The Dark Side - WW2 Tanks and other Vehicles

Vickers Mk VIb Light Tank, 1st Lothians & Borders Yeomanry, BEF, France 1940

JB 1/76.

The Vickers Tank was widely deployed with the British Expeditionary Force in France in 1940. Designed as a fast cavalry support vehicle for the mechanised infantry, it was no match for Rommel's Panzers, but still put up a good fight.

For more information on the BEF's use of Vickers Tanks and Scout Carriers, try this link

Vickers/Carden Loyd Scout Carrier, 1st Lothians & Borders Yeomanry, BEF, France 1940

Airfix 1/76. Modified from their Bren Gun/Universal Carrier.

The Scout Carrier was an early variant of the Bren Gun or Universal Carrier that was used by British and Commonwealth forces throughout WW2. It provided infantry with fast and reliable all-terrain transport. As well as Bren Guns, carriers were often armed with the Boyes Anti Tank Gun.

Matilda II Infantry Tank, 7th Royal Tank Regiment, Operation Compass, Western Desert, December 1940

Airfix, 1/76(?), with own decals

The Infantry Tank Mk.II Matilda was one of the most significant tanks used during the early part of WW2. British tank doctrine split the tank force into two distinct groups: "Infantry Tanks" that were heavily armoured and moved slowly in support of the advancing Infantry, and "Cruiser Tanks" that were fast and mobile. The Matilda fell into the former category - heavily armoured, but slow and unmaneoverable. It saw some success during the battle of France, where its armour proved more than a match for the German anti-tank weapons, but there were too few Matildas available to the BEF and too little support.

North Africa was a different matter; against the Italian Army and Rommel's Afrika Korps, the Matilda saw greater success, although its twin bus engine propulsion, complex suspension and unreliable steering were ill-matched to the developing form of fast tank maneouvre warfare at which Rommel was the acknowledged expert. Its main armament was also hampered by an inexplicable lack of suitable HE shells. Nevertheless, the heavily armoured Matilda was popular and highly regarded, and played a key role in the successes of the early North African campaign.

Valentine III Infantry Tank, 2nd Lothians & Borders Horse, 1941

Italeri (ex-ESCI) 1/72, with own decals

The Infantry Tank MkIII Valentine entered service in June 1940, just in time for the British Army's desperate re-equipment after the evacuations from France. It became the most widely produced British tank of WW2 with nearly 8,000 built in the UK and Canada. As a replacement for the Matilda it was less heavily armoured, but its diesel engine was more reliable and the Valentine remained in production until 1944.

Like most British tanks, it was slower and more lightly armed than its German adversaries, but Valentines fought well in the North African Campaigns and saw extensive service with the Red Army during the battle for Moscow. Valentines were also converted into a variety of specialist tanks, including flame throwers, bridge layers, flail tanks, anti-aircraft tanks and specialist tank destroyers.

Crusader III Cruiser Tank Mk.IV, 2nd Lothians & Borders Horse, 1943

Hasegawa 1/72, with own decals

 The A15 Cruiser Tank Mk.IV Crusader first entered service in 1941 and played a key role in the North African campaigns. A fast but lightly armoured (and armed) cruiser tank, by 1943 it had been outgunned by the German Panzer IV and Tiger tanks in Tunisia, despite being modified to carry the more powerful British 6lb gun. Never the most reliable of tanks, it suffered from cooling and track problems throughout its career, as well as a tendency for its own gun blast to damage the fuel system if firing with the turret traversed to the rear.

Humber Mk II Armoured Car, 1942

Hasegawa 1/76 - Simpler than the Matchbox kit of the later variant.

Humber's Mk II armoured car entered UK service in the desert in 1941, and remained until about 1945. Later variants with 37mm guns remained in service with other countries into the 1950s. Canadian built variants were known as the Fox Armoured Car.

M3 Grant Command Tank - Headquarters 8th Army, El Alamein, October 1942

Hasegawa 1/72 with Bison Decals

At the start of WW2 the US Army had astonishingly few tanks, and it was quickly clear that they would be no match for German armour. Building on British experience, the M3 General Lee tank was quickly produced as an interim design, using the running gear of the M2, but adding a powerful new 75mm gun in a rather old-fashioned sponson on the right hand side of the hull.

