| Infantry Tank Mark II | |
|---|---|
 Matilda displaying a captured Italian flag |
|
| Type | Infantry tank[1] |
| Place of origin |  United Kingdom[1] |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1939-1945 |
| Used by | United Kingdom Australia Soviet Union |
| Wars | Second World War 1948 Arab–Israeli War |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Mechanization Board and Messrs Vulcan[1] |
| Designed | 1937[1] |
| Manufacturer | Vulcan Foundry and others |
| Produced | 1937–1943 |
| Number built | 2,987 |
| Variants | see Variants below |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 25 tons[2] |
| Length | 15 ft 11 in (6.0 m) |
| Width | 8 ft 6 in (2.6 m)[3] |
| Height | 8 ft 3 in (2.5 m) |
| Crew | 4 [3](Driver, gunner, loader, commander) |
|
|
|
| Armour | 78 mm max[3] |
| Primary armament |
2 pounder (40 mm)[5], 93 armour-piercing rounds[5] |
| Secondary armament |
7.92 mm Besa machine gun[5] 2,925 rounds[5] |
| Engine | 2 diesel, AEC 6 cylinder engines[nb 1][5] or 2 diesel Leyland engines[2] 94 Brake horsepower – 95 Brake horsepower[6] |
| Power/weight | 6.55 hp/tonne |
| Transmission | Wilson epicyclic pre-selector gearbox, 6 speeds[4] |
| Suspension | Coil spring[2] |
| Operational range |
160 miles (257 km) [3] |
| Speed | 16 miles per hour (26 km/h) (on road)[3] 9 miles per hour (14 km/h) (off road) |
| Steering system |
Rackham clutch[4] |
The Infantry Tank Mark II known as the Matilda II (sometimes referred to as Matilda senior or simply an 'I' tank) was a British Infantry tank of the Second World War. It was also identified from its General Staff Specification A12.
It served from the start of the war to its end and became particularly associated with the North Africa Campaign. It was replaced in service by the Infantry Tank Mk III Valentine.
When the earlier Infantry Tank Mark I which was also known as "Matilda" was removed from service the Infantry Tank Mk II simply became known as the Matilda.
Contents |
Development history
The Infantry Tank Mk II was designed at the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich[7] to General Staff specification A.12[1] and built by the Vulcan Foundry. The design was based on the A7[8] (which had started development in 1929) [9] rather than on the Infantry Tank Mk I, which was a two man tank with a single machine gun for armament.
Design
The Matilda Senior[10] weighed around 27 long tons (27 metric tons),[11] more than twice as much as its predecessor, and was armed with a 2 pounder (40 mm) tank gun in a three-man turret. The turret traversed by hydraulic motor or by hand through 360 degrees; the gun itself could be elevated through an arc from -15[nb 2] to +20 degrees.[5]
Like other infantry tanks[which?] it was heavily armoured; from 20 mm at the thinnest it was 78 mm (3.1 inch) at the front, much more than most contemporaries. The turret armour was 75 millimetres (3.0 in) all round,[5] the hull side armour was 65 to 70 millimetres (2.6 to 2.8 in),[nb 3] and the rear armour, covering[clarification needed] the engine, was 55 millimetres (2.2 in).[5] The frontal armour was 75 millimetres (3.0 in), although the nose plates top and bottom were thinner but angled. The turret roof was the same thickness as the hull roof and engine deck: 20 millimetres (0.79 in).[12] The German Panzer III and Panzer IV tanks, of the same period, had 30 to 50 millimetres (1.2 to 2.0 in) thick hull armour. The shape of the nose armor was based on the US Christie design,[13] and came to a narrow point with lockers added on either side. The heavy armour of the Matilda's cast turret became legendary; for a time in 1940–41 the Matilda earned the nickname "Queen of the Desert" although its weaknesses made this nickname difficult to justify.[14] At the time it was designed, this armour protection could not be penetrated by any antitank gun in the world,[15] although early models of German 88mm anti-aircraft artillery was able to defeat the Matilda's armour at short range.
