"But where have the Egyptians gone ?!"
Egypt violated the agreements signed in 1956 after the Sinai campaign, and Israel exercised its right to self-defence by launching a pre-emptive attack on Egypt on June 5, 1967, and responding to the Jordanian aggression by expelling Syrian forces from the Golan Heights...
On June 6, the Egyptian army abandoned half of the Sinai plateau before collapsing completely the next day, the army panicking and fleeing. The Israeli air force intervened massively against the Jordanians, who withdrew from the West Bank and Jerusalem. The Syrians also collapsed and were pushed back towards Damascus. The Israelis destroy and recover a large number of vehicles, some of them intact...
The Israeli armored brigades were mainly composed of modernized M48 PATTON & CENTURION, while in the mechanized brigades, the infantry on M3 & M113 were supported by SHERMAN M50 & M51...
The M51s, which some considered totally outdated in the face of the more modern Egyptian T55 & T62, performed brilliantly on two fronts, particularly in the Golan Heights. This Sherman was fitted with the French AMX 13 105mm gun, shortened by 1.50m, in a larger 76mm M4 A1 turret than the normal M4. In addition to a larger turret counterweight, this solution required the production of suitable ammunition. A new 460hp Cummins engine. Other special modifications included horizontally pivoting hatches, improved ammunition storage, the elimination of the cumbersome battery charger and its replacement by a Paris-Rhône dynamo, a white-light and infrared searchlight, and a smoke launcher. All this resulted in a combat weight of 39 tonnes (seven tonnes more than the original model). Despite its relatively tall silhouette, characteristic of the Sherman, it was an efficient armored vehicle. It reached a speed of 45 kph, with a range of 270 km - more than previous models...
Models. The Mack tank carrier comes from Monogram. The Snap-tite model has been modified. The wheels are resin. The trailer is scratchbuilt from a drawing in one of François Verlinden's books. The Tamiya T55 was also reworked, with details added to the body and turret, and the interior redone. Skybow's M38 jeep was transformed into an Israeli version...
Tamiya's old Centurion has been upgraded with a 105mm cannon. The M51 sherman is fitted with a Verlinden resin turret, the body comes from MP Models. Tamiya's M3 A2 half-track is also modified as an Israeli version, as is the Patton M48...
Lindberg's T55 and Tamiya's T62...
