It's amazing just how fast tank development happened during World War Two. If the M24 Chaffee was introduced in the 1930s it would have been considered a medium tank. It's actually heavier and larger than most Axis and Allied tanks at the beginning of the war. The Italian and Japanese tanks were all obsolete in comparison.
Chaffee gun wouldn't even had any troubles penetrate most Japanese tank in the Pacific, let alone Japanese medium tank. But then history prove otherwise, the Sherman took a shine of that.
As I stated in my separate Garrison Nichols the Chafee M24 was 18.4 tons as opposed to the M4Sherman between 30-38 tons roughly. The M2 medium tank weighed 18.7ton's This is why the Britain doesn't really use weight classes but roles as it starts to get daft but some here insist on following the daft yank weight model that make no sense. With these figure the USA classifications seem rather arbitrary & completely pointless! Back in ww1 7 most inter war British tank just had the tonnage slapped on the end & often referred to the tank for Vickers Mk E (6 tonne) was either a Mk E or 6Tonne in common vernacular for no one named it the whole thing. Same went for a A7 also called a 16 tonner Mind each could be called say a Vick 6 ton or Vick 16 ton respectively, you get the idea I suppose. Nothing yanks do make nor is it even fun instead of hyper specific like Germans name everything.
@@bigblue6917 The M24 was used after V J day for the occupation of japan after the war intended to take on T34's & such if the USSR got any fantastical idea of a naval invasion! If any M 24's where used in the south east Asian Theatre of ww2, I am unaware of such. Plenty of valentines & Vickers sent to the Burmese/south east Asian Campaign before the yanks even joined in. Yanks seem to forget it was a world war showing up once it was 1/2 way through. Japanese made your lot very bitter after the whole pearl ordeal!
I love how we all watching old 60s footage then suddenly you see Crusader jumping across a river with no ramps before shotgunning a Chaffee in the face.
thats anime for you. surprisingly, girls und panzer is probably more historically accurate then most live action movies like fury...minus the tank performance of course
Ah yes, Pershing or patton series. The M26 Pershing, M46 patton 1 and m47 patton 2 all had the same hull different turrent... except the Pershing and patton 1 had same turret different cannons.
1:34 The thing I find interesting about Reptilicus is that it gives a good insight into the state of the Danish army entering the 1960s As you can see at the marked time, they’re Danish soldiers wearing American equipment, but using their over 60 year old Madsen MGs
Watching "Bridge at Remagen" I was struck by how fast Chaffees were. They were also used frequently in the "Macaroni Combat" movies made by Italian film makers. Usually those set in North Africa. In "Commandos" with Lee Van Cleef, and "Desert Battle", they played German panzers. And in "Battle of El Alamein", with Michael Rennie as Montgomery, they played British tanks. It seemed the post war Greek army had Chaffees too,as a number of them appear in "Guns of Navarone" as Panzers .
M24 Chaffee surprisingly was the main stay Armor of Vietminh and The PAVN during the Indo china war and early stages of the Vietnam war. Almost all of them were captured from the French Indochina colonial force and saw service alongside captured M41 Walker bulldog , SU-100 and T-34-85 before being replaced by Soviet and Chinese armors like PT-76 , Type 63 Amphibious tank , T-54/55, Type 59 . Not so surprising enough former allied turned communist countries and ex communist countries like Cuba and Ethiopia has seen use of the M24 Chaffee and M41 Walker bulldog during the Cuban revolution, Bay of Pigs invasion and The Derg revolution. Also North Korea has some M24 chaffees in their museum.
The French used it a good bit I have read extensively of the 1st indochina war, I have never seen one single instance of the vietminh using tanks in the 1950s
The M-24 was probably the best designed light tank in history! Unfortunately the light tank concept was at an end at the close of WWII. Korea only confirmed that, light tanks inevitably ended up fighting mediums or worse early MBTs which they couldn't handle.
The M24 Chaffee was used in the Battle of Dien Bien Phu (1954). Ten Chaffee tanks completely disassembled by the Legion's 2e CREBLE and flown into the "camp rétranché" as smaller packages and reassembled. Those ten tanks provided direct fire and tactical support to the infantry as the Escadron de Marche du 1er Régiment de Chasseurs à Cheval (Capitaine Hervouet), in three platoons: Carette, Guntz and Préaud. Two of those tanks were captured and brought to Hanoi by the Viet Minh, one of them remaining at the site of the battle (the Bazeilles). In Pierre Schoendoerffer's masterpiece Dien Bien Phu (1992), the Chaffees are used in the battle scenes (all incredbily accurate and well done), as everything in that movie is scrupulously accurate. The battle order of the Escadron was: Capitaine Hervouet (tank CONTI) - Peloton Carette : MULHOUSE, BAZEILLES (destroyed in Elianne 2, March 30), DOUAUMONT (destroyed April 29) - Peloton Guntz : SMOLENSK, POSEN, ETTLINGEN (destroyed April 15) - Peloton Préaud : RATISBONNE, NEUMACH, AUERSTADT
For the confused souls out there The M41 twin 40mm motor gun carriage is based on the chassis of a M24 Chaffee. The M42 Duster SPAAG is based on the chassis of a M41 Walker bulldog.
Plus the M24 Chaffee was among the first armors of the new National Police reserve which will eventually evolve into the JSDF. The JGSDF employed their M24 Chaffees right till the mid 70s because unlike the M4A3E8 Super Shermans , they were light , fit for the local topography and unlike the Shermans,they were of adequate size and not overspacious . However the Sherman has better Armor and better gun.
The Chaffee really only sparsly served in WW2 with troops preferring their M3 and M5 Stuarts. But in Korea they served well as the initial battle tanks of the Americans and as scouts after Pershings and Shermans came to fill the main battle role. But the Chaffee itself is a very nice and very functional and effective tank regardless of when it was in service, and it's service length shows it's successful design. Plus the clips of Girls und Panzer Der Film and Bo Time Gaming were nice touchs and I enjoyed seeing them.
