CJ,
The Brits used M3 Lee’s and M3 Grant’s and Valentine tanks in Burma, near the Imphal front. And the British India Army used shermans in Burma.
Check out the three pictures of Burma M3’s in this message thread over at Sandman and Overlord’s Small Scale AFV Forums:
M3 Lee Mk.1 - Burma
http://www.smallscaleafvforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=639
Cool thing is the sections of late type Valentine tracks attached to the hulls to provide protection against shaped charges and RPGs.
There’s a little blurb in George Forty’s old M4 Sherman book:
"The British XIVth Army in Burma had both Lees and Grants in small
numbers, continuing to use them against the Japanese, long after the
tank had officially been declared obsolete (April 1944)."
On that same page, pg 35, there’s a small picture of 3 Grants crossing a stream on the way to the Imphal front.
There’s also another Burma pic in the George Forty book, on page 79, here’s the caption:
"A Sherman belonging to A Squadron of the Deccan Horse in Burma
(Author’s collection)."
^^^neat thing about that one is the Indian crew are all wearing red turbans. And there’s a badly faked gunbarrel on the lower right corner of the hull front, to make it look more like a Lee/Grant tank.
On page 43 of the Osprey - New Vanguard book Sherman Medium Tank 1942-45 by Steve Zaloga, there’s a photo of a column of Chinese manned M4A4’s, here’s the caption:
"A column of M4A4 Shermans of the Chinese 1st Provisional Tank Group in
action in Burma in 1944. This unit was trained and raised with American
support, and later fought in the Civil War against the Communists. Tiger
faces were popular decoration on the turrets of there vehicles."
On page 53 of Motorbook International’s M4 Sherman book by Michael Green, there’s a picture of a row of M4A4 shermans in Burma, here’s the caption:
"Because the M4A4 Sherman was longer than other sherman tank models,
Chrysler was forced to install longer tracks and lengthen the spaces between
the vehicle’s bogie wheels. This particular M4A4 Sherman is in Burma in
February, 1945. Operated by an American crew, the vehicle is being used
to support Chinese troops fighting the Japanese Army."
In Squadron/Signal’s M3 Lee/Grant in Action book by Jim Mesko there’s this text about M3’s in Burma, from page 41:
"In Burma, the British and Indian troops of the Fourteenth Army were
finally able to go on the offensive in early 1944 after nearly two years
of see-saw battles with the Japanese. A number of armored units were
equipped with mostly Lees, with the commander’s cupola removed and
these proved instrumental in helping the troops route out the entrenched
Japanese defenders. One special modification made to the M3’s was the
addition of a wire screen over the engine deck to defeat magnetic mines.
In the dense jungle conditions, close infantry support was a necessity to
forestall suicide attacks against the buttoned up tanks, and the various
infantry units fought ferociously to protect the tanks from the equally
fanatical Japanese. Tank commanders were especially vulnerable to
infantry and sniper fire. During the battle for Mungshigum Ridge, every
officer of B Squadron, 3rd Carabiniers was lost to enemy fire while moving
up the ridge. During the campaign, the M3 also set a record for the highest
operation of armored vehicles when Lees of C Squadron, 3rd Carabiniers
captured the 9,000 foot high summit of Kennedy Peak during the capture
of Tiddim. This record lasted until Indian tankers fought at elevations of
12,000 feet years later against Pakistan."
"When the Burma campaign ended with the capture of Rangoon and
subsequent mopping up operations in the Spring of 1945, the M3’s had
proved to be instrumental in helping the Commonwealth troops root out
the dug in enemy troops. They accounted for thousands of Japanese troops
and knocked out hundreds of bunkers and gun emplacements. Without
their support, the advance would have been far more costly, if even possible,
given the conditions, enemy strength and disposition."
In the M3 Lee/Grant in Action book, on page 49, the top right pic is a M3 Lee in Burma.
There’s also a colored markings plate in the center of the book, of:
"COSSACK was a Lee of C Squadron 150th Regiment, Royal Armoured Corps
at Mandalay, Burma, during March of 1945."
The Wikipedia links to look at:
Also, it seems the Australians used Matilda II’s. And even made a amphibious landing with them in Malaysia of somewhere there abouts.
Just found this page with pics about Australian armor:
http://mailer.fsu.edu/~akirk/tanks/aus/Australian.htm
^^^says the Aussies used the Matilda II in New Guinea and Borneo, and Lee/Grants in Burma. Some of their Matilda II’s were flamethrower tanks! FROG Mk. I’s it calls them. Cool pics of them. It says the 8th Australian Infantry Division used Marmon-Herrington MK III Armored Cars during the Malayan campaign. cool.
This page, with pictures, about the Valentine says the 3rd New Zealand Division used some Valentines at Arakan in Burma.
http://www.wwiivehicles.com/unitedkingdom/infantry/valentine.html
Really cool, I just found this link with an excerpt about Duplex-Drive Shermans almost getting used in an amphibious invasion by brits:
Secret Training on DD (Swimming) Tanks. Preparations to retake Singapore
extracted from TELL THEM OF US: The Forgotten Army – Burma by John Leyin
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/52/a1311652.shtml
^^^Could still model a DD Sherman in Madras after the cancelation of Operation Zipper. Would be a an unusual subject. Is pretty funny when he describes his sherman DD sliding sidewise down the camber of a harbor road, and almost crashing into a bullock cart.
