In the 1942 movie "Sahara" with Humphrey Bogart, US tank was shown firing it's main gun at a German plane?

Question

During WW2, were there actually any instances of a tank using it's main gun to down an attacking plane?

Answer 1

Not that I know of. It would have been the luckiest shot of the war. A low-velocity 75 mm field cannon adapted for motorized armor. It only had vertical positioning in the turret. You had to rotate the entire tank to get horizontal aim. Chalk that one up to an overzealous wartime Hollywood
Check out the M3 link below.

Answer 2

In Sahara the tank was an M3 General Lee tank ,also called a Grant by the British Army, The M3 was a late model tank of a type that had two calibers of gun a 75mm in the main body and 37mm in a turret. Though the 37mm was the size of the light AA gun that the army used until it got the more well known 40MM Bofers guns. No tank gun could have been used to shot down an airplane without a great deal of luck.

You have to lead the plane that is traveling at a high rate of speed with a hand cranked turret. I would say impossible though I do remember that the turret fired at the plane as it was coming at the tank. I still see it as an impossible shot.

Answer 3

Humphrey Bogart Sahara

Answer 4

Bogart Sahara

Answer 5

It's almost impossible. A tank gun doesn't have the specialized gunsight that enables an AA gun to hit fast moving aircraft. However the German 88 mm gun intended for an AA role was eventually mounted on panzers after it proved vary capable in an anti-armour role. Again though, in a tank mount it would be unlikey to hit an aircraft even though it's the same tube as an AA gun.

Answer 6

To find the facts go to www.history.com click on to military and war. there will be audio/visual for you as well.
But I think so because if they were low flying planes it would work otherwise anti-aircraft guns were used from bunkers.