M2 M3 M4 APC collections WW2 Armoured Personnel Carrier NEW Kagero Top Drawings Models 84

Armoured Personnel Carrier M2/M3/M4 Half-Track, by S Zajaczkowski

Published by Kagero in 2019, 24 pages. Large A4 size Booklet with loose leaf insert (N7240)

Brand New

The main booklet is illustrated throughout with detailed line drawings showing plans of the vehicle, and also includes 4 pages colour drawings showing individual profiles of tanks with different designs and camoflauge. There is also one loose leaf insert with further detailed line diagrams and drawings. All captions and text is in both English and Polish.

From the introduction: In the 30s, Americans began working on a modern vehicle for cavalry recon­naissance and artillery units in freshly formed armoured and motorized units. The American command became interested in French half-track vehicle de­signs. On their basis the American industry proposed its own solutions. In 1938, White Motor Company created a vehicle called T-7, which was a combination of the design of the M3 scout car and the T-9 half-track transporter. Year later, a version with a more powerful engine was introduced. The new car was desig­nated T-14 and used mainly by artillery units. In 1940, the project was renamed M2 and put into production. A total of 13,500 copies were produced. Vehicles served in artillery, reconnaissance and mechanized infantry units. In May 1941, production of the M3 version began. It was a thirteen-person armoured per­sonnel carrier, which differed from its predecessor by a longer hull, a door in the rear wall, and different interior fittings. Early versions of the vehicle were armed with a single Browning M 1919A4 caliber 7.62mm; in a further modification - M3A 1 - 12.7mm Browning M2 caliber was mounted in a rotating stand above the drivers helper position. The drive was also transferred to the front axle.

M3 vehicles entered service during the battle of Philippines. Initially, soldiers were reluctant to new machines, especially due to the lack of cover from artillery shells exploding in the air. Each American armoured division was equipped with 441 transporters, while mechanized infantry regiments had 233 half-tracks.

M3 and its development versions were widely used in many armies of the world and numerous armed conflicts after the Second World War, including France in the war in Indochina or Israel during the fighting in the Middle East in 1948-1967. The vehicle was also included to the Lend-Lease programme, thanks to which it was used by the USSR army and the Polish Peoples Army.

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