Editing M4 Sherman (section)

===First combat===
[[File:The British Army in North Africa 1943 E22596.jpg|thumb|left|British, South African and New Zealand tank crews receive instruction from an American instructor in Egypt, February 1943.]]
Shermans were being issued in small numbers for familiarization to U.S. armored divisions when there was a turn of events in the [[North Africa Campaign|Western Desert campaign]]. On 21 June 1942, [[Axis capture of Tobruk|Axis forces captured Tobruk]], threatening Egypt and Britain's supply line through the [[Suez Canal]]. British Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]] was at the [[Second Washington Conference]] when news of the defeat broke; President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] asked what he could do to help and Churchill replied at once, "Give us as many Sherman tanks as you can spare and ship them to the Middle East as quickly as possible."{{sfn|Fletcher|Zaloga|2018|p=49}} The US considered collecting all Shermans together to be able to send the [[2nd Armored Division (United States)|2nd Armored Division]] under [[George S. Patton|Patton]] to reinforce Egypt, but delivering the Shermans directly to the British was quicker and over 300 – mostly M4A1s, but also including M4A2s – had arrived there by September 1942.{{sfn|Fletcher|Zaloga|2018|p=93}}{{sfn|Hunnicutt|1978|p=174}}

The Shermans were modified for desert warfare with shields over the tracks and another stowage. The Sherman first saw combat at the [[Second Battle of El Alamein]] in October 1942 with the [[Eighth Army (United Kingdom)|British 8th Army]]. At the start of the offensive, there were 252 tanks fit for action. These equipped the [[9th Armoured Brigade (United Kingdom)|British 9th Armoured Brigade]] (for the battle under the [[2nd New Zealand Division|New Zealand Division]]), 2nd Armoured Brigade (1st Armoured Division), and 8th and 20th Armoured Brigades (10th Armoured Division). Their first encounter with tanks was against German Panzer III and IV tanks with long 50&nbsp;mm and 75&nbsp;mm guns engaging them at {{convert|2000|yards|m}}. There were losses to both sides.{{sfn|Hunnicutt|1978|pp=175—176}}

[[File:8th shrm.jpg|thumb|right|M4A3(76)W HVSS participating in a World War II victory parade]]
The first U.S. Shermans in battle were M4s and M4A1s in [[Operation Torch]] the following month. On 6 December, near [[Tebourba|Tebourba, Tunisia]], a platoon from the 2nd Battalion, 13th Armored Regiment was lost to enemy tanks and anti-tank guns.{{sfn|Hunnicutt|1978|p=178}}

Additional M4s and M4A1s replaced M3s in U.S. tank battalions over the course of the North African campaign.

The M4 and M4A1 were the main types in U.S. units until the fall of 1944 when the Army began replacing them with the preferred M4A3 with its more powerful {{cvt|500|hp|kW|abbr=on}} engine. Some M4s and M4A1s continued in U.S. service for the rest of the war. The first Sherman to enter combat with the 76&nbsp;mm gun in July 1944 was the M4A1, then the M4A2, closely followed by the M4A3. By the end of the war, roughly half the U.S. Army Shermans in Europe had the 76&nbsp;mm gun. The first HVSS-equipped Sherman to see combat was the M4A3(76)W in December 1944.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}