MILITARY MODELCRAFT DEC 99 STEYR KOMMANDEURWAGEN_SHERMAN FIREFLY_DUTCH
LEOPARD 2A5
MILITARY MODELCRAFT
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FEATURED ARTICLES INCLUDE:
WW2 GERMAN STEYR TYPE 1500A
KOMMANDEURWAGEN
BRITISH SHERMAN FIREFLY
MODERN BRITISH PARA FIGURE
WW2 GERMAN PANZERGRENADIER
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GERMAN BUNDESWEHR / DUTCH LEOPARD 2A5 KWS MAIN BATTLE TANK MBT
DUXFORD MILITARY VEHICLE
SHOW COLOR PHOTO GALLERY
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Additional Information from
Internet Encyclopedia
The Steyr 270 1500A or
Steyr 1500A was a light military vehicle from the Austrian manufacturer Steyr .
It was available in three versions of which the version for passenger transport
was the most produced. The vehicle was in production from 1941 to 1944.
The vehicle was designed by
Ferdinand Porsche . [1] Three vehicle versions were made for the transport of
eight soldiers (Kraftfahrzeug, Kfz 70), for the transport of high-ranking
military personnel (Kfz 21) and finally as a light truck. The Kfz 70
Mannschaftswagen or the Steyr 270 1500A was the most produced. Similar vehicles
were the Mercedes-Benz 1500A and the Phaenomen Granit 1500A. These three
vehicles were made in large numbers and replaced older Wehrmacht vehicles for
the transport of personnel. The military designation 1500A stands for a vehicle
with a payload of 1500 kilograms and for all-wheel drive, A llradantrieb.
The vehicle was equipped
with an air-cooled petrol engine from Steyr. [1] The eight cylinders were
arranged in V-shape and the engine had a displacement of 3517 cc . [1] The
gearbox had four forward and reverse gears. It had an extra reduction gearbox
that allowed all gears in high and low gearing to be used (4F1Rx2). The spare
wheel was mounted in the middle of the vehicle between the front and rear
doors. The soldiers were three man wide on three banks. The petrol tank had a
capacity of 100 liters. The wheelbase was 3.23 meters.
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The Sherman Firefly was a
tank used by the United Kingdom and some Commonwealth and Allied armoured
formations in the Second World War. It was based on the US M4 Sherman, but
fitted with the powerful 3-inch (76.2 mm) calibre British 17-pounder anti-tank
gun as its main weapon. Originally conceived as a stopgap until future British
tank designs came into service, the Sherman Firefly became the most common
vehicle mounting the 17-pounder in the war.
Though the British expected
to have their own new tank models developed soon, the previously rejected idea
of mounting the 17-pounder in the existing Sherman was eventually accepted,
despite initial government resistance. This proved fortunate, as both the
Cruiser Mk VIII Challenger and Cruiser Mk VIII Cromwell tank designs
experienced difficulties and delays.
After the difficult problem
of getting such a large gun to fit in the Sherman's turret was solved, the
Firefly was put into production in early 1944, in time to equip Field Marshal
Montgomery's 21st Army Group for the Normandy landings. It soon became highly
valued, as its gun could almost always penetrate the armour of the Panther and
Tiger tanks it faced in Normandy. In recognition of this, German tank and
anti-tank gun crews were instructed to attack Fireflies first.[citation needed]
Because the Firefly had a visibly longer barrel, crews tried to camouflage it
so the tank would look like a normal 75 mm-gun Sherman from a distance. Between
2,100 and 2,200 were manufactured before production wound down in 1945.
The idea of fitting a
17-pounder gun into a Sherman tank had initially been rejected by the Ministry
of Supply's Tank Decision Board. Although the British Army had made extensive
use of the American-built Sherman tank, it was intended that a new generation
of British tanks would replace it in the anti-tank role. First, there was the
Cromwell tank, which was expected to use the Vickers high velocity 75 mm gun;
this gun would have had superior anti-tank performance to the US 75 mm and 76
mm guns that were mounted in the Sherman. The second was the A30 Challenger,
which was based on the Cromwell but with the even more powerful 17-pounder
gun.[2] These two tanksand their successors, the Comet and the Centurion,
which were already on the drawing boardwere to replace the Sherman in British
service, and so the prospect of diverting resources to mount the 17-pounder on
the Sherman seemed undesirable.
