List of anti-tank guns
Self-propelled anti-tank guns
Table:
Caliber (mm)

Weapon name

Country of origin

Period

37
M6 Gun Motor Carriage
United States
World War II

47
Laffly W15TCC
France
World War II

47
Panzerjäger I
Nazi Germany
World War II

47
Semovente 47/32
Italy
World War II

57
AEC Mk I Gun Carrier
United Kingdom
World War II

57
6 pounder Anti-tank Gun portee
United Kingdom
World War II

57
T48 Gun Motor Carriage
United States
World War II

57
ZiS-30
Soviet Union
World War II

75
Jagdpanzer 38(t) / Hetzer
Nazi Germany
World War II

75
Jagdpanzer IV Sd.Kfz. 162
Nazi Germany
World War II

75
Marder I
Nazi Germany
World War II

75
Marder II
Nazi Germany
World War II

75
Marder III Sd.Kfz. 138
Nazi Germany
World War II

75
Type 1 Ho-Ni I
Japan
World War II

75
Type 3 Ho-Ni III
Japan
World War II

75
Mareșal tank destroyer
Kingdom of Romania
World War II

75
M3 Gun Motor Carriage
United States
World War II

76.2
Marder III, Sd.Kfz. 139
Nazi Germany
World War II

76.2
SP 17pdr, Valentine, Mk I, Archer
United Kingdom
World War II

76.2
17pdr SP M10 Achilles
United Kingdom
World War II

Looking at the tabular data as well as the supporting text provided at the end.

Solve the question: Which people resided in the middle of the nation which first manufactured the Semovente 47/32 ? Provide just your answer in a JSON object {"answer": "YOUR ANSWER"}. Base your answer solely on the given information.