The resultant high silhouette of the M3 and its limited firing arcs were not ideal, but the running gear was relativelty reliable and the larger gun could match the armour plating of any other tank in existence at the time. Drawing on the bitter experienc eof the British, it also allowed the use of high explosive ammunition, enabling the tank to engage non-armour targets, such as the German's deadly 88mm and 75mm anti-tank guns.

Concerns about the lack of an effective integrated radio system led the British to order a modified variant, named the General Grant, with a lowered cast turret containing a commander's radio.

General Montgomery used an M3 Grant as his command tank from the Battle of El Alamein right through to the invasion of Europe in 1944. The tank now resides in the Imperial War Museum as a lasting memorial to the 8th Army.

Centaur Mk. IV Tank, Royal Marines Armoured Support Group, Normandy D-Day June 1944

Armourfast 1/72 with Bison Decals and scratch 95mm barrel.

The A27 Cromwell/Centaur tank was one of the most successful British designs of WW2. Developed from the Crusader and building on the experience of the Desert Campaign, it possessed heavier armour and armament, along with high speed and mobility. Its low profile and high speed made it particularly popular as a reconnaissance tank, although its vertical sided armour proved less effective than the thinner sloped armour of the Sheman tank. The name Centaur was given to the earliest A27 designs, powered by WW1 era Nuffield Liberty aero-engines. These proved badly underpowered and the only Centaurs to see action as gun tanks were 95 mm howitzer armed variants operated by the Royal Marines Armoured Support Group. The later Cromwell variant used the much more powerful Rolls Royce Meteor engine, itself a version of the famous Merlin aero-engine, and saw service as late as the 1950s, including action in the Korean War.

Austin K2 Ambulance, Royal Army Service Corps, Tobruk-Alexandria June 1942

Airfix 1/76 .

The Austin K2 Ambulance with Mann-Eggerton body saw service across the world during WW2 with over 13,000 built. This model is intended to represent one of the many ambulances in the North African Desert in 1942, as protrayed in the classic film Ice Cold in Alex.

Sherman M4A2 MkIIITank, 2nd Lothians & Borders Horse Yeomanry, Tunisia May 1943

Armourfast 1/72.

As WW2 in North Africa drew to a close, Allied forces began to re-equip fully with the M4 Sherman tank. Early British variants were powered by a diesel engine, making them less susceptible to fire than th enormal Sherman with its "Ronson" nickname.

Sherman tanks of the 2nd Lothians led the way in the crucial battle of Hamman-Lif in Tunisia, the last significant battle of the North African campaign. Facing the elite of the Afrika Korps, well dug in in the seaside town, the Lothians tanks led a fast charge along the beach, driving deep into the surf to remain hull-down inlight of heavy German anti tank fire from the beach.

Sherman M4A2 MkIIITank, 2nd Lothians & Borders Horse Yeomanry, Italy June 1944

Armourfast 1/72.

After a period of occupation duty in Tunisia, the Lothians moved to Italy with the 8th Army. After playing apart in the Monte Cassino battles, the Lothains led the Allie dadvance up Highway 3 toward Kesselring's Gothic Line in Northern Italy.

Sherman “Crab” Flail Tank, 30 Armd Bgde, 79 Armd Division, Sword Beach, Normandy, D-Day, 6 June1944

Airfix 1/76 .

Following on from the disaster of the Dieppe Landings, a range of specialist assault vehicles were developed by the Allies to lead the Crab flail tank, designed to clear the way through the beach wall defences.

Crabs of the 79th Armoured Division, known as “Hobart’s Funnies” after their leader General Percy Hobart, were some of the first vehicles to be landed on the D-Day beaches, clearing a way under heavy fire through the minefields for the landing infantry to follow.

Amongst these were the tanks of the reformed 1st Lothians & Borders Yeomanry.

T-34/76 Tank, 5th Guards Tank Army, Op Uranus, Stalingrad, November 1942

Matchbox/Revell 1/76 .

The T-34 tank marked a step change in armoured vehicle design and its design influence can still be seen in today's MBTs. With its welded sloping armour and excellent mobility, its arrivval on the Eastern Front was a rude awakening to the Nazis.

Like most tanks of its time, in its original form it was underarmed and reliability was variable, but in combat it proved at least the equal of most German tanks, and best of all it was cheap, easy and quick to produce. In a very real sense, this is the weapon that won WW2 for the Allies.

