Tanks in World War II
Tanks were an important weapons system in World War II. Although tanks in the inter-war years were the subject of widespread research, few were made, in just a few countries. However, during World War II, most armies employed tanks, and thousands were built every month. Tank usage, doctrine, and production varied widely among the combatant nations. By war's end, a consensus was forming on tank doctrine and design.
Background
The
The doctrine of
Tank design gradually improved in the inter-war period also. Reflecting the growth of the automotive industry, tank engines, transmissions, and track systems were improved. By the beginning of the war in September 1939, tanks were available that could travel hundreds of miles on their tracks with a limited number of breakdowns.[3]
The war accelerated the pace of change in design. In particular, the gun-vs-armor race of the war led to rapid improvements in firepower and armor.[3]
Major themes
The United Kingdom, the US, the Soviet Union, and France produced significant numbers of tanks before and during World War II. The early tanks of Germany were inferior to many of their opponents' tanks in the areas of armor and firepower. However, in their tactical employment the German tanks dominated all rivals early in the war. Germany concentrated the tanks and the few infantry transport vehicles it had into
In contrast, for example, almost 80 percent of French tanks lacked radios,[5] essentially because their battle doctrine was based on a more slow-paced, deliberate conformance to planned movements. This required fewer radios at all levels. French tanks generally outclassed German tanks in firepower and armor in the 1940 campaign, but their poor command and control doctrine negated these advantages. By 1943, two-way radio was nearly universal in all armies.[4]
A trend towards heavier tanks was unmistakable as the war proceeded. In 1939, most tanks had maximum armor of 30 mm (1.2 in) or less, with guns with no larger caliber than 37–47 mm. Medium tanks of 1939 weighed around 20 tonnes (20 long tons). By 1945, typical medium tanks had maximum armor over 60 mm thick, with guns in the 75–85 mm (3.0–3.3-inch) range and weights of 30 to 45 t (30 to 44 long tons). Light tanks, which dominated most armies early in the war, gradually disappeared from front-line service.[6]
Turrets, which had always been considered, but were not previously a universal feature on tanks, became recognized as essential. It was appreciated that if the tank's gun was to be used to engage both 'soft' (unarmored) and armored targets, then it needed to be as large and powerful as possible, making one large gun with an all-round field of fire vital. Also, mounting the gun in a turret ensured that the tank could fire from hull down cover. Hull-mounted guns required that most of the vehicle be exposed to enemy fire. Multiple-turreted or multi-gun designs such as the Soviet T-35, American Medium Tank M3 (hull mounted and turret gun), French Char B1 (hull mounted howitzer) or British Cruiser Mk I (two ancillary machine gun turrets) slowly became less common during World War II. Experience showed that a tank commander could not effectively direct the fire of several weapons; also, the newer dual-purpose guns eliminated the need for multiple weapons. Most tanks still retained a hull machine gun, and usually one or more machine guns in the turret, to protect them from infantry at short range.[6]
Tanks were adapted to a wide range of military tasks, including engineering. Specialized models, such as
One trend seen in World War II was the usage of older, lighter tank chassis to mount larger weapons in fixed casemates, as self-propelled guns, tank destroyers or assault guns. For example, the Soviet T-34 could mount an 85 mm gun in the turret, but the same chassis could carry the much more effective 100 mm gun in a fixed casemate such as the SU-100, the successor of the SU-85. Likewise, the obsolete German Panzer II light tank, too vulnerable for a direct fire role, was modified to take a powerful 75 mm PaK 40 gun in an open-topped, fixed casemate as the Marder II self-propelled artillery piece.[7]
The
Fully enclosed casemates on the Germans' Sturmgeschütz assault guns, from the beginning of the war, set a pattern used later by the similarly fully enclosed Jagdpanzer casemate-style tank destroyers, with the Soviets' similar Samokhodnaya ustanovka (SU) assault guns being used for the same dual-purpose roles. However, the lack of a rotating turret had limited the gun's traverse to a few degrees. This meant that the entire tank normally had to be turned onto its target by the driver, a much slower process than simply rotating a powered turret. If the vehicle became immobilized due to engine failure or track damage, it could not rotate its gun to counter opposing tanks, making it highly vulnerable to counterfire.[8] This vulnerability was later exploited by opposing tank forces. Even the largest and most powerful of German tank destroyers were found abandoned on the field after a battle, having been immobilized by one or more hits by high explosive (HE) or armor-piercing (AP) shells to the track or front drive sprocket.[9]
