Favourite British Tank

[Gnomey]

If I can't vote for the Firefly then I will vote for the Churchill (although I do like the Matilda as well).

[Gerry Chester]

The question posed "What is the best or your favourite ??' is one often posed. To give a satisfactory answer without a caveat attached is difficult one. Regarding the first, how can one determine whether a Spitfire is better than a Flying Fortress or vice versa? To give answer to the second is even more difficult - favourite of whom, of the chaps who crewed them; of an ardent modeller, etcetera?

Having said all this, as the question posed has created most interesting responses, I would like to offer my two-penny-worth.

Originally Posted by adrian roberts

The Matilda: the only decent tank we had for the first two or three years of the war - better armour than the others, though the 2-pdr gun (6pdr on the Mk 111) was no better than theirs.

Adrian,

During her rein, albeit a short one, the Matilda rightly became known as the 'Queen of the Desert'. She was designed as an I-Tank unable to properly do so. The 6-pdr HE did not arrive in the Western Desert in time to enable her to demonstrate her full potential - fortunately not too late for the RA chaps to put it to good use.

The 6-pdr, for several well-proven reasons, remained until war's end well capable of taking care of Germany's heaviest armour mounted on Tigers and Panthers. But that's another subject.

As the Sherman has been mentioned, there is no doubt properly deployed it was an excellent tank and could well deserve to be the best in its class. In the following article I have endevoured to demonstrate this. Should the reader wonder why they were deployed in the Hitler Line Battle - there was no option available - the Mark IVs intended to use in Italy were diverted to Morell's workshop in Algeria to be fitted with the much inferior 75mm gun - to become the Na 75.

http://www.nih.ww2site.com/nih/Articles/15.html

To the three reasons I To the three reasons I quoted to support the Churchill, should be added that its gearbox has become a standard up until today.
reviously quoted to support the Churchill, should be added that its gearbox has become a standard up until today.

[spidge]

My "favourite" is the Matilda as in the early days in the desert she reigned against the Italian tanks, that is where my father was and most of my introduction to ww2 was based.

She became obsolete later in that theatre, and the European theatres however again with the Australia and New Zealand forces she performed remarkably well in the South Pacific as she was not up against an array of modern tanks and was more suited to the deplorable conditions that beset them in the monsoonal areas.

[Owen]

Voted Comet simply for reasons of making the Matchbox kit when I was a teenager.
As VP said, pity it didn't arrive earlier, say late 1943.
Imagine Comets in Normandy all with 77mm gun (adapted from 17 Pdr) , no best not, too many "What if's?" here. Need more "what did."

[15thScottishDiv]

Churchill for me. Many variants, like couple of the others, Valentine Chassis and hull was very adaptable. Aye, the Comet. Now that one kicked Arse !!! Churchill was what tanks were about conceptually ... Infantry support vehicles, yes ?

[Slipdigit]

The Churchill.

Besides sharing the same name as the great leader of the day, it's just so danged ugly. Something that ugly, you just have to love it.

I liked its versatility. How many variants were there, 1,847,219 or there about? I believe that if the need had arisen for one to plant petunias, somebody would have soon been driving up in one sporting the necessary attachments to make that happen.

[MikB]

Originally Posted by Slipdigit

The Churchill.

I believe that if the need had arisen for one to plant petunias, somebody would have soon been driving up in one sporting the necessary attachments to make that happen.

Well, you can imagine some sort of towed seed-drill-and-hopper contraption, but how to protect it from field artillery fire? More especially, how to protect the petunias afterwards?

Maybe better to stick with gun tanks - perhaps Mks.IV/IX with 6 pdr APDS - drive the enemy from the field, then encourage the now-liberated citizenry to plant 'em?

Regards,
MikB

[Capt.Sensible]

Originally Posted by Slipdigit

The Churchill.

Besides sharing the same name as the great leader of the day, it's just so danged ugly. Something that ugly, you just have to love it.

I liked its versatility. How many variants were there, 1,847,219 or there about? I believe that if the need had arisen for one to plant petunias, somebody would have soon been driving up in one sporting the necessary attachments to make that happen.

Hello Jeff,
If you like the Churchill then I can thoroughly reccommend David Fletcher's Mr. Churchill's Tank: The British Infantry Tank Mark IV. I bought this after hearing VP rave about it and he was completely right: a very readable and comprehensive account of the development, use and evolution of the Churchill, and well-presented, too. It was quite expensive (about £40, as I remember) but it is the sort of book I will never sell and will always treasure.

H

PS I have no connection to the author or publishers!

(Hardcover)
by

[Slipdigit]

Originally Posted by Capt.Sensible

Hello Jeff,
If you like the Churchill then I can thoroughly reccommend David Fletcher's Mr. Churchill's Tank: The British Infantry Tank Mark IV. I bought this after hearing VP rave about it and he was completely right: a very readable and comprehensive account of the development, use and evolution of the Churchill, and well-presented, too. It was quite expensive (about £40, as I remember) but it is the sort of book I will never sell and will always treasure.

H

PS I have no connection to the author or publishers!

(Hardcover)
by

HMMMM lets see...£40 in US currency is about $80 and 10-20% commission comes to about..oh..uh..er, Thanks Capt. I'd like to own that one but I don't think I can get my wallet to give up that many skins, at least not until my children are through with college.

Did the large tracks translate into goodly sized crew compartments?

On an aside, when did the UK quit using spherical projectile weight equivalents (for lack of a better term) for gun size and start using bore diameter itself when descibing large guns? e.g. 6 pdr for a 57mm gun?

[von Poop]

$35 on US Amazon... Schiffer are based there I think.
Curse your relatively cheap books!

On pdr/mm... I suppose the 20Pdr as fitted to the Early Centurions was the last?
I imagine with the introduction of the 105mm L7, and thoughts of international sales, a bit of standardisation was seen as sensible?

Cheers,
Adam.