The M24 Chaffee - arguably the best light tank of World War II - was a fast, lightly armored vehicle with the ability to deliver relatively large caliber direct fire thanks to its excellent 75 mm M6 gun. More than 4,000 vehicles were produced by Cadillac and Massey-Harris from 1943-45. The first vehicles reached Europe in late 1944, where they proved very effective and highly reliable. At the outset of the Korean War, however, American forces equipped with the M24 Chaffees performed poorly against the enemy's T-34/85s, and these US units were soon augmented with M26 Pershings and M46 Pattons, along with M4A3E8 Shermans armed with the long 76mm gun. The Chaffee remained in American service until 1953, at which time it was eventually replaced by the M41 Bulldog.

After 1945, the M24 Chaffee was used by many American allies. The French army used them in Indo-China, including at the battle of Dien Bien Phu. Though obsolete by the mid-1960's, it remains in service in some client nations.

Pictured here is a 1:32 scale replica of a US M24 Chaffee light tank that was attached to an unidentified unit, then deployed to Germany during early 1945. Sold Out!

Dimensions:
Length: 7-inches
Width: 3-inches

Release Date: December 2012

Historical Account: "Iconoclast" - The Western Allied invasion of Germany was conducted by the Western Allies in the final months of fighting in the European theatre of World War II. The Allied invasion of Germany started with the Western Allies crossing the River Rhine in March 1945 before fanning out and overrunning all of western Germany from the Baltic in the north to Austria in the south before the Germans surrendered on May 8th, 1945. This is known as the "Central Europe Campaign" in United States military histories.

By early 1945, events favored the Allied forces in Europe. On the Western Front the Allies had been fighting in Germany since the Battle of Aachen in October 1944 and by January had turned back the Germans in the Battle of the Bulge. The failure of this last major German offensive exhausted much of Germany's remaining combat strength, leaving it ill-prepared to resist the final Allied campaigns in Europe. Additional losses in the Rhineland further weakened the German Army, leaving shattered remnants of units to defend the east bank of the Rhine. On March 7th, the Allies seized the last remaining intact bridge across the Rhine at Remagen, and had established a large bridgehead on the river's east bank. During Operation Lumberjack and Operation Plunder in February-March 1945, German casualties are estimated at 400,000 men, including 280,000 men captured as prisoners of war.

On the Eastern Front, the Soviet Red Army (including the Polish Armed Forces in the East under Soviet command) had captured most of Poland and were nearing Berlin. The Soviets also pushed into Hungary and eastern Czechoslovakia, and temporarily halted at what is now the modern German border on the Oder-Neisse line. These rapid advances on the Eastern Front destroyed additional veteran German combat units and severely limited the German leader Adolf Hitler's ability to reinforce his Rhine defenses. Thus, as the Western Allies completed their preparations for the final drive into the heart of Germany, victory for the Allies seemed within sight.