The sequence in "The Remagen Bridge" when tanks pounded the german position on the other side of the river (at 7:2 mark on this video), in reality it was far more one sided: the American tanks, the newly arrived M26 Pershing tank of US 9th Armoured Division, armed with a long barrel 90mm gun came against a german FLAK position armed only with 20mm light AA guns. In fact it was a perfect target practice for American gunners, firing more rounds than any previous training combined.
@@Rusty_Gold85 As far as i know, the bridge was wide enough and did not pose any problems for Pershing tanks to cross it; however due the initial detonation which damaged the bridge, at first, it was seen too risky for the Pershing to cross it, due to their heavy weight (46.2 t). Thus, after the initial infantry assault which managed to cross the damaged bridge and established a bridgehead on eastern side of the river, only Sherman tanks (30 t) were sent in to support.
Some other famous variants of the Sherman are the Norwegian NM-116 and Chilean 60mm upgunned versions . They have their respective articles in tank encyclopedia. Nations in south america like Uruguay have the M24 Chaffee in use till 2017-18 when they were replaced by M41C from Brazil. Also Iran has used their M24 and M41 against Iraq during the Iran Iraq war .
Glad you used the Desert Rats as part of your footage. Love the depiction of Rommel's failed first attack against the Australians at Tobruk in Easter 1941.
Also M24 Chaffee was the main light Armor of pakistan army during the Indo Pak wars where they were put against Their Indian light Armor counterparts like the M5A1 Stuarts and The PT-76. The Indian Army's AMX13-75 has the calibre enough to put up a good fight against the Chaffee and knock it out / even destroy it completely, yet the AMX -13-75 was more treated as a Tank destroyer in the Indian army , being effectively used to flank the pakistani pattins and destroy them from behind. Also the main Armor of the Pakistani army in the East was the M24 Chaffee . During the third Indo Pak war , they couldn't maneuver through the marshes unlike the Indian PT-76 and were destroyed easily. Plus after the war , the New army of Bangladesh got their captured Chaffees back into service till the 80s and 90s where they were replaced by the Type 62 light tank. As for pak army, they were replaced by the M41 Walker bulldog. And there are also a lot of Chaffees from the 1965 and 1971 alongside pattons (M47 AND M48) in the Indian tank museum of Khem Kharan.
I have had an affinity with that tank since my time in an armor battalion during the early '80s. I was the XO's driver and we went about scrounging parts to rebuild the M24 our unit had as a static display. Took almost 2 years but it was up and running by the time I left. The movie, "Battle of the Bulge", about an attack through some of the densest forests in Europe is filmed in a desert!
I had a friend who was in Patton's motor pool in WW2, and he said they modified them to travel at 60 mph. My favorite movies using the M24 were The Bridge At Remagen and the 1951 movie The Day the Earth Stood Still as both of them show them going at high speeds. Although its' 75mm gun was developed as the M-4 and installed in the B-25G, that use was abandoned due to the impracticality of literally throwing the calibration of the plane's instruments off with its recoil, including the plane's compass, making navigation difficult.
The Bridge at Remagen is one of my favourite war films. And it’s interesting how often the Chaffee is used against monsters, surely that’s a record unless the Abrams has broken it by shooting decepticons or something.
M24s were not only in Japanese SciFi; the US Army allowed use of some M24s from the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment at Ft. Meade (near DC) for the 1951 classic "The Day The Earth Stood Still". It's a crewman from an M24 that initially shoots Klaatu in the arm (and gets his tank melted for his efforts!). Yes, "Battle of the Bulge" is a real POS, but it is a guilty pleasure to watch the tanks running around. By the way, in BOB there are a few M37 Howitzer Motor Carriages used in a few shots. In "Patton" at least one M24 gets to play an American tank, but fitted with a mock-up of the T34 "Calliope" rocket launcher. Nice video Johnny! M24 is one of my personal favorite tanks.
🤔🇦🇺 Interesting.. 😁 So what's your favourite WW2 Tank now? My decision is a coin flip between the M4 Sherman (aka "Tommy Cooker/Ronson) and the Japanese Type 95.
Another interesting fact, the M24 had the first mass produced automatic transmission! General Motors later advertised the Hydramatic Transmission as "Battle-Tested" because of its use in vehicles like the Chaffee.
My grandfather was the leader of a mortar crew as a corporal in the Guard Hussars' armoured infantry during his time as a conscript in the Danish army, and they were using the M24 at that time, so I grew up seeing pictures of it and hearing about how everyone would practically fight eachother to get to ride along when the tankers were training or on maneuvers. Apparently it was peak entertainment at that time to get to sit in the turret and just enjoy the ride while they ran through forests with the thing. As a result, I also always just heard the Chaffee referred to as "our tank" until I randomly found it in War Thunder. Also, props for finding Reptilicus, although I hope you viewed it in the original Danish rather than the awful English dub.
Awesome video!!! Also, in the movie "A Bridge Too Far" there are some M24 Chaffee's to be seen, though they are destroyed/on fire. After the initial British ground attack with their Shermans, at the end of the scene there is an M24 being bulldozed off of the road.
Robert Vaughan in his autobio described what it was like to be in Czechoslovakia filming "Bridge at Remagen" when the Russian invasion happened. He said the Russian soldiers were young and scared, much like our young men who invaded Iraq. He was one of the first actors to actively campaign against the Vietnam war and his autobio includes an excellent summary of US foreign policy in the 1960's.
It's actually pretty funny that the tanks are just as important as actual actors, when it comes to casting in some of these films. I know it's probably easier to use what you had in abundance for them, but there's just something endearing about the Chaffee feeling like as big of a star as anyone else that would've had the lead role in these films. Just gonna call it the Tank of Hollywood by this point, really.
The end of WW2 was full of projects which turned up right at the end or just missed it. America did manage to get a handful of M26 Pershing tanks into combat just a right at the end, whereas the Centurion just missed put. Interestingly the Soviets would put their best tanks opposite the Centurion so it makes you wonder what would have happened if the had turned up earlier.
such a good video. Did not know Australian army had the Chaffed so I have really learned something today. Sad to say I am frustrated by BOTB movie. So many Shermans around even now they could have tried a bit harder.
