British Battle Tanks

British Battle Tanks PDF Author: David Fletcher
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472821491
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 282

Get Book Here

Book Description
This lavishly illustrated volume details the design, development and operational history of the British-made tanks in World War II. Plagued by unreliable vehicles and poorly thought-out doctrine, the early years of World War II were years of struggle for Britain's tank corps. Relying on tanks built in the late 1930s, and those designed and built with limited resources in the opening years of the war, they battled valiantly against an opponent well versed in the arts of armoured warfare. This book is the second of a multi-volume history of British tanks by renowned British armour expert David Fletcher MBE. It covers the development and use of the Matilda, Crusader, and Valentine tanks that pushed back the Axis in North Africa, the much-improved Churchill that fought with distinction from North Africa to Normandy, and the excellent Cromwell tank of 1944–45. It also looks at Britain's super-heavy tank projects, the TOG1 and TOG2, and the Tortoise heavy assault tank, designed to smash through the toughest of battlefield conditions, but never put into production.

British Battle Tanks

British Battle Tanks PDF Author: David Fletcher
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472821491
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 282

Get Book Here

Book Description
This lavishly illustrated volume details the design, development and operational history of the British-made tanks in World War II. Plagued by unreliable vehicles and poorly thought-out doctrine, the early years of World War II were years of struggle for Britain's tank corps. Relying on tanks built in the late 1930s, and those designed and built with limited resources in the opening years of the war, they battled valiantly against an opponent well versed in the arts of armoured warfare. This book is the second of a multi-volume history of British tanks by renowned British armour expert David Fletcher MBE. It covers the development and use of the Matilda, Crusader, and Valentine tanks that pushed back the Axis in North Africa, the much-improved Churchill that fought with distinction from North Africa to Normandy, and the excellent Cromwell tank of 1944–45. It also looks at Britain's super-heavy tank projects, the TOG1 and TOG2, and the Tortoise heavy assault tank, designed to smash through the toughest of battlefield conditions, but never put into production.

British Infantry Tanks in World War II

British Infantry Tanks in World War II PDF Author: Dick Taylor
Publisher: Photosniper
ISBN: 9788365437129
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages :

Get Book Here

Book Description
Before the start of the Second World War, British armored doctrine was in a terrible muddle. Opinion had been divided between the proponents of the tank who saw it as the weapon of break-in, using it as an infantry support weapon, and those who saw it as the weapon of breakout, using it to restore mobility and to destroy the enemy's forces behind the frontline. In many ways it was a division between those who saw the tank solely through the prism of the experience of the First World War, and those who saw it a decisive weapon for the future. Britain was also conscious of the continuing requirements for imperial policing, in which small tanks and armored cars had already proved their worth. As a consequence, it was decided that Britain needed three different classes of tanks: Light tanks for the policing role that could also be used for reconnaissance duties in a general war, fast and lightly armored Cruiser tanks for breakout and exploitation, and heavily armored but slow Infantry tanks for the break-in.

The Second World War Tank Crisis

The Second World War Tank Crisis PDF Author: Dick Taylor
Publisher: Pen and Sword Military
ISBN: 1399003550
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 274

Get Book Here

Book Description
British Second World War tanks performed so badly that it is difficult to bring to mind any other British weapon of the period that provokes such a strong sense of failure. Unfortunately, many of the accusations appear to be true – British tanks were in many ways a disgrace. But why was Britain, the country that invented them, consistently unable to field tanks of the required quality or quantity throughout the conflict? This perceived failure has taken on the status of a myth, but, like all myths, it should not be accepted at face value – it should be questioned and analyzed. And that is what Dick Taylor does in this closely researched and absorbing study. He looks at the flaws in British financial policy, tank doctrine, design, production and development before and throughout the war years which often had fatal consequences for the crews who were sent to fight and to be ‘murdered’ in ‘mechanical abortions’. Their direct experience of the shortcomings of these machines is an important element of the story. He also considers how British tanks compared to those of the opposition and contrasts tank production for the army with the production of aircraft for the RAF during the same period. His clear-sighted account goes on to explain how, later in the conflict, British tank design improved to the point where their tanks were in many ways superior to those of the Americans and Germans and how they then produced the Centurion which was one of the best main battle tanks of the post-war era.

