We hope you enjoyed this weeks video - which tank would you like to see inside next?

@Masada1911

11 ай бұрын

I would like to see your Sherman that is called Michael. The fact that it is the oldest surviving Sherman is an object of fascination to me.

@ariebroek2404

11 ай бұрын

Fire fly or the crocodile would be nice 😊

@ariebroek2404

11 ай бұрын

Or the M50/51

@branojuraj9063

11 ай бұрын

Pershing

@RupertBear412

11 ай бұрын

please do a series on REME recovery and repair variants - particularly important in the desert in 1942 and normandy in 1944

The commanders memoir was so amazingly funny that i can't take it off my mind that it came off from a Monty Python bit, perfection!

@stephenbritton9297

11 ай бұрын

Very British, that's for sure!

The Lee/Grant was the P-40 Warhawk of tanks. It was adequate to the immediate task at hand and it was available in sufficient numbers to do the job.

@stoneylonesome4062

9 ай бұрын

Do you have Toyota?

As a native of Pittsburgh, I'm very happy to see one of "our" tanks has been preserved in such great fashion.

@RichWhiteUM

11 ай бұрын

I too am a native of Pittsburgh. My great-grandfather worked in that factory for a time. My grandfather had pictures of the M3s being built there. When he mentioned that part in the video, it put a small smile on my face.

@Chilly_Billy

11 ай бұрын

​@RichWhiteUM ... my father worked at the Union Switch & Signal plant in Swissvale. He worked on their order for 1911A1 pistols that primarily went to the USAAF as well as bomb fins after the order for .45's was complete. The site was demolished many years ago to make way for the Edgewood Town Centre strip mall.

@RichWhiteUM

11 ай бұрын

@@Chilly_Billy My step-father used to work as a sales rep for Regent pop company which was based in Swissvale.

In the Australian Armor Museum they are presently rebuilding a Grant also, and a hopefully, coming functioning Tiger!!!

@TaylorLiam87

11 ай бұрын

Love the workshop Wednesdays!!

@barrythatcher9349

11 ай бұрын

The Ausarmour Grant is an original Australian Army tank.

@MrSaerrock

11 ай бұрын

The Australian Grants were slightly different from both US & British variants, additional armour added to the glacis to protect the transmission as well as internal differences.

@discordia013

11 ай бұрын

@@MrSaerrock Welded Hull M3 is a more recent model. The riveted versions were almost identical, although you could argue that they were all different depending on which US company manufactured them. You can't say AU versions were different. All M3s were different.

@bordiepenbeek145

11 ай бұрын

and they did a barnfind with three more Aussi Grants. As a result the marketvalue of Grants dropped instantly ; )

That commander's tale is hilarious and terrifying at the same time!

I am 81, and the first tank movie I remember starred Bogart. It was in North Africa, and the tank was a Grant. As a child, I was very impressed with the Grant, and, of course, Bogart and his crew were very heroic. I have always had a special liking for that tank because of the movie. I'm glad it really did have some good points for its time.

@williamromine5715

11 ай бұрын

@@jamesross8992 thanks. Won't see remake. Don't want to ruin memories.

@davidkermes376

2 ай бұрын

i saw that movie as a kid and liked it too. did you know it was remade? jim belushi took bogie's role (he was pretty good) but they found another grant tank!

Worth popping over to Australian Arms and Artillery KZread channel with todays offering of a Grant Restoration.

These stop gap tanks played a decisive role in the 'Battle of the Admin Box' in Burma late on in 1944 - my grandfather fought the Japanese there.

The M3 doesn't get the credit it deserves. For a short time it was one of the better tanks available. It had flaws yes but it was a reliable machine and had a good gun. It was a bit silly with its different turrets on top and the side mounted 75. But it got the job done till the far superior M4 arrived.

@gunner678

11 ай бұрын

@@JayJay-vs5nl of course it's not!

@gunner678

11 ай бұрын

Very true. I'm impressed that tge Canadians found a solution to adapt this to a full gun tank with their Ram, in advance of the M4 Sherman.

@admiraltiberius1989

11 ай бұрын

@@JayJay-vs5nl the M4 was one of the best tanks in WW2, I'd have picked it over just about anything else.