Tanks of the major combatants
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union started and ended the war with more tanks than the rest of the world combined (18,000–22,000). At the start of World War II the most common tank in Soviet service was the
The Soviet Union ended the 1930s with a huge fleet of tanks almost completely derived from foreign designs, but before 1941 developed some of the most important trend-setting tanks of the war. The problem the Soviet tank force faced in 1941 was not primarily the technical quality of its vehicles, but the very poor state of maintenance, the appalling lack of readiness, and the poor command situation brought on by the purges of the officer class. By 1940, the Red Army had adopted an advanced combat doctrine that its command structure and tank force simply could not execute.[11]
Several excellent designs began production in 1940–1941. Just prior to the war, the Red Army embarked on two closely related projects to reorganize its mechanized forces and re-equip them with modern designs that took lessons learned from the
At the beginning of German invasion of the USSR, most of the Soviet Union's tank force was composed of the T-26 and BT tanks series. A few T-40s had also appeared, along with about 1,363 mechanically unreliable early-model T-34 tanks and 677 KV series tanks.[11] The early-model T-34s' heavy losses were caused by lack of coordination, lack of supplies, bad training, mechanical issues and the Red Army's general lack of preparation for war. Another difficulty for the T-34 was that it had only a four-man crew, with the tank commander forced to double as the gunner. Although he was spared from loading duties, unlike commanders in French tanks, it still crippled the tank commander's ability to maintain awareness of the battlefield, which gave German armour a tactical advantage.[12]
In 1941, large numbers of T-60s began to appear, reinforced in 1942 with the similar T-70. Both of these light tanks had torsion-bar suspension, light armour, and small engines. Their simple construction kept them in production even though their combat value was limited. The T-60 had only a 20 mm gun while the T-70 had a 45 mm. In addition, both had one-man turrets, making them difficult to crew effectively. The T-70 formed the basis for the later SU-76 self-propelled gun.[10]
By October 1942, the general opinion was that Soviet tanks were among the best in the world, with Life magazine writing that "The best tanks in the world today are probably the Russian tanks...".[13] The T-34 outclassed every German tank in service at the time of its introduction. At its height, production of all other tanks except the IS-2 was stopped to allow all available resources to be used exclusively for this tank, due to its widespread success in a variety of roles. The T-34 forced the Germans to adopt new, heavier designs such as the Panther and Tiger I, which in turn forced Soviet, American and British tank forces to upgrade their tanks further. German tendency to develop entirely new tanks toward the end of the war, rather than upgrading existing models, reduced the availability of tanks to German tank formations and helped the Red Army gain the initiative on the Eastern Front.[12]
Later in the war, the light tank role was increasingly filled by Lend-Lease supplies from the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada, including the M3 light tanks and Valentine tank. Ironically, the T-34's speed, which exceeded that of many of the light tanks that were supposed to scout for it, led to even less Soviet light tank production.[12]
In order to deal with improved German tanks, the Soviets upgunned the T-34 in 1943, creating the T-34-85. This model had a much larger turret mounting an 85 mm (3.3-inch) gun and a larger turret capable of holding 3-men, which finally allowed the tank commander to concentrate fully on maintaining tactical awareness of the battlefield. The Soviets also introduced the 122 mm-armed
The
Soviet tank production outstripped all other nations with the exception of the United States. The Soviets accomplished this through standardization on a few designs, generally forgoing minor qualitative improvements and changing designs only when upgrades would result in a major improvement.[11]
Soviet tanks had turret and
United Kingdom
Doctrine
Britain had been the worldwide trend-setter in tank development from 1915, but had lost its leadership position as the Second World War approached. Hampered by restricted expenditure on the army in favour of the
The British Army had developed two types of tanks – "
