World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseAlthough the M7 Priest vehicles were considered effective by the British and Commonwealth forces, they used American 105-millimeter howitzer ammunition rather than one of British design, thus complicating logistics. To alleviate this issue, the Canadian Department of Munitions and Supply's Army Engineering Design Branch completed "The 25pdr SP, tracked" design with the British QF 25-pounder guns to resolve the logistics issue. The prototype, built on the Canadian Ram cruiser tank chassis which in turn was an adaptation of the American M3 medium tank chassis, was completed on 23 Jun 1942. Following trials, an order for 124 vehicles was placed by the Canadian government. In May 1943, they officially received the Sexton designation. In the summer of 1943, the British government placed an order for 300 vehicles with the specification that these Sexton vehicles to be built on M4 Sherman chassis, known as Grizzly tanks in Canada, thus creating the Sexton II variant design. The Sexton vehicles first entered combat in Sep 1943 in Italy. During the Normandy invasion in Jun 1944, a number of these vehicles were stabilized in their landing craft and fired from the sea to provide artillery support for the landing troops, but it was not effective. They remained in service during the drive toward Germany.

ww2dbaseBetween 1943 and 1945, the Montreal Locomotive Works in Canada manufactured a total of 2,150 Sexton self-propelled artillery vehicles for the Canadian and British armies. After the war, they remained in service until 1956.

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