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The British Army made extensive use of a variety of combat vehicles during the Second World War. This article is a summary of those vehicles.
| | This article needs additional citations for verification .(February 2018) |
The British Army made extensive use of a variety of combat vehicles during the Second World War. This article is a summary of those vehicles.
A tankette is a type of lightly armed and lightly armoured tracked combat vehicle resembling a small tank roughly the size of a car, mainly intended for light infantry support or reconnaissance. Colloquially it may also simply mean a "small tank".
These inter-war tanks were built to supply the British Army after the First World War. Heavier than most light tanks, they proved to be under-gunned and under-armoured. Some did see action in France and the Low Countries in 1940. They were armed with either the QF 3 pdr or the Vickers machine gun. All were withdrawn from service by 1941.
These were a series of similar small tanks produced by Britain in the years between the First and Second World Wars mainly for use in Imperial duties. They saw use in training, and in limited engagements with British Imperial units in colonial policing actions before the war. All were about 5 tonnes, the earlier models had a crew of two and were armed with a 0.303 Vickers machine gun. The later had a crew of three and a heavy machine gun (the 0.50 inch version of the Vickers machine gun or 15mm Besa machine gun) as well as 0.303 or 7.92mm Besa machine gun. Although some were used in France and North Africa at the start of the war, they were removed as not fit for service in armoured divisions.
The last of the light tanks were produced during the Second World War. Not considered suitable for use in armoured divisions, they were trialled in airborne operations. All were armed with the QF 2 pdr anti-tank gun.
These medium-sized cruiser tanks were the mainstay of British armoured units during the war. Weighing 10-35 tonnes, they were fast and mobile, and were designed to operate independently of the slow-moving infantry and their more heavily armoured infantry tank support. They were built specifically to fight a mobile war against other tanks. They were armed with anti-tank guns, from the QF 2 pdr to the QF 17 pdr or the general purpose 75 mm.
The infantry tank was a concept developed by Britain in the years leading up to the war. They generally carried more armour than the cruiser tanks, as they did not need such a high top speed. They were designed to work as close support for the infantry. They were armed with either the QF 2 pdr, QF 6 pdr, or the QF 75 mm.
Self-propelled artillery vehicles were a way of enabling the Royal Artillery to function with the same degree of battlefield mobility as conventional tank formations. They were self-propelled guns, usually based on a tank chassis, which were normally used for long-range indirect bombardment support on the battlefield. In contrast to American doctrine, mobile anti-tank weapons were also considered self-propelled guns and were similarly operated by the Royal Artillery.
Armoured personnel carriers were armoured fighting vehicles developed to transport infantry
Light and medium scout and reconnaissance vehicles were used by most British Army units, especially battalions of the Reconnaissance Corps and cavalry units. These fast wheeled vehicles usually weighed from 3 to 10 tonnes. Armament ranged from Bren light machine guns (or Boys anti-tank rifle), Besa machine guns, up to QF 2 pdr and 6-pdr guns.
Armoured vehicles built outside Britain for Commonwealth forces.
American armoured vehicles were purchased and sometimes re-fitted with British guns, and were used by British and British-supplied Allied forces throughout the war.
These vehicles were never put into production.
An armoured fighting vehicle or armored fighting vehicle (AFV) is an armed combat vehicle protected by armour, generally combining operational mobility with offensive and defensive capabilities. AFVs can be wheeled or tracked. Examples of AFVs are tanks, armoured cars, assault guns, self-propelled artilleries, infantry fighting vehicles (IFV), and armoured personnel carriers (APC).
A tank destroyer, tank hunter or tank killer is a type of armoured fighting vehicle, predominantly intended for anti-tank duties. They are typically armed with a direct fire artillery gun, also known as a self-propelled anti-tank gun, or missile launcher, also called an anti-tank missile carrier. The vehicles are designed specifically to engage and destroy enemy tanks, often with limited operational capacities.
The Self Propelled 17pdr, Valentine, Mk I, Archer was a British tank destroyer of the Second World War based on the Valentine infantry tank chassis fitted with an Ordnance QF 17 pounder gun. Designed and manufactured by Vickers-Armstrongs, 655 were produced between March 1943 and May 1945. It was used in north-west Europe and Italy during the war; post-war, it served with the Egyptian Army. This vehicle was unusual in that its gun faced the rear of the chassis instead of the front.
AEC Armoured Car is the name of a series of British heavy armoured cars built by the Associated Equipment Company (AEC) during the Second World War.
The Ordnance QF 2-pounder, or simply "2 pounder gun", was a 40 mm (1.575 in) British anti-tank gun and vehicle-mounted gun employed in the Second World War.
The Marmon-Herrington Armoured Car was a series of armoured vehicles that were produced in South Africa and adopted by the British Army during the Second World War. RAF Armoured Car companies possessed them, but seem never to have used them in action, making greater use of Rolls-Royce Armoured Cars and other types.
An artillery tractor, also referred to as a gun tractor, is a specialized heavy-duty form of tractor unit used to tow artillery pieces of varying weights and calibres. It may be wheeled, tracked, or half-tracked.
The Humber Light Reconnaissance Car, also known as Humberette or Ironside, was a British armoured car produced during the Second World War.
Morris Light Reconnaissance Car (LRC) was a British light armoured car for reconnaissance use produced by Morris Motors Limited and used by the British during the Second World War.
The Guy Armoured Car was a British armoured car produced in limited numbers during Second World War. The car saw limited action during the Battle of France.
The Birch Gun was the first practical British self-propelled artillery gun, built at the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich in 1925.
This article lists British armoured fighting vehicle production during the Second World War. The United Kingdom produced 27,528 tanks and self-propelled guns from July 1939 to May 1945, as well as 26,191 armoured cars and 69,071 armoured personnel carriers.
The 17pdr SP Achilles is a British variant of the American M10 tank destroyer armed with the British Ordnance QF 17-pounder high-velocity 76.2 mm (3-inch) anti-tank gun in place of the M10's considerably less powerful 3-inch Gun M7. A total of 1,100 M10s were converted to Achilles, making it the second most numerous armoured fighting vehicle to carry the 17-pounder gun, behind the Sherman Firefly tank.
This article on military tanks deals with the history and development of tanks of the British Army from their first use in the First World War, the interwar period, during the Second World War, the Cold War and modern era.
A reconnaissance vehicle, also known as a scout vehicle, is a military vehicle used for forward reconnaissance. Both tracked and wheeled reconnaissance vehicles are in service. In some nations, light tanks such as the M551 Sheridan and AMX-13 have also been used by scout platoons. Their armament ranges from a medium machine gun to a large cannon. Modern examples are often fitted with ATGMs and a wide range of sensors.
