Cobi 2550 - Sherman M4A3E2 Jumbo

The Sherman M4A3E2 "Jumbo" is a short series of well-armored tanks consisting of just 254 tanks. The Shermans were armed with a 75mm gun mounted on a modified M62 mount. The jumbo with its own name "Cobra King" was the one to receive the 76mm gun as well as the coaxial machine gun. It was issued to the 37th Tank Battalion, 4th Panzer Division at the end of October 1944 and was the tank of the commander of the C comrades. The tank became famous during the German offensive in the winter of 1944 in the Ardennes. It was the first to break through the German lines and reach the soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division surrounded in Belgian Bastogne. To commemorate this momentous event, the tank's crew painted a special graffiti, which was reproduced by the COBI with pad-printing. Some sources say that the tank took part in Operation Hammelburg, General Patton's secret mission, where it was destroyed in March 1945. For many years, the wreckage of the tank was exhibited on war memorials under incorrect markings. It was not until 2001 that military chapplain Keith Goode contributed to the uncovering of the true history of the anonymous wreckage. The tank has been painstakingly restored at The Patton Museum and is now located in Fort Benning, Georgia. In the Belgian Bastogne, however, a properly painted replacement for the famous Sherman "King Cobra" was installed.