British tank crews were trained to fire on the move and the armament was mounted for optimum balance such that the gunner could aim with his body rather than use geared elevation. This reduced available space inside the turret. Both early Cruiser and Infantry tanks carried the Ordnance QF 2-pounder, a 40 mm anti-tank gun, a good match for the contemporary German 3.7 cm KwK 36, and effective against tanks of the time but increasingly outclassed as the war progressed. Production shortages caused by losses in France and the Battle of the Atlantic forced the British to delay widespread introduction of the Ordnance QF 6-pounder (57 mm) anti-tank gun until 1942.[16]
The lack of an adequate high-explosive shell for the 2-pounder and the growing number of 5 cm KwK 38 anti-tank guns in the Afrika Korps gave the German army in Libya a huge advantage for much of late 1941 and early 1942. This began to be offset by late 1942 but the Wehrmacht continued to enjoy a 12–18 month lead in tank and anti-tank gun development and production until the end of 1944.[16] Britain produced 5000 tanks in the year of 1944.[17]
Performance
The A9 Cruiser Mk I was an effective tank in the French, Greek and early North African campaigns. The 2-pounder gun was better than comparable 37 mm weapons of Germany and the US, and lethal against tanks encountered during the North African campaign. However the minimal armor made the A9 vulnerable to most contemporary anti-tank weapons and the design was quickly superseded by the A10 Cruiser, Mark II.[16]
A number of A10s were part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) sent to France in the early stages of World War II. The A10's cross country performance was recorded as poor, due to narrow, easily thrown tracks, but material losses incurred in the aftermath of
As war broke out, the British had placed into production the A13, a new faster Cruiser tank utilizing the suspension and running gear concepts of the American designer J. Walter Christie. This new suspension provided a fast, highly maneuverable design that became the basis for the rapid evolution of the Cruiser tank such as the Mk IV (A13 Mk II) a British cruiser tank derived from the original A13.[18]
The A13 Cruiser was developed into the
Beginning about mid-1942, many British tank units were equipped with vehicles supplied under lend-lease from the United States, such as the
Specialist tanks
Immediately before and during the war, the British produced an enormous array of prototype tanks and modified tanks for a variety of specialist engineering tasks (such as "Hobart's Funnies", produced for the invasion of France in 1944).[21]
For example, the Churchill Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers (AVRE) fired a short range 230 mm (11.4 inch) direct-fire mortar which was used for destroying buildings and clearing obstacles. It could also be equipped with a wide variety of combat engineering equipment such as small bridges, rolled-matt roadways, fascines, and mine rollers. [21]
Many of these ideas had already been tried, tested, or were in experimental development both by Britain and other nations. For example, the Scorpion flail tank (a modified Matilda II) had already been used during the North African campaign to clear paths through German minefields. Soviet T-34 tanks had been modified with mine-rollers, fascines, and flamethrowers. Close-support tanks, bridge layers, and fascine carriers had been developed elsewhere also. However, the Funnies were the largest and most elaborate collection of engineering vehicles available.[21]
By early 1944, Hobart could demonstrate to Eisenhower and Montgomery a brigade each of swimming DD tanks, Crab mine clearers, and AVRE (Engineer) tanks along with a regiment of Crocodile flamethrowing tanks.[21]
United States
Prior to the entry of the United States into the war after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the Army had only a few tanks. During the Louisiana Maneuvers in September 1941, it used trucks with the word "tank" painted on their side. Even after Pearl Harbor the 10th Armored Division did not have any tanks, so crews trained by marching down roads in groups and executing orders as if they were in tanks.[22]
The
The new medium tank just entering production in 1940 was the
From 1940, new tank designs were prepared. The Battle of France had shown the importance of medium tanks.[24] The British Army sought to have the US manufacture British designs, but the US refused, offering instead to share the output of US factories building US designs. The United States Army had a requirement for a medium tank with a 75 mm gun, and developed the M3 Medium Tank as an interim design. The medium M3 tank was intended to quickly get a 75 mm gun into the field, pending the design of a tank with a 75 mm gun in a fully rotating turret. The British rejected the design, only accepting after the US told them it was all they had to offer. The British then used the M3 Medium Tank for their own use as the 'Lee', and some with modifications to their requirements as the 'Grant' (I.e: they added a bulge in the back of the turret to fit a radio, among other things.).[25]
By February 1942, American civilian automobile factories only made weapons and military vehicles.
