.jpg Good dear Lord, can you imagine going up against a Tiger in that? |
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Sorry to be the bearer of bad news,but the M8 taking out the Tiger is just a war story.
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I always liked the Stuarts after reading a comic book that featured a haunted tank when I was a kid.
There's a nice example at the Texas Military Forces Museum in Austin. They also have a Chaffee. Anyone who hasn't been there should plan a visit. Great little museum. ![]() Camo'd El Salvadoran Stuart. ![]() |
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Quoted: Great photo! Obsolete when new as Scout Cars, IMO the best tank to own/fire as a hobbyist, are nimble to drive, elegant, "light" and affordable at the turn of the century, Sherman's were approaching $50K when these were not much more than a pristine towed 37mm today. The grim part is our bastards won't allow millions of our WWII rounds in South American warehouses reimported, even though we manufactured them. Most 37 owners have to save brass, cast their own rounds and reload. Hopefully both Coax .30's are live, would really be something. Coax are great reasons to field the rare pre-War/early-War Coax ammo cans with unique color and swivel lid lock intended for tanks. Friend Steve Preston and his 21 year old assistant were killed firing his Hellcat Tank Destroyer some years ago, 75mm breech failure round overpressure. Steve had sent his M1A1 Flamethrower back with my pal to have it restored after he did my Kincaid. His death gave us all a needed reminder such things aren't the same as firing an 03A3 on the weekend. Be extra cautious when firing someone else's weapons, particularly if they rarely fire it themselves. It's the 'weekender' concerns us most. Make sure they are serious, knowledgeable, deliberate and serious as cancer. A word of care for them we care about. [/b] https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-QZBfXKQ/0/9fbadc2a/O/i-QZBfXKQ.jpghttps://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-JHgg4rk/0/85523e63/O/i-JHgg4rk.jpghttps://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-9NnWB4Z/0/a213dd91/O/i-9NnWB4Z.jpg View Quote |
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Quoted: Zaloga is a writer. Maj. Crisp's Brazen Chariots is the only first hand account of tank battles in a M-3 Stuart. M-3 Stuarts saw a lot of action in the Pacific and in Buna Campaign (New Guinea). Later USMC Stuart tankers found a novel way to get rid of Japanese infantry hidden in trees. Once one was located and it was safe to approach the coconut tree, the Stuart would push the tree such that it bent (palmetto is very flexible). Then the tank would reverse and the tree would catapult its occupant while eager Marines would use the flying soldier as a trap target. It'll be covered in my sniping book. View Quote Dad told me a story about a tank being used to shake the palm trees to dislodge Japanese snipers when he was at Peleliu when his unit (81st Infantry) was sent in to back up the Marines. The unlucky flying sniper in Dad's story had everybody in the area angry and unloading on him after attacking the troops during a chow break. |
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Quoted: Dad told me a story about a tank being used to shake the palm trees to dislodge Japanese snipers when he was at Peleliu when his unit (81st Infantry) was sent in to back up the Marines. The unlucky flying sniper in Dad's story had everybody in the area angry and unloading on him after attacking the troops during a chow break. View Quote |
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Quoted: WWII magazine recently had a great article about the Americans kicking Japanese butt with Stuarts before the Bataan death march. It was apparently the first American tank battle victory in the war, albeit short lived. View Quote ![]() |
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Quoted: Came here to post this. It's probably been 35 years since I last read that. The story of the dude picking up crabs from the silk pajamas stuck with me. View Quote ![]() |
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Well it'a pretty sucky unless you get a low tier only game. Almost all my knowledge about the M5 comes from World of Tanks.
![]() Though I gather that kind of matches real life apparently. |
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Quoted: American Half tracks are stupid easy to maintain to this day. The lack of universal carriers has always surprised me. They made a ridiculous number of them, but actual examples are pretty rare View Quote Dad had a T-16 They are stupid hard to work on due to the engine placement Fun to drive |
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I wonder if the armor on the halftrack was similar to the M5 being that at some point anything could pass through other than mortars and 7.92
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Went to Mr Zipp’s military collection to try to make a deal for his Stuart. It was during the Waco Seige. Drove home without a tank, but wow did he have stories. The trip was worth the stories.
