Thanks to Rob D, who provided a 3D print of two Stuart tanks for me. Here is the first one.

The M3 Stuart, officially Light Tank, M3, was an American light tank of World War II. It was supplied to British and other Commonwealth forces under lend-lease prior to the entry of the U.S. into the war. Thereafter, it was used by US, Australian. and Allied forces until the end of the war.

 With a crew of 4, it is armed with a 37 mm gun, a coaxial machine gun, and a hull mounted machine gun, and weighs 12,500 kilograms. It is powered by a Continental W-670 250 horsepower engine, gasoline fueled, giving it a top speed of 58 kilometres per hour and a range of 112 kilometres. The Stuart saw Australian service in North Africa, Australia and New Guinea.

The Australian 1st Armoured Division was raised in 1941 as part of the 2nd AIF. Intended to be deployed to North Africa in late 1941, it was retained in Australia following the outbreak of the Pacific War. The Division’s armoured regiments subsequently began re-equipping with M3 Grant medium tanks and M3 Stuart light tanks in April and May 1942.

 

The 2/6th Armoured Regiment deployed to Port Moresby and Milne Bay in New Guinea in September 1942. In December two squadrons were subsequently shipped to Buna on the north coast of Papua.

The lightly armoured M3 Stuart tanks proved to be unsuited to jungle warfare and suffered heavy casualties, but played an important role at Buna between December 1942 and January 1943.

In January 1943, the remainder of the division deployed to Western Australia between Perth and Geraldton, Western Australia as part of III Corps, tasked to counter a Japanese invasion The 1st Armoured Division formed a key element of Australia’s mainland defences, but after that threat passed in September 1943, it was disbanded 

Australia followed the British lead in trying to improve the “fightablility” of these tanks, and large numbers of modifications, generally in accordance with British practice, were authorised for the vehicles received. Some of the 43 modifications listed in early 1942 were as follows:

• Fit periscope to Commander’s Cupola
• Fit stop to Cupola Lid and weld up 4 vision slots
• Remove Sponson machine guns and fit blanking plates
• Fit stowage bins and equipment boxes
• Fit modified engine air intake
• Fit turret base ring protectors

An excellent video/article on Australian Stuarts at Sanananda can be found here.

An excellent article that details the Stuart’s actions during the Buna, Gona and Sanananda battles can be found here. Following these actions they were retuned to Australia,

The majority of the information in this post was obtained from Collections WA.