M3 Lee Late Prod.

Of the 6,258 M3 variants manufactured, 2,887 (45%) were supplied to the British government for use by British and Commonwealth forces. 1,685 of these were Grants which the UK ordered directly from US industry under cash and carry and which did not fall under the Lend-Lease arrangements. The M3 Grant first saw action with units of the Royal Armoured Corps in North Africa during the Gazala battles of May 1942. However, with the arrival of the M4 Sherman tank from October 1942 the surviving M3s in North Africa became surplus and were mostly shipped on to India. 657 Grants and 75 Lees were supplied directly to North Africa. 97 Grants and 119 M3 Lees - including 49 diesel M3A3 Lee Vs, the only diesel Lees used by UK and Commonwealth forces - were supplied directly to the UK and were used for testing and training. 335 were later converted to Canal Defense Lights, and further refurbished turretless M3 hulls were supplied by the US to support this project. 777 (255 Lee Is, 266 Grant Is and 232 Grant IIs) were supplied directly to the Australian Army for home defense and training duties in Australia. The British Indian Army received 896 M3 series tanks (517 Lee Is and 379 Grant Is) as new supply and tanks shipped from North Africa. A further 1,386 were exported to the Soviet Union, although only 957 of these reached Russian ports due to German U-boat and air attacks on Allied convoys.