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The M4 Sherman tank was the most widely used US tank of the Second World War. In addition to its primary role, it was adapted to special uses such as mine clearing. The British experience with the Germans' deadly antitank Teller mines in Libya led to an ambitious program in the United States to develop an effective mechanical mine exploder. The T1E3 mine roller consisted two sets of five discs weighing in at 29 tons. Each disc was eight feet in diameter and was driven by a mechanism attached to the final drive shaft of the M4 tank, an arrangement that greatly assisted mobility. Aberdeen Proving Ground personnel reported highly satisfactory test performance of the device and, in 1944, 100 of the minerollers were procured and sent to Europe. Several mine exploder battalions were in operation by the fall of 1944 and they proved invaluable as the Allies began to invade Germany where defensive belts of mines were common.