American Pickers visited ![]() American Pickers: Bonus - G.I. Thrill (Season 19) | History |
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My father in law spent two tours as an M24 driver in Korea. Said it was fun to drive. I’ve also seen three M5’s at Knob Creek a couple years ago. They were shooting the 37mm and the coax guns. Was pretty cool!
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Tracked and wheeled armor is fun until something breaks.
Was driving an M-42 to a parade when the oil main gave way. Shot about 8 gallons of oil straight up. Grabbed the M-578 and tow bar to drag it home. Thank goodness the M-60 never broke down. I doubt the 578 could drag that bastard. I also had to clean the fuel filter on th M-42 more than once. Had to crawl 10 feet back along the Ammo storage, open the hatch in the firewall which weighed a metric fuck ton while lying in the prone pretzel position. Turn off gas. Unscrew filter spilling gas everywhere. Did I say I was 10 feet deep in a tank covered in gas and praying I didn’t drop a tool and cause a spark? Clean filter crawl back in and repeat the next time! |
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Quoted: When to Mr Zipp's military collection to try to make a deal for his Stuart. It was during the Waco Seige. Drove home without a tank, but wow did he have stories. The trip was worth the stories. American Pickers visited ![]() View Quote |
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Quoted: I recall reading some stories of M5 equipped Cav/recon units in the ETO being used in frontal attacks that were disasters (which, of course, you aren’t supposed to do, so it should not be surprising that it was a disaster). Cant remember where I read that tho ![]() Most armies in WWII used their obsolete light tanks for scouting, kinda regardless of how well suited the design was. I recall standing next to an M5 and thinking how it was surprisingly tall - not what you want for sneaking around, or for stability in rough terrain. The US Army knew the M5 simply wasn’t up to the task, and therefore got the M24, which was a vast improvement. View Quote during WW2 american tanks were not supposed to fight other tanks.That was a job for tank destroyers. |
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For a superb, first-person account of the Stuarts in action in the Desert War, read Brazen Chariots: A Tank Commander in Operation Crusader by Major Robert Crisp:
![]() An officer with the 3rd Royal Tank Regiment, his unit operated Stuart tanks against the Italians and then the Afrika Corps. I first read that book in grade school and found it was so vividly written that I could see the Desert War in my mind's eye. A great read! |
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Quoted: during WW2 american tanks were not supposed to fight other tanks.That was a job for tank destroyers. View Quote |
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Quoted: Yup. They were too heavy for any of the transport aircraft the French had access to - mostly Flying Boxcars and CH-47s - so they had to be brought in this way. IIRC, most of the M24s ended up being destroyed by their own crews to keep them out of V-M hands. The V-M had no real way to deal with them; they tried recoilless rifles and such, but were rarely successful in actually knocking one out. View Quote I think they still had three working at the fall. probably were short of ammunition and fuel. amazing battle but so much stupid as well. |
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Quoted: Ordered it. By chance if you have an original copy its apparently worth 5-700 dollars according to amazon https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/213498/7A681455-6D4C-4106-B588-68A61C15175B_png-1762689.JPG View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Came here to post this. It's probably been 35 years since I last read that. The story of the dude picking up crabs from the silk pajamas stuck with me. https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/213498/7A681455-6D4C-4106-B588-68A61C15175B_png-1762689.JPG Holy carp. That was the edition I had! Who would have thought a paperback from the 80’s would cost that much?! |
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If they would have taken their Stuart with them, General Custer would have won!
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https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0811737713/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Thunder On Bataan I just got this book. |
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Quoted: Yeah. It is very confusing. I watched the Cheiftans videos on it. While I am thinking about it the stuart had to have also engaged captured french and italian tanks as well . View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: during WW2 american tanks were not supposed to fight other tanks.That was a job for tank destroyers. Myth #2. Starting at 8:35 mark. ![]() Myths of American Armor. TankFest Northwest 2015 Killing tanks is part of the infantry support role |
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Quoted: I have been doing some reading on the Stuart and its M3 family. I always thought this was a neat tank but info on it in combat is lacking despite it being everywhere. Does anyone know a good place to read about it in a book or documentary . As well as the Stuart I also am interested in the M24 Chaffee. Here is a good link about post war use https://wwiiafterwwii.wordpress.com/2020/10/18/strange-stuarts-of-brazil/ Pic to start this off https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/213498/0B7913B6-2284-48A1-95E4-E065E997EA92_jpe-1761201.JPG View Quote Well this is THE M3 documentary. ![]() |
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