M24 Chaffee--America’s Answer (WWII)
$260.00

Thomas Gunn Miniatures

Item Number: ACCPACK123

M24 Chaffee--America’s Answer (WWII)

M24 CHAFFEE

Thomas Gunn will be releasing our first American Armoured Vehicle in 2024.  The M24 Chaffee was officially classed as a light tank, entering service in the last year of WWII, but then seeing service in the Korean War, with the French in the First Indochina War, and then in the Algerian war.  The Chaffee was efficient, simple, reliable and rugged, it was mainly exported after WWII and stayed in service with many armies until the 1980s and beyond, encompassing most of the Cold War.  In British service, it was given the service name Chaffee after the United States Army general, Adna R. Chaffee Jr.  The M24 Chaffee was a replacement for the M3/M5 Stuart Tank.  It was a new generation in light tank design, massively improving the American light tank, with modern torsion bar suspensions, completely revised welded steel armour, improved protection, and a much more potent lightweight 75 mm main gun.  The M24 Chaffee had a four-man crew; commander, gunner, driver, and assistant driver, the latter moving up into the turret and serving as loader when the tank was in action.  

World War II  
The M24 Chaffee was first supplied to U.S. forces in Western Europe in November 1944, and were issued to the 2nd Cavalry Group in France.  These were then issued to Troop F, 2nd Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron and Troop F, 42nd Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, which each receiving seventeen M24s.  During the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944, these units and their new tanks were rushed to the southern sector.  Reports from the armoured divisions that received them prior to the end of hostilities were generally positive. Crews liked the improved off-road performance and reliability, but were most appreciative of the 75 mm main gun, which was a vast improvement over the 37 mm issued to Stuart tank units.  The M24 was inferior in armour to German tanks, but the bigger gun at least gave its crews a much better chance to fight back when required, especially in infantry support.  The M24's light armour made it vulnerable to German tanks, anti-tank guns, and hand-held anti-tank weapons, but its speed was designed to help its crew extract themselves from any serous trouble if needed.  

Korean War  
The M24 was virtually the only tank that U.S. Far East Command could immediately dispatch to the Korean Peninsula.  At the Battle of Chochiwon, 10th – 12th July 1950, when A Company of the 78th Tank Battalion, assigned to the 24th Infantry Division, fought a North Korean tank and destroyed it while losing two of their own.  In August 1950, U.S. medium tanks were finally deployed on the Korean Peninsula, the M4A3E8.  The M24s were given to the reconnaissance squadrons under the tank battalion or the infantry division for most of the period and were used for reconnaissance, their original intended use.  

French Indo-China War  
M24 Chaffees saw service with the French Army in the Indochina war in infantry support missions, with good results.  Ten disassembled Chaffees were transported by air to provide fire support to the garrison at Dien Boen Phu.  They fired about 15,000 shells in the long siege that followed before the Viet Minh forces overran the camp in May 1954, almost all being entirely worn out and badly damaged by the time the battle was over.  Some former French and U.S. M24 Chaffee’s were passed down to the Army of South Vietnam, where they saw service at least until the Battle of Huế, with several also serving as fixed gun emplacements outside vital military installations such as airbases.

Three tank crew figures included all wearing U.S. style helmets.  The three half crew members will be:  Commander, Driver, and Assistant Driver/Loader. 
The crew hatches will open and close so you can display different crew combinations with your Chaffee(s).
Fixed non moveable tracks. 
Removeable turret machine gun. 
Rotating turret..

Limited Availability

Due to be released in NOVEMBER 2024.