20250628 (60)_Matilda_I
Between WWI and WWII British tank development followed several strands: Infantry tanks, heavily armoured and slow, intended as battlefield infantry support (hence only needing to move at infantry pace); cruisers, fast, with medium armour, to exploit a successful break-in battle - and light tanks for reconnaissance and patrolling. by the outbreak of WWII the Matilda I was the in-service infantry tank. Capable of only 8 mph in optimum conditions and armed only with a Vickers machine gun, small, cramped and with a heavily overworked crew of two (the commander was expected to observe, engage targets, communicate over a radio in the hull not the turret and if senior, command a troop or larger unit) the one really good thing abut the Matilda I was that its armour was more than adequate to resist the standard German anti-tank guns of the day. However its feeble armament meant it could not successfully engage the opposing armour either! Nevertheless Matilda Is were involved in the Arras counterattack credited with leading to the stop order that allowed the British Army to escape via Dunkirk.
20250628 (60)_Matilda_I
Between WWI and WWII British tank development followed several strands: Infantry tanks, heavily armoured and slow, intended as battlefield infantry support (hence only needing to move at infantry pace); cruisers, fast, with medium armour, to exploit a successful break-in battle - and light tanks for reconnaissance and patrolling. by the outbreak of WWII the Matilda I was the in-service infantry tank. Capable of only 8 mph in optimum conditions and armed only with a Vickers machine gun, small, cramped and with a heavily overworked crew of two (the commander was expected to observe, engage targets, communicate over a radio in the hull not the turret and if senior, command a troop or larger unit) the one really good thing abut the Matilda I was that its armour was more than adequate to resist the standard German anti-tank guns of the day. However its feeble armament meant it could not successfully engage the opposing armour either! Nevertheless Matilda Is were involved in the Arras counterattack credited with leading to the stop order that allowed the British Army to escape via Dunkirk.