The first Sherman’s to see action were used by the British at El Alamein (October 1942) and were Sherman II (M4A1) with their distinctive cast hulls. The tanks had been supplied in a hurry from the US, which had removed them from their own army units.

These two below are full of spare bits and pieces and green stuff to make their “wrecks” usable! You will note some of the track wheels are not the correct ones.

According to the Sherman Register 2093 Sherman M4A1’s were supplied to the Britishbut by the time of D Day the majority type in British use was the Sherman V.

The above three photos give a good idea of how the camouflage was applied.

The tanks that arrived in North Africa were not prepared for desert warfare. They were modernized in field workshops, where British technicians added dust shields, brackets for the Sunshield camouflage tarps, racks for canisters with water and fuel, stowage bins, and other equipment necessary for life in the desert.

Desert camouflage was applied over top of the olive drab paint. 252 Shermans were ready by the Second Battle of El Alamein: 92 in the 1st Armoured Division, 124 in the 10th Armoured Division, and 36 in the 9th Armoured Brigade.

The situation with the delivery was far from ideal. The tanks arrived only weeks before the planned offensive. The lack of time to train had an impact not only on the skills of the crews, but also on the cohesion with the forces fighting alongside the tanks. Since the Shermans were going to attack at night through minefields, cooperation with infantry and engineers was quite important.