Type: Infantry Tank
Nation: United Kingdom
Period: World War 2
Location: Bastogne Barracks, Belgium
In the 1930s three different tank concepts were developed in Great Britain: Light tanks for reconnaissance, heavily armoured infantry tanks to support attacks on enemy positions and maneuverable cruiser tanks to exploit these gaps. The Matilda II was of the second type, had up to 78 mm of frontal armour (thicker than any other tank at the time) and caused the Axis troops some serious headaches in France 1940 and during the early North Africa campaign.
Matilda II was powered by two 95 hp bus engines that were coupled together. Since infantry tanks only had to keep up with foot soldiers, off-road top speed was a meagre 10 km/h. But at least the tank could run on one engine if the other one decided to stop working.
Its predecessor Infantry Tank Mk I A11 Matilda (allegedly named after a cartoon duck) was widely considered a failure, but Matilda II was such a solid design that it became the only British tank to serve from the beginning to the end of World War 2 – in the later years mostly with the Australians in the Pacific theatre.
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7 responses to “Infantry Tank Mk II A12 Matilda Mk III”
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