What's in a name?

[PainlessWolf]

Good Evening, Jaundice,
The name 'Lee' was given to the American turreted version of the M3. The name 'Grant' was used by the British to distinguish their version of the M3 with the larger turret and stowage boxes. Although an interim tank used mainly while the Sherman was in development, the Lee\Grant did yeoman's service in North Africa and later in the Far East as you noted.
warm regards,
Painless

[billpe]

Good Evening,
To add to Merlin's excellent summation, During WWI when tanks had been developed as a secret weapon in Britain, they were shipped by rail to test and then eventually, port destinations to be delivered to Europe. They were disguised as 'tank'cars during transport by rail and shipment by sea and the name tank came into use as Soldiers were exposed to the new weapons system and asked what they were called. Also, many of the American tanks during WWII owe their names to the British who named them after Generals from the American Civil War. Americans picked up on this as well as I think the 'Pershing' was a U.S. given moniker to the M26. As for "Hitler's Zoo", I'd be interested in hearing how all of those war machines came to be named such. Was it Porsche's doing? The Pz I, II, III and IV and the Stug were just that, military designations.
regards,
Painless

This is a fantastic book to read if you're interested in how tanks came about: It goes into quite some depth about how they were developed, the people and politics etc. The whole birth of the tank is quite contrived and almost didn't happen but the original name was because they were using the concept of mobile water tanks (indeed they were even made by boiler makers at train factories) to hide the true intentions.

[PainlessWolf]

Billpe,
That's a great tip. I don't have that one in my library and will check it out. Thank you!. ;o) To return the favor, you may have read this one but if not, it's very interesting with sections on the psychological effect of tanks and their existence on not only soldiers but the general populace as well.
regards,
Painless