Today at Aces High we thought we would discuss a subject that rarely gets discussed. While aircraft are the “sexy” thing to talk about with regards to World War II, the tank is the blood and guts of the weaponry, the down and dirty part of armament that rarely gets its due. So today, tanks, this one is for you.
Prior to World War 2 the number of tanks produced by the U.S. was incredibly small. In fact, the “armored” divisions would practice maneuvers walking as if they were in tanks because there just were no tanks. That all changed after Pearl Harbor. General Motors and Chrysler adapted their car manufacturing plants to produce tanks, and the first of these new tanks were produced in the first half of 1942; in fact, 1,500 tanks came off of the production lines in the May of 9142 alone, and the U.S. was ready for business.
The first tanks to see battle were the M3’s, light tanks known as “General Stuarts.” They were very flawed but matched up against the German counterparts quite well. The U.S. 2st Armored Division used the M3 in Africa with limited success. It also saw action in Italy and as part of the Normandy Invasion.
This was followed by the M4, the second-most produced tank in the war. This was the mainstay of most of the Allied tank forces, used by Americans, Canadians, British and French. It was the equal of the German Panzer III and Panzer IV. It was reliable and easy to maintain, but was outgunned by the German tanks, so basically it was a standoff in battles with the Germans.
In the end, it was the massive production capabilities of the Americans that won out. By sheer numbers the United States was able to control the ground war; although the German tanks were superior by the end of the war, they could in no way match the U.S. for total numbers of armament.
And that could be said for all armaments in the war. From aircraft to ships, tanks to rifles, the U.S. industrial production far outnumbered that of Japan and Germany and in the end that was the difference in the war.
Why do we study this stuff? Simply because if we expect our combat flight simulator to be the best, then we need to understand everything about World War II. Our Aces High is the best flight sim on the market because it more closely resembles actual combat.