Nonetheless, several
unofficial attempts were made to improve the firepower of the Sherman. The
earliest attempt can be credited to Major George Brighty of the Royal Tank
Regiment while he was at Lulworth Armoured Fighting School in early 1943.
Despite the A30 Challenger undergoing initial trials at Lulworth, Brighty was
convinced that the Sherman was a better mount for the 17-pounder. However, the
turret of the Sherman was too small to allow for the very long recoil of the
gun. In a radical adjustment, Brighty removed the recoil system and locked the
gun in place, thus forcing the entire tank to absorb the recoil, but this was a
far from ideal situation and there was no telling how long the tank would have
been able to handle such a set-up.
Around June 1943, a
colleague of Brighty, Lieutenant Colonel George Witheridge of the Royal Tank
Regiment, arrived at Lulworth. A veteran of the North Africa campaign, Witheridge
had experienced first-hand the one-sided battles between British tanks armed
with 2-pounder guns against Rommel's formidable tanks and anti-tank guns.
During the Battle of Gazala in mid-1942, Witheridge had been blown out of his
(US supplied) M3 Grant medium tank, and though he recovered from his wounds, he
was declared unfit to return to combat duty. Instead, in January 1943, he was
posted to Fort Knox in the United States for six months to advise on gunnery,
where he was "sold" on American tanks.[4] While at Lulworth,
Witheridge inspected the A30 Challenger, and "joined in the chorus of
complaints" about the tank. Upon looking up Brighty and learning of his
attempts to use the Sherman, Witheridge lent his assistance.[2] He advised
Brighty on methods to solve the recoil issue.
Not long after, Witheridge
and Brighty received a notice from the Department of Tank Design (DTD) to cease
their efforts. Unwilling to abandon the project, Witheridge, using his
connections with such influential people as Major General Raymond Briggs,
former GOC of the 1st Armoured Division in North Africa and now director of the
Royal Armoured Corps, and successfully lobbied Claude Gibb, director general of
weapon and instrument production at the Ministry of Supply, to make it an
official ministry project. In doing so, the endeavour was taken out of the
hands of the highly enthusiastic and devoted amateurs at Lulworth who had
initiated it and given to professional tank developers.
It was W.G.K. Kilbourn, a
Vickers engineer working for the DTD at the time, who transformed their idea
into the reality of the prototype of the tank that would serve the British
forces from the Invasion of Normandy in June 1944 onwards. The first thing
Kilbourn had to fix was the lack of a workable recoil system for the
17-pounder. The 17-pounder travelled 40 in (1.0 m) back as it absorbed the
recoil of the blast. This was too long for the Sherman's turret.[6] Kilbourn
solved this problem by redesigning the recoil system completely rather than
modifying it. The recoil cylinders were shortened and placed on both sides of
the gun to take advantage of the width of the turret.
The gun breech itself was
also rotated 90 degrees to allow loading from the left[note 1] rather than from
on top.[7] The radio, normally mounted in the back of the turret in British
tanks, had to be moved; an armoured box (a "bustle") was attached to
the back of the turret to house it, with access through a large hole cut
through the turret.
The next problem
encountered by Kilbourn was that the gun cradle, the metal block on which the
gun sat, had to be shortened to allow the gun to fit into the Firefly, and thus
the gun itself was not very stable. Kilbourn had a new barrel designed for the
17-pounder that had a longer untapered section at the base, which helped solve
the stability problem. A new mantlet was designed to house this gun and accept
the modified cradle. The modifications were extensive enough that 17-pounders
intended for the Firefly had to be factory-built specifically for it.[3][7]
Kilbourn had to deal with
other problems. On the standard Sherman tank, there was a single hatch in the
turret through which the commander, gunner and loader entered and left the
tank. However, the 17-pounder's larger breech and recoil system made it
significantly more difficult for the loader to exit quickly if the tank was
hit; a new hatch was cut into the top of the turret over the gunner's position
to resolve this.[8] The final major change was the elimination of the hull
gunner in favour of space for more 17-pounder ammunition, which was
significantly longer than the original 75 mm shell and took up more room.
