6817 Dragon 1/35 U.S. M7 Priest Early Production

Additional Information

In November 1942, as part of the 5th regiment of the Royal horse artillery M7 took part in the battle of El Alamein, and in 1943 a large number of these ACS in the 8th army took part in the landing in Italy. By this time, the British army had received an additional 700 vehicles, some of which were allocated for the operation in Normandy. In the summer of 1944, the M7 self-propelled guns began to gradually replace the ACS "Sexton". On the basis of M7 British engineers were developed APC "Priest Kangaroo" and "Priest"OP. The howitzer was dismantled from them, the frontal embrasure was covered with armor plates and a compartment for transportation of 20 soldiers was arranged. The American army was also no less willing to use the M7 during the fighting on the Western front, but since January 1945 they were transferred to the second line and replaced by the M37 ACS.
In the postwar period, the M7 ACS were in service in the us army and a number of other States. Participated in the war in Korea. During the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, these ACS were used by the Israel defense Forces.
In 1942 the British General staff ordered to create on the basis of M7 own self-propelled gun of support armed with 87,6-mm howitzer instead of the American 105-mm weapon. Having considered the possible options for modernization as the basis for choosing the chassis of the tank "Ram", installing a new armored wheelhouse. The driver's seat was shifted to the right, the gun mount to the left. Because of the tightness of the fighting compartment modest ammunition stacked on the left side, and the anti-aircraft gun had to be removed. Experienced ACS collected at the enterprise Montreal Locomotive Works (Canada) at the end of 1942 and immediately sent it to the UK for testing. In the mass production of self-propelled unit went out in 1943 under the title "Sexton" ("Sexton"). By the end of the year it produced 424 cars, until production ceased in the spring of 1945 it was handed over 2,150 self-propelled guns, and the last batch was manufactured on the chassis of medium tank M4. Gradually "Sexton" ousted American M7, but armed with the British army, both ACS remained after the war.