The first tanks of the United States to see combat were the
The appearance of the M3 "Lee" medium tank in the summer of 1942 finally gave the British a larger supply of medium tanks than they could otherwise have hoped for. Although poorly designed, with a very high profile, it was produced in great numbers and was very effective when engaging targets other than enemy tanks, such as infantry and gun positions.[29]
The M3 Medium had the significant disadvantage of its 75 mm main armament being mounted offset in the hull meaning that it could not take hull down cover and use its main gun at the same time. It had a fully traversable turret with a 37 mm cannon as well, but the turret combined with a hull gun gave it a very tall profile. The United States 1st Armored Division also employed the M3 Medium in Africa. It was a stopgap solution, never intended to be a design of major importance. In American and British service the M3 Medium was phased out at the end of the North African campaign. It continued to serve in the Red Army for some time, and in a single campaign in the Pacific. Red Army crews nicknamed it "grave for seven brothers" referring to the seven-man crew.[24]
The most important American design of the war was the
Technically, the M4's design was capable of handling larger guns than the 75 mm and 76 mm guns with which they left the factory. The British fitted Shermans with the more powerful
The United States eventually deployed the Light Tank M24, an improvement over the M3 Light Tank. The M24 had torsion-bar suspension, high mobility, and a compact 75 mm gun. Ergonomically the tank was quite good also. However, the M24 did not appear in combat until December 1944 and equipped only a few units by the end of the war. [24]
Near the end of the war, the
France
At the start of the war, France had one of the largest tank forces in the world along with the Soviet, British, and German forces. Like the British and the Soviets, the French operated two classes of tank:
The French had planned for a defensive war and built tanks accordingly. Their infantry tanks were heavily armored. But, also, generally, they were relatively sluggish, and operationally in terms of control of their forces, the French were at a disadvantage and were outmaneuvered by the German forces. When the French were able to mount an attack their tanks could be very effective. On 16 May, during the Battle of France a single Char B1 heavy tank, the Eure, attacked and destroyed thirteen German tanks lying in ambush in Stonne, all of them Panzer IIIs and Panzer IVs, in the course of a few minutes.[33] The tank safely returned despite being hit 140 times (this event is not verifiable in German documents and relies on the statements of the crew). In his book Panzer Leader, Heinz Guderian wrote of a tank battle south of Juniville:
- "While the tank battle was in progress, I attempted, in vain, to destroy a Char B with a captured 47 mm [1.9-inch] anti-tank gun; all the shells I fired at it simply bounced harmlessly off its thick armor. Our 37 mm and 20 mm guns were equally ineffective against this adversary. As a result, we inevitably suffered sadly heavy casualties".[34]
The total tank assets in France and its colonies were perhaps less than 5,800 during the time of the German offensive. After the armistice in the unoccupied Free Zone of France, a clandestine rebuild took place of 225
Germany
Germany's armored force was not especially impressive from a technical standpoint at the start of the war. As noted above, it was their advanced combined arms doctrine and unrivaled
Pre-war plans called for two main tanks: the main tank was to be the Panzer III medium tank, supported by smaller numbers of the howitzer-armed Panzer IV. However, by the beginning of the invasion of Poland, only a few hundred of these vehicles were available. As a result, the invasions of Poland and France were carried out primarily with the less capable Panzer I and Panzer II light tanks (armed with machine guns and a 20 mm autocannon respectively), with some gun-armed light tanks of Czechoslovak design (Panzer 35(t) and Panzer 38(t), both armed with a 37 mm gun). Even in 1941, Panzer III production amounted only to about a thousand tanks, forcing the Germans to use Czech tanks as substitutes for the Panzer III. As the war proceeded, the production of heavier tanks increased.[37]
The Panzer III was intended to fight other tanks; in the initial design stage, a 50 mm (2 inch) gun was specified. However, the infantry at the time was being equipped with the 37 mm (1.46 inch)
The Panzer IV was intended to carry a gun that could be used in support of infantry or other tanks, and was initially armed with a short-barreled 75 mm howitzer to fire high explosive (HE) fragmentation shells. In 1941 an average of 39 Panzer IV model tanks per month were built, and this rose to 83 in 1942, 252 in 1943, and 300 in 1944.[38]