The Firefly had no armour
or mobility advantages over the normal Sherman tank, although the gun mantlet
was some 13 mm thicker.
By October and November
1943, enthusiasm began to grow for the project. The 21st Army Group was
informed of the new tank in October 1943.[citation needed] Even before final
testing had taken place in February 1944, an order for 2,100 Sherman tanks
armed with 17-pounder guns was placed, as the Challenger programme was
suffering constant delays and it was realised that few would be ready for
Normandy. Even worse, it was discovered that the Cromwell did not have a turret
ring wide enough to take the new High Velocity 75mm gun (50 calibres long), so
it would have to be armed with the general purpose Ordnance QF 75 mm, leaving
the Sherman Firefly as the only tank available with firepower superior to the
QF 75 mm gun in the British Army's arsenal. Unsurprisingly, therefore, it was
given the "highest priority" by Winston Churchill himself.
The nickname
"Firefly" is not found in wartime official documents, but was adopted
due to the bright muzzle flash of the main gun.[9] It was sometimes used at
unit level (brigade/regiment) war diaries from March 1944, with another
nickname being 'Mayfly'. During the war, Shermans with 17-pounder guns were
usually known as "1C", "1C Hybrid", or "VC",
depending on the basic mark of the vehicle. In British nomenclature, a
"C" at the end of the Roman numeral indicated a tank equipped with
the 17-pounder.[note 2] The name "Firefly" in period sources often
refers to any vehicle with a 17-pounder gun, often the M10C variant of the M10
tank destroyer.
The main armament of the
Sherman Firefly was the Ordnance Quick-Firing 17-pounder. Designed as the
successor to the British QF 6-pounder, the 17-pounder was the most powerful
British tank gun of the war, and one of the most powerful of any nationality,
being able to penetrate more armour than the 8.8 cm KwK 36 fitted to the German
Tiger I or the Panther tank's 7.5 cm KwK 42[citation needed]. The Firefly
17-pounder was able to penetrate some 163 mm of armour at 500 m (550 yd) and
150 mm at 1,000 m (1,100 yd) using standard armour piercing, capped, ballistic
capped (APCBC) ammunition. Armour piercing, discarding sabot (APDS) ammunition
could penetrate some 256 mm of armour at 500 m and 233 mm at 1,000 m, which on
paper could defeat the armour of almost every German armoured fighting vehicle
at any likely range.[10] However, war production APDS rounds lacked accuracy,
and the 50 mm penetrator was less destructive after it had penetrated enemy
tank armour than the 76.2 mm APCBC shell. In any case, APDS ammunition was rare
until the post-war period. While the Sherman Firefly was capable of carrying 77
rounds of ammunition, design features of the tank meant only 23 rounds were
easily and readily available when the tank was in action.[11]
While the 17-pounder had
superior anti-tank capabilities, due to its lack of an effective HE round, it
was inferior to the regular Sherman 75mm gun against soft targets, such as
enemy infantry, buildings and lightly armoured vehicles. As the war in Europe
neared its close, the Allies found themselves encountering these more often
than heavy German tanks. Allied tank units therefore typically refused to
completely switch to Fireflies. A good HE shell for the gun only became
available in late 1944, and even then was not as potent as the standard Sherman
75 mm HE shell.[2] Another problem was that the powerful blast from the
17-pounder gun kicked up large amounts of dirt as well as smoke, making it
difficult for the gunner to observe the fall of shot and forcing him to rely on
the commander to observe it and to order corrections. Dirt and dust revealed
the position of the tank, so Sherman Fireflies would have to move every few
shots. The recoil and muzzle blast could be severely jarring to Firefly crews
and the muzzle blast frequently caused night blindness as well. This was a common
problem of any tank armed with a high velocity gun, including the Panther and
Tiger I tanks. The cramped nature of the turret meant that loading the large
17-pounder shell was difficult, so Fireflies had a lower rate of fire than
regular M4 Shermans.[7] Since the Firefly was a stopgap, these problems were
never eliminated, as the Firefly was to be retired with the introduction of the
new British tank designs.
The Firefly's secondary
armament was the standard .30 inch (7.62 mm) coaxial machine gun in the turret;
the hull-mounted machine gun was removed to increase ammunition storage for the
main gun. A top-mounted .50-inch (12.7 mm) machine gun was also attached, though
many crews removed it due to its awkward mounting and position near the
commander, which limited a full 360-degree view when unbuttoned in battle.
