I have a couple of suggestions for the New Zealand OOB (spob15): (1) add the 3-inch M10 self-propelled gun and (2) bring forward the availability date of the 17-pdr M10 ‘Achilles’ from January 1946. They were used by the 7th Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal New Zealand Artillery, in Italy.
The 3-inch M10 was introduced in June 1944 according to this (referenced) website:
http://modelingmadness.com/reviews/m.../us/simm10.htm
It appears to have been in use by July 1944 according to the photos on these webpages:
http://www.san-casciano.com/NZ-advance.htm
http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/te...2Ita-c5-2.html
The New Zealanders used the 3-inch M10 until the end of the war – as did the British in Italy. It was largely phased out of use in NW Europe by December 1944 and replaced with 17-pdr M10s. The Italian Front was the poor relation and not all 3-inch M10s were replaced by wars end.
The book
British Tank Destroyer Achilles 17-pdr M10 SP by Wojciech J. Gawrych says that New Zealanders also used 17-pdr M10s in Italy during the war. It does not specify when they were delivered though. However, it does provide a couple of photos of a NZ 17-pdr M10 (C Troop, 32nd Battery, 7th Anti-Tank Regt.) taken south of Trieste in April 1945:
British and Polish Anti-Tank Regts in Italy started to receive 17-pdr M10s from September 1944 – whenever they were taken out of the line for recuperation and re-equipping. The New Zealanders may also have started to receive them during the Autumn.
Background Sources:
M10 and M36 Tank Destroyers 1942-53 (pub. 2002) by Steven J. Zaloga
British Tank Destroyer Achilles 17-pdr M10 SP (pub. 2007) by Wojciech J. Gawrych
NZ M10 tank busters
Threaded Mode