Due to the sheer surplus of M4 Shermans available to the United States during World War II, a great number of separate tank battalions were formed; these were typically assigned to infantry divisions to grant frontline troops permanent armoured support, a luxury which their Comintern opponents never possessed.
The M4A3E2 "Jumbo" is a variant of the standard M4A3 pressed into service as a heavy tank. In American armoured columns these tanks were usually placed at the front to soak up the first hits of a fight, and because they retained the 75mm Gun M2 from older Sherman variants, they were then tasked with eliminating Cominern infantry in the area.