In 1945, some British
Shermans were fitted with a rail on either side of the turret for two "60
lb" high-explosive 3-inch rockets. These were used at the Rhine Crossing
by the tanks of the 1st Coldstream Guards. These tanks, called "Sherman
Tulips", were conventional Shermans and Fireflies. The rockets, accurate
when fired from aircraft, were less accurate when fired from a stationary
platform, such as a tank, as they had little initial slipstream over the fins.
The RP-3 was effective when its 60-pound warhead hit the target.
Three different variants of
Sherman Firefly served during the Second World War, each based on different
variants of the M4 Sherman. The Firefly conversion was carried out on Sherman I
(M4), Sherman I Hybrid (M4 Composite) and Sherman V (M4A4) tanks. Some sources
state that several Sherman IIs (M4A1) were converted and used in action, but photos
allegedly showing these conversions are in fact views of the front half of
Sherman I Hybrid Fireflies.[citation needed] To complicate matters, a very
small number of Canadian licence-built Sherman IIs (M4A1), the Grizzly, were
converted to Fireflies in Canada and used for training, but none saw action.
The majority of Shermans converted were the Sherman V/M4A4 model, of which the
British received about 7,200. The Sherman VC and IC variants are easily
distinguished by their lower hulls; the VC having a riveted lower hull with a
curved shape while the IC has a welded and angled lower hull. The Hybrid can be
distinguished by its upper hull, which is cast and which gives it a distinctive
curved look in comparison to the more boxy hull of a typical Sherman.[original
research?]
Production of the Firefly
started in January 1944, and by 31 May, some 342 Sherman Fireflies had been
delivered to Montgomery's 21st Army Group for the D-Day landings.[7] As a
result, British tank troops were composed of three regular Shermans and one
Firefly. The same distribution occurred in Cromwell units, but this caused
logistical problems, as each Cromwell troop now needed to be supplied with
parts for two different tanks. The Firefly was also slower than the Cromwell.
Churchill units received no Fireflies, and as a result often had to rely on any
attached M10 or M10 Achilles units to provide increased firepower to deal with
tanks their own guns could not eliminate.[2]
Production was limited by
the availability of suitable tanks, with the phasing out of 75 mm Sherman
production. To make up numbers, Sherman I and Sherman I Hybrids were also
converted.[13] From D-Day in June to the end of the Battle of Normandy in late
August, almost 400 Sherman Fireflies were converted, more than sufficient to
replace any permanent tank losses during the battle.[14] In late 1944, with the
creation of an effective high-explosive shell for the 17-pounder gun, British
units started to receive two Fireflies per troop.[2] By February 1945, some
2,000 Sherman Fireflies had been built and British, Commonwealth and Polish
armoured units were equipped with a 50/50 mix of 75 mm and 17-pounder-armed
Shermans.
In the spring of 1945,
production of the Firefly was scaled down, with the last tank being delivered
in May 1945. This was the result of several factors, from superior home-grown
designs like the Comet and Centurion coming into service to replace the
Firefly, to the impending defeat of Nazi Germany, and the inferior design of
Japan's tanks, which it seemed would be the next opponents the British would
have to face after the fall of Germany.
Overall production of the
Sherman Firefly reached some 2,100 2,200 tanks; exact numbers are hard to determine
as documents give contradictory totals.[7] Jane's World War II Tanks and
Fighting Vehicles gives a production of 1783 vehicles in 1944 and 563 in 1945,
for a total of 2346.[15] Sherman Firefly gives a number of 2002 conversions
made between January 1944 and February 1945[14] or a total of 2139 conversions.
Fireflies were introduced
to armoured brigades[note 3] and divisions in the 21st Army Group in 1944, just
in time for the Normandy landings. The timing was fortunate as Allied
intelligence had begun to realise in early 1944 through statistical analysis
that the Germans were fielding a much larger number of more formidable tanks
(such as the Panther) than had been anticipated. This information was slow to
reach Allied military planners, who had mistakenly assumed the Panther, like
the Tiger, would be a rare heavy tank with a limited production run, so the
number of Panthers deployed came as a surprise to Allied formation commanders
and tank crews forced to engage them with guns that could not penetrate the
frontal armour except at short range.
