Michael Peck
The National Interest
November 20, 2019
id="ld-12130885885741670-935">At dawn on June 6, 1944, the German troops defending the Normandy beaches glimpsed a terrifying sight.
Landing craft were disgorging M-4 Sherman tanks on the beaches. But these were no ordinary tanks: on their hulls were fitted rotating drums to which chains were attached. The chains flailed the beach, detonating any mines buried in the sand.
These were the legendaryBritish “Crab” tanks of the 79th Armored Division, whose job it was to clear minefields. And now the U.S. Marine Corps is bringing back the Crabs, but with a twenty-first century twist.