British Battle Tanks

British Battle Tanks PDF Author: David Fletcher
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472817567
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 238

Get Book Here

Book Description
A highly illustrated history of the development and operation of the first British tanks, published to coincide with the 100th anniversary of their introduction in World War I. When British soldiers charged across the Somme in September 1916 they were accompanied by a new and astonishing weapon – the tank. After a stuttering start armoured behemoths such as the Mark IV, Mark V and Whippet played a crucial role in bringing World War I to an end. Marking the centenary of their battlefield debut, this comprehensive volume traces the design and development of the famous British invention during World War I and the increasingly tense years of the 1920s and 30s, from the first crude but revolutionary prototype to the ever-more sophisticated designs of later years. Bolstered by historic photographs and stunning illustrations, author David Fletcher brings us the thrilling history behind the early British battle tanks.

The Great Tank Scandal: British armour in the Second World War

The Great Tank Scandal: British armour in the Second World War PDF Author: David Fletcher
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Tanks (Military science)
Languages : en
Pages : 156

Get Book Here

Book Description


British Battle Tanks

British Battle Tanks PDF Author: David Fletcher
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472821513
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 575

Get Book Here

Book Description
This lavishly illustrated volume details the design, development and operational history of US-made tanks in British service in the Second World War. The idea of British soldiers using American tanks was not viewed with a great deal of enthusiasm by the British Army. They perceived American tanks as being crudely made, mechanically unsophisticated and impossible to fight in. However, once British crews got used to them and learned to cope with some of their difficulties, such as limited fuel capacity and unfamiliar fighting techniques, they started to see them in a far more positive light, in particular their innate reliability and simplicity of maintenance. This book, the last in a three-part series on British Battle Tanks by armour expert David Fletcher, concentrates on World War II and studies American tanks in British service, some of which were modified in ways peculiar to the British. It shows how the number of these tanks increased to the point that they virtually dominated, as well describing some types, such as the T14 and M26 Pershing, which were supplied but never used in British service.

Mechanised Force

Mechanised Force PDF Author: David Fletcher
Publisher: Stationery Office Books (TSO)
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 152

Get Book Here

Book Description
A history of the Tank Corps from 1919 up until the time when, as the Royal Tank Regiment, it went to war again in 1939. The book chronicles the events and innovations of the years between the wars.

British armoured tanks of the Second World War

British armoured tanks of the Second World War PDF Author: Luigi Manes
Publisher: Soldiershop Publishing
ISBN: 8893275317
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 164

Get Book Here

Book Description
Carrier is the generic term used to identify a family of small tracked, open-topped and usually armoured vehicles, peculiar to British Army between 1939 and 1945. Originally envisaged to carry a machine gun and its team across the ground defended by enemy small arms fire, Carriers were further adapted to several different roles. These versatile machines, produced in great numbers, were employed by almost every nation involved in World War Two.

Death by Design

Death by Design PDF Author: Peter Beale
Publisher: History Publishing Group
ISBN: 9780752453705
Category : Tanks (Military science)
Languages : en
Pages : 224

Get Book Here

Book Description
At the outbreak of war in 1939 British tank crews were ill-equipped, under trained and badly led. This book is a much-needed warning to governments and military planners: a nation must always be prepared to defend itself and ensure that its soldiers are equipped with the tools to do so.

Jane's World War II Tanks and Fighting Vehicles

Jane's World War II Tanks and Fighting Vehicles PDF Author: Leland S. Ness
Publisher: Collins
ISBN: 9780007112289
Category : Armored vehicles, Military
Languages : en
Pages : 237

Get Book Here

Book Description
This is the land equivalent of Jane's Battleships, a comprehensive encyclopaedia of all the combat vehicles of World War II from Somaliland to Japan. A nation-by-nation overview of each country's development of tanks and their involvement in World War II is before providing an A-Z of each army's tanks and fighting vehicles including armoured cars, personnel carriers, amphibious craft and mortar carriers. Quirkier profiles of vehicles such as the German TKS tankette are given.