Panthers and Tigers
accounted for only 30% of the 2,300 German tanks deployed in Normandy; the rest
being Panzer IVs, Sturmgeschütz IIIs and other tanks that the 75 mm gun
Shermans were able to effectively handle. However, the importance of Caen and
Montgomery's operations, which pinned German armoured forces in front of the
British positions so the American units could break out to the west, meant that
British and Commonwealth units had to face over 70% of all German armour deployed
during the Battle of Normandy, as well as over half of the elite, well-equipped
Waffen-SS Panzer units. As a result, the Sherman Firefly was perhaps the most
valued tank by British and Commonwealth commanders, as it was the only tank in
the British Army able to reliably penetrate the frontal armor of Panthers and
Tigers at the standard combat ranges in Normandy.[2]
This fact did not go
unnoticed by the Germans, who realised that these long-barrel Shermans posed a
much greater threat to their heavy tanks than the normal Shermans, and German
tank crews and anti-tank gun crews were instructed to eliminate Fireflies
first. Similarly, the Firefly crews realised that the distinctive long barrel
of their 17-pounder gun made the Firefly stand out from standard Shermans, so
crews attempted to disguise their tanks to reduce the likelihood of being
targeted. Some crews had the front half of the gun barrel painted white on the
bottom and dark green or the original olive drab on the top to give the
illusion of a shorter gun barrel. Another suggestion was for a shorter wooden
dummy gun to be mounted on the rear of the turret and point forward; however,
this tactic does not appear to have been used in combat.[7]
Despite being a high
priority target, Fireflies appear to have had a statistically lower chance of
being knocked out than standard Shermans; this was probably due more to how
they were employed than to the actual effectiveness of the attempted
camouflaging of the long barrel.[2] Given the high value placed on Fireflies, a
common tactic was for commanders to reconnoitre the battlefield before a battle
to look for good overwatch positions. During the battle, Firefly tanks would
stay behind in those positions and cover the ordinary Shermans as they pushed
forward, eliminating any enemy tanks that revealed themselves when they opened
fire on the advancing Shermans, and moving forward only when the standard
Shermans had secured the area, or when they could no longer cover them from
their current position. Similarly, when on the move, troop commanders tended to
position Fireflies in the rear to reduce the chance of their being knocked out.
However, given the relatively unpredictable nature of battle, this setup was
not always practical or possible, and many times, Fireflies were forced to
engage enemies in the open where they could be identified.
Despite this, the Firefly's
increased firepower was much valued, and during many engagements, the Firefly
proved its worth, knocking out Tigers and Panthers at long range, as well as
less formidable tanks like the Panzer IVs and StuGs.
One example of this
increased firepower was displayed by Lt. G. K. Henry's Firefly during the
defence of Norrey-en-Bessin on 9 June against an attack by the 3rd Company of
the 12th SS Panzer Regiment of the 12th SS Panzer Division. Determined to
capture the town in preparation for a larger offensive to drive the British and
Canadians back into the sea, Kurt Meyer ordered 12 Panthers of the 3rd Company
and infantry to attack Norrey and drive the Canadians out of the town. The
attack got under way at 1300 hours with the Panthers racing to the town at full
speed, stopping only to fire their guns; they quickly outran their infantry
support, which was forced to the ground by Allied artillery fire. Within 1,000
m (1,100 yd) of the town, nine Shermans of the Canadian 1st Hussars opened fire
into the advancing Panthers' flanks. Lt. Henry's gunner, Trooper A. Chapman,
waited until the Panthers "lined up like ducks in a row" and quickly
knocked out five with just six rounds. The attack was repulsed with the loss of
seven of the 12 Panthers.
A similar example occurred
on 14 June, during Operation Perch. Sgt. Harris of the 4th/7th Dragoon Guards,
along with three standard Shermans, set up defensive positions along with the
infantry after successfully driving out the Germans in the village of
Lingèvres, near Tilly-sur-Seulles. Looking through his binoculars, Sgt. Harris
spotted two Panthers advancing from the east. He opened fire at a range of 800
metres (870 yd), knocking out the lead Panther with his first shot, and the
second Panther with his second. Relocating to a new position on the other side
of the town, he spotted another three Panthers approaching from the west. From
his well-concealed flanking position, he and his gunner, Trooper Mackillop,
eliminated all three with just three rounds. Harris and his gunner had knocked
out five Panthers with as many rounds, demonstrating the potency of the
Firefly, especially when firing from a defensive position on advancing enemy
tanks.