@admiraltiberius1989

11 ай бұрын

@gunner678 then the Ram became the Kangaroo

@timmeinschein9007

11 ай бұрын

@@admiraltiberius1989 And the father of the Ram sued the Ob-Gyn for malpractice! (lol)

Battle of kohima was just plain crazy. I'd always wondered how the m3 ended up where it lies now as there's no path to its present position. It still sits there as a silent sentinel.

@cmck472

11 ай бұрын

It's still there? Wow

@Ngutovi

11 ай бұрын

@@cmck472 ya. The fighting was so fiercely intense that it's still dangerous to be digging anywhere around that area. One might chance upon live ordnance.

The Lee/Grant was basically an enlarged and improved version of the French Char 1B's configuration, which is, and was, universally praised. The Char 1B's sponson-mounted 75mm had zero side traverse, and its turret held only one man, the overworked commander.

Lees crewed by the 25th Dragoons played a decisive role at the Battle of the Admin Box in the Arakan campaign in February 1944.

This is my favorite tank of WW2, love to see it get covered! It's such a weird tank, but that's what makes it so cool.

@stundardutch5320

10 ай бұрын

Same! such a interesting tank

After a naturally nervous start. Chris is well spoken, has a calm cadence when delivering. And is easy to listen to. Keep it up Chris 😎👍

I'm always fascinated by the fact that people understand that M3 Lee/Grant is a mdeium tank, but at the same time don't get that infantry tank like Churchill and battle tank like B1bis are ALSO medium tanks with specialization in their respective roles. It's not ONLY weight and armor that make tank heavy.

@MasterN64

11 ай бұрын

There are a lot of people that can't or refuse to attempt to grasp classifications. Granted a lot of them are esoteric and a pain to actually get but you will have a lot of people running around calling Bradleys tanks and artillery pieces tanks. Plenty of people will look at a M113 and call it a tank. Some of it can be chalked up to ignorance or laziness and some even to politics but is a real shame people refuse to educate themselves.

@TheArklyte

11 ай бұрын

​@@MasterN64 idk why, but YT decided to hide your comment(if comments are listed by "popularity", whatever Google mean by that, not by time of posting. Makes it really hard to look up replies with needing to scroll down the whole list).

@ottovonbismarck2443

11 ай бұрын

Same misunderstanding with German designations. Germans "sorted" their tanks/TDs by gun caliber, not by weight nor armor thickness. That said, during the 1940 Tour de France, Germany had no medium tanks.

@SlavicCelery

11 ай бұрын

@@ottovonbismarck2443 Cruisers were divided between light and heavy by gun caliber alone. After the Washington Navel Treaty. People seemingly forget that concept a lot of the time. It's a common issue, still showing up today. People have an idea about what a tank or ship should be based on weight and not doctrine.

@Lykyk

11 ай бұрын

@@ottovonbismarck2443 Tanks were sorted by role, not caliber. What a silly thing to say.

As a total Avalon Hill geek starting in the mid '70s, I can tell you that the M3/Lee/Grant was the queen of the desert in their "Tobruk" board game. Despite it's impracticality is one of my favorite tanks. It was Steampunk before Steampunk.

@mrcroob8563

4 ай бұрын

People call anything with rivets steampunk

@thekinginyellow1744

4 ай бұрын

@@mrcroob8563 Nah, it needs to be something that seems cool but is actually fairly impractical as well. That's why airships are so popular in steampunk. :)

I’ve always loved the Grant, since I watched “Sahara” with the great Humphrey Bogart when I was a boy.

@bebo4374

11 ай бұрын

Except the tank in the movie is a Lee.

@jon9021

11 ай бұрын

@@bebo4374 I know, just very similar.

@ausarmour is restoring one of these atm and they have a great series showing it week by week. Worth a look, they do superb work.

Always one of my favorite tanks, along with the Stuart, & Sherman! I've lived in the Pittsburgh, Pa. area my whole life, no doubt, our steel mills contributed mightily to the war effort!

Unsung hero of WWII, far as I'm concerned.

I remember a veterans recollections of receiving these, and the greatest advantage being the greater space and easier access compared to previous British tanks.

Playing Allied General, when the Grant became available it was a huge improvement over the previous British tanks.

I hope that the cheese sandwich was good at least...

Ya, I learned that the British Army liked the US 75mm gun so much that they took the gun out of destroyed Sherman tanks to install on some of their Churchill tanks in Africa. They loved that 75mm high explosive round.

