FRENCH M24 "CHAFFEE" IN INDOCHINA WAR - 1946-1954

Description

The M24 Chaffee was an American light tank designed in 1943 to replace the M5 Stuart. It was a new design using torsion bar suspension, though using the tried and tested drive train of the M5. The combat weight was 18 tons and the armor was up to 38mm thick. Armament was a lightweight 75mm gun, with 2 x .30 Browning machine guns. Powered by a 220 bhp Cadillac 44T24 petrol engine, the M24 had a speed of 56km/h. After the end of WWII many surplus tanks were passed to allies, and France received a number of M24’s. Some of these were sent to Indo China, now Vietnam, to fight the Communist Viet Minh. The tanks gave good service in the harsh jungle conditions. They were used mainly for infantry support and mobile artillery. Ten tanks were air lifted to the fire base at Dien Bien Phu in March 1954 to try and stop the Communist advance on Laos. But after a two month siege the base was over run by a vastly superior Viet Minh army. The French abandoned Indo China shortly afterwards. Other French M24’s served in the French colony of Algeria. (Scale : 1/35e)