During Operation Barbarossa, it was discovered that the Soviet T-34 tank outclassed the Panzer III and IV. Its well sloped armor could withstand most German weapons, and its 76.2 mm gun and AP rounds could penetrate the armor of all German tanks. This forced the Germans to improve their existing models. The Panzer III, which was intended to be the main medium tank, was upgraded to a longer, higher-velocity 50 mm gun. [38]
Thus the Panzer IV, originally intended to be a support tank, became the de facto main medium tank re-armed with a long-barreled, high-velocity 75 mm gun to counter the T-34; the Panzer III, with its smaller turret ring, could not mount a gun larger than 50 mm, which had become inadequate against Allied tanks.[38] The Germans started to develop newer, heavier tanks. This included the Panzer V Panther, which was intended to be the new main German medium tank, with comparably sloped armor to that of the T-34. The Panther tank was a compromise of various requirements. While sharing essentially the same engine as the Tiger I tank, it had better frontal armor, better gun penetration, was lighter overall and thus faster, and could handle rough terrain better than the Tigers. The trade-off was much weaker side armor; the Panther proved to be deadly in open country and shooting from long range, but was vulnerable in close-quarters combat or to flank shots.[38]
The Germans also started to develop a new series of heavy tanks. The first was the Tiger, which outclassed all its opponents in terms of firepower and armor when it was first put into operational use. The companies Henschel and Porsche both submitted designs for the Tiger, and the Henschel design was chosen. The even heavier Tiger II (deemed "King Tiger" by Allied troops) supplemented the Tiger I late in the war. Its powerful gun – and unlike the Tiger I, its very heavy sloped armor – made it superior to nearly every Allied or Soviet tank in a one-on-one confrontation, but poor mobility, speed, and reliability limited its use. [38]
Plans were made for a super-heavy tank, the Panzer VII Löwe, which was canceled during the design stage in favor of the yet heavier Panzer VIII Maus of which only two incomplete prototypes were made. Panzer IX and Panzer X were drawings only used for propaganda purposes.[39]
Italy
The Italian army was mainly equipped with
The Fiat-Ansaldo M11/39 medium tank was used from 1940 through the early period of World War II. The M11/39 was developed as a "breakthrough tank" (Carro di Rottura). It was replaced by the Fiat-Ansaldo M13/40 medium tank which was used in the
The next tank in the series was the Fiat M14/41, a slightly improved version of the M13/40 with a more powerful diesel engine. The tank was also employed in the
The next in the series was the M15/42, a 15-tonne tank first built in January 1943. Some 90 vehicles were built before the Italian armistice in September 1943 and in connection to that event they were used in the battle against the Germans by the
Italian tank classification
Italy introduced a new tank classification scheme in 1938. Tanks were designated first with a letter (L, M, or P, for light, medium, or heavy respectively) followed by the weight in tonnes, separated by a slash followed by the year the tank was accepted for service. The classes of light, medium and heavy differed somewhat from other countries. Hence the P26/40, designated as "heavy" by the Italians with its 26-tonne weight, was more similar in weight to the medium M4 Sherman tank (30-tonne weight). The Italians also labeled the machine gun-armed L3/35 a "light tank", although it is more commonly called a tankette.[37]
Japan
Like the
By 1937, Japan fielded 1,060 tanks in 8 regiments, most designed for and used in the infantry-support role. But this focus left the IJA without a tank capable of taking on other tanks, a deficiency that was brought home hard during the
Although the Japanese Army widely employed tanks within the Pacific theater of war, the tanks that Allied forces faced there were mostly older designs, such as the
Between 1931 and 1945, Japan produced 6450 tanks. Half of them (3300) were made by the Mitsubishi Company. The sub-total of tanks produced between 1940 and 1945 is 4424, i.e. a yearly average comparable to Italy. For a country as large and as industrialized as Japan, that is modest. However, before 1944/45, the naval fleet and the air force had priority of steel allocation and construction. It changed when the homeland became increasingly under direct threat, but it was too late.[45][53] As with many innovative weapons projects during the final years of World War II, production could not advance beyond either small numbers or the prototype stage due to material shortages, and the loss of Japan's industrial infrastructure to the Allied bombing of Japan.[54][55]
