Lee Tanks

In World War Two as many as a company of 17 Lee M3A5 diesel powered tanks were landed on Makin Island with the 27th US Army Infantry Division at the same time the Marines landed on Tarawa.

There seems to be a lot of confusion about specifically how many were landed and what specific versions were used.  At least one source shows a photo of a Lee tank on Makin and says it could be a welded hull M3A3 diesel engine tank.  It does look like it could be, but the photo is of poor quality.  The US Army did tend to assign tanks by engine type, rather than the manufacture of the hull.  So having riveted hull and welded hull tanks in the same unit could be possible.

The 193rd Tank Battalion had been formed from National Guard units from Alabama, Colorado, Georgia, Texas, on September 1, 1940.  Eventually they were issued Lee tanks and moved to Hawaii.

 

I am building one company of 17 Lee tanks, with the Reviresco M3A5 diesel engine, riveted hull version and two extra M3A3 welded hull, diesel engine version as alternates.

The Reviresco model is made of soft metal and has many extra and alternate parts.  Reviresco makes several versions of the Lee, and a Grant.  With these models you can probably make all the sub-versions of the Lee except the Canal Defense Light and the very late production versions with the "heavy" VVSS Sherman tank type suspension.  Both the Roco Minitanks and Heiser Models Sherman tanks suspensions both fit the Reviresco kits with only a little bit of easy modification.

Bill Jr. Models made a Canal Defense light turret and it fits the Reviresco model with a little bit of fiddling.  I add a small piece of wooden dowel to the bottom of the CDL turret to make it more stable.  While the CDL often had some modifications to the hull, I just all the new turret and call it close enough so my Lee tanks can serve Early War as tanks and Late War as Canal Defense Lights.