Somewhere in North Africa

[Robert1968]

A big drop in the well ( don't drop a grenade in there? Or you'll get wet!!!

[monica]

do like this one Alan,great work on the tank,


very nice start on the building as well,


i will be tagging alone as well,

[Alan 45]

Well it seems this is taking off well I might have to sell tickets but so we don't get confused can you all BUCKET in advance please


Coat is on and I'm waiting for the taxi :P

[Guest]

I know what you mean Patrick but I do think they had a distinctive look that set them apart from other nations , it's like you could see one and know it was British immediately
I think what does make them look prehistoric is the rivets it like a throwback to the First World War

Unfortunately I think the Germans took one look & laughed!

[Alan 45]

Unfortunately I think the Germans took one look & laughed!

Oh I don't know mate , I'd agree with them laughing at the Tilly and the honey but that changed when the crusader was fitted with a 6 pounder it was more than a match for the panzer III and IV they had in the field at that time but then came the tiger I and they started laughing again

[john i am]

Yeah and those who laugh 1st always laugh last!

[Guest]

Oh I don't know mate , I'd agree with them laughing at the Tilly and the honey but that changed when the crusader was fitted with a 6 pounder it was more than a match for the panzer III and IV they had in the field at that time but then came the tiger I and they started laughing again

Well the Matilda was considered a tough nut to crack - only the 88 had any real success with it. But whilst the 6 pounder was a decent weapon & capable of piercing the P III & IV armour, the ' cavalry style ' tactics used by British armoured forces in North Africa made them easy pickings for the panzers.

[Alan 45]

Well the Matilda was considered a tough nut to crack - only the 88 had any real success with it. But whilst the 6 pounder was a decent weapon & capable of piercing the P III & IV armour, the ' cavalry style ' tactics used by British armoured forces in North Africa made them easy pickings for the panzers.

I can't argue with that the only thing I will say is I've read one say it had its merits and one say it didn't I suppose it's case of what the objective was at the time , it is a bit silly to charge in a straight line at the enemy though once he's got your speed and range its halos and wings time , might of worked better as a diversion tactic, get the enemy focused on the charging tanks and then hit them in the flank

[Guest]

I think that back them the commanders considered tanks like horses, & didn't learn much from the German armoured tactics until much later in the war.


Unlike the Russians who learnt & did it back to the Hun in spades!

[Alan 45]

That's true which is probably why they switched to the cruiser tanks which were faster it's not a cavelry charge if you bobbing along like a mule

[aaron]

Oh I don't know mate , I'd agree with them laughing at the Tilly and the honey but that changed when the crusader was fitted with a 6 pounder it was more than a match for the panzer III and IV they had in the field at that time but then came the tiger I and they started laughing again

Surely there was at least a chuckle at the Churchill's after the Dieppe fiasco.

[Alan 45]

Surely there was at least a chuckle at the Churchill's after the Dieppe fiasco.

I wouldn't put the blame on the Churchill for dieppe it was a sound tank just slow , dieppe showed us how not to attack a beach but the big failure was its planning and the choice of beach

[aaron]

The Germans thought it was a ww1 surplus. I'm not blaming the failure of the raid on the Churchill, just pondering the reaction of the German troops to the design of the Churchill on the beach.

[Robert1968]

I am a great lover of the tank in any shape or form from the 1st type armoured tractor to the male and female tanks ( just reading about the development etc etc


From my ref the Matilda was not that well suited for the desert, I mean 6mph top speed in the desert and 16mph on the Tarmac? It won't take a good gunner long yo sight an 88 ( and they could cut steel like butter ) or was it tanks like Swiss cheese I'm not sure.


The turret and basic armour for the Matilda I would say for the era was adequate in design but like all British tanks we never had a big enough gun to put in the turret.


The 2 pounder or 40mm could take on the P3 or P4 but at close range and back to the slow speed of the Matilda could it get close enough to do real damage. The Afrika core were getting better tanks and field artillery to match the Matilda and many I believe were lost in "operation battleaxe"


Also it's lack of high explosive rounds was a downfall of the tilda.


It also had a bad steering system that broke down and on field reliability was not as the British had thought


The 6pounder was more effective gun but the turret had to be changed to support this bigger breech gun and with the Matilda turret being not the right size it was impossible to install this.


As we know by El Alamein the Matilda was phased out in favour of valentines and losses were not replaced


I have read that the Matilda scored well against the Italian armour early in the desert but poorly against the German armour once better German field guns were supplied.


She was a big heavy old brute but I believe her time was up by the outbreak of war in Africa

[Alan 45]

The Germans thought it was a ww1 surplus. I'm not blaming the failure of the raid on the Churchill, just pondering the reaction of the German troops to the design of the Churchill on the beach.

Can't argue with that I think anyone would have wondered what it was it was very long awkward looking thing and it was awkward it had no speed , I think at the time it was built was around it being hard to knock out making it tough but no good in the attack role