Hobby Master 1/72 Ground Power Series
HG3605
M24 (Bison) Light Tank
"Douaumont", Escadron de Marche du 1er Régiment de
Chasseurs à Cheval (RCC)
Peleton Carette, Dien Bien Phu, 1954
THESE ARE PRE-PRODUCTION
PICTURES, NOT THE FINAL PRODUCT
Pre-Painted by professionals
Accurate paint colors
Markings Tampo (pad) applied
Fully Assembled
Die-Cast Model
True to Scale (1:72)
Weathering and insignias
Turret turns
Metal turret and main gun
Realistic tracks
Late in WWII the M24 replaced the M5 Stuart and with its 75mm main gun became one
of the first US designed tanks to be able to take on the German armor. The M24 was
one of the first tanks to cross the Rhine as the Allies pushed deeper into Germany.
The tank was quite unique by being able to house five persons in a light tank. The
designers made sure the crew were able to provide adequate self-defense by providing
two 7.62mm machine guns, one anti-aircraft 12.7mm heavy machine gun and 51mm
smoke grenade-launchers.
There were over 4,000 M24’s built and because of its speed, agility and reliability over
30 countries added them to their arsenal well into the 1970’s. This tank would prove to
be more than adequate during the Korean and Vietnam Wars.


The French military established a base at Dien Bien Phu Vietnam to act as an offensive
base. From here they could launch attacks on the Viet Minh in neighboring areas or use
it as a defensive base that could destroy the attacking enemy using the large amount of
firepower they had assembled.
As part of the French offensive weaponry they flew 10 M24 tanks to the base. The
French didn’t possess an aircraft capable of lifting a fully assembled M24 so each tank
was disassembled into 180 parts. Each tank required 8 aircraft to transfer it to the front
line. On January 15, 1954 all 10 tanks were reassembled and on January 20th they
were divided into 3 platoons each with 3 tanks and one HQ tank for Squadron
Commander Capitaine Yves Hervouët. The squadron was named Escadron de Marche
du 1er Régiment de Chasseurs à Cheval.
Each tank was named after cities, locations or battles and was painted in large white
letters on the sides of the turret. These names were used as radio call signs and the
crews referred to the M24 as “Bison” and the Viet Minh called them “Oxen”. The French
had strong points around Dien Bien Phu and each one was named after a woman. From
these points they would strike out at enemy placements in the hillside and rout them but
on March 13, 1954 the tables began to turn. The Viet Minh launched a massive artillery
barrage from the surrounding hills that made the French base an easy target. After
several hours of shelling, wave after wave of foot soldiers began swarming the strong
points. The first point fell that night with the second falling a day and a half later. The
M24’s were used extensively to halt the advance but this was only briefly effective. As
more and more ground was lost the tanks became more exposed to enemy artillery fire.
The tank Douaumont and one other suffered severe hits killing several crew members.
The damage left the tanks immobile but they could continue to be used as pillboxes.
Through each see-saw battle each tank fired an average of 60 to 100 shells and when
the Viet Minh finally succeeded in over running Dien Bien Phu on May 7, 1954 each
tank had fired an average of 1500 shells. The Bison had performed admirably with only
3 breaking down due to problems with the recoil mechanism caused by such heavy and
almost continuous use. Before the enemy completed their capture of the base the M24
crews destroyed what was left so they couldn’t be used again.

During its time in service with the French Military they had received 1254 M24’s, the
largest number for any foreign country.



Specifications for Cadillac/Massey Harris M24 Light Tank

Country of origin – USA

Production – over 4,000 units

Crew – 5

Dimensions
Length – 17.98ft   (5.48m)
Width – 9.68ft   (2.95m)
Height – 8.04ft   (2.45m)

Weight – 19.9 US short tons   (18,070kg)

Performance
Engine – 2 X Cadillac 44T24  V-8  100hp gasoline
Speed – 35mph   (56km/h)
Range – 99 miles   (160km)

Armament
1 X 75mm main gun – 48 rounds carried
1 X 12.7mm machine gun on pintle – 420 rounds carried
2 X 7.62mm machine guns – 1 in bow / 1 coaxial – 4,125 rounds carried
1 X 51mm smoke mortar
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