@Kevin-mx1vi

11 ай бұрын

The 75mm HE round was liked because apparently it gave 20-25% more fragmentation than the 105mm round, making it a very effective anti-personnel round when used against anti-tank guns, machine gun positions etc.

@kyle857

11 ай бұрын

​@@Kevin-mx1viIt also didn't crater the roads as badly as the 105.

@CharlesYuditsky

11 ай бұрын

Holy schniet, if true I could have given the armorers 2 cases of good beer each and a recommendation for Army Commendation medal

@TheArklyte

11 ай бұрын

Makes one wonder why wasn't it done BEFORE M4 had arrived(ie september 1942), but M3 and Churchill III(ie august 1942) were already available? It would have resulted in Churchill NA75 in late 1942, not in mid 1944.

@Kevin-mx1vi

11 ай бұрын

@@TheArklyte Maybe just the logistics ? Armies don't like to introduce a new thing into their supply chain until they really need it.

That restoration is immaculate.😳 Always one of my favorites. The stopgap it filled ment a lot of lives were saved by its introduction wherever it was fielded.

those Australian guys seem to be getting close to completion with theirs. the weekly updates are something I'm always looking forward to.

The M3 Grant in the museum has one of the best looking paint jobs ever. Probably making it as difficult as possible for Rommel's panzers to spot as it lay in wait in a desert pass.

I'm not sure how I feel about a cheese sandwich in the desert, perhaps that was more dangerous than the 12 panzers approaching. Perhaps they can invite Squire down to have Olly and Bill re-enact that scene inside the Grant.

Ever since I saw this in Jim Belushi's remake of Sahara its been my favorite Allied tank for its quirky appearance. Imagine though if they just shaved off the 37mm turret and replaced with dual .50 cal machine guns on a ring mount to tear up infantry while keeping the 75mm gun. It'd make for one heck of an assault gun.

@admiraltiberius1989

11 ай бұрын

The 37mm could fire canister rounds which could be absolutely lethal to infantry and light vehicles.

@Shinzon23

11 ай бұрын

Amusingly they tried something similar to that in the prototype phase. The Americans loved the machine gun so much on tanks it became known as the cult of the machine gun among some.

@butchs.4239

11 ай бұрын

Sounds a lot like an M7 Priest. Only one .50 cal on the ring mount, though it had a 105mm howitzer instead of the 75mm of the M3.

@dulio12385

11 ай бұрын

@@butchs.4239 Yeah, though the Priest was open topped and meant purely for indirect fire.

@Robb1977

11 ай бұрын

@@Shinzon23 if im not mistaken, the M2 medium could accommodate 7 .30 cal brownings.

Thanks for this...I was planning on building a 1/35 model of the Grant! 👍

And why aren’t we still using those but just upgraded? Thank you, you guys make the best videos on the Internet...

Cheese sandwich….that’s as British as tea 😂

I really enjoy Chris Copson as a presenter.

I’ve watched all Workshop Wednesdays and look forward to each one. Great compliment to the weekly updates.

Absolute pleasure to visit the tank museum on Sept 6th and met Mr. Copson in person. What a class act and everyone should visit the Bovington Tank Museum!

The M3s ended up being the very best tank for jungle warfare in the pacific imo. That 75mm gun was fantastic against bunkers. The 37mm canister round was essentially a big shotgun that could stop Banzai charges dead in their tracks, along with the cupola mounted machine gun equipped versions I'm sure and the 37mm AP was quite sufficient for dealing with the vast majority of Japanese armor.

@allangibson8494

10 ай бұрын

The Australian forces preferred the lighter Matilda II - powerful enough to take out anything the Japanese deployed but light enough to get over a Bailey bridge.

Such a good video. Well done Chris, on such an engaging and insightful commentary. I rather like the M3 myself, the layout - by design / expediency / desperation - has a strong 'inter-war' flavour to it. A period when a lot of radical design theory was tested and truly bizarre vehicles prototyped by various nations. The M3 in its 'Grant' guise is one of those great unloved tanks that got given a second chance and really found its true calling in the Far East, as did the Matilda, and - I think - is all the more interesting because of it. Grants, some even refitted with M4 trailing arm VVS suspension units, later road wheels and alternate cleated tracks, did great service right through to the end of the war.

I have always found the Ram an impressive achievement. The Canadians found the means of adapting this design to accomodate a proper gun turret, albeit a 6pdr not the 75mm.