In perhaps their most
famous action, Fireflies from A Squadron, 1st Northamptonshire Yeomanry, 33rd
Armoured Brigade, A Squadron, the Sherbrooke Fusiliers Regiment, 2nd Canadian
Armoured Brigade, and B Squadron, The 144th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps, 33rd
Armoured Brigade, ambushed a group of four Tiger tanks from the 3rd Company and
HQ Company, 101st SS Heavy Tank Battalion supported by several Panzer IV tanks
and StuG IV assault guns. Tanks of the 1st Northamptonshire Yeomanry and
elements of the 51st (Highland) Division reached the French village of
Saint-Aignan-de-Cramesnil on the morning of 8 August 1944 during Operation
Totalize.[21][22][23] While B Squadron stayed around the village, A and C
Squadrons moved further south into a wood called Delle de la Roque.[24] C
Squadron positioned themselves on the east side of the woods and the
understrength A Squadron in the southern portion with No. 3 Troop on the
western edge of the wood. From this position, they overlooked a large open
section of ground and were able to watch as German tanks advanced up Route
nationale 158 from the town of Cintheaux. Under strict orders from the troop
commander, they held their fire until the German tanks were well within range.
Ekins, the gunner of Sergeant Gordon's Sherman Firefly (Velikye Luki A
Squadron's tanks were named after towns in the Soviet Union) had yet to fire
his gun in action. With the Tiger tanks in range, the order was given to fire.
What followed was an almost 12-minute battle that saw Ekins destroying all
three Tigers that No. 3 Troop could see; there were actually seven Tiger tanks
in the area heading north along with some other tanks and self-propelled guns.
A short time later, the main German counterattack was made in the direction of
C Squadron. A Squadron (less Sgt Gordon who had been wounded and had already
bailed out of the Firefly) moved over to support them and in the resulting
combat, Ekins destroyed a Panzer IV before his tank was hit and the crew were
forced to bail out.
Ekins is credited by some
with knocking out Michael Wittmann's Tiger, though there is still much
controversy over whether Ekins really killed Wittmann, as Sherman Fireflies of
the Sherbrooke Fusilier Regiment also fired at the Tigers from a closer range
of only 143 m (156 yd) at Gaumesnil, and the killing shot came from the left
side of the Tiger, as photographs prove. In fact, the shot that killed Wittmann
likely came from a Canadian non-Firefly Sherman, as the photos prove it
penetrated the left engine cooling vent of his tank, directly behind the
turret, which is much thinner and susceptible to 75mm armour piercing rounds.
The British tanks of Ekins' unit were a kilometer away and facing the opposite
(right) side of Wittmann's Tiger, thus it was clearly impossible for Ekins to
have hit on the left side.
United Kingdom
North-West Europe
4th Armoured Brigade
8th Armoured Brigade
27th Armoured Brigade
33rd Armoured Brigade
Guards Armoured Division
7th Armoured Division
11th Armoured Division
Italy
1st Armoured Division
6th Armoured Division
(The 7th Armoured Brigade
and 9th Armoured Brigade do not appear to have used Fireflys.)
Canada
1st Canadian Armoured
Brigade received two Fireflys per troop when it moved to the Netherlands from
Italy in 1945.
2nd Canadian Armoured
Brigade
4th Canadian Armoured
Division
5th Canadian Armoured
Division used Fireflys in north-west Europe in 1945.
Czechoslovakia - 1st Czechoslovak Armoured
Brigade operated 36 Sherman 1Cs during the siege of Dunkirk.
New Zealand - The 4th New Zealand Armoured
Brigade operated Firefly tanks in Italy in 1944 and 1945.
Poland - Both the Polish 1st Armoured Division
in northwestern Europe and the Polish 2nd Armoured Brigade in Italy operated
Firefly tanks.
South Africa - The 6th South African Armoured
Division operated Firefly tanks in Italy in 1944 and 1945.