At 7:30 a.m. on 27th May 1942, the 4th Armoured Division under the command of Brigadier General A.H. Gatehouse and
consisting of the 8th Light Cavalry Regiment, the third 3rd Tank Regiment and the 5th Tank Regiment in the British
7th Armoured Division advanced to a point about 10km southeast of Bir El Uarma on the German 15th Panzer Division's
route of advance to the rear of the British Gazala defence line and started a tank-to-tank fighting with the 1st
Battalion of the 8th Tank Regiment sent forward by the German 15th Panzer Division.
British tanks of the 8th Light Cavalry Regiment gave direct hits to German PzKpfw III tanks equipped with a 50mm
tank gun that were advancing in wedge formation. The British tanks were firing from out of the German tanks range.
The German 15th Panzer Division had never been attacked in such a way in the North African Theatre. German tanks
commanders rubbed their eyes in surprise and looked to the front through their field glasses. They saw unfamiliar
tanks of high silhouette with their camouflage nets removed firing at them. These were M3 Medium General Grant Mk I
tanks armed with a 75mm tank gun M2 (31 calibres long) that showed themselves for the first time at the Battle of
Gazala.
It was not easy for the Pzkpfw III with a 50mm tank gun 39 (42 calibres long) or the PzKpfw IV series with a
short-barrelled 75mm tank gun 36 (24 calibres long) then used by the German Afrika Korps in the North African
theatre to defeat the British new tank. Through the effective use of the Grant Mk I's 75mm gun M2, the 8th Light
Cavalry Regiment in the British 4th Armoured Brigade fired away at the fire support positions of the German 33rd
Mechanized Artillery Regiment, the 15th Panzer Division to separate them from their tank forces and inflicted
serious damage on the main tanks of the 1st Battalion in the German 8th Tank Regiment. In addition, the 1st
Battalion was brought to the brink of annihilation by the British 3rd Tank Regiment's participation in the Battle.
Owing to the activity of the German 2nd Battalion, however the British 8th Light Cavalry Regiment was beaten and
the 3rd Tank Regiment was forced to abandon its 16 Grant Mk I tanks in the battlefield. This was the first round
of the Battle of Gazala. The tank-to-tank fighting in the battle of Gazala was called "Battle of Night Bridge",
where fierce fighting continued for about 22 days between the British forces consisting of the 2nd, 4th, and 22nd
Armoured Brigades and the German forces including the 8th Tank Regiment in the 15th Panzer Division and the 5th
Tank Regiment in the 21st Panzer Division. At first the German Afrika Korps was considerably damaged by the attack
of the Grant Mk I, but in the end it overwhelmed the British armoured forces. This was because the Germans were
well experienced and effectively used the famous 88mm anti-aircraft gun while the British commanders had no
experience in mobile warfare and their men were not well trained. The British forces lost Tobruk and their
Gazala defence line was broken though. Thus the British withdrew to the 8th Army's El Alamein defence line in
National Defence Advisory Commission formed for controlling defence industries, and American heavy industries were
mobilized into production. Light tanks were in charge of American Car & Foundry. Medium tanks were in charge of
Chrysler's Detroit Arsenal. American Locomotive Co. and Baldwin Locomotive Co. According to the original National
Munitions Program, the M2A4 light tank and the M2A1 medium tank were to be manufactured, but the Program was
changed thereafter and the M3 medium and light tanks with more powerful armament were to be produced instead
Members of the British Tank Mission then in America unoffically join the U.S. Army Armor Commission conferences
on the development of tanks, particularly on the design and development of the M3 medium tank and submitted
detailed proposals regarding improvements in tanks based on lessons learned from the European war.
In October 1940, the British Tank Mission placed orders for medium tanks with Baldwin Locomotive Co., which had
previously received contract from the British Army for tanks, Lima Locomotive Works, Pressed Steel Car Co., and
Pullman-Standard Car Co. under the condition that they should deliver the Tanks by the end of December 1941 to
British armoured troops which lost about 2/3 of their tanks in France. The British Tank Mission required that the
medium tank should be the same as the pilot model of the M3 medium tank trial-manufactured by Chrysler's Detroit
Arsenal on 11th April 1941 except that its turret should be replaced by a larger cast revolving turret with
commander's hatch designed in Britain.
While the M3 medium tank of American design which had a cast revolving turret with a 37mm tank gun M5 was called
"General Lee Mk I" after General Robert Edward Lee, the medium tank with a 75mm tank gun M2 produced by the four
manufacturers was nicknammed "General Grant Mk I" after General Ulysses Simpson Grant. He was commander in chief of
the Federal army in the Civil War and obtained the victory. Later he became 18th president of the United States.
Early in 1942 a total of 242 General Grant Mk I tanks were supplied to the British forces in the Middle East and
167 of them were used by armoured troops in the Gazala area. They were depended upon and called "The Last Hope in
Egypt" by officers and men of the armoured troops.
The body of the Grant Mk I was of riveted construction. A 75mm tank gun M2 (31 calibres long) was mounted on the
limited traverse mount M1 of the right sponson. On the left offset part of the body was a large cast revolving
turret for a 37mm tank gun M5. Unlike the Lee Mk I, the Grant Mk I had no machine-gun turret for the 37mm gun. The
secondary armament consisted of three calibre 0.30 (7.62mm) Browing M1919A4 machine guns on the front mount and the
combination mount.
The number of crew was six. The Grant Mk I used a Wright Whirlwind R975 RC2 9-cylinder air-cooled radial gasoline
engine offering 400hp and a synchromesh-type transmission for live forward and one reverse speed. Also, the Grant
Mk.I employed, like the Lee Mk.I tracks of surface-glossier rubber and vertical volute spring suspension system.
The M3A5 medium tank with three turrets of the American type manufactured by Baldwin was named General Grant Mk.II.
This type had smoke dischargers on the sides of the revolving turret and was used mainly in Burma in 1945.
Technical Data :
Weight : 28.233 tons (equipped).
Length : 5.639m.
Width : 2.670m.
Height : 3.124m.
Crew : 6.
Armament : one M2 75mm gun, one M5 37mm gun, three M1919A4 Browning machine guns.
Engine : Wright Whirlwind R-975-EC2 radial air-cooled (gasoline).
Maximum speed : 35 km/h.
Autonomy : 192 to 234 km.
Click on the picture to see the kit :
