Comments on: M2A4 prototype

By: Captian Nemo

Captian Nemo — Fri, 22 Nov 2013 16:01:23 +0000

I can agree and back up Zarax on this. Osprey is ok but there are much much better sources out there.

By: Freddy3

Freddy3 — Fri, 22 Nov 2013 13:36:29 +0000

May 10th 208 light Mk VIB with 77 Matilda (I) and 23 Matilda Seniors (II) were all the BEF had available.

The 1st Armd arrived with its 150 Cruisers (many of the crews not having seen their new tanks or trained on them or even the 2pdr guns, some had no holes for the gunner optics to be fitted as they were built in such a rush) and a further 134 Light Mk VIB (some of which had no armament and a few with plywood turrets).

Same story in North Africa as most of the tanks were Light MKVIB and VIC’s

Many of the tanks in service in 1940 were built after Sept 1939 most of those built prior were Vickers Meds and a mixture of various light tanks and tankettes with a smattering of trials/test vehicles.

By: Captian Nemo

Captian Nemo — Thu, 21 Nov 2013 20:19:32 