When the Allied forces began to leave the D-Day beaches and advance into Normandy, they knew they would face strong resistance from German armored units, including the feared heavy tank battalions. Fortunately, they now had a tank capable of taking on the Tigers and Panthers: the Sherman Firefly, a British design that combined the M4 Sherman with the famous 17-pounder anti-tank gun.

Typically, a Firefly was deployed at a ratio of one to four compared to the standard Shermans, and German tank commanders quickly learned to look for the longer barrel of the Firefly and target these tanks first. To make identification more difficult, British crews camouflaged the front of their guns with light-colored paint, making their tank look like a standard Sherman equipped with a 75 mm gun, hoping that this deception would give them enough time to fire the first shot in the event of an engagement.