1942 British Churchill Tank

September 1942. British Movietone News. The Tank, Infantry, Mk IV (A22) was a heavy British infantry tank used in the Second World War, best known for its heavy armour, large longitudinal chassis with all-around tracks with multiple bogies, and its use as the basis of many specialist vehicles. This series of tanks was named after Winston Churchill, who was not only the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom at the time but had been involved with the development of the tank as a weapon during the First World War.
Initially specified prior to the outbreak of the Second World War the (A20) was to be the replacement for the Matilda II and Valentine. In accord with British Infantry Tank doctrine and based on the expected needs of World War I style trench warfare, the tank was required to be capable of navigating shell cratered ground, demolishing infantry obstacles (such as barbed wire) and attacking fixed enemy defences; for these purposes, great speed and heavy armament was not required.
The A20 designs were short-lived however, as at roughly the same time the emergency evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk occurred. With France conquered, the scenario of trench warfare was no longer applicable and the specifications were revised by Dr. H.E. Merritt, director of Tank Design, based on the combat witnessed in Poland and France. These new specifications, the (A22) or Infantry Tank Mark IV, were given to Vauxhall Motors.
With German invasion looking imminent and the United Kingdom having lost most of its military vehicles in the evacuation from France, the War Office specified that the A22 must begin production within the year. By July 1940 the design was complete and by December of that year the first prototypes were completed; it was in June 1941, almost exactly a year as specified, that the first Churchill tanks began rolling off the production line.
This hasty development had not come without cost though, as there had been little in the way of testing and the Churchill was plagued with mechanical faults. Most apparent was the Churchill's underpowered and unreliable engine, a situation made far worse by the engine's lack of accessibility. Another serious shortcoming of the tank was its weak armament, the 2 pounder 40 millimetre gun, which was somewhat fixed by the addition of a 3 inch howitzer in the hull (the Mk IICS had the howitzer in the turret) to deliver an HE shell albeit not on howitzer type trajectories. These flaws contributed to the tank's poor performance in its first combat outing, the disastrous Dieppe Raid in August, 1942.
Among numerous mechanical fixes, the Mk III was distinct for removing the previous weapons of the Churchill and utilizing the 6 pounder gun (57 millimetre) in a new turret design. In one encounter the updated Churchill tank even eliminated a heavy German Tiger I tank; the 'kill' was achieved by the 6-pdr shot becoming lodged in between the Tiger's turret and turret ring. The crew abandoned the Tiger, which was subsequently captured by the British. This particular tank is on display at Bovington Tank Museum in the United Kingdom.

The armour on the Churchill, often considered its most important trait, was originally specified to a minimum of 16 mm and a maximum of 102 mm; this was increased with the Mk VII to a range from 25 mm to 152 mm. Though this armour was considerably thicker than its rivals (including the German Tiger tank, but not the Tiger II) it was not sloped, reducing its effectiveness. Earlier models were given extra armour by the expedient of welding extra plates on.

Category:

News & Politics

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• Churchill
• Tank
• Britain
• World
• War
• II
• Armour
• pounder
• gun

[WickyWiggstaz]

@dividednation44 "inclined armour"....that's just another way of saying sloped you fool. They both mean that the Armour is angled.

[WickyWiggstaz]

did he say fast? lol It was the slowest thing on the battlefield.

As for the weapons, the 75QBF was good for its HE round and the Churchill was an infantry tank so we can't really dispute that.

I must say I adore the churchill, favourite allied tank of D-Day closely followed by the "Crommie" and Hobarts funnies, well they were just incredible.

[joseaca]

@dividednation44 the MKVII wasnt a prototype

inclined armor is the same as sloped armor

also what are you insane? why are you insulting this guy over nothing?

[888HamilkarBarkas888]

i love part when he says "fast and equipped with formidable weapons for attack"

i wrote a scientific work about propaganda in ww2, brits were masters of propaganda.

[TalonMercenary]

That thing looks terrifying :\

[cadmus98]

@dividednation44 "the only variant that had 150mm armor was the MKVII a prototype, what a dumbass."

It was fielded in the Battle of Normandy, so it does count. Both the Churchill and the T-34 series had good armour, especially early on in the war. So you cannot generalize Allied armour as poor, if you include those tanks.

[dividednation44]

@cadmus98 yeah, your a dumbshit. the A22 was the only variant to be mass produced and fielded in decent numbers, the only variant that had 150mm armor was the MKVII a prototype, what a dumbass.

sloped armor was commonly used before WW2 broke out you dumbass. germany did used sloped armor in some of its tanks. the panther and king tiger had inclined armor, a german innovation that rendered sloped armor obsolete

[cadmus98]

@dividednation44 Let me call your bluff then: Can you tell me which model of Churchill fielded 152mm armour? (I'm aware it is not the same thickness all round). That's thicker than the Tiger I's 130mm, and was definitely good armour for its day.

I stand corrected on sloped armour. The French had that on their tanks earlier, not the Russians, though both were allies and were applying it before the Germans really took to the idea later in the war, with Panthers, King Tigers, etc.

[dividednation44]

@cadmus98 hey, try to not to argue with a tank expert with your shitty info, churchills had less armor then tigers, churchills had 100mm protection front, tiger had over 130mm up front and that cant be dealt with easily especially mentioning the tiger had excellent sights and optics with its 88mm gun which could penetrate the churchill from a very long range, and sell your bullshit elsewhere dumbass, russians dident field the first sloped armor tanks, it was common until they started spamming it

[cadmus98]

@dividednation44 "the allied tanks sucked dick in terms of protection"

What are you talking about? The Russians fielded the first sloped armor tanks, which the Germans had trouble dealing with early in the Russian invasion with their Panzers; the British Churchill tanks also had armor thicker than the Tiger I's.