in Baumholder makes trip by barge
| By John Slee Chief Terminal Management Division 838th Trans Bn |
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1st Lt. David Key Rhine River Detachment commander |
| MANNHEIM, Germany -- A piece of U.S. military history
arrived aboard the MV Faust recently at the Port of Antwerp. Included with the cargo ship's normal payload on July 7 was a WWII M3A1 Stuart Tank, destined for the 1st Armored Division Museum in Baumholder, Germany. Getting the antique armored vehicle to its new home took the combined efforts of the 838th Transportation Battalion, Capelle aan den IJssel, the Netherlands, that received the tank and the MTMC Rhine River Detachment at Mannheim that loaded it on a barge for the trip to its new home on July 19. |
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The tank's arrival caused quite a stir
among historical groups in Europe, according to John Slee at the
838th Transportation Battalion. "Classical Military Vehicle
clubs were very interested in this tank because it is the fist one
arriving Europe in original condition," Slee said.
"Photographs, made by Mr. Wolfgang Scherer Chief Operations
Branch from RRD, Mannheim, were sent to a British Military Classic
Vehicle Magazine for publication and were received with great
enthusiasm." There's good reason for the enthusiasm. According to military history experts, the M3 played a pivotal role in the early days of WW II. |
| The tank weighs more than 14 tons and had a 4-man crew, according
to experts at the 1st AD Museum. The M3 Light tank was standardized in July 1940, and was based on the chassis of the M2 series tanks developed in the late 1930's. The tank that just arrived is the M3A1, a slightly improved version with a better-designed turret, which featured a power traverse and gyro-stabilization. The M3 was the first tank to be used in combat by the U.S. Army's 1st Armored Division, and was used extensively in the North African campaign against the light skinned Italian armor. The 1st Armored Division defeated at Oran, Algeria, a larger force of Vichy French Renault tanks. With the French surrender, these tanks were used next against the German "Afrika Korps" of Field Marshall Erwin Rommel. Once Germany moved into Africa with their heavy armor, the Stuart was reduced to a reconnaissance and infiltration role due to its low weight and high speed. In 1942, an improved version was developed with sloping armor. It was designated the M3A3, and was nearly the same as the next version, called the M5. All of these tanks were nicknamed the "General Stuart", after the famous Confederate cavalry commander of the Civil War, J.E.B. Stuart. With only a 37mm main gun and relatively light armor, the entire Stuart series light tanks were replaced in 1944 with the much-improved M24 General Chaffee tank. Of 3,427 produced, 2,433 went to the Allies receiving Lease Lend (mainly to Britain but some to China), the rest to the U.S. Army. |
| The tank at hand, delivered from Mannheim
to the 1AD in Baumholder by 37th Transportation Battalion, Germany,
was found on an U.S. training area where it had been abandoned since
WWII. Still, it is in nearly complete condition, and will be
restored by the 1st Armored Division Museum to appear as it
would have looked in its first combat action in Algeria in 1942. The
tank will go on display at the 1st Armored Division Museum in
Baumholder, Germany, along with some 40 other historical vehicles.
(Webmaster note: anyone interested in more armor history and where to find the M3 can visit the 1st Armored Division on the World Wide Web at: http://www.baumholder.army.mil/museum/museum.htm.)
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