The M16 was the standard US Army light antiaircraft vehicle used following the Normandy invasion with every armored division having an AAA Weapons Company with eight M16s. These units were often used to protect key sites dumps from enemy air attack. By the end of the war the general absence of the Luftwaffe meant that these M16s could be used in a ground support role, where they earned the nickname 'meat-choppers.'

Pictured here is a 1:50 scale replica of a US M16 half-track with three figures which participated in Operation Dragoon, the invasion of southern France, during August 1944. Sold Out!

Dimensions:
Length: 5 inches
Width: 2 inches

Release Date: March 2007

Historical Account: "Betwixt and Between" - Because it fell both geographically and chronologically between two much larger Allied efforts in northern France and Italy, both the conduct and contributions of Operation DRAGOON have been largely ignored. Planned originally as a simultaneous complement to OVERLORD, the cross-Channel attack on Normandy, ANVIL actually took place over two months later, on August 15, 1944, making it appear almost an afterthought to the main Allied offensive in northern Europe. Yet the success of ANVIL and the ensuing capture of the great southern French ports of Toulon and Marseilles, together with the subsequent drive north up the Rhone River valley to Lyon and Dijon, were ultimately to provide critical support to the Normandy-based armies finally moving east toward the German border.