In guns , particularly firearms , caliber ( or calibre in British English ) is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel bore regardless of how or where the bore is measured and whether or not the finished bore matches that specification . It is measured in inches to an accuracy of hundredths or thousandths of an inch or in millimeters . For example , a .45 caliber firearm has a barrel diameter of roughly 0.45 inches ( 11 mm ) . Barrel diameters can also be expressed using metric dimensions . For example , a 9 mm pistol has a barrel diameter of about 9 millimeters . Due to the inaccuracy and imprecision of imperial dimensions converted to metric units , metric designations are typically far out of specifications published in decimal inches . True caliber specifications require imperial measure , and even when cartridge designations ( often mistakenly referred to as caliber ) only specify caliber to even tenths or hundredths of an inch , actual barrel/chamber/projectile dimensions are published to at least thousandths of an inch and frequently tolerances extend into ten-thousandths of an inch . In a rifled barrel , the distance is measured between opposing lands or between opposing grooves ; groove measurements are common in cartridge designations originating in the United States , while land measurements are more common elsewhere in the world . Measurements across the grooves are used for maximum precision because rifling and the specific caliber so-measured is the result of final machining process which cuts grooves into the rough bore leaving the lands behind . Good performance requires a concentric , straight bore that accurately centers the projectile within , in preference to a tight fit which can be achieved even with off-center , crooked bores that cause excessive friction , fouling and an out-of-balance , wobbling projectile in flight . While modern firearms are generally referred to by the name of the cartridge the gun is chambered for , they are still categorized together based on bore diameter . For example , a firearm might be described as a 30 caliber rifle , which could be any of a wide range of cartridges using a roughly 0.30 inches ( 7.6 mm ) projectile ; or a 22 rimfire , referring to any rimfire firearms firing cartridges with a .22 caliber projectile .
The 37 mm Gun Motor Carriage M6 , also known as M6 Fargo , and under the manufacturer ( Dodge ) 's designation WC55 , was a modified Dodge WC52 light truck mounting a light anti-tank gun . It was used by the United States Army for infantry support and as a mobile anti-tank gun . It operated from late 1942 to January 1945 in the Mediterranean , European , and Pacific theaters of World War II . The M6 saw limited use during the war , and was poorly suited to modern warfare as it was unarmored and was armed with a too small caliber gun . Being required to back into firing positions rather than forward firing proved to be a deficiency .
The United States of America ( USA ) , commonly known as the United States ( U.S. or US ) or America , is a country consisting of 50 states , a federal district , five major self-governing territories , and various possessions . [ g ] At 3.8 million square miles ( 9.8 million km2 ) , it is the world 's third or fourth-largest country by total area [ b ] and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe . Most of the country is located in central North America between Canada and Mexico . With an estimated population of over 328 million , the U.S. is the third most populous country in the world . The capital is Washington , D.C. , and the most populous city is New York City . Paleo-Indians migrated from Siberia to the North American mainland at least 12,000 years ago . European colonization began in the 16th century . The United States emerged from the thirteen British colonies established along the East Coast . Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the colonies led to the American Revolutionary War lasting between 1775 and 1783 , leading to independence . The United States embarked on a vigorous expansion across North America throughout the 19th century - gradually acquiring new territories , displacing Native Americans , and admitting new states - until by 1848 it spanned the continent . During the second half of the 19th century , the American Civil War led to the abolition of slavery in the United States . The Spanish-American War and World War I confirmed the country 's status as a global military power .
France ( French : [ fʁɑ̃s ] ( listen ) ) , officially the French Republic ( French : République française , pronounced [ ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛːz ] ( listen ) ) , is a country whose territory consists of metropolitan France in Western Europe and several overseas regions and territories . [ XIII ] The metropolitan area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea , and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean . It is bordered by Belgium , Luxembourg and Germany to the northeast , Switzerland and Italy to the east , and Andorra and Spain to the south . The overseas territories include French Guiana in South America and several islands in the Atlantic , Pacific and Indian oceans . The country 's 18 integral regions ( five of which are situated overseas ) span a combined area of 643,801 square kilometres ( 248,573 sq mi ) and a total population of 67.02 million ( as of July 2019 [ update ] ) . France is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris , the country 's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre . Other major urban areas include Lyon , Marseille , Toulouse , Bordeaux , Lille and Nice . France , including its overseas territories , has the most number of time zones of any country , with a total of 12 . During the Iron Age , what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls , a Celtic people . Rome annexed the area in 51 BC , holding it until the arrival of Germanic Franks in 476 , who formed the Kingdom of Francia . The Treaty of Verdun of 843 partitioned Francia into East Francia , Middle Francia and West Francia . West Francia , which became the Kingdom of France in 987 , emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages , following its victory in the Hundred Years ' War ( 1337-1453 ) .