Tanks of other combatants
Romania
During the interwar period, Romania had equipped its army with tanks from its Czechoslovak and French allies. The vehicles acquired by Romania were, however, different in many aspects from their original Czechoslovak and French counterparts. For example, the R-1, which was also built in Romania under license, had a different engine and armor thickness than other AH-IV variants. The R-2 (Romanian designation of the LT vz. 35) had a modified variant, the R-2c, with cemented armor and a different looking rear for both the turret and the hull. French Renault R35s were also acquired – their suspension was later heavily modified, so the wheels were ten times more durable.[56][57]
Romania joined the Axis Powers in 1941, so its vehicles fought against the Soviet army on the Eastern Front. They were used in places like Odesa and Stalingrad. [58][59] The Romanian interwar-developed tank force proved to be hardly effective against Soviet T-34s and KV-1s; during tests, it was found out that the T-34 was invulnerable to the R-2's 37 mm gun.[60] However, Romania did upgrade its tank force with German designs such as Panzer IIIs, Panzer IVs, and StuG IIIs, referred to in the Romanian army as T-3, T-4 and TAs respectively. [61]
To further increase its anti-tank capacities, Romania had also started its own production of tank destroyers in late 1942. These included the
Czechoslovakia
By the time of the
Before the end of production in 1942, 136 more LT-35 and a total of 1414 LT-38 were produced for the Wehrmacht at
Poland
Poland was the first to suffer the German Blitzkrieg, but it had some very good tanks in its armored forces. The most important was the 7TP (siedmiotonowy Polski – "7-tonne Polish") light tank, which was better armed than its most common opponents, the German Panzer I and Panzer II.[66]
Like the similar Soviet T-26, the 7TP was a development of the British Vickers 6-ton (Mk. E) which the Poles purchased and licensed for local production. The main new features of 7TP were: a better, more reliable and powerful diesel engine (which made the 7TP world's first diesel tank), 37 mm anti-tank gun, and slightly thicker armor (17 mm in front instead of 13 mm). Only about 132 tanks were produced between 1935 and the outbreak of the war. The weight increased after the initial 7-tonne prototype was made and the actual serial tanks weighed 9.9 tonnes.[66]
Like its British predecessor, the 7TP was initially produced in two variants: the twin turret version armed with 2
Poland also had the
All of the 7TP tanks took part in combat in the
Poland also purchased and used, in September 1939, 50 (some sources claim 49) Renault R35 tanks but due to extremely rugged terrain and the tank's poor cross-country performance, many ended up destroyed by the crews. 34 tanks crossed into Romania after covering the Polish retreat after the Soviet Invasion of Poland on 17SEP39 and 2 crossed into Hungary. Only about half of the Renault tanks participated in the actual fighting.
Polish forces in exile after the fall of Poland were reequipped by their allies. Polish LWP forces fighting alongside the Red Army were equipped with T-34, T-70, and IS-2 tanks, along with ISU-122 and SU-76 self-propelled guns. Polish forces in the west were equipped out of British stocks including M3 and M5 Stuarts, M4 Shermans, and a small number of Cromwells. Polish armor units were participants in the Battle of Berlin and played an important role in the campaign in Normandy. [66]
See also
- 759th Tank Battalion (United States)
- History of the tank
- Assault gun
- Tank destroyer
- Tanks in World War I
- Comparison of World War I tanks
- Tanks of the interwar period
- Light tanks of the United Kingdom
- Rhino tank
- Comparison of early World War II tanks
- Cold War Tanks
- Post-Cold War Tanks
References
Notes
- ISBN 978-0-7566-0741-8.
- ^ Bishop 2002, p. 35.
- ^ a b c Steadman, Kenneth A. (1982). "The Evolution of the Tank in the U.S. Army" (PDF). United States Army. pp. 2–10. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
- ^ a b c Bishop 2002, p. 20.
- S2CID 143543753.
- ^ a b Ness 2002, pp. 9–15.
- ^ a b c Bishop 2002, p. 42.
- ^ Irwin, John P. Another River, Another Town, New York: Random House Publishers (2002), p. 61.
- ^ Irwin, p. 62: Even the U.S. M4 Sherman could disable a Jagdpanther's track or fracture the front drive sprocket with a 75 mm HE shell.
- ^ a b c Bishop 2002, pp. 35–38.
- ^ a b c Bishop 2002, p. 31.
- ^ a b c d e Bishop 2002, pp. 39–41.
- ^ "Red Army Fights for Mother Russia". Life. 1942-10-05. p. 29. Retrieved November 20, 2011.
- ISBN 5-977101066, p. 21
- ^ Bishop 2002, p. 37.
- ^ a b c d e Ness 2002, pp. 20–23.
- ISBN 9781446496497.
- ^ a b Porter (2009), p. 46.