Aussies only had a few Chaffees for trials. While the Chaffee performed very well in these trials they were ultimately not adopted by the Australian army. The black & white footage of the Australian Chaffee trials (held in New Guinea I think) can be found on yt :)
It looked great sliding around a corner and eventually being melted by Gort in the original 'The Day The Earth Stood Still' as well. It was also the chassis for the exceent M18 Hellcat tank destroyer and the M42 Duster AA vehicle.
AYYYY thanks for featuring godzilla!!! And fun fact: in Japanese movies like the Godzille series, the model chaffees have 4 return rollers like the M18 Hellcat and not 3. Another fact is the exact suspension/chassis was used all the way up to the mid 1990s for the type 61 and type 74 mix 'n match tanks. In other words a literal plastic model tank has seen longer service than the real thing itself.
the chaffee is probably one of my favorite tanks, and most favorite light tank, ironically it is my best tank in the game war thunder, its just reliable
I remember two years ago, i went for vacations in the island of Lemnos, north of Greece because a friend of my mother invited us. In one the beaches, one of those looking towards Turkey, in a tall hill, there was an abandoned, rusty but partially intact M24 Chaffee, overlooking the beach. Everything was there, the gun, the tracks, the superstructure, the engine... It was the first tank i ever saw in person....
@@eamonnclabby7067 Wow, that's an interesting discovery. Probably used for training. About the tank i saw, the father of my mother's friend, told me that back when tensions were high between Greece and Turkey - we had a war with them in 1974, during the Greek Junta, when they invaded Cyprus - they placed old military equipment on beaches in the islands close to the Turkish coast to create the impression that the beaches were guarded, in order to discourage possible Turkish commando landings and stuff like that...
@@panzerivausfg4062 there is an intact Centurion tank on display at the old fort in Eastbourne's seafront ,belonging to the Irish Hussars ,who served alongside my great uncle, s regiment the Royal Ulster Rifles on the river Imjin in Korea, my Uncle survived being a POW and made it back to Ireland and lived without bitterness or rancour his remaining days the book...To the last round.. described in vivid detail that bloddy mess ,The Gloucester regiment springs to mind , however the Irish ,Geordies ( Northhumberland regiment ) and Belgians were also there alongside other UN forces that should be mentioned...E
Woah. The movie in that first clip, as impressive as it's history is, messed up the audio so freakin bad. They used the ricochet sound *as a cannon firing sound!* Great video that sheds light on both lesser known military and film history!
Light Tanks have always had a questionable purpose in warfare. During WW1 the Ft-17 were more effective than their cousins the Mark 1-8 "Land Battleships", but after that the difference between light and mediums became blurred as the difference was mostly just tonnage. By WW2 Light Tanks were too lightly armed to fight the ever increasing levels of armor being used. The M3/5 Stuart was stuck with a 37mm. The Soviet T-70 had a 45mm. The German Panzer 2 had a 20mm autocannon. American Light Tanks were almost always behind Medium tanks and later MBTs. The M3/M5 Stuart was used when the 75mm M4 Sherman tank was necessary. The later M41 Walker Bulldog with a 76mm was used when the 90mm Armed M26/M46/M47 and so on were necessary. Supposedly the Soviet Union dropped Light Tanks during ww2 for additional T-34 Medium Tanks. Light Tanks were reintroduced later for Airborne units.
chaffe should be classified as an old actor from war movies quality of the movies varied just like the roles he played but he always gave his 100% F for chaffe playing german tanks
Out of all the American Lights of World War 2, the M24 Chaffee is the Highest on my List, although it under performed, and well... sucked during the Korean War, I cant blame them, their up against T-34-85s, vastly superior tanks to the Chaffee, but regardless of the that I still Love the Tank, aside from its Characteristics and what not, its Appearance, to me, is just very Beautiful! it's also my Most Played Tank, for those Scouting Roles and Aggressive Flanking Maneuvers, along side the M5 Stuart, it quite how fast tank development was in World War too, not to Mention the Technologies that Influenced and Inspired numerous Items we have Today. As Always Informative and Fun to Watch! Keep up the Great Work Johnny! and Thank you! for Tackling on My Favorite American World War 2 Light Tank!
Yeah. The M-24. Tank most likely to be depicted as a tank other than itself in the movies. Of course - this was just continuing the Hollywood Tradition which also included the M-41, M-47 and M-48 appearing as _"A Tank"_ . The TV Show _Combat_ used M-41's as both German and American tanks. If it was Green - it was American - if it was Gray - it was German. They did have some episodes where there was more than one _"Tank"_ but I don't remember if there were any episodes where they had M-41's on both sides. Another appearance was in _Enemy At The Gates_ where, I believe, it appeared as a German Mark III. Yes. The best thing about _The Battle of the Bulge_ is watching all those M-24's and M-47's chasing each other around. _Kelly's Heroes_ was the first movie I remember seeing where they had real Sherman's and Mark VI mock ups based on T-34's. If you want to see REAL Mark IV's and Mark V's in a movie - along with Scads of T-34/85's - watch _Tank Brigage_ . ruclips.net/video/OCIrzD6cQWs/видео.html It's a 1950's Chezhcoslovakian Communist Propaganda Film but they had access to a LOT of real German equipment. This is the link to the complete movie. There used to be a very good clip of just the equipment - but I can't find it any more. There are a number of others but they aren't as good as that one was. In any case - they're all in the complete movie. I'm all tired out from looking for it so I'm just going to post what I've got. Google Tank Brigade 1955 for the clips. .
When I worked at First Infantry Division Museum as a volunteer researcher, I was once tasked with researching immediate post-WWII reconnaissance vehicles used by the 1st Division. I didn't find what I was supposed to be looking for, but while reading old copies of the Bridgehead Sentinel I did find that the First Infantry Division was given 50 M24 Chaffees to conduct reconnaissance in force training. Why an Infantry Division was given 50 tanks, I do not know. But it was pretty neat to read.
In 1967 or early 1968 HHC 1/68 Armor pulled an M24 out of the junkyard at Baumholder Germany and set it in front of the barracks. I was the Battalion Maintenance wrecker operator and helped set it in place. Someone decided to pull open the deck plates to "peek under the hood" and we discovered the two Caddy engines in there. I don't recall any markings on it, but was in very good shape (no bullet holes), it could have been made runnable with little trouble.