The Panzerjäger I ( English : Tank Hunter 1 ) was the first of the German tank destroyers to see service in the Second World War . It mounted a Czech Škoda 4.7 cm ( 1.9 in ) cm PaK ( t ) anti-tank gun on a converted Panzer I Ausf . B chassis . It was intended to counter heavy French tanks like the Char B1 that were beyond the capabilities of the 3.7 cm PaK 36 anti-tank gun and served to extend the life of the obsolete Panzer I tank chassis . 202 Panzer I were converted to the Panzerjäger I in 1940 and 1941 . They were employed in the Battle of France , in the North Africa Campaign and on the Eastern Front .
Nazi Germany is the common English name for Germany between 1933 and 1945 , when Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party ( NSDAP ) controlled the country through a dictatorship . Under Hitler 's rule , Germany became a totalitarian state where nearly all aspects of life were controlled by the government . The official name of the state was Deutsches Reich ( German Reich ) until 1943 and Großdeutsches Reich ( Greater German Reich ) from 1943 to 1945 . Nazi Germany is also known as the Third Reich ( Drittes Reich ) , meaning Third Realm or Third Empire , the first two being the Holy Roman Empire ( 800-1806 ) and the German Empire ( 1871-1918 ) . The Nazi regime ended after the Allies defeated Germany in May 1945 , ending World War II in Europe . Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany by the President of the Weimar Republic , Paul von Hindenburg , on 30 January 1933 . The NSDAP then began to eliminate all political opposition and consolidate its power . Hindenburg died on 2 August 1934 and Hitler became dictator of Germany by merging the offices and powers of the Chancellery and Presidency . A national referendum held 19 August 1934 confirmed Hitler as sole Führer ( leader ) of Germany . All power was centralised in Hitler 's person and his word became the highest law . The government was not a coordinated , co-operating body , but a collection of factions struggling for power and Hitler 's favour . In the midst of the Great Depression , the Nazis restored economic stability and ended mass unemployment using heavy military spending and a mixed economy .
The Semovente L. 40 da 47/32 was an Italian self-propelled gun built during World War II . It was created by mounting a Cannone da 47/32 anti-tank gun in an open-topped , box-like superstructure on a L 6/40 light tank chassis . Some were built as command tanks with a radio installed instead of the main gun . An 8 mm machine gun disguised as the 47 mm main gun was used on these versions to make them look like a regular Semovente 47/32s . About 300 Semoventi da 47/32 were built from 1941 onward . The Semovente da 47/32 was the most heavily armed Italian armoured fighting vehicle used on the Eastern Front . While the 47 mm gun was adequate for 1941 , by the time the Semovente reached the field it was already outdated and ineffective against enemy medium tanks , and therefore the vehicle was not particularly successful . After the Italian armistice in September 1943 , the German Army took all Semovente 47/32s they could get hold of for their own use . The German designation was StuG L6 47/32 630 ( i ) . Some of these were provided to Germany 's Croatian puppet state and the Slovene Home Guard .
Italy ( Italian : Italia [ iˈtaːlja ] ( listen ) ) , officially the Italian Republic ( Italian : Repubblica Italiana [ reˈpubblika itaˈljaːna ] ) , is a European country consisting of a peninsula delimited by the Alps and surrounded by several islands . Italy is located in south-central Europe , and it is also considered a part of Western Europe . The country covers a total area of 301,340 km2 ( 116,350 sq mi ) and shares land borders with France , Switzerland , Austria , Slovenia , and the enclaved microstates of Vatican City and San Marino . Italy has a territorial exclave in Switzerland ( Campione ) and a maritime exclave in the Tunisian Sea ( Lampedusa ) . With around 60 million inhabitants , Italy is the third-most populous member state of the European Union . The capital and largest city is Rome ; other major cities are Milan , Naples , Turin , Palermo , Genoa , Bologna , Florence and Venice . Due to its central geographic location in Southern Europe and the Mediterranean , Italy has historically been home to myriad peoples and cultures . In addition to the various ancient peoples dispersed throughout what is now modern-day Italy , the most predominant being the Indo-European Italic peoples who gave the peninsula its name , beginning from the classical era , Phoenicians and Carthaginians founded colonies mostly in insular Italy , Greeks established settlements in the so-called Magna Graecia of Southern Italy , while Etruscans and Celts inhabited central and northern Italy respectively . An Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom in the 8th century BC , which eventually became a republic with a government of the Senate and the People . The Roman Republic initially conquered and assimilated its neighbours on the Italian peninsula , eventually expanding and conquering parts of Europe , North Africa and Asia . By the first century BC , the Roman Empire emerged as the dominant power in the Mediterranean Basin and became a leading cultural , political and religious centre , inaugurating the Pax Romana , a period of more than 200 years during which Italy 's law , technology , economy , art , and literature developed . Italy remained the homeland of the Romans and the metropole of the empire , whose legacy can also be observed in the global distribution of culture , governments , Christianity and the Latin script .
