SpawnPoint

Colonel John Antal, US Army (Ret.)

As a Soldier who served in tank units for over twenty-six years I have to admit a deem admiration for tanks. During Operation Market Garden, in September 1944, the tanks that supported the 101sts Airborne’s fight to keep Hell’s Highway open came from the British XXX Corps.

Most of these British tanks were Sherman Fireflies.

The Sherman Firefly, like the one seen in the photo above, was a British variation of the American M4 Sherman tank that included a more powerful British 17 pounder (17-pdr) anti-tank gun. Some 2,100 Sherman Fireflies were built or converted during WWII making the Firefly one of the most common British tanks.

Of course, most of the tanks the paratroopers of the 101st Airborne met were not British, but German. The most feared of these was the German Panther tank. The Panzerkampfwagen V Panther Tank was one of the best tank designs of WWII and served in the German Army from mid-1943 to 1945. Its high-velocity 75mm cannon could penetrate all Allied tanks at extended ranges making the Panther a fierce beast.