In November 1942, the Red Army launched Operation Uranus. Taking advantage of the German's poor preparation for winter weather and targetting the weaker Axis units surrounding Stalingrad, by 22 November, the Soviets had encircled the 290,000 men of the German 6th Army and settled down to a winter war of attrition, as the Germans were gradually starved into surrender.

SdKfz 222 Armoured Car and VW Type 82 Kubelwagen

Airfix 1/76 HO-OO

"Leichter Panzerspähwagen" 2xx series Light Armoured Reconnaissance Vehicles were a series of light four-wheel drive armoured cars produced by Germany from 1935 to 1944. Based on the Auto Union - Horch heavy car, the vehicles apeared in a number of variants and were widely used by reconnaisance units on all fronts of WW2, including North Africa, where their relatively limited off-road capabilities proved a disadvantage.

The VW Type 82 Kubelwagen was developed from the ubiquitous VW Beetle, designed by Ferdinand Porsche. Its name translates literally as "bucket truck", reflecting its utilitarian and rather basic construction.

Lightweight, reliable, cheap to build and remarkably good off-road, it gave valuable service on all fronts throughout the war.

PzKpfw IV Panzer

Airfix 1/76 HO-OO

The Panzer IV was originally intended as a heavily armed support tank to be deployed in limited numbers alongside the lighter Panzer III. As the weight and power of tank guns increased, the IV chassis was seen to have greater development potential and became the main German tank. The Ausf F2 variant, carrying thicker armour and a new longer barrelled 75mm gun was supplied in limited numbers to Rommel's Afrika Korps in late 1942, where it proved superior to the British Crusader and Valentine tanks.

As part of the 6th Armoured Brigade's 26th Armoured Division, Crusader and Valentine tanks of the 2nd Lothians & Borders Horse Yeomanry, together with those of their sister unit the 17/21 Lancers, played a key role in the successful battle of Bou Arada in January 1943, where the Allies captured their first Tiger Tank, then in halting the German breakthrough at the infamous Kasserine Pass in February 1943.

As a result of the poor performance of both British tank types against the up-gunned and up-armoured German tanks and the losses sustained during the battles, the Crusader and Valentine were quickly withdrawn from service and replaced by US-made Sherman tanks.

Despite the introduction of the advanced Panzer V (Tiger) and Panzer VI (Panther) tanks, the Panzer IV was more reliable and easier to build, so remained in production as the mainstay of German tank forces right up until the end of WW2.

After the war, the type saw active service with Finland, Bulgaria and Romania right up until the 1950s, with some seeing use as fixed border gun emplacements for much longer. Panzer IVs last saw combat during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, when Syrian Panzer IVs supplied via France were used to shell Israeli settlements from the Golan heights, until destroyed by Centurion tanks of the IDF.

37mm AA Gun M1938 61-K, Soviet Red Army, 62nd Order of Lenin Rifle Army, Stalingrad, August 1942

Zvezda 1/72 .

The 61-k 37mm AA gun was very similar to the Swedish Bofors 40mm weapon and was widely deployed during WW2 by Red Army units on the Eastern Front, including those defending Stalingrad in 1942.

Over 20,000 were built before production ended in 1945, with many more subsequently produced by the Chinese as the Type 55 gun. Many of these weapons remain in use around the world today, although their effectiveness against modern aircraft and weapons is very doubtful.

Soviet 37 mm 61-K guns are credited with shooting down 14,657 Axis planes during WW2, at an average of 905 rounds fired per aircraft!

www.gengriz.co.uk

Cromwell Mk. IV Tank, 5 Royal Tank Regiment, 7th Armoured Division, Normandy D-Day June 1944

Armourfast 1/72 with spare Decals

The A27 Cromwell/Centaur tank was one of the most successful British designs of WW2. Developed from the Crusader and building on the experience of the Desert Campaign, it possessed heavier armour and armament, along with high speed and mobility. Its low profile and high speed made it particularly popular as a reconnaissance tank, although its vertical sided armour proved less effective than the thinner sloped armour of the Sheman tank.

The name Centaur was given to the earliest A27 designs, powered by WW1 era Nuffield Liberty aero-engines. These proved badly underpowered and the only Centaurs to see action as gun tanks were 95 mm howitzer armed variants operated by the Royal Marines Armoured Support Group. The later Cromwell variant used the much more powerful Rolls Royce Meteor engine, itself a version of the famous Merlin aero-engine, and saw service as late as the 1950s, including action in the Korean War.