Editing M3 Stuart (section)

===Pacific and Asia===
[[File:Chinese troops on Stuart tanks Ledo road.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[Republic of China]] army operating the M3A3 Stuart on [[Ledo Road]]]]

The [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] initially deployed 108 Stuart light tanks to the Philippines in September 1941, equipping the U.S. Army's [[149th Armor Regiment#194th Tank Battalion|194th]] and [[192nd Tank Battalion]]s. The first U.S. tank versus tank combat to occur in World War II happened on 22 December 1941  during the [[Philippines campaign (1941–1942)]] when a platoon of five M3s led by Lieutenant Ben R. Morin engaged the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) 4th Tank Regiment's [[Type 95 Ha-Go]] light tanks north of Damortis. Morin, with his 37mm cannon locked in recoil maneuvered his M3 off the road, but took a direct hit while doing so, and his tank began to burn. The other four M3s were also hit, but managed to leave the field under their own power. Lt. Morin was wounded, and he and his crew were captured by the enemy.<ref>Hunnicutt (Stuart) p. 395 & 396</ref> M3s of the 194th and 192nd Tank Battalions continued to [[skirmish]] with the 4th Tank Regiment's tanks as they continued their retreat down the [[Battle of Bataan|Bataan]] Peninsula, with the last tank versus tank combat occurring on 7 April 1942.<ref>Zaloga, (M3/M5 Stuart) p. 13, 14</ref><ref>Zaloga (Armored Thunderbolt) p. 301 & 302</ref>

As the Japanese 15th Army was threatening southern Burma toward the end of February 1942, [[7th Armoured Brigade (United Kingdom)|7th Armoured Brigade]] of the British Army landed at Rangoon with 114 M3 Stuarts bearing the green rodent of the "Desert Rats". They supported 17th Indian Division and 1st Burma Division on the retreat until they managed to escape to India in April.<ref>Daniel Ford, ''Flying Tigers: Claire Chennault and His American Volunteers, 1941-1942'' (Warbird Books, 2016), p. 192</ref>

[[File:Australian assault on pillbox, January 1943, Papua, Giropa Point.jpg|thumb|Australian assault on pillbox, January 1943, Papua, Giropa Point]]
Due to the naval nature of the Pacific campaign, steel for warship production took precedence over tanks for the IJA,<ref>Zaloga (Japanese Tanks) p. 15</ref> creating by default an IJA light tank that performed admirably in the jungle terrain of the South Pacific. By the same measure, although the US was not hampered by industrial restrictions, the M3 proved to be an effective armored vehicle for fighting in jungle environments.<ref>Zaloga (M3/M5 Stuart) p. 33</ref> At least one was captured in the Philippines.<ref name="Captured Stuart">{{Cite web|url=http://www.ww2incolor.com/d/575273-2/philippinescapturedstuazq1|title=Captured Stuart|access-date=12 June 2011|archive-date=28 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210728141503/http://www.ww2incolor.com/d/575273-2/philippinescapturedstuazq1|url-status=dead}}</ref>

With the IJA's drive toward India within the [[South-East Asian theatre of World War II]], the United Kingdom hastily withdrew their [[2nd Royal Tank Regiment]] and [[7th Queen's Own Hussars|7th Hussars]] Stuart tank units (which also contained some [[M2 light tank|M2A4 light tanks]]<ref>Hunnicutt (Stuart) p.396</ref>) from North Africa, and deployed them against the Japanese 14th Tank Regiment. By the time the Japanese had been stopped at [[Imphal]], only one British Stuart remained operational.<ref>Zaloga {{page needed|date=June 2014}}</ref> When the U.S. entered the war in 1941, it began to supply China with AFVs, including M3 Stuarts, and later M4 Sherman [[medium tank]]s and [[M18 Hellcat]] [[tank destroyer]]s, which trickled in through Burma.

Although the M3/M5 had proven effective in jungle warfare, by late 1943, U.S. Marine Corps tank battalions were transitioning from their M3/M5 light tanks to M4 medium tanks, mostly for the much greater high-explosive blast effect of the M4's 75mm gun, which fired a much larger shell with a heavier explosive payload.<ref>Zaloga (M3/M5 Stuart) p. 34</ref>