Twenty were sent in the first shipment arriving at the port of Antwerp in January 1945. The unexpected German tank attack had settled the question once and for all as to whether the T26 was needed. On 22 December 1944, while the battle still raged, the brand new T26E3 tanks were ordered to be deployed to Europe. The tank losses experienced in the Battle of the Bulge against a concentrated German tank force composed of some 400 Panther tanks, as well as Tiger II tanks and other German armored fighting vehicles, revealed the deficiencies in the M4 Shermans and tank destroyers on the Allied side. As a result, only the initial 20 M26 (T26E3) tanks deployed to Europe in January 1945 saw combat in World War II. Development of the M26 during World War II was prolonged by a number of factors, the most important being opposition to the tank from Army Ground Forces (AGF).
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