The AEC Mk I Gun Carrier , known as Deacon , was a British armoured fighting vehicle of the Second World War . It was an attempt to make the QF 6 pounder anti-tank gun into a self-propelled artillery piece . It was employed only during the North African Campaign from 1942 to 1943 .
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland , commonly known as the United Kingdom ( UK or U.K. ) or Britain , [ note 11 ] is a sovereign country located off the north­western coast of the European mainland . Existing under its current name since 1921 , the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain , the north­eastern part of the island of Ireland , and many smaller islands . Northern Ireland shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland . Otherwise , the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean , with the North Sea to the east , the English Channel to the south and the Celtic Sea to the southwest , giving it the 12th-longest coastline in the world . The Irish Sea separates Great Britain and Ireland . The total area of the United Kingdom is 94,000 square miles ( 240,000 km2 ) . The United Kingdom is a unitary parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy . [ note 12 ] The current monarch is Queen Elizabeth II , who has reigned since 1952 , making her the world 's longest-serving current head of state . The United Kingdom 's capital and largest city is London , a global city and financial centre with an urban area population of 10.3 million . Other major cities include Birmingham , Manchester , Glasgow , Leeds and Liverpool . The United Kingdom consists of four constituent countries : England , Scotland , Wales , and Northern Ireland . Their capitals are London , Edinburgh , Cardiff , and Belfast , respectively .
A portee is a truck that carries a gun on its bed , such that the gun is not fixed permanently to the vehicle , can be quickly unloaded and can be fired from the truck . While the term portee can be used to denote any truck carrying a gun on its bed , it is most often used to describe equipment used by British/Commonwealth forces in the North African Campaign of World War II . Modern terms for such vehicle are technical and/or gun truck .
The T48 57 mm Gun Motor Carriage was a self-propelled anti-tank gun produced by the Diamond T company in 1943 for the United States . The design incorporated a 57 mm gun M1 , a US production of the British Ordnance QF 6 pounder , mounted on an M3 Half-track . A total of 962 vehicles were produced from 1942 to 1943 . It had originally been planned that Britain would receive all of the examples produced through Lend-Lease , intending to use them in the Western Desert , but by the time they arrived the campaign was over . Additionally , the purpose-built M10 tank destroyer , armed with a 3-inch gun ( and later a 17-pounder gun in British service ) had begun to enter production . As a result , the British transferred 650 half-tracks to the Soviet Union under the Soviet Aid Program . Britain retained 30 and the remainder were taken by the US ; except for one kept by the U.S. Army , these British and American vehicles were converted back to standard M3 Half-tracks . The Soviets called it the SU-57 ( Samokhodnaya ustanovka 57 ) ; under this designation it served in Operation Bagration and other fighting on the Eastern Front during World War II .
The ZiS-30 was a light self-propelled anti-tank gun built for the Soviet Red Army in 1941 . It was based on the Komsomolets armoured artillery tractor . They were successful vehicles , but production was limited by the number of Komsomolets tractors still in use .
The Soviet Union , [ b ] officially known as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( USSR or СССР ) , [ c ] was a federal sovereign state in northern Eurasia that existed from 1922 to 1991 . Nominally a union of multiple national Soviet republics , [ d ] in practice its government and economy were highly centralized . The country was a one-party state , governed by the Communist Party with Moscow as its capital in its largest republic , the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic ( Russian SFSR ) . Other major urban centers were Leningrad , Kiev , Minsk , Tashkent , Alma-Ata , and Novosibirsk . It spanned over 10,000 kilometers ( 6,200 mi ) east to west across 11 time zones , and over 7,200 kilometers ( 4,500 mi ) north to south . Its territory included much of Eastern Europe , as well as part of Northern Europe and all of Northern and Central Asia . It had five climate zones : tundra , taiga , steppes , desert and mountains . The Soviet Union had its roots in the 1917 October Revolution , when the Bolsheviks , led by Vladimir Lenin , overthrew the Russian Provisional Government which had replaced the autocratic regime of Tsar Nicholas II during World War I . In 1922 , after a civil war ending in the Bolsheviks ' victory , the USSR was formed by a treaty which united the Russian , Transcaucasian , Ukrainian and Byelorussian republics . Following Lenin 's death in 1924 and a brief power struggle , Joseph Stalin came to power in the mid-1920s . Stalin formalized the Communist Party 's ideology of Marxism-Leninism and replaced the market economy with a command economy which led to a period of rapid industrialization and collectivization . During this period , rapid economic development resulted in dramatic improvements in the average standard of living , particularly in urban areas .
