For Want of a Gun

Thisremarkablestory exposes the Sherman tank scandal of World War II, involving some of the biggest American names and stretching from the White House and Pentagon to factories and battlefronts. Outgunned by more powerful German opponents, the inferiority of American tanks led to some of the worst setbacks of the war,prolonging it in Europe. US tankers ultimatelyprevailed, but over 60,000 armored division soldiers were killed and wounded; their preventable sacrifice inspired the Hollywood movie Fury. Included are striking images of the Sherman’s adversaries (photographed exclusively at the NationalMuseum of Cavalry and Armor), along with original equipment, documents,period propaganda, and vintagephotos of Shermantanks in action. As a Germanofficer noted, “I was on this hill with six 88mmantitank guns…Every time they sent atank, we knocked it out. Finally we ran out ofammunition, and the Americansdidn’t run out of tanks.”[AuthorName]By Christian Mark DeJohn and Photographs by Robert Coldwell[/AuthorName][AuthorBio]Christian DeJohn, a publishedhistorian completing a masters degree inmilitary and American history, is aformer United States cavalry tanker with hands-onexperiences as a gunner in an M1 Abrams tank.[/AuthorBio][NumIllustration]557 color and b/w photos[/NumIllustration][CoAuthor][/CoAuthor][SubTitle]The Sherman Tank Scandal of WWII[/SubTitle][ColorPattern]557 color and b/w photos[/ColorPattern]