The weight of the armour, together with the relatively weak twin-engine power unit (adapted from a bus) and complex, troublesome suspension severely limited the speed of the vehicle. For example, in the desert terrain of North Africa the Matilda could average only about 9.5 km/h (6 mph). This was not thought to be a problem because the Matilda was specifically designed in accordance with the British doctrine of infantry tanks, that is, heavily-armoured but slow-moving vehicles designed to provide support to infantry. Under this thinking, a speed equal to the walking speed of a man was considered sufficient.
Each engine had its own separate coolant and lubrication system. The radiators were to the rear of the engine compartment over the transmission. The twin engine design doubled the maintenance effort for crews[16] and often resulting in uneven wear and tear of components.[17] If one engine broke down the tank could "limp along"[18] on the other.
The tank was carried by 5 double wheel bogies on each side. Four of the bogies were paired on a common coil spring. The fifth, rearmost, bogie was sprung against a hull bracket. Between the first bogie and the idler wheel was a "jockey wheel". The first Matildas had return rollers, these were replaced in later models with track skids which were far easier to manufacture.
The turret carried the main armament with the machine gun to the right in a rotating internal mantlet. Two smoke grenade launchers were carried on the right side of the turret.[19] The grenade launcher mechanisms were cut down Lee-Enfield rifles, each firing a single smoke grenade.
Production history
The first Matilda was produced in 1937 but only two were in service when war broke out in September 1939. Some 2,987 tanks were produced by the Vulcan Foundry, John Fowler & Co., Ruston & Hornsby, and later by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway at Horwich Works; Harland and Wolff, and the North British Locomotive Company. Production was stopped in August 1943. Peak production was 1,330 in 1942, the most common model being the Mark IV.[20]
The Matilda was difficult to manufacture. For example, the pointed nose was a single casting that, upon initial release from the mold, was thicker than required in some areas. To avoid a needless addition to the tank's weight, the thick areas were ground away. This process required highly skilled workers and additional time.[21] The complex suspension and multi-piece hull side coverings also added time to manufacturing.[22]
Combat history
The Matilda was first used in combat by the 7th Royal Tank Regiment[23] in France in 1940. Only 23 of the unit's tanks were Matilda IIs;[24] the rest of the British Infantry Tanks in France were A11 Matildas.[25] Its 2-pounder gun was comparable to other tank guns in the 37 to 45 mm range. Due to the thickness of its armour, it was largely immune to the guns of the German tanks and anti-tank guns in France.[26] The famous 88 mm anti-aircraft guns were pressed into the anti-tank role as the only effective counter. In the counterattack at Arras, although British Matilda IIs (and Matilda Is) were able briefly to disrupt German progress, being unsupported their losses were high. All vehicles surviving the battles around Dunkirk were abandoned when the BEF evacuated.
In the early days of the war in North Africa, the Matilda again proved highly effective against Italian and German tanks, although vulnerable again to the larger calibre anti-tank guns.
In late 1940, during Operation Compass, Matildas of the British 7th Armoured Division wreaked havoc among the Italian forces in Egypt. The Italians were equipped with L3 tankettes and M11/39 medium tanks, neither of which had any chance against the Matildas. In addition, Italian gunners were to discover that the Matildas were impervious to a wide assortment of artillery. Matildas continued to confound the Italians as the British pushed them out of Egypt and entered Libya to take Bardia and Tobruk.
In early 1941, a small number of Matildas were used during the East Africa Campaign at the Battle of Keren. However, the mountainous terrain of East Africa did not allow the tanks of B Squadron 4th Royal Tank Regiment to be as effective as the tanks of the 7th Royal Tank Regiment had been in Egypt and Libya.
Ultimately, in the rapid manoeuvre warfare often practiced in the open desert of North Africa, the Matilda's low speed and unreliable steering mechanism became major problems. Another problem was the lack of a high-explosive capability (the appropriate shell existed but was not issued). Ultimately, when the German Afrika Korps arrived in North Africa, the 88 mm anti-aircraft gun was again pressed into the anti-tank role against the Matilda. This, together with the rapid manoeuvre warfare, doomed the Matilda in this theatre of war.