The Jagdpanzer 38 ( Sd.Kfz . 138/2 ) , was a German light tank destroyer of the Second World War based on a modified Czechoslovakian Panzer 38 ( t ) chassis . German armored forces in World War II created a variety of vehicles by mounting anti-tank guns on obsolete tank chassis . These machines performed even better than expected , yet were still vulnerable due to high vehicle profiles and open-topped turrets . Allied bombings took a heavy toll on German production facilities , and further increased the need for an easily produced yet effective light tank destroyer to replace vehicles like the StuG III and Marder series . Prototypes of the Jagdpanzer 38 were ready by 1944 and mass production began in April of that year . The Jagdpanzer 38 was covered entirely with sloped armor , and possessed a compact form and low silhouette , giving it much improved defensive ability over other self-propelled guns . Armament consisted of a 7.5 cm Pak 39 L/48 gun in fixed mounting as well as a remote-controlled MG 34 . It featured a wide body to accommodate the four-man crew , as well as strengthened lower hull with enlarged wheels , guide rollers and tracks . Jagdpanzer 38s first entered service in July 1944 , and would eventually be assigned to a number of units , including infantry , Panzerjäger and Volksgrenadier divisions . BMM and Škoda continually modified and improved the Jagdpanzer 38 during production of the more than 2,800 vehicles built . Owing to the ease of production and high operating rates , the Jagdpanzer 38 came to serve as Germany 's main tank destroyer in the latter period of the war , making an important contribution on both the Eastern and Western Fronts .
The Jagdpanzer IV , Sd.Kfz . 162 , was a German tank destroyer based on the Panzer IV chassis and built in three main variants . As one of the casemate-style turretless Jagdpanzer ( tank destroyer , literally hunting tank ) designs , it was developed against the wishes of Heinz Guderian , the inspector general of the Panzertruppen , as a replacement for the Sturmgeschütz III ( StuG III ) . Guderian objected against the needless , in his eyes , diversion of resources from Panzer IV tank production , as the Sturmgeschütz III was still more than adequate for its role . Officially , only the L/48-armed vehicle was named Jagdpanzer IV . The L/70-armed vehicle was named Panzer IV/70 . In this article , both versions are referred to in general as Jagdpanzer IV , except in the variants and surviving vehicles section .
The Marder I Marten ( Sd.Kfz . 135 ) was a German World War II tank destroyer , armed with a 75 mm PaK-40 anti-tank gun . Most Marder Is were built on the base of the Tracteur Blindé 37L ( Lorraine ) , a French artillery tractor/armoured personnel carrier of which the Germans had acquired more than three hundred after the Fall of France in 1940 .
The Marder II ( marten in English ) was a German tank destroyer of World War II based on the Panzer II chassis . There were two versions , the first mounted a modified Soviet 7.62 cm gun firing German ammunition , while the other mounted the German 7.5 cm Pak 40 gun . Its high profile and thin open-topped armor provided minimal protection to the crew . Nevertheless , the Marder II ( and similar Marder III ) provided a great increase in firepower over contemporary German tanks during 1942 and into 1943 . Only four Marder IIs remain today .
Marder III was the name for a series of World War II German tank destroyers . They mounted either Soviet 76.2 mm F-22 Model 1936 divisional field guns , or German 7.5 cm PaK 40 , in an open-topped fighting compartment on top of the chassis of the Panzer 38 ( t ) . They offered little protection to the crew , but added significant firepower compared to contemporary German tanks . They were in production from 1942 to 1944 and served on all fronts until the end of the war , along with the similar Marder II . The German word Marder means marten in English .
The Type 1 Gun tank Ho-Ni I ( 一式砲戦車 ホニ I , Isshiki ho-sensha Ho-Ni I ) was a tank destroyer and self-propelled artillery developed by the Imperial Japanese Army for use during World War II in the Pacific theater .
Japan ( Japanese : 日本 , Nippon [ ɲippoꜜɴ ] ( listen ) or Nihon [ ɲihoꜜɴ ] ( listen ) ) is an island country located in East Asia . It is bordered by the Sea of Japan to the west and the Pacific Ocean to the east , and spans more than 3,000 kilometers ( 1,900 mi ) along the coast of the continent from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Philippine Sea in the south . Part of the Pacific Ring of Fire , Japan encompasses a stratovolcanic archipelago of about 6,852 islands , with five main islands ( Hokkaido , Honshu , Kyushu , Shikoku , and Okinawa ) comprising 97% of the country 's total area of 377,975 square kilometers ( 145,937 sq mi ) . Japan is officially divided into 47 prefectures and traditionally into eight regions . Approximately two-thirds of the country 's terrain is mountainous and heavily forested , and less than one-eighth of land is suitable for agriculture . Consequently , Japan is among the most densely populated and urbanized countries in the world , with over 90% of its population living in urban areas . The largest of these is the metropolitan area centered on the capital city of Tokyo , which is the most populous in the world and home to more than 38 million people . Japan itself is the world 's eleventh most populous country with a population of 126.2 million , of which 97.8% are ethnically Japanese . The kanji ( or Chinese characters ) that make up the name of Japan in the Japanese language mean sun origin ; in the Western world , the country is often known by the sobriquet Land of the Rising Sun . Periods of influence from other regions , primarily China , followed by periods of isolation , particularly from Western Europe , have characterized the history of Japan . While archaeological evidence indicates that Japan was inhabited as early as the Upper Paleolithic period , the first written mention of the archipelago appears in Chinese texts from the first century AD . Between the fourth and ninth centuries , the kingdoms of Japan became gradually unified under an Emperor and imperial court based in Heian-kyō ( modern Kyoto ) .
