so as many people know, the Sherman tank was the main tank of the US army during WWII, and what not quite as many know is that the US army had a tank that was comparable to heavier German tanks of the time in the M26 Pershing tank. And what even fewer but still quite a few people know is that the Pershing tank was held back in developement so that the Sherman could be more widely manufactured, and that this was a result of US doctrine which favored using anti-tank guns and tank destroyers to fight tanks rather than other tanks, which was the strategy of one General Lesley J. McNair who was GHQ chief of staff and the commander of Army Ground Forces.
Now what would have happened if Mr. McNair had been killed in WWI, died of Spanish Flu, or maybe just decided to go into civilian life before WWII? Could you see large numbers of Pershing tanks facing off against German Tigers and Panthers in France and Western Germany? Or was the war department dead set on sending american soldiers to fight on unequal terms against Wermacht tankers?
Now what would have happened if Mr. McNair had been killed in WWI, died of Spanish Flu, or maybe just decided to go into civilian life before WWII? Could you see large numbers of Pershing tanks facing off against German Tigers and Panthers in France and Western Germany? Or was the war department dead set on sending american soldiers to fight on unequal terms against Wermacht tankers?