@Sturminfantrist

11 ай бұрын

found the Kangaroo impressive and good looking and the Infantry got a ride under Armor Protection.

@johnfisk811

11 ай бұрын

And the mounting would have also taken the ROF QF75mm.

I just watched a series from Aussamour in Australia where they completely rebuilt an Australian version, that added to your Tank Chat is so informative thanks so much. BTW they found four in a storage yard that were almost complete and at the very least a lot of spare parts.

Lieutenant Ken Giles description is most British explanation of a tank battle ever .

Thanks Chris, the Grant is my favourite American tank 👍

What doesn't seem to have been mentioned is that it was a minimum development of the M2 medium, which had machine gun sponsonr on each corner of the hull, and a turret similar to the Lee with a 37mm on top. Basically they replaced the 4 mg sponsons with the 75mm sponson as the quickest way to make a tank with the 75mm gun.

@Robb1977

11 ай бұрын

the M2 medium, while officially a medium tank, is much more in line with the ww1 era designs, with its machine gun sponsons, stuart turret. In fact, the M2 medium is effectively a built-up m2 light. the M3 Medium is purpose built medium tank, with a proper anti-armor gun, and unique structure. while the m2 medium was created as a stopgap as well, it was not sent into combat, and instead, served as a training vehicle.

Great Video on the M3. My Father crewed a M3 CDL TANK. was the Light Operator

One of the pluses of a big crew was maintenance, repairs

This is the kind of video I tune in for from The Tank Museum. I didn't know that this tank exists. The history as a transitional tank adds helpful context, connecting pre-war and WWII tanks. You guys should put a link to this video - QR code(?) - on a sign next to this tank in your museum, and do the same for others. Maybe you already do that? Since you already have the video, it would add a lot to the museum experience to be able to listen to this video on my phone while I stand in front of the same tank featured in your video and in your museum. Adding a little sign would be pretty cheap too, right?

It's a brilliant design, combining tank destroyer and tank in one package. LOL. The odder designs are more interesting than "it's a hull with a turret on it". The Australian's had similar experiences with the Grant but someone was usually handing out a Vegemite sandwich.

Hearing Sgt. Waterhouse's actions, would making a YT video of actions like his be popular. Bring kudos and recognition to these legends that the authorities didn't and no doubt the soldiers were too humble to want or demand.

The Australian tank museum has three M3 Lee and grants one of them even had a 17 pounder

@jonprince3237

11 ай бұрын

They double that now, if you've watched a couple of their recent videos.

My Grandfather was a Tank Commander in a Grant/Lee in Burma at Kohima.

10:40 that's one of my favourite quotes ever... full stop.

Most excellent info, grant really was most useful, leading to the sherman and stopgap absolutely necessary. This will help in my eventual build of a model.

I can’t explain what continues to draw me towards this tank. Seems to be one of my favorites.

"The machinegun was considered unnecessary." ::Confused USA noises::

In the M3 Lee, the Radio Operator was to the driver's left, basically just behind the twin Medium Machine-Guns (and put of his duty was to reload them!) even though they were basically useless!!

What a great video to cover the history and contribution this quirky tank made to WW2. Often times this tank is unfairly viewed against it's contemporaries, but the truth is it was a damn good tank that took many Italian and German lives during the war.

I'm starting to like this guy, the serious and informative way he speaks is really exhilarating!

This is coolest tank I’ve seen

Great video, enjoying the reloaded series

Regarding the 37mm cannon… My dad crewed an M8 armored car at Falaise Gap. The M8 carried the same 37mm gun. Dad said the canister round was very effective taking out German positions in the hedgerows.

@curiousentertainment3008

11 ай бұрын

After seeing how packed the shell was with ball bearings you can see why.

All I can think of when I hear about an absurd number of crewmen, is what a mess it must have been inside when one of these things was penetrated.

@allangibson8494

10 ай бұрын

Unlike German tanks with only a single hatch - exiting the tanks was much easier through the four crew hatches. There were many more Grant crews left to complain at the end war than the opposition German, Italian and Japanese forces.

Love these new more in depth chats.. Keep them coming 😊

Thanks Chris! The research and supporting film is really interesting and much appreciated.

Another fantastic job by Chris. Thank you and the rest of the crew for such wonderful history lessons, and the preservation of said history.

