Caro Armato

[No.1]

Italian battle machine

[Sall]

This is some light tank! Interesting machine mate.

[g-1reaper]

I understood those Italian tanks and armoured vehicles were real coffins, because the armour was rivetted instead of welded steel plate.

[Second Air Force]

I understood those Italian tanks and armoured vehicles were real coffins, because the armour was rivetted instead of welded steel plate.

My father was in a maintenance battalion of the U.S. 1st Armored Division in North Africa. He told me much the same about the Italian armor as your observation. He also talked about the same problem with the early M3 Grant/Lee tank in both British and U.S. use. The rivets acted as bullets when the hull was hit. Dad was in a battlefield repair unit that worked on knocked out equipment right after the end of a battle. His memory of the M3 was that it was often a very sad thing to have to remove remains of the crews before they could begin salvage/repair. Often the tank wasn't badly holed but the rivets had bounced around inside like shrapnel.