Sixty-four Matildas were lost during Operation Battleaxe and a dozen were subsequently repaired and put into service by the Germans. [27] The Matildas were well regarded by their German users [28] although their use in battle caused confusion to both sides, despite extra-prominent German markings.[27]
As the German army received new tanks with more powerful guns, the Matilda proved less and less effective. Due to the "painfully small"[29] size of its turret ring (54 inches), it could not be up-gunned sufficiently. The tank was also somewhat expensive to produce. Vickers proposed an alternative, the Valentine tank, which had the same gun, a similar level of armour protection, but on a faster and cheaper chassis derived from that of their British cruiser tank. With the arrival of the Valentine, American Lee and Grant and Sherman tanks, the Matilda was phased out by the British Army. By the time of the battle of El Alamein (October 1942), few Matildas were still in service. Around twenty five took part in the battle as mine-clearing, Matilda Scorpion mine flail tanks.
A few Matildas of the 7th RTR were present on Crete during the German invasion.[30]
The Red Army received 1,084 Matildas.[3] The Soviet Matildas saw action as early as the Battle of Moscow and became fairly common during 1942. Unsurprisingly, the tank was found to be too slow and unreliable. Crews often complained that snow and dirt were accumulating behind the "skirt" panels, clogging the suspension. The slow speed and heavy armour made them comparable to the Red Army's KV-1 heavy tanks, but the Matilda had nowhere near the firepower of the KV. Most Soviet Matildas were expended during 1942 but a few served on as late as 1944. The Soviets modified the tanks with the addition of sections of steel welded to the tracks to give better grip.[3]
In the Pacific, however, Japanese forces were lacking in heavy anti-tank guns and the Matilda remained in service with several Australian regiments in the Australian 4th Armoured Brigade, in the South West Pacific Area. They first saw active service in the Huon Peninsula campaign in October 1943. Matilda II tanks remained in action until the last day of the war in the Wewak, Bougainville and Borneo campaigns, which made the Matilda the only British tank to remain in service throughout the entire war.[3]
Variants
- Infantry Tank Mark II Matilda II[5]
- Vickers machine gun replaced by Besa machine gun.[5]
- Infantry Tank Mark II Matilda II Mk IV[31]
- With improved engines. rigid mounting and no turret lamp[32]
- Infantry Tank Mark II Matilda II Mk V[31]
- Matilda II Close Support (CS)
- Variant with QF 3 inch (76 mm) [nb 4] howitzer firing smoke shells.[7][34]
- Baron I, II, III, IIIA
- Experimental Matilda chassis with mine flail - never used operationally.
- Matilda Scorpion I / II
- Matilda chassis with a mine flail. Used in North Africa, during and after the battle of El Alamain.
- Matilda II CDL / Matilda V CDL (Canal Defence Light)
- The normal turret was replaced by a cylindrical one containing a searchlight (projected through a vertical slit) and a BESA machine gun.
Australian variants:
- Matilda Frog (25)
- Flame-thrower tank.
- Murray and Murray FT
- Flame-thrower tank.
- Matilda Hedgehog (6)
- A naval Hedgehog 7-barrel spigot mortar was mounted in an armoured box on the rear hull of several Australian Matilda tanks. The mortars were hydraulically elevated and electrically fired either individually or in a salvo of six, the fifth tube could not be fired until the turret was traversed to move the radio antenna out of the bomb's flightpath. Each bomb weighed 65 lb (29 kg) and contained 30 to 35 lb (14 to 16 kg) of high explosive, the range of the bombs was up to 400 metres and aiming accomplished by pointing the entire tank as the mortars had no traverse independent of the hull of the tank.[35]
 Matilda Scorpion flail tank, North Africa, 2 November, 1942. |
 Matilda Baron under test. |
.jpg) A Matilda Frog flame thrower tank, Borneo, 1945. |
.jpg) A Matilda Hedgehog, with the mortar elevated. |
Surviving Tanks
Around 45 Matilda II's survive in various degrees of preservation. The majority (around 30) are in Australia, either in museums or in private ownership.
