Israeli M4 Sherman and Derivatives

The history of the Sherman tank in service with the Israeli Defense forces be­gan only a few minutes following the departure of the last British soldier from the ramp at Haifa harbor which at that time ended 30 years of British mandate in Palestine.
it was on 14 May. 1948. when technicians of the "HACANA" entered the for­mer British camp at "TlRA" in the south of HAIFA, with the task of evaluating the possibility of assembling one or more Sherman tanks from the hulls and turrets found on the grounds.
The first Sherman tank that entered service in the newly formed Israeli Defense Force was an M4A2 with a welded hull and sheet metal side skirts. This particular tank was nicknamed "TAMAR" which was written on both sides of the turret in traditional Hebrew script.
The new Israeli Army decided to purchase as many AF.V.'s as possible from surplus stocks from the U.S.Army both in Europe and the Pacific, a decision implemented by a limited budgetary envelope.
A small quantity of Sherman M4A1's with 75mm gun and M4A3's with 105mm Howitzer gun were purchased from U.S. camps in Italy and the Philipines. The holes drilled through the barrels to demilitarize the guns were sealed and welded by IDF technicians (who had no previous experience) upon which the tanks were distributed among different fighting units with the fa­mous 7th Armored Brigade receiving the batch of the available tanks. After the Independence War. more Shermans were purchased from surplus sources around the world. This eventually initiated a long period of Sherman service with the IDF which spanned 40 years and has not ended yet.