The M4 Sherman medium tank was regarded by many as the workhorse of the US Army during World War II. In fact, virtually all of the Allied armies employed the Sherman in their armed forces, including the British, who developed an upgunned variant called the "Firefly". Eleven different US plants manufactured six basic models of the Sherman, and by June 1944 over 49,234 battle-ready vehicles had been produced. While it was no match for the German Panther or Tiger tanks, the Sherman soldiered on, using its weight in numbers to wrest control of Europe from the Wehrmacht. The M4A3 was fitted with a long-barrel M1A1 76mm gun, which replaced the shorter and less effective 75mm gun, and sported a larger, more angular turret to house the bigger gun. In addition, the slope of the M4A3's frontal armor was changed to 47-degrees to increase frontal protection and simplify the production process.

During the 1930s, many innovations in the components of light tanks would make US tanks considerably reliable. These included rubber-bushed tracks, rear mounted radial engines and the vertical volute spring suspension.

The vertical volute spring suspension system is a type of vehicle suspension system. This type of suspension system was mainly fitted onto US and Italian tanks and armored fighting vehicles starting in the 1930s and up until after the end of the Second World War in 1945.

A volute spring is a compression spring in the form of a cone (a volute). Under compression, the coils slide over each other, affording longer travel. The result is more stable and powerful than any leaf, coil, or torsion bar spring in the same volume. Mounted vertically in a road wheel bogie for a pair of road wheels in a tank made for a very compact unit.

The Rock Island Arsenal produced a small tank for the cavalry which used vertical volute spring suspension instead of leaf spring suspension. Standardized as the M1 Combat Car, it entered service with the US Army in 1937. The design was used in the M2 light tank and subsequent Stuart tank series. Design features of the Stuart were scaled up for use in the first M2 medium tanks which would evolve into the more successful M3 Lee and M4 Sherman, all using the vertical volute spring suspension system.

This particular 1:32 scale diecast replica of the famed US M4A3(76)W Sherman medium tank with VVSS suspension that was attached to 37th Tank Battalion, 4th Armored Division, then deployed to Bastogne, Belgium, during December 1944. Comes with bonus Ford GAA V-8 engine. Pre-order! Price and ship date to be determined.

Dimensions:
Length: 7-1/2-inches
Width: 3-1/2-inches

Release Date: ?

Historical Account: "Roosevelt's Butchers" - The 4th Armored Division of the United States Army was an armored division that compiled a distinguished career in the European theater of World War II. Unlike many other WW2 US Armored Divisions, the 4th never adopted an official divisional nickname or slogan, although during their famous campaign through France and Germany during WWII, the Germans referred to them as "Roosevelt's Butchers".

It was activated on April 15th, 1941, from a cadre drawn the US 1st Armored Division, and reached the United Kingdom in early 1944.

After training in England from January to July 1944, the 4th Armored Division landed at Utah Beach on July 11th and entered combat on the 17th. As part of the VIII Corps exploitation force for Operation Cobra, the 4th secured the Coutances area on the 28th.

The division then swung south to take Nantes, cutting off the Brittany Peninsula on August 12th, 1944. Turning east, it drove swiftly across France north of the Loire, smashed across the Moselle between September 11th-13th, flanked Nancy and captured Luneville on the 16th. It fought several German Panzer Brigades in the Lorraine area at this time, defeating a larger German force through superior tactics and training.

After maintaining a defensive line, Chambrey to Xanrey to Henamenil, from September 27th to October 11th, the division rested briefly before returning to combat on November 9th with an attack in the vicinity of Viviers. The 4th cleared Bois de Serres on November 12th, advanced through Dieuze and crossed the Saar River, between the 21st-22nd to establish and expand bridgehead and took Singling and Bining before being relieved on December 8th.

Two days after the Germans launched their Ardennes offensive, the 4th Armored entered the fight on December 18th, 1944, racing northwest into Belgium, covering 150 miles in 19 hours. The Division attacked the Germans at Bastogne, helping to relieve the besieged 101st Airborne. Six weeks later the Division jumped off from Luxembourg City in an eastward plunge that carried it across the Moselle River at Trier, south and east to Worms, and across the Rhine March 24th, 1945. Advancing all night, the 4th crossed the Main River the next day, south of Hanau, and continued to push on. Lauterbach fell March 29th, Creuzburg across the Werra on April 1st, Gotha on the 4th, and by April 12th the Division was across the Saale River. Pursuit of the enemy continued and by May 6th, the Division had crossed into Czechoslovakia, established a bridgehead across the Otava River at Strakonice, with forward elements at Pisek.

The Division was commanded by Major General John S. "P" Wood and by Major General Huigh Gaffey. One of its most famous members was Creighton Abrams, who commanded the 37th Tank Battalion, then Combat Command B (CCB). Abrams later rose to command all US forces in Vietnam and served as US Army Chief of Staff in the 1970s. The current US M-1 tank is named after him.