One of my favorite tanks in War Thunder. As far as tanks in movies. If we're getting actual tanks on a large scale, I just can't find myself being able to gripe about accuracy. Especially back in the 60s and 70s.
The original version of The Day The Earth Stood Still also had some pretty prominent scenes with the M24, I was actually a little disappointed that film didn't make an appearance here
the 761st Tank Battalion was able to start switching some of their M5s for M24s towards the end of WWII. I cant remember how many but it was a photo of a member of D Company guarding the tanks during the winter of 45
Right from the start, I’d argue the best tank the US produced was the Pershing, but as it came to late to really make much of a difference, a case can be made for the Chaffee (light tank or not).
Cold War Italian Chaffee's featured in the Harryhausen monster movie "20 Million Miles to Earth". They were shown battling the Ymir at the Roman Colosseum. The story is that the city of Rome was quite upset at Harryhausen, as the tanks treads tended to chew up the old cobblestone streets!
I've always wondered why some Chaffees had standard block-type tracks like the M3 and M5 light tanks, and some of them had metal-link tracks like the locust. So far, I have been unable to find any information on the subject. Anyone? The final episode of M*A*S*H featured an M24, an M4, and something I call 'The Magic Tent.' An injured tanker drives an M24 into the camp, and it becomes a target for enemy artillery. The 4077th builds a tent over the tank to hide it, but the shells keep coming. Pierce commandeers the tented tank and drives it off the grounds. But when the tank drives OUT of the tent, it has turned into an M4 Sherman.
It's incredible how fast was tanks' development in WWII, imagine how useful such a fast and reliable tank would've been in N. Africa, instead of these mediocre Crusaders or Valentines!
The one variant I liked and probably the most heavily modified M-24 type was the M-19 MGMC anti aircraft vehicle, if the Chaffee had a limited role and service in Europe than the poor M-19 had none as first the US Army leadership had no idea where and how to use them since the Luftwaffe was pretty much done and the threat of air attack was almost nonexistent that, and the ammo was no where to be found so they spent all their time in northern France. It didn't see service until late 1950 in Korea with US and then other UN forces that being of Turkish and ROK mostly.
Great video Johnny, some Great appearances in movies there. The final set piece in the 'battle of the bulge'...supposed to be the really bad winter of 44/45, and filmed in the arid plains of Spain?...,that ruins it for me right there 😀
Johnny again a great video! I think the M24 Chaffee was supposed to represent a Panther in "Is Paris Burning" (1966) and "The night of the Generals" (1967).
It's amazing just how fast tank development happened during World War Two. If the M24 Chaffee was introduced in the 1930s it would have been considered a medium tank. It's actually heavier and larger than most Axis and Allied tanks at the beginning of the war. The Italian and Japanese tanks were all obsolete in comparison.
Chaffee gun wouldn't even had any troubles penetrate most Japanese tank in the Pacific, let alone Japanese medium tank. But then history prove otherwise, the Sherman took a shine of that.
As I stated in my separate Garrison Nichols the Chafee M24 was 18.4 tons as opposed to the M4Sherman between 30-38 tons roughly.
The M2 medium tank weighed 18.7ton's
This is why the Britain doesn't really use weight classes but roles as it starts to get daft but some here insist on following the daft yank weight model that make no sense.
With these figure the USA classifications seem rather arbitrary & completely pointless!
Back in ww1 7 most inter war British tank just had the tonnage slapped on the end & often referred to the tank for Vickers Mk E (6 tonne) was either a Mk E or 6Tonne in common vernacular for no one named it the whole thing.
Same went for a A7 also called a 16 tonner
Mind each could be called say a Vick 6 ton or Vick 16 ton respectively, you get the idea I suppose.
Nothing yanks do make nor is it even fun instead of hyper specific like Germans name everything.
It would have been a heavy tank in 1939
As it turned out the M3 Grant was more that a match for anything the Japanese had. So if the M24 turned up that would have been a bonus.
@@bigblue6917 The M24 was used after V J day for the occupation of japan after the war intended to take on T34's & such if the USSR got any fantastical idea of a naval invasion!
If any M 24's where used in the south east Asian Theatre of ww2, I am unaware of such.
Plenty of valentines & Vickers sent to the Burmese/south east Asian Campaign before the yanks even joined in.
Yanks seem to forget it was a world war showing up once it was 1/2 way through.
Japanese made your lot very bitter after the whole pearl ordeal!
I love how we all watching old 60s footage then suddenly you see Crusader jumping across a river with no ramps before shotgunning a Chaffee in the face.
I do like to mix it up :)
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq that's why i love this channel
thats anime for you. surprisingly, girls und panzer is probably more historically accurate then most live action movies like fury...minus the tank performance of course
"The dreaded Tiger tanks and their murderous 90mm gun!"
Ah yes, the dreaded "Tiger tanks"
Lol yah you gotta laugh
new tiger iii named after yankee general
Ah yes, Pershing or patton series. The M26 Pershing, M46 patton 1 and m47 patton 2 all had the same hull different turrent... except the Pershing and patton 1 had same turret different cannons.
Considering the number of classic Hollywood films the Chaffee was featured in, the tank should get it's own star on the Hollywood Walk Hall of Fame
1:34
The thing I find interesting about Reptilicus is that it gives a good insight into the state of the Danish army entering the 1960s
As you can see at the marked time, they’re Danish soldiers wearing American equipment, but using their over 60 year old Madsen MGs
Fun fact: in Brazil the Madsen is still in use
Watching "Bridge at Remagen" I was struck by how fast Chaffees were. They were also used frequently in the "Macaroni Combat" movies made by Italian film makers. Usually those set in North Africa. In "Commandos" with Lee Van Cleef, and "Desert Battle", they played German panzers. And in "Battle of El Alamein", with Michael Rennie as Montgomery, they played British tanks. It seemed the post war Greek army had Chaffees too,as a number of them appear in "Guns of Navarone" as Panzers .
I loved the Commandos (1968) movie, because of the final battle and the peace between the 2 survivors (1 of them was Heinz Reincke).
Who else loved when the tanks rode on the rollercoaster tracks in the amusement park in Girls und Panzer: Der Film?
