U.S. Army M5/M6 Antitank Gun

U.S. Army M5/M6 Antitank Gun. .
[First Panel:]
Production of the M5 Antitank Gun began in December 1942. In November 1943, a slightly modified carriage was standardized as M6. In this carriage, a flat shield borrowed from the 105 mm howitzer was replaced by a new sloped one. In January 1944, Army Ground Forces requested an upgrade of those guns built with the early carriage M1 to the carriage M6; consequently, most of the guns that reached the frontline had the M6 carriage.

In October 1943, the first towed battalion - the 805th - arrived in Italy. Subsequently, the M5 saw combat in the Italian Campaign and in the Northwest Europe. One of the most notable engagements came during the German counterattack on Mortain in August 1944. The 823rd Tank Destroyer (TD) Battalion, attached to the 30th Infantry Division, played a key role in the successful defense of Saint Barthelemy, destroying fourteen tanks and a number of other vehicles, though at the price of losing eleven of its guns.

In addition to the anti-tank role, the gun was often used to supplement divisional field artillery or to provide direct fire against enemy fortifications (e.g., a combat report from the 614th TD mentioned a two-gun section firing 143 shells at an enemy post, achieving 139 hits).

Although the M5 easily outperformed older anti-tank guns in the US service, it was large and heavy - making it hard to manhandle into position - and its anti-armor characteristics were found to be somewhat disappointing.

An Armor Piercing Discarding Sabot round was never developed for the M5; an Armor Piercing Composite Rigid round existed, but it is not clear if it was ever issued to towed TD battalions.

[Second Panel:]
As a result of the aforementioned shortcomings, commanders and troops generally preferred an alternative in form of self-propelled tank destroyers, which offered better mobility and also better protection for their crews.

Unfortunately, we do not have the complete provenance of the Antitank Gun at Jeff Davis Post 18. Our display weapon had "A 160" etched on the inside of the shield plate. With its low production number (1979) it most likely saw combat operations in Europe during world war two. The War Department and Department of the Army provided many individual donations to specific veterans' organizations and museums, those transactions numbered in the thousands during the postwar years. In addition, the War Department and Department of the Army records management procedures, such documentation are considered temporary and would be destroyed after its administrative use.

Today, the M5/M6 is utilized by the US Army for ceremonial purposes. The Presidential Salute Guns Platoon of The Old Guard currently maintains a battery of ten M5s at Fort Myer for service mainly in the National Capital Region.