 Jacques Littlefield collection, California, USA. |
 Royal Australian Armoured Corps Tank Museum, Puckapunyal, Australia. |
 Matilda Hedgehog, RAAC Museum, Puckapunyal. |
 Matilda Bulldozer, RAAC Museum, Puckapunyal. |
 Matilda Frog, RAAC Museum, Puckapunyal. |
 Bovington Tank Museum, Britain. In working order, painted to represent the tank in which H.R.B. Foote won the Victoria Cross. |
 Yad La-Shiryon museum, Israel |
See also
Notes
- Footnotes
- ^ Engine models A183, on the left hand side, and engine model A184, right hand side.
- ^ The WWII Equipment page states that the gun could move through an elevation arc of -20 to +20 degrees.[12]
- ^ The 65 mm was made up of the hull itself and the side skirt armour [12]
- ^ The shell cartridge was 76.2 x 134R. On the Infantry Tank Mk IV, the Churchill tank, the gun was used for HE
- Citations
- ^ a b c d e Jentz, p. 11
- ^ a b c Jentz, p. 13
- ^ a b c d e f g h Bean, pp. 147–148
- ^ a b http://www.livesteammodels.co.uk/dhmg/mahon1.html
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Jentz, p. 12
- ^ Jentz, pp. 12–13
- ^ a b WWII Vehicles
- ^ http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Quarters/7413/matilda2.html
- ^ http://www.wwiivehicles.com/unitedkingdom/tanks-medium/a7.asp
- ^ Fletcher, p. 5
- ^ WWII Vehicles citing The Royal Armoured Corps Tank Museum, Tanks 1919-1939 The Inter War Period 1966
- ^ a b c WWII Equipment
- ^ Fletcher p.7
- ^ Fletcher, p. 14
- ^ Fletcher, p.7
- ^ Fletcher, p. 6
- ^ Fletcher, p. 6
- ^ Fletcher, p. 6
- ^ Fletcher, p 8
- ^ WWII equipment
- ^ Fletcher, p.7
- ^ Fletcher, p.7
- ^ Fletcher, p. 10
- ^ Fletcher, p. 10
- ^ Fletcher, p. 10
- ^ Sebag-Montifiore, pp. 149, 153
- ^ a b Tucker-Jones, Anthony (2007). Hitlers Great Panzer Heist. Pen and Sword Military. ISBN 184415548X.[page needed]
- ^ von Mellenthin, Major-General F. W (1971). Panzer Battles: A Study of the Employment of Armor in the Second World War. First Ballantine Books Edition. ISBN 0345244400.[page needed]
- ^ Fletcher, p. 9
- ^ http://www.army.gov.au/ahu/docs/Matilda_Tanks_at_Retimo.pdf
- ^ a b c d e Fletcher, pp. 12–14
- ^ a b Mark Bannerman, Robert Oehler. Modelling the Matilda Infantry tank. Osprey. p. 6.
- ^ Fletcher, p 14
- ^ Fletcher, p. 12
- ^ Paul Handel—Dust, Sand and Jungle, 2003 RAAC Memorial and Army Tank Museum, ISBN 1-876439-75-0.[page needed]
References
- Bean, Tim; Fowler, Will (2002). Russian Tanks of World War II Stalin’s armoured might. Ian Allen publishing. ISBN 0-71102-898-2.
- Fletcher, David, and Peter Sarson. Matilda Infantry Tank 1938–45 (New Vanguard 8). Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 1994. ISBN 1-85532-457-1.
- Jentz, Thomas L. (1998). Tank Combat in North Africa: The Opening Rounds, Operations Sonnenblume, Brevity, Skorpion and Battleaxe, February 1941 - June 1941. Schiffer Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-76430-226-4.
- Sebag-Montifiore, Hugh. Dunkirk: Fight to the last man.
- "Britain's Matilda tanks". WWII Vehicles, tanks and Airplanes. http://www.wwiivehicles.com/unitedkingdom/infantry/matilda.html.
- Boyd, David (31 December 2008). "Matilda Mk II Infantry Tank (A.12)". WWII Equipment. http://www.wwiiequipment.com/matilda.aspx.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Matilda II tank |
- OnWar - Matilda III
- Photo Gallery of Matilda Tanks in Soviet service (rkkaww2.armchairgeneral.com)
- PDF document listing surviving Matilda tanks.
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| British armoured fighting vehicle production during World War II |
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