Vintage Photo Wednesday, Vol. 39: M3 Tank and Crew Using Small Arms, Ft. Knox, Ky., 1942

Now here’s a peach of a color photograph from the World War II era. It captures a training exercise for the U.S. Army at Fort Knox, Kentucky. Here we see six soldiers aiming their firearms at an unseen target, all the while in the shadow of a Medium Tank M3. Note the rather unique offset turret indicative of the M3 tank, which was discontinued at the end of 1942 in favor of the iconic M4 Sherman.

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M3 Tank and Crew Using Small Arms, Ft. Knox, Ky., 1942

Photo credit: Alfred T. Palmer, Office of War Information, June 1942.

I’m no firearms expert, but the soldier in the front left looks to be holding a Thompson M1 submachine gun with drum magazine.