Corgi US51008 US Army M4A3E8 Sherman Tank - 'Tiger Face', 89th Medium Tank Battalion, 25th Infantry Division, Korea, 1951 (1:50 Scale)
"My God, we simply have to figure a way out of this situation. There's no point in talking about 'winning' a nuclear war."
- President Dwight D. Eisenhower
By all accounts, the M4 Sherman medium tank was regarded as the workhorse of the US Army during World War II. In fact, virtually all of the Allied armies employed the Sherman in their armed forces, including the British, who developed an upgunned variant called the "Firefly". Eleven different US plants manufactured six basic models of the Sherman, and by June 1944 over 49,234 battle-ready vehicles had been produced. While it was no match for the German Panther or Tiger tanks, the Sherman soldiered on, using its weight in numbers to wrest control of Europe from the Wehrmacht. The E8 Sherman was nicknamed the "Easy Eight" because of the smooth ride that the new and improved HVSS suspension system gave to the tank.
In honor of its achievement, Corgi has come out with an amazingly accurate 1:50 scale diecast replica of the famed US Army M4A3E8 Sherman medium tank, this time around painted with a fearsome tiger face. Like the other vehicles in the "Forgotten Heroes" Collection, this vehicle has been 'muddied' to give it a more weathered appearance.
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Dimensions:
Length: 4.5 inches
Width: 2 inches
Release Date: October 2003
Historical Account: "A Tiger in Your Tank" - The Korean War came as a complete surprise to the U.S. military, catching our forces off guard and woefully short of the right equipment. World War II-vintage Shermans that had been in storage in Japan were quickly refurbished and sent to Korea with cobbled-together units. The 89th was made up of volunteers from the various U.S. units stationed in Japan. The distinctive tiger face was painted on many of the early tanks that went into combat. The thought was that they would scare the superstitious North Koreans.