M3 & M5 Stuart Light Tank 1940-45

by Steven J. Zaloga, Jim Laurier (Illustrator)

Overview

The M3 and M5 family of light tanks were the culmination of American tank development of the 1930s. By the time of the outbreak of the World War II, they were approaching obsolescence, as tank forces in Europe were shifting from light to medium tanks as the main element of their armored forces. First entering combat in the autumn of 1941 in the Western Desert with the British Army, the Stuart quickly proved its inadequacies. The M3 and M5 light tanks proved more suitable in the Pacific theater than in Europe, and fought successfully in many of the major battles including Guadalcanal, Tarawa and Peleliu. This title narrates this distinctive and unusual fighting vehicle's history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781855329119
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	11/18/1999
Series:	New Vanguard , #33
Pages:	48
Sales rank:	726,389
Product dimensions:	7.21(w) x 7.03(h) x 0.12(d)

About the Author

Steven J Zaloga was born in 1952, received his BA in history from Union College, and his MA from Columbia University. He has published numerous books and articles dealing with modern military technology, especially armored vehicle development. His main area of interest is military affairs in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe in the World War II, and he has also written extensively on American armored forces.

Table of Contents

Introduction · Combat Car and Light Tank · Lessons of the Spanish Civil War · The M3 Light Tank · The M3 Stuart Goes to War · Desert Debut · First Combat in Asia · M3 Development Continued · Improving the Turret: The M3A1 Light Tank · Improving the Hull: The M3A3 and M5 Light Tank · Specialized Stuart variants · The M3 and M5 in combat · North Africa · The Stuart in the Pacific · The Stuart in Northern Europe 1944-5 · Stuarts in the Mediterranean Theater · Post-war use of the Stuart · The Plates