A battle sled is a World War II United States Army infantry device used to get infantry troops closer to the front lines of a battle zone safely. The battle sled was pulled by a M4 Sherman tank with the troops lying down. General John W. O'Daniel. The battle sleds were built by cutting the shell of a torpedo in half, the shell was large enough for one lying soldier. Two rows of six battle sleds were towed behind the tank. The low position and shell protected the troops from small arms fire and anti-personnel mines. At O'Daniel's request, Colonel William H. Jaynes and his staff built the battle sleds in secret at the Capua Italy army shop. On the bottom of the battle sled were skid runners that allowed the sleds to move like a snow sled. The head of the project was Sergeant Sellfors, a chief welder with the Fifth Army's 15th Infantry. Sellfors' team built 360 sleds from April 29 to May 14, 1944. The sleds were used in the Italian campaign to break out of Anzio in the Battle of Anzio that started on May 23, 1944. Training took place at Nettuno, Italy The battle sleds worked; however, the tanks had to stop when they came up to deep ditches and land mines. Many infantry troops did not like the sled as they could not see the coming battle, and believed that they were "dead ducks" lying down. O'Daniel has mixed feelings about these first uses, as when there were no anti-tank devices, the sleds worked very well; this only happened in one group using the sleds. After the Battle of Anzio, the battle sleds were used again in the invasion of Southern France. To overcome the problem of mines, flail tanks were used to pull the sleds.
German battle sled
In World War II, Nazi Germany built large battle sleds that were towed behind an assault gun. These large sleds were less likely to tip over on hills. They were tested in the winter in snow and ice in Tirol, Austria. Like the US sleds, few saw combat. The sleds were towed often by the Stug III, an assault gun. The goal was the infantry could quickly unload from the sleds and help the assault gun when needed.
Russian battle sled
In World War II, the Soviet Union used armored battle sleds in Winter War in winter battles in the Karelian Isthmus against Finland. The sleds were smaller with one line of infantry behind an armored plate towed by a tank.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom tested battle sleds, but did not use them in battle for troops. A Churchill tank was used to tow an experimental armored sled in the test. The AVRE trailers test was done by the Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers. United Kingdom battle sleds were intended to move battle stores & ammunition.