- ^ Bishop 1998, pp. 25–26.
- ^ Bishop 2002, pp. 32–35.
- ^ a b c d Bishop 2002, pp. 52–61.
- ISBN 978-0-684-18239-1.
- ^ Bishop 2002, p. 32.
- ^ a b c d e f Ness 2002, pp. 185–187.
- ^ Fletcher, Great Tank Scandal.
- ^ "U.S. Auto Plants are Cleared for War". Life. 16 February 1942. p. 19. Retrieved November 16, 2011.
- ^ "A Tank Arsenal: How Its Assembly Lines Operate". Life. 1942-08-10. pp. 69–70. Retrieved November 19, 2011.
- ^ Porter 2009, p. 66.
- ^ Porter 2009, p. 68.
- ^ a b Bailey 1983, p. 32.
- ^ a b c d Berndt 1994, p. 67–77.
- ^ Berndt 1994, p. 77–79.
- ISBN 978-1-59114-294-2.
- ^ "The Battle of France". Greatest Tank Battles. Season 1. 31 January 2012. Military Channel (now American History Channel).
- ^ Auto Mitrailleuse CDM Modelstories
- ^ 1942 Auto Mitrailleuse CDM Chars-francais.net Archived 2009-11-03 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c d Bishop 2002, p. 9.
- ^ a b c d e f Bishop 2002, pp. 12–16.
- ^ Ness 2002, p. 90.
- ^ a b c Bishop 2002, pp. 16–18.
- ^ Zaloga 2007, p. 4.
- ^ Zaloga 2007, pp. 5–6.
- ^ Zaloga 2007, pp. 4, 5, 9–11, 17, 22–24, 27.
- ^ Hara 1972, pp. 15–17.
- ^ a b Ness 2002, pp. 135–137.
- ^ Rottman & Takizawa 2008, p. 59.
- ^ Zaloga 2007, pp. 3, 17.
- ^ Ness 2002, pp. 138–143.
- ^ History of War: "Type 1 Ho-Ni I Self-Propelled Gun"
- ^ Rickard, John (2008). "Type 2 Ho-I Gun Tank". History of War. Retrieved 19 March 2010.
- ^ Zaloga 2012, p. 34.
- ^ Zaloga 2007, pp. 3, 21–22.
- ^ Zaloga 2007, p. 15.
- ^ Tomczyk 2005, pp. 3, 5, 29.
- ^ Zaloga 2007, p. 22.
- ^ Axworthy 1995, pp. 31–37.
- ^ Axworthy 1995, p. 225.
- ^ Axworthy 1995, pp. 49–53.
- ^ Axworthy 1995, pp. 100–101, 108.
- ^ Axworthy 1995, p. 87.
- ^ Axworthy 1995, p. 219.
- ^ Axworthy 1995, pp. 221–235.
- ^ Axworthy 1995, p. 219, 221.
- ^ Ness 2002, pp. 63–65.
- ^ Ness 2002, pp. 67–68.
- ^ a b c d e f Ness 2002, pp. 147–149.
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- Bailey, Charles (1983). Faint Praise. Hamden, Connecticut: Archon books. ISBN 978-0-208-02006-2.
- Berndt, Thomas (1994). American Tanks of World War II. Minnesota, MN: MBI Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-87938-930-7.
- Bishop, Chris (1998). The Encyclopedia of Weapons of WWII: The Comprehensive Guide to Over 1,500 Weapons Systems, including Tanks, Small Arms, Warplanes, Artillery, Ships, and Submarines. London, UK: Orbis Publishing and Aerospace Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7607-1022-7.
- Bishop, Chris (2002). The Encyclopedia of Weapons of WWII: The Comprehensive Guide to Over 1,500 Weapons Systems, including Tanks, Small Arms, Warplanes, Artillery, Ships, and Submarines. Sterling Publishing Company. ISBN 978-1-58663-762-0.
- ISBN 978-0-11-290460-1.
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- Rottman, Gordon L.; Takizawa, Akira (2008). World War II Japanese Tank Tactics. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1846032349.
- Tomczyk, Andrzej (2005). Japanese Armor Vol. 4. AJ Press. ISBN 978-8372371676.
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- Zaloga, Steven J. (2012). M4 Sherman vs Type 97 Chi-Ha: The Pacific 1945. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1849086387.