I've always liked this tank. My dad and I built a model one when I was a kid. I built a Sherman also, but I liked the style of the Lee better.

Another excellent, engaging presentation. Thank you.

Brilliant presentation, many thanks

M3 Grant: the best tank of the inter-war years…

Well presented!

Great video once again. Chris has become an excellent presenter.

Many thanks, a lot of new information for me.

Thank you.

Great video and detailed information. Well done.

Really excellent, thank you.

Really excellent no nonsense and informative presentation. Thank you.

Outstanding video loved it from a old Cav trooper 👍👍

Fascinating vehicle made as a stop gap until Sherman designs were finalized, those dual 30 cal driver MG's are odd, yet interesting. Also been learning about the later variant (welded hull diesel engine) M3 Grant that the Austrailians modified over on an equally good channel (imo) The Australian Armour & Artillery Museum.

Tank You! Happy 4th of July!! 🎇🎇🎆🎆

Very nice presentation - thanks!

I love Tank Chats Reloaded! Please keep doing it! Thank you very much. And when i come to England someday, I will visit this fantastic museum, promised!

It has always been one of my favorites

That paint job is really well done.

Great video, great work! Who would have thought that this tank had his fair share of succes?

Great video.

Always informative great video

Man I love this channel !

Another banger. Thanks.

Always an education thank you.

I like the paint scheme.

It saw service up until the end of the war in Burma where it remained effective against the Japanese armour. The Australian Armour museum just recently rebuit one and got it in running order.

My grandfather in Shanghai happened to have Sahara, starring Humphrey Bogart, on DVD when I visited in December 2019. I watched during the holidays and loved it. I gained an appreciation for the M3 Lee then c: If one hasn't seen it, it's a fairly presictable war movie with good acting all-around, and also an interesting look at how the Allies tried to split the Italians and Germans apart in 1942 (when the movie came out) since the Italians aren't baddies, but the Nazis are, in the movie.

@aaronleverton4221

11 ай бұрын

Never seen the original, but have a copy of the remake starring Jim Belushi and Jerome Ehlers.

@bebo4374

11 ай бұрын

The original is 5478 times better than the remake. You will throw away the Belushi version after seeing the original.

@aaronleverton4221

11 ай бұрын

@@bebo4374 Perhaps and no.

@TheIvanNewb

11 ай бұрын

@@aaronleverton4221 Either way it's worth a watch, if for nothing else because it shows how Hollywood was trying to approach the situation in 1942 by setting up the Italians as reluctant, but good-hearted, helpers to the evil Nazis. Also just all-around good acting c:

@aaronleverton4221

11 ай бұрын

@@TheIvanNewb Oh, I want it, to add to Forty Thousand Horsemen, The Rats of Tobruk and The Way Ahead.

Thank you, I appreciate this new video. I do wonder why the crew, at least commander, driver, and both gunners, were not linked by intercom. The gunners can signal an attentive loader what round by hand signs, since scurrying around the hull for ammunition while having one's head tethered could be a bit of bother during battle. Height is no stark disadvantage in the desert; there's a reason people build lookout towers. It simply is an embodiment of one of Murphy's Laws. I like an abundance of ammunition, but I like the later Sherman's water storage racks that better the chance of escaping before it catches fire and blows; a lesson learned the T-72 seems to have skipped, which surprises me given their prior experiences. I keep hearing this, "A grave for seven brothers", line on this channel; but my own knowledge records the phrase, "This thing is Cadillac," referring to both its internal volume versus the T-34 and its internal heater and water heater, appreciated by Soviet crews during winter.

Very interesting

Weird looking box thing... Kinda fun to play in WoT...

Grant - the nightwatchman sent in half an hour before stumps and posts a very handy 20 0r 30 runs

Fascinating video, I love this stuff. I like how the Brits refer to a '30 cal' as a 'point 30 caliber'; so overly precise!

Tank you ;)

Avalon Hill's classic game Tobruk featured the Grant prominently as the best tank in the Allied OB.

初めて見た。 グラントもリーも好きで、模型も作った。 M3戦車の動画は沢山あるが、内部を映したものは初めて見た。 他のも見せてもらう。 どうも有難う。

I said this in another video about this tank today but while I don't think the Grant/Lee could have carried the war on it's own, I do think that it would have been much tougher without it.