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M24 Chaffee Platoon

By: Battlefront Miniatures

Type: Miniatures Box Set

Product Line: Flames of War - WWII - United States - Box Sets & Miscellaneous

Late


Product Info

Title
M24 Chaffee Platoon
Sub-category
Publish Year
2012
Dimensions
4x5.75x1.25"
NKG Part #
2147478143
MFG. Part #
BFMUBX33
Type
Miniatures Box Set
Age Range
14 Years and Up

Description

The M24 Chaffee was developed to overcome the inadequacies of the M5A1 Stuart Light tank. These shortcomings included the poor performance of the M5A1 37mm gun. Troops had been complaining about the performance of the 37mm gun as early as 1942 during the campaign in North Africa.

By 1944, the US Army was fighting in Western Europe and was facing the cream of the German Panzer Divisions. What was required was a tank with a high degree of mobility and a gun powerful enough to go toe-to-toe with opposing armor.

The Chrysler Division of the General Motors Corporation was entrusted with the task of developing the new design. While Chrysler took care of the automotive package, the Rock Island Arsenal developed a short-recoil 75mm gun that utilized the same ammunition and enjoyed the same ballistic performance as the M3 75mm used in the M4 Sherman.

As dissatisfaction with the M5A1 became more widespread, demand for the M24 grew but, due to logistic problems, delivery of the first batch of M24s did not occur until December 1944. Upon arrival they were urgently thrown into action in an attempt to stem the German offensive in the Ardennes.

By the end of the war in Europe, the M24 made up 34 percent of light tanks deployed by the US Army. Performance in the field was much improved over that of the M5A1; this ensured that the Chaffee would continue serving with the US Army during the post-war years.