I sure as hell did.🇺🇸
My man Kyle not afraid of some fun silliness in his viewing tastes.
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq
Thank you Johnny. Wakka wakka.
I blame my fascination with the Italian Carro Veloce CV33 & CV35 tankette entirely on Girls und Panzer: Der Film
pfp checks out.
@@WW1Hun username checks out.
M24 Chaffee surprisingly was the main stay Armor of Vietminh and The PAVN during the Indo china war and early stages of the Vietnam war. Almost all of them were captured from the French Indochina colonial force and saw service alongside captured M41 Walker bulldog , SU-100 and T-34-85 before being replaced by Soviet and Chinese armors like PT-76 , Type 63 Amphibious tank , T-54/55, Type 59 .
Not so surprising enough former allied turned communist countries and ex communist countries like Cuba and Ethiopia has seen use of the M24 Chaffee and M41 Walker bulldog during the Cuban revolution, Bay of Pigs invasion and The Derg revolution.
Also North Korea has some M24 chaffees in their museum.
One notable battle with M24 Chaffees was during the Battle of Dien Bien Phu where 10 of them provided fire support to the French garrison.
The French used it a good bit
I have read extensively of the 1st indochina war, I have never seen one single instance of the vietminh using tanks in the 1950s
The Castro's communist regime initially had a LOT of American weaponry.
The M-24 was probably the best designed light tank in history! Unfortunately the light tank concept was at an end at the close of WWII. Korea only confirmed that, light tanks inevitably ended up fighting mediums or worse early MBTs which they couldn't handle.
The M24 Chaffee was used in the Battle of Dien Bien Phu (1954). Ten Chaffee tanks completely disassembled by the Legion's 2e CREBLE and flown into the "camp rétranché" as smaller packages and reassembled. Those ten tanks provided direct fire and tactical support to the infantry as the Escadron de Marche du 1er Régiment de Chasseurs à Cheval (Capitaine Hervouet), in three platoons: Carette, Guntz and Préaud. Two of those tanks were captured and brought to Hanoi by the Viet Minh, one of them remaining at the site of the battle (the Bazeilles).
In Pierre Schoendoerffer's masterpiece Dien Bien Phu (1992), the Chaffees are used in the battle scenes (all incredbily accurate and well done), as everything in that movie is scrupulously accurate. The battle order of the Escadron was:
Capitaine Hervouet (tank CONTI)
- Peloton Carette :
MULHOUSE, BAZEILLES (destroyed in Elianne 2, March 30), DOUAUMONT (destroyed April 29)
- Peloton Guntz :
SMOLENSK, POSEN, ETTLINGEN (destroyed April 15)
- Peloton Préaud :
RATISBONNE, NEUMACH, AUERSTADT
Good run down
Love the Chaffee , also love how often it appears in movies rarely as a Chaffee though .
For the confused souls out there
The M41 twin 40mm motor gun carriage is based on the chassis of a M24 Chaffee.
The M42 Duster SPAAG is based on the chassis of a M41 Walker bulldog.
Changeedit:- It's M19 twin 40mm Motor Gun Carriage. M41 is actually a 105mm Howitzer.
Plus the M24 Chaffee was among the first armors of the new National Police reserve which will eventually evolve into the JSDF. The JGSDF employed their M24 Chaffees right till the mid 70s because unlike the M4A3E8 Super Shermans , they were light , fit for the local topography and unlike the Shermans,they were of adequate size and not overspacious . However the Sherman has better Armor and better gun.
The Chaffee really only sparsly served in WW2 with troops preferring their M3 and M5 Stuarts. But in Korea they served well as the initial battle tanks of the Americans and as scouts after Pershings and Shermans came to fill the main battle role. But the Chaffee itself is a very nice and very functional and effective tank regardless of when it was in service, and it's service length shows it's successful design.
Plus the clips of Girls und Panzer Der Film and Bo Time Gaming were nice touchs and I enjoyed seeing them.
The sequence in "The Remagen Bridge" when tanks pounded the german position on the other side of the river (at 7:2 mark on this video), in reality it was far more one sided: the American tanks, the newly arrived M26 Pershing tank of US 9th Armoured Division, armed with a long barrel 90mm gun came against a german FLAK position armed only with 20mm light AA guns. In fact it was a perfect target practice for American gunners, firing more rounds than any previous training combined.
Wasnt that the bridge the M26 couldnt cross for reasons of being too wide on its tracks?
@@Rusty_Gold85 As far as i know, the bridge was wide enough and did not pose any problems for Pershing tanks to cross it; however due the initial detonation which damaged the bridge, at first, it was seen too risky for the Pershing to cross it, due to their heavy weight (46.2 t). Thus, after the initial infantry assault which managed to cross the damaged bridge and established a bridgehead on eastern side of the river, only Sherman tanks (30 t) were sent in to support.
0:04 the Wilhelm Scream of explosion sound effects.
1:36 The M24 Chaffee tanks were a favorite in the JSDF.
Some other famous variants of the Sherman are the Norwegian NM-116 and Chilean 60mm upgunned versions . They have their respective articles in tank encyclopedia. Nations in south america like Uruguay have the M24 Chaffee in use till 2017-18 when they were replaced by M41C from Brazil. Also Iran has used their M24 and M41 against Iraq during the Iran Iraq war .
Man keep the fantastic additional info coming. Love having you on the channel 👍🙏
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq Thanks Man. Love ya .
@@patriotenfield3276 😘
@@e90baby same 2 ya. 😘
Glad you used the Desert Rats as part of your footage. Love the depiction of Rommel's failed first attack against the Australians at Tobruk in Easter 1941.
Also M24 Chaffee was the main light Armor of pakistan army during the Indo Pak wars where they were put against Their Indian light Armor counterparts like the M5A1 Stuarts and The PT-76. The Indian Army's AMX13-75 has the calibre enough to put up a good fight against the Chaffee and knock it out / even destroy it completely, yet the AMX -13-75 was more treated as a Tank destroyer in the Indian army , being effectively used to flank the pakistani pattins and destroy them from behind.
