The M4 Sherman is, by a comfortable margin, the most recognisable of the Allied tanks of World War II (at least to a Western audience). Thousands were built and supplied to all the major Allied powers, and their combat performance was, if not spectacular, thoroughly satisfactory, with the sheer number of available vehicles being a significant contributor to the eventual defeat of Nazi Germany. Of the many, many Sherman variants that would be developed, one of the most famous (and effective) was the M4A3E8 – more formally the M4A3(76)W HVSS, known for the sake of convenience and sanity as the ‘Easy Eight’ (from the E8 suffix and comfortable ride).

The Easy Eight was arguably the most well-rounded of the Second World War Sherman variants, combining welded hull construction and wet ammunition storage for survivability with the mobility of the smooth-riding Horizontal Volute Spring Suspension (HVSS) system and attendant wider tracks, and the anti-tank punch of the excellent 76mm Gun M1. Specifically designed to counter the increasingly heavy German armour encountered as US forces pushed towards Germany, the Easy Eight was capable of engaging and destroying all marques of Panzer IVs at combat ranges, and the 76mm gun could usually threaten the heavier German tanks from the sides and rear. Against the lighter opposition encountered on other fronts, they proved absolutely devastating, although most were deployed to Western Europe. With around 2,500 made, there were never enough to go around, the type never completely replaced the 75mm-armed types in service during the Second World War (although the excellent high explosive rounds available to the 75mm meant that having a mix of the two types in the same unit was often considered beneficial), but the Easy Eight was at its core still a Sherman, with all the reliability and consistency that name entailed. Well-liked by its crews, it was considered a potent and viable weapon, although it did not completely address the demand for more firepower in armoured units, this need increasingly being filled by the Tank Destroyer branch. A good number were also deployed during the war by Canadian units.

As an excellent, reliable medium tank, the Easy Eight unsurprisingly remained in service post-war, and would be deployed in significant numbers and see combat with a number of operators in the Korean War, maintaining its reputation as a rugged, reliable machine despite being rendered technically obsolescent by tanks such as the Centurion and Pershing. Not fully retired from US service until 1957, the Easy Eight would also enjoy a surprisingly long life in other militaries across the world. As surplus World War II US military hardware flooded the export market in the late 1940s and into the 1950s, ‘Easy Eights’ would go on to serve with many countries, seeing particularly heavy service in Israeli colours, and continue to see limited action until well into the 1970s and beyond, albeit often modified far beyond their original configuration. Most recently, an Easy Eight was the star of the film Fury – while much of the historicity may be a little dubious, it does give us plenty of lovely shots of a real example of the tank in ‘action’.