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As World War II continued on, the popgun 37mm cannon on the M3 and M5-series of Stuart light tanks was unable to deal with the thickly-armored German panzers. In addition, the 37mm high explosive round was very anemic. So the Ordnance Department in late summer of 1942 began initial design studies trying to incorporate the specifications of the US Army's Armored Force officers for a new light tank.
After a series of fits and starts, the Ordnance Department settled on the 75mm gun T13E1, originally developed as a lightweight nose gun for the Army Air Corps' B-25H medium bomber, as the main armament. Once the gun and recoil system had been decided on, a new turret was built around it.
The new cannon/turret combination obviously required a new chassis. So the Ordnance Department designed a welded armor chassis and incorporated a torsion bar suspension system. Powering it all were two gasoline engines taken from Cadillac. The M-24 had a five-man crew. The turret crew consisted of the Vehicle Commander, Gunner, and Loader. The Driver sat in the left front of the hull. Unique among American tanks of WWII, the fifth crewman also had a set of driver controls, sitting in the right front of the hull manning a bow machine gun.
Based on the placement of the vehicle's serial number (SN), we believe the Tank Farm's Chaffee was built by Cadillac. The only other builder was Massey-Harris. The SN is only three digits, and by examining the monthly production totals of Cadillac, we believe our M-24 was probably built in the first week of November 1944. Overall, 4,731 Chaffee's were built in 1944 and 1945.
It is possible that our tank was rushed overseas. The M-24 Chaffee saw its combat debut in December 1944 during the Battle of the Bulge. So our M-24 may have seen service in that epic battle. Contrary to popular perception, it was not named Chaffee by the US, but by the British in honor of MG Adna Chaffee, the first commander of the US Armored Force.
Post-war, many M-24 Chaffee's were sent to US Allies under the Mutual Assistance Act to stave off Soviet aggression. Our vehicle found its way into French Army service. Sometime during this period, several modifications were made to the vehicle. Modifications for the most part were done by the US.
These modifications include removing the 2 inch smoke mortar in the right front of the turret and replacing it with a radio antenna. Inside the turret, a new radio rack under the antenna was mounted. A pintle mount for a .50 BMG machine gun was placed on center top of the turret; and a phone box at the rear of the hull for the following infantry to communicate with the crew along with lots of miscellaneous brackets scattered over the hull.
We acquired our M-24 from the French via an intermediary over 2 decades ago. We did a minor restoration and found much history under its nine layers of paint.
In this case, we hit the jackpot on the M-24's turret. Slowly, painstakingly by hand, our crew uncovered an old French insignia and markings that leads us to believe our M-24 served at one point in time as part of a French parachute unit. In order to document such a historical find, we took numerous photos throughout the restoration process. In addition, we found the French registration number and flag on the front glacis.
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