Also the main Armor of the Pakistani army in the East was the M24 Chaffee . During the third Indo Pak war , they couldn't maneuver through the marshes unlike the Indian PT-76 and were destroyed easily. Plus after the war , the New army of Bangladesh got their captured Chaffees back into service till the 80s and 90s where they were replaced by the Type 62 light tank.
As for pak army, they were replaced by the M41 Walker bulldog. And there are also a lot of Chaffees from the 1965 and 1971 alongside pattons (M47 AND M48) in the Indian tank museum of Khem Kharan.
India has used Russian weaponry with more effectiveness than Russians ever did
Teacher: what do you want to be when you grow up?
Chaffee: to be whatever I want to be.
I have had an affinity with that tank since my time in an armor battalion during the early '80s. I was the XO's driver and we went about scrounging parts to rebuild the M24 our unit had as a static display. Took almost 2 years but it was up and running by the time I left.
The movie, "Battle of the Bulge", about an attack through some of the densest forests in Europe is filmed in a desert!
I had a friend who was in Patton's motor pool in WW2, and he said they modified them to travel at 60 mph.
My favorite movies using the M24 were The Bridge At Remagen and the 1951 movie The Day the Earth Stood Still as both of them show them going at high speeds.
Although its' 75mm gun was developed as the M-4 and installed in the B-25G, that use was abandoned due to the impracticality of literally throwing the calibration of the plane's instruments off with its recoil, including the plane's compass, making navigation difficult.
"Come here chaffee lets have a duel ! "
-Roseship
The Bridge at Remagen is one of my favourite war films.
And it’s interesting how often the Chaffee is used against monsters, surely that’s a record unless the Abrams has broken it by shooting decepticons or something.
Good to see Girls und panzer Featuring again ,great video
I can pretty much promise any tank video I make will have some GuP :)
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq I can't wait
M24s were not only in Japanese SciFi; the US Army allowed use of some M24s from the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment at Ft. Meade (near DC) for the 1951 classic "The Day The Earth Stood Still". It's a crewman from an M24 that initially shoots Klaatu in the arm (and gets his tank melted for his efforts!). Yes, "Battle of the Bulge" is a real POS, but it is a guilty pleasure to watch the tanks running around. By the way, in BOB there are a few M37 Howitzer Motor Carriages used in a few shots. In "Patton" at least one M24 gets to play an American tank, but fitted with a mock-up of the T34 "Calliope" rocket launcher. Nice video Johnny! M24 is one of my personal favorite tanks.
Thanks Gary. A favorite of mine too. It's an oddly pretty tank as well lol
M24 Chaffe was my favorite WW2 Tank :)
🤔🇦🇺 Interesting.. 😁 So what's your favourite WW2 Tank now? My decision is a coin flip between the M4 Sherman (aka "Tommy Cooker/Ronson) and the Japanese Type 95.
I really like this tank. Compared to many others of its time it looks more "modern" to me. Very sleek, spunky design.
Another interesting fact, the M24 had the first mass produced automatic transmission! General Motors later advertised the Hydramatic Transmission as "Battle-Tested" because of its use in vehicles like the Chaffee.
My grandfather was the leader of a mortar crew as a corporal in the Guard Hussars' armoured infantry during his time as a conscript in the Danish army, and they were using the M24 at that time, so I grew up seeing pictures of it and hearing about how everyone would practically fight eachother to get to ride along when the tankers were training or on maneuvers. Apparently it was peak entertainment at that time to get to sit in the turret and just enjoy the ride while they ran through forests with the thing.
As a result, I also always just heard the Chaffee referred to as "our tank" until I randomly found it in War Thunder.
Also, props for finding Reptilicus, although I hope you viewed it in the original Danish rather than the awful English dub.
my first tank model was a chaffee from when i was a kid and still have it
Awesome video!!! Also, in the movie "A Bridge Too Far" there are some M24 Chaffee's to be seen, though they are destroyed/on fire. After the initial British ground attack with their Shermans, at the end of the scene there is an M24 being bulldozed off of the road.
Fantastic scene! Sad I overlooked it
I believe the burning M24 was restored years later after filming.
Props for showing the clip from ‘Reptilicus’, that’s a rare find indeed!
This is probably my favorite looking tank of all time.
I saw one of these in person a couple of weeks ago at the Norweigian Air Force museum. That's why I'm here
Robert Vaughan in his autobio described what it was like to be in Czechoslovakia filming "Bridge at Remagen" when the Russian invasion happened. He said the Russian soldiers were young and scared, much like our young men who invaded Iraq. He was one of the first actors to actively campaign against the Vietnam war and his autobio includes an excellent summary of US foreign policy in the 1960's.
It's actually pretty funny that the tanks are just as important as actual actors, when it comes to casting in some of these films.
I know it's probably easier to use what you had in abundance for them, but there's just something endearing about the Chaffee feeling like as big of a star as anyone else that would've had the lead role in these films.
Just gonna call it the Tank of Hollywood by this point, really.
The M24 Chaffee was The American Counterpart of The Panzer III, I wonder who would win in a battle.
In War Thunder this is my to go to Light tank. Love the Chaffee so much
The end of WW2 was full of projects which turned up right at the end or just missed it. America did manage to get a handful of M26 Pershing tanks into combat just a right at the end, whereas the Centurion just missed put. Interestingly the Soviets would put their best tanks opposite the Centurion so it makes you wonder what would have happened if the had turned up earlier.
Still by far thw most realistic use of the m24 is in girls und panzer, lefts face it would would want a chaffee roller coaster
Absolutely
Cool
such a good video. Did not know Australian army had the Chaffed so I have really learned something today. Sad to say I am frustrated by BOTB movie. So many Shermans around even now they could have tried a bit harder.
Aussies only had a few Chaffees for trials. While the Chaffee performed very well in these trials they were ultimately not adopted by the Australian army. The black & white footage of the Australian Chaffee trials (held in New Guinea I think) can be found on yt :)
I fell in love with the Chaffe when i saw it drift round corners in The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
I was always so curious about the Chaffee, given a late introduction and how effective it was in combat. Asthetically, I like the Chaffee.
It looked great sliding around a corner and eventually being melted by Gort in the original 'The Day The Earth Stood Still' as well. It was also the chassis for the exceent M18 Hellcat tank destroyer and the M42 Duster AA vehicle.
AYYYY thanks for featuring godzilla!!! And fun fact: in Japanese movies like the Godzille series, the model chaffees have 4 return rollers like the M18 Hellcat and not 3. Another fact is the exact suspension/chassis was used all the way up to the mid 1990s for the type 61 and type 74 mix 'n match tanks. In other words a literal plastic model tank has seen longer service than the real thing itself.
the chaffee is probably one of my favorite tanks, and most favorite light tank, ironically it is my best tank in the game war thunder, its just reliable
I remember two years ago, i went for vacations in the island of Lemnos, north of Greece because a friend of my mother invited us.
In one the beaches, one of those looking towards Turkey, in a tall hill, there was an abandoned, rusty but partially intact
M24 Chaffee, overlooking the beach. Everything was there, the gun, the tracks, the superstructure, the engine...
It was the first tank i ever saw in person....
Similarly when I was on holiday in North Wales ,encountered a rusty but intact Bren gun carrier abandoned in some woodland....E
@@eamonnclabby7067 Wow, that's an interesting discovery. Probably used for training.
About the tank i saw, the father of my mother's friend, told me that back when tensions were high between Greece and Turkey - we had a war with them in 1974, during the Greek Junta, when they invaded Cyprus - they placed old military equipment on beaches in the islands close to the Turkish coast to create the impression that the beaches were guarded, in order to discourage possible Turkish commando landings and stuff like that...
@@panzerivausfg4062 there is an intact Centurion tank on display at the old fort in Eastbourne's seafront ,belonging to the Irish Hussars ,who served alongside my great uncle, s regiment the Royal Ulster Rifles on the river Imjin in Korea, my Uncle survived being a POW and made it back to Ireland and lived without bitterness or rancour his remaining days the book...To the last round.. described in vivid detail that bloddy mess ,The Gloucester regiment springs to mind , however the Irish ,Geordies ( Northhumberland regiment ) and Belgians were also there alongside other UN forces that should be mentioned...E
@@eamonnclabby7067 That's gotta be a very interesting story to tell
My armor unit had one on display in front of hq. It ran and once a year gave rides to family members, along with our Apcs and tanks
Woah. The movie in that first clip, as impressive as it's history is, messed up the audio so freakin bad. They used the ricochet sound *as a cannon firing sound!* Great video that sheds light on both lesser known military and film history!
7:03 that shot tho, even has a rainbow
I just got a LOL from a Danish Kaiju movie I'd never heard of
Dude the amount of work you put into these is exemplary.
Thanks for the kind words 🙏
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq Thanks for the awesome work. 👏👏👏
Light Tanks have always had a questionable purpose in warfare. During WW1 the Ft-17 were more effective than their cousins the Mark 1-8 "Land Battleships", but after that the difference between light and mediums became blurred as the difference was mostly just tonnage. By WW2 Light Tanks were too lightly armed to fight the ever increasing levels of armor being used. The M3/5 Stuart was stuck with a 37mm. The Soviet T-70 had a 45mm. The German Panzer 2 had a 20mm autocannon.
American Light Tanks were almost always behind Medium tanks and later MBTs. The M3/M5 Stuart was used when the 75mm M4 Sherman tank was necessary.
The later M41 Walker Bulldog with a 76mm was used when the 90mm Armed M26/M46/M47 and so on were necessary.
Supposedly the Soviet Union dropped Light Tanks during ww2 for additional T-34 Medium Tanks. Light Tanks were reintroduced later for Airborne units.
chaffe should be classified as an old actor from war movies
quality of the movies varied
just like the roles he played
but he always gave his 100%
F for chaffe playing german tanks
Absolutely
Out of all the American Lights of World War 2, the M24 Chaffee is the Highest on my List, although it under performed, and well... sucked during the Korean War, I cant blame them, their up against T-34-85s, vastly superior tanks to the Chaffee, but regardless of the that I still Love the Tank, aside from its Characteristics and what not, its Appearance, to me, is just very Beautiful! it's also my Most Played Tank, for those Scouting Roles and Aggressive Flanking Maneuvers, along side the M5 Stuart, it quite how fast tank development was in World War too, not to Mention the Technologies that Influenced and Inspired numerous Items we have Today.
As Always Informative and Fun to Watch!
Keep up the Great Work Johnny!
and Thank you! for Tackling on My Favorite American World War 2 Light Tank!
Lol I won't lie I'm a sucker for the chaffees looks as well
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq Ah I see that I... Have a Fellow Comrade who likes Chaffee mainly for the Looks as well....
*NICE!*
Seeing a Bo Time gaming clip just makes my day lol
Yeah. The M-24. Tank most likely to be depicted as a tank other than itself in the movies. Of course - this was just continuing the Hollywood Tradition which also included the M-41, M-47 and M-48 appearing as _"A Tank"_ . The TV Show _Combat_ used M-41's as both German and American tanks. If it was Green - it was American - if it was Gray - it was German. They did have some episodes where there was more than one _"Tank"_ but I don't remember if there were any episodes where they had M-41's on both sides.
Another appearance was in _Enemy At The Gates_ where, I believe, it appeared as a German Mark III.
Yes. The best thing about _The Battle of the Bulge_ is watching all those M-24's and M-47's chasing each other around.
_Kelly's Heroes_ was the first movie I remember seeing where they had real Sherman's and Mark VI mock ups based on T-34's.
If you want to see REAL Mark IV's and Mark V's in a movie - along with Scads of T-34/85's - watch _Tank Brigage_ .
ruclips.net/video/OCIrzD6cQWs/видео.html
It's a 1950's Chezhcoslovakian Communist Propaganda Film but they had access to a LOT of real German equipment. This is the link to the complete movie.
There used to be a very good clip of just the equipment - but I can't find it any more. There are a number of others but they aren't as good as that one was. In any case - they're all in the complete movie.
I'm all tired out from looking for it so I'm just going to post what I've got. Google Tank Brigade 1955 for the clips.
.
When I worked at First Infantry Division Museum as a volunteer researcher, I was once tasked with researching immediate post-WWII reconnaissance vehicles used by the 1st Division. I didn't find what I was supposed to be looking for, but while reading old copies of the Bridgehead Sentinel I did find that the First Infantry Division was given 50 M24 Chaffees to conduct reconnaissance in force training. Why an Infantry Division was given 50 tanks, I do not know. But it was pretty neat to read.
That would be a sweet gig. Thanks for sharing this!
In 1967 or early 1968 HHC 1/68 Armor pulled an M24 out of the junkyard at Baumholder Germany and set it in front of the barracks. I was the Battalion Maintenance wrecker operator and helped set it in place. Someone decided to pull open the deck plates to "peek under the hood" and we discovered the two Caddy engines in there. I don't recall any markings on it, but was in very good shape (no bullet holes), it could have been made runnable with little trouble.
Bless you Johnny, in the name of the Priest.
I loved Chaffee racing in World of Tanks. Fun as all get out.
I love the chaffee in games and in movies love that youre making a video on it its a really good tank
You missed the wrecked Chaffee in A Bridge to Far, right near the start of 30 Corps stepping off on Hells Highway.
That's a great scene too
One of my favorite tanks in War Thunder. As far as tanks in movies. If we're getting actual tanks on a large scale, I just can't find myself being able to gripe about accuracy. Especially back in the 60s and 70s.
Having that scale with no CGI is really impressive so I try to give them lots of leeway on historically accuracy. At least some.
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq Definitely...now if it was a WW2 movie and they had Abrams and Leopards I'd really roll my eyes lol
Canadian Bacon is such an underrated film. Easily one of my favorite John Candy movies.
Indeed
Those Chaffee's saw more service in films than in war. It looks great though. The Ferrari of the light tank world.
The original version of The Day The Earth Stood Still also had some pretty prominent scenes with the M24, I was actually a little disappointed that film didn't make an appearance here
Sorry I blew that one! I realized I missed it just as this finished uploading.
3:14 at least you have "shot shells" for when the enemy is in the mood of playing hide and seek in the "Bocage"
Awesome video nice facts awesome editing , glad I was your 61.000 view, definitely a new sub too👍
Thanks Ashley. Welcome to the channel 🙏
1:24 "against a monster" - ... something like a jadgpanther?....oh
Bo time gaming makes the cut again as always love you and Bo
the 761st Tank Battalion was able to start switching some of their M5s for M24s towards the end of WWII. I cant remember how many but it was a photo of a member of D Company guarding the tanks during the winter of 45
I have the Cobi model of the M-24 Chaffe and I'll say this.... IT WAS A PAIN TO BUILD
0:04 Wooa, that tank shoot like a colt revolver.
The chassis was used for the M - 42 " Duster " Armed with twin 40mm anti aircraft cannon .
Borfor 40mm automatic cannon
M19 Twin 40mm Motor Gun carriage is from M24 chaffee
M42 Duster is from M41 walker bulldog .
no need to edit your answer. the heart looks good.
Right from the start, I’d argue the best tank the US produced was the Pershing, but as it came to late to really make much of a difference, a case can be made for the Chaffee (light tank or not).
Let's not forget the Chaffee tanks vaporized by Gort in Day the Earth Stood Still.
My favorite tank design of all time
Cold War Italian Chaffee's featured in the Harryhausen monster movie "20 Million Miles to Earth". They were shown battling the Ymir at the Roman Colosseum. The story is that the city of Rome was quite upset at Harryhausen, as the tanks treads tended to chew up the old cobblestone streets!
10:00 didn't know this was dialogue from the movie, this shit got me bruh
Me mindlessly wasting 30 seconds on RUclips videos, then sees Johnny posted another video. Watches the whole thing cuz it’s great. 👍
My man Aaron! Thanks for the support
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq thanks for the awesome content! Love your channel Johnny
my favorite tank
I watched "The Guns of Navarone" last night, and the "Panzers" in the movie were M24s :D
Great video as always - and Happy Canada Day to you!
Thanks man! I'll try to have a video out for you for the 4th of July ;)
i love this tank
The only true anti-monster tank
0:55 I think for some of us Girls Und Panzer is the reason why we know of the Chaffee
No shame in that
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq I knew of the BT-42 and CV-33 because of GuP and many more tanks after that
Never expected to see Bo in one ur videos
Bo's the man. A treasure trove of funny clips.
Thanks Johnny
7:28 Given the historical circumstances I was not a bit surpised when this was mentioned. I was rather expecting it
I've always wondered why some Chaffees had standard block-type tracks like the M3 and M5 light tanks, and some of them had metal-link tracks like the locust. So far, I have been unable to find any information on the subject. Anyone?
The final episode of M*A*S*H featured an M24, an M4, and something I call 'The Magic Tent.' An injured tanker drives an M24 into the camp, and it becomes a target for enemy artillery. The 4077th builds a tent over the tank to hide it, but the shells keep coming. Pierce commandeers the tented tank and drives it off the grounds. But when the tank drives OUT of the tent, it has turned into an M4 Sherman.
It's incredible how fast was tanks' development in WWII, imagine how useful such a fast and reliable tank would've been in N. Africa, instead of these mediocre Crusaders or Valentines!
The one variant I liked and probably the most heavily modified M-24 type was the M-19 MGMC anti aircraft vehicle, if the Chaffee had a limited role and service in Europe than the poor M-19 had none as first the US Army leadership had no idea where and how to use them since the Luftwaffe was pretty much done and the threat of air attack was almost nonexistent that, and the ammo was no where to be found so they spent all their time in northern France. It didn't see service until late 1950 in Korea with US and then other UN forces that being of Turkish and ROK mostly.
You missed Guns of Navarone! But very good catch on Go For Broke
*sees GuP references*
You, sir, deserve my subscription
Panzer vor means Panzer vor
Thanks for the shout-out to the Czech events.
Great video Johnny, some Great appearances in movies there. The final set piece in the 'battle of the bulge'...supposed to be the really bad winter of 44/45, and filmed in the arid plains of Spain?...,that ruins it for me right there 😀
Yah a bit of a stretch haha
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq 🙂🙂🙂
Johnny again a great video! I think the M24 Chaffee was supposed to represent a Panther in "Is Paris Burning" (1966) and "The night of the Generals" (1967).