Allied Tanks of the Second World War

Michael Green

• Publisher: Pen & Sword Military
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781473866768
• eBook ISBN: 9781473866782
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Military & Maritime History
• Index: History

Expert author Michael Green has compiled a full inventory of the tanks developed and deployed by the Allied armies during the six year war against Nazi Germany and her Axis partners.There were four categories of tank: Light, Medium, Heavy and Super Heavy. Combat experience proved Light tanks (such as the Stuart and T-26) to be ineffective. Medium tanks (the US M4 series, named Sherman by the British, and Russian T-34) soon dominated with their fire power, protection and mobility.The later stages of the War required the Allies to answer the Axis Panther and Tiger tanks with up-gunned and up-armoured second generation M4s, T-34-85s and the Sherman Firefly. Totally new heavy tanks such as the M-26, Pershing, Soviet KV-1 series and the British Centurion only saw action in the final months.Allied Tanks of the Second World War covers all these categories in detail as well as the few super heavy tanks such as the French Char 2C and the TOG. For an informed and highly illustrated work this book has no comparable rival.

Chapter One

Light Tanks

In the decades following the First World War those countries with the industrial capability to design and build tanks tended to concentrate on light tanks. This came about for different reasons: they were what the existing industrial base was capable of designing and building, and they were more affordable than medium and heavy tanks when funding constraints were in place. Armies were also limited by their nation’s transportation infrastructure which dictated a tank’s maximum weight as well as exterior dimensions.

French Light Tanks

It was the French army that pioneered the development and fielding of the earliest light tank during the First World War. That vehicle was the two-man Renault FT that weighed approximately 15,000lb. It was armed with either a machine gun or a 37mm main gun. As it was not intended to engage enemy tanks, it was considered an infantry support tank. After the First World War the vehicle became unofficially known as the Renault FT17 or the Renault FT-17, a tradition that continues to this day.

Approximately 3,000 Renault FTs were built between 1917 and 1918 for the French army, with 534 slightly modernized machine-gun-armed units surviving in service long enough to see combat during the German military invasion of their country in May 1940, which led to a German victory the following month. All the variants of the Renault FT series were powered by gasoline engines.

French Infantry Light Tanks

Funding for the development of a new infantry support tank to replace the Renault FT light tank for the French army was in very short supply during the 1920s. The French army therefore went looking for a new light tank that would be very affordable to purchase in large numbers. What they got instead was the Char (tank) D1 that was neither affordable nor lightweight.

The Char D1 had a three-man crew and weighed approximately 31,000lb. Due to production problems it was originally fitted with the 37mm main gun armed turret of the Renault FT light tank. It was eventually equipped with a new turret design armed with a 47mm main gun. It was also armed with two machine guns: a coaxial and another mounted in the front hull.

A total of 160 units of the Char D1 were delivered to the French army between 1931 and 1935. Considered obsolete by 1937, most were shipped to French overseas colonies in North Africa. Some were returned to France shortly before the German invasion and were thrown into combat.

Even before the first Char D1 entered French army service, there was a call for an improved version. That vehicle was referred to as the Char D2 and 100 units would be built between 1937 and 1940. Like its predecessor, the three-man tank was armed with a 47mm main gun and two machine guns. Reflecting an increase in the level of armour protection, the Char D2 weighed approximately 44,000lb. It would see combat during the German invasion.

French Cavalry Light Tanks

During the 1920s the French army relied on armoured half-tracks for their cavalry branch reconnaissance needs. By the early 1930s, it was clear to the French army that armoured half-tracks were a technological dead-end, with poor off-road mobility. This resulted in a push to replace them with gasoline-engine-powered light tanks that performed much better off-road due to their full-tracked suspension systems.

The first of the new cavalry light reconnaissance tanks was the machine-gunarmed Renault AMR 33, with the initial examples delivered in 1934. By the time production ceased the following year, a total of 120 units of the Renault AMR 33 had been completed. It weighed 11,023lb and proved unpopular because it was small and cramped as well as under-gunned.

The Renault AMR 33 replacement was supposed to have been the two-man Renault AMR 34 armed with a 25mm main gun. Only twelve units were built starting in 1935 before it was decided that the tank was under-gunned and under-armoured when compared to the latest German army developments in the field of tanks and anti-tank guns. The replacement for the Renault AMR 34 was an up-armoured and up-gunned version labelled as the AMR Renault 35 ACG-1.

The AMR Renault 35 ACG-1 had a three-man crew and weighed 14,330lb. Armament consisted of a 47mm main gun and a coaxial machine gun. Because the AMR Renault 35 ACG-1 was an interim vehicle for the cavalry branch of the French army until a new medium tank was fielded, only forty-eight units were ordered and delivered between 1938 and 1940. They would see action during the German invasion during the summer of 1940.

French Army Light Tank Designations

The French army divided its tanks by weight, with those under 15 tons being considered light tanks. Those same light tanks were also divided by their jobs. Those intended for employment by the cavalry branch of the French army were labelled as the AMR or the AMC. The AMR light tanks were intended to acquire information by stealth. The better-armed and armoured AMC light tanks were intended to fight for information if required.

Hotchkiss Light Tanks

Due to political pressure the infantry branch of the French army was forced to take into service the two-man Hotchkiss H35 between 1936 and 1937. It weighed approximately 24,000lb and was armed with the same 37mm main gun as fitted to the Renault FT light tank. It was also armed with a coaxial machine gun. The cavalry branch of the French army was also forced to take into service 300 units of the Hotchkiss H35, much against their wishes.

Poor performance characteristics of the Hotchkiss H35 led to an upgraded version labelled as the Hotchkiss H39 for the infantry branch of the French army, with a total of 680 units delivered between 1939 and 1940. A longer-barrelled 37mm main gun was fitted to the Hotchkiss H39 production line, beginning in 1940.

Renault Light Tanks

The French army infantry branch adopted the Renault R35. It was a two-man tank weighing approximately 22,000lb. Its production began in 1936. Only 945 units of the Renault R35 were in service with the French army prior to the German invasion, out of a planned order of over 2,000 units.

The Renault R35 was originally armed with the same 37mm main gun as mounted on the Renault FT. However, beginning in 1939, all new-built Renault R35s were armed with a longer-barrelled 37mm main gun. In addition, the tank was armed with a coaxial machine gun. Despite the improvement in armament, it would prove to be a major disappointment for the French army due to its poor off-road mobility.

To overcome the mobility shortfalls of the Renault R35, a new suspension system was introduced into the R35 production line in 1939 but only 155 were completed before the German invasion. These vehicles were labelled as the Renault R40.

FCM 36 Light Tank

Another light infantry support tank adopted by the French army in the 1930s was the FCM 36. It had a two-man crew and was armed with the same 37mm main gun as fitted to the FT. In addition, it was fitted with a coaxial machine gun. The FCM 36 weighed approximately 24,000lb.

Despite the FCM-designed and built light tank being more advanced in comparison to its competitor’s light tank counterparts, only 100 units were built for the French army between 1938 and 1939. This happened for a number of different reasons. There were production bottlenecks and the French army thought the company was asking for too much money for their product. In addition, the French army wanted the firm to concentrate on building a heavy tank to which it assigned a higher priority.

British Light Tanks

The British army saw its interwar light tanks as reconnaissance vehicles. In 1928, the British army awarded a contract for four prototype vehicles labelled as the Light Tank Mk I. They had a two-man crew and were armed with a single machine gun. From this original order sprang an evolutionary line of light tanks ranging from the Mk II up through to the Mk VI.

The Mk VI was the only light tank in the series to see combat with the British army during the Second World War. Total production of the Mk VI amounted to approximately 1,150 units. A small number were supplied to both the Canadian and Australian armies by the British army.

The three-man tank was armed with two machine guns and quickly demonstrated that it was both under-gunned and under-armoured. Even worse, it proved both unreliable and extremely fragile. By 1943, it was withdrawn from British army service.

End of the Line

As a possible replacement for the Mk VI, the British army authorized the production in 1938 of the Mk VII Light Tank, eventually named the ‘Tetrarch’. The tank was also assigned the designation A18. The first example of the Tetrarch drove off the factory floor at the end of 1940. By the time production ceased in 1942, a total of 177 units had been constructed.

The Tetrarch was a three-man tank armed with a 2-pounder (40mm) main gun and a coaxial machine gun. Reflecting the small numbers built, the Tetrarch saw only limited combat. The best-known employment of the Tetrarch came as a gliderdelivered airborne tank on 6 June 1944 during Operation OVERLORD, the invasion of France, with British army airborne forces. A few Tetrarchs also saw combat with the Red Army.

A larger and heavier version of the Tetrarch was ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Dedication
• Foreword
• Acknowledgements
• Notes to the Reader
• Chapter One: Light Tanks
• Chapter Two: Early-War Medium Tanks
• Chapter Three: Late-War Medium Tanks
• Chapter Four: Heavy Tanks