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Matilda Infantry Tank Mark III with OQF 6 Pdr Mk.III
Vehicle design and service history:
The Matilda was a respectable infantry tank during the early second world war, but as the armour thickness of german armour progressed the 2-pounder became increasingly ineffective at its role as an anti-tank weapon. Because of this attempts were made with most British tanks in service at the time to upgrade them to carry the QF 6-pounder so that it could effectively engage the enemy enemy armour along with having a more effective HE shell for Close support. Unfortunately in regards to the Matilda, the small cast turret made this impossible, whilst still maintaining crew ergonomics.
The small size of the Matilda’s turret was initially intended to save weight, as well as properly balance the gun. Due to this, it would not be suitable for straightforward up-gunning regardless of how desirable that would be. This created a conundrum where the only alternative would be to fit a larger turret, with a proposed solution involving the fitting of a 6-pounder mounted in a A24/27 cruiser tank turret. This combination would not be straightforward, as the turret ring for the A27 was 57 inches in diameter compared to that of 54 for the Matilda, but existing photographic evidence does prove the two were mated, either through enlarging the Matilda’s turret ring or superimposing it onto the hull in a similar manner to a Churchill Mark III prototype of a similar vein. This prototype would never end up being anything more than a footnote though, as by the time it was tested in 1942 the desired role it would have filled was already fulfilled by the Valentine MK IX, which could carry the 6-pounder in a well-protected turret.
Vehicle Specification:
Weight 24 tons
Length 6.0 m
Width 2.6 m
Height 2.46 m
Crew 4 (driver, gunner, loader, commander)
Armour 20 to 78 mm max
Main armament OQF 6 pounder - L36,5 - 64 rounds
Sec. armament 2x 7.92 mm Besa machine gun 2,925 rounds
Engine 2X Leyland 6 cyl. Diesel engines rated at 180 HP total
Transmission Wilson epicyclic pre-selector gearbox, 6 speeds
Suspension Coil spring
Operational range 257 km
Speed 26 km/h (on road)
Steering system Rackham clutch
Additional image showing side profile:
Sources:
- Panzerserra Bunker- Military Scale Models in 1/35 scale: Matilda II Infantry Tank A12 with A24/27 6 pdr gun turret prototype - case report (Good breakdown of the vehicles history)
- Matilda II - Wikipedia (Wikipedia for the matilda, this tank is mentioned in the variants)
- A.12, Infantry Tank Mk.II, Matilda II - Tank Encyclopedia ( additional source mentioning the prototype)