- For the Steel Division: Normandy 44 unit see SD:M5 Gun 76mm
M5 Gun 76mm is a United States Anti-tank unit in Steel Division II.
Background[ | ]
Development of the gun began in 1940, as it was foreseen that a more powerful gun than the 37mm would be needed. A prototype was complete by September 1941 and the anti-tank gun entered production in 1942. The anti-tank guns reached frontline troops in 1943, in time for the Italian campaign and later the campaign in Northwest Europe.
Despite its much increased performance, the AT gun did not readily gain popularity among the military US branches. The infantry branch considered it too heavy and too large, while the tank destroyer arm (borne out of US doctrine of massed tank destroyer counterattacks against blitzkriegs) rejected it as it preferred more mobile self-propelled weapons (like the M10). Eventually, the TD branch was forced to accept them.
It went on to have a relatively short service life as commanders preferred to employ self-propelled tank destroyers. The M5 Gun 76mm suffered high losses during the Battle of the Bulge, and requests were made to convert the towed AT guns into self-propelled tank destroyers. It gradually was phased out and by the end of the war, 2500 76mm anti-tank guns had been produced.
In real life 3rd Armored did not have a Towed Anti-Tank Battalion attached during the Normandy Campaign.
2nd Infantry (SD2) had Company A, 635th Tank Destroyer Battalion (Towed) during the 8-17 June 44.