State Medal - Sherman M-51

Just as the Israeli Air Force controls the skies of the country and protects from above, the Armored Corps ensures ground protection. This series of medals is dedicated to the Armored Corps and salutes “the soldier in the tank” – the tens of thousands of men and women who have served and fought in the Armored Corps since the establishment of the State of Israel. The various types of Sherman Tanks served the Israel Defense Forces from the War of Independence until after the Yom Kippur War. These were the M-3, M-50, M-1 and the Super Sherman Tanks that formed the primary force behind the Armored Corps’s success during the Sinai Campaign. These tanks led to the supremacy of the Armored Corps as the central core of ground conflict. In 1961, when the need to cope with new types of tanks arose, such as the T-54 that appeared following the Sinai Campaign, Sherman Tanks were fitted with a 105mm barrel. The tank was named the Sherman M-51. Additional changes were made, including a diesel engine for greater capacity, increasing Israel’s ability to cope with newer tanks used by the enemy. The Sherman M-51 tanks saw combat along all fronts of battle during the Six Day War (1967) and successfully destroyed Soviet-built T-55 tanks. They were also active in the Yom Kippur War (1973), in the Golan Heights and in the Sinai Desert, destroying more than 40 Soviet-built T-62 tanks. A model of the tank is displayed at the Latrun “Armed Corps Memorial Site.”