The Type 3 Gun tank Ho-Ni III ( 三式砲戦車 ホニIII , San-shiki hōsensha ) gun tank was a tank destroyer and self-propelled artillery of Imperial Japanese Army in World War II . The Type 3 Ho-Ni III superseded the Type 1 Ho-Ni I and its variant the Type 1 Ho-Ni II in production , and gave better protection to the crew due to having a completely enclosed superstructure .
The Mareșal was a tank destroyer produced in limited numbers during the Second World War by the Kingdom of Romania . In May 1944 , a German Waffenamt delegate acknowledged that the vehicle was the inspiration for the German Hetzer tank destroyer .
The Kingdom of Romania ( Romanian : Regatul României ) was a constitutional monarchy that existed in Romania from 26 March 1881 with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King Carol I , until 1947 with the abdication of King Michael I of Romania , and the Romanian parliament proclaiming Romania a people 's republic . From 1859 to 1877 , Romania evolved from a personal union of two vassal principalities ( Moldavia and Wallachia ) under a single prince to an autonomous principality with a Hohenzollern monarchy . The country gained its independence from the Ottoman Empire during the 1877-1878 Russo-Turkish War ( known locally as the Romanian War of Independence ) , when it also received Northern Dobruja in exchange for the southern part of Bessarabia . The kingdom 's territory during the reign of King Carol I , between 14 March ( O.S . ) ( 27 March ( N.S . ) ) 1881 and 27 September ( O.S . ) ( 10 October ( N.S . ) ) 1914 is sometimes referred as the Romanian Old Kingdom , to distinguish it from Greater Romania , which included the provinces that became part of the state after World War I ( Bessarabia , Banat , Bukovina , and Transylvania ) . With the exception of the southern halves of Bukovina and Transylvania , these territories were ceded to neighboring countries in 1940 , under the pressure of Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union . Following a disastrous World War II campaign on the side of the Axis powers and name change ( Legionary Romania ) , Romania joined the Allies in 1944 , recovering Northern Transylvania . The influence of the neighboring Soviet Union and the policies followed by Communist-dominated coalition governments ultimately led to the abolition of the monarchy , with Romania becoming a People 's Republic on the last day of 1947 .
The M3 Gun Motor Carriage ( GMC ) was a United States Army tank destroyer equipped with a 75 mm M1897A4 gun , which was built by the Autocar Company during World War II . After observing the new and often decisive , uses of armored vehicles on both sides during the French campaign of 1940 , the US Army decided that it required a 75 mm self-propelled gun , based on the chassis of the M3 Half-track . This was initially known as the T12 . However , after the addition of features such as the gun shield from the M2A3 ( a carriage for the M1897A4 ) , the new vehicle entered production under the name M3 Gun Motor Carriage ( or M3 GMC ) . Because the number of M2A3 gun shields available was insufficient for the M3 GMC order , a new gun shield was designed . Variants featuring the new shield were designated M3A1 GMC . The T12/M3 first served in the Philippines Campaign in 1942 with the Provisional Field Artillery Brigade in the anti-tank and the fire-support role . It then served in North Africa in tank destroyer battalions . It was used ineffectively in the Battle of Kasserine Pass and several other engagements , but was used with success in the Battle of El Guettar . It also served in the Allied invasion of Sicily , but was eventually superseded by the M10 tank destroyer . A total of 2,203 were produced , of which 1,361 were converted back into M3A1 half-tracks . The M3 GMC also served in the Pacific theater , starting with the Battle of Saipan .
The Self Propelled 17pdr , Valentine , Mk I , Archer was a British self propelled anti-tank gun of the Second World War based on the Valentine infantry tank chassis fitted with an Ordnance QF 17 pounder gun . Designed and manufactured by Vickers-Armstrongs , 655 were produced between March 1943 and May 1945 . It was used in North-West Europe and Italy during the war ; post-war , it served with the Egyptian Army . This vehicle was unusual in that its gun faced the rear of the chassis instead of the front .
The 17pdr SP Achilles ( officially 17 pounder , Self-Propelled , Achilles ) was a British variant of the American M10 tank destroyer armed with the British Ordnance QF 17 pounder high-velocity 76.2 mm ( 3 inch ) anti-tank gun in place of the M10 's considerably less powerful 3 inch ( 76.2 mm ) Gun M7 . A total of 1,100 M10s were converted to Achilles , making it the second most numerous armoured fighting vehicle to mount with the 17 pounder gun , behind the Sherman Firefly . The name Achilles was officially a designation applied to both the 3 gun and 17 pounder versions ( as Achilles I/II and Achilles Ic/IIc respectively ) but was little used during the Second World War ; at the time , the vehicle was called 17pdr M10 , or 17pdr SP M10 , or even occasionally , Firefly . It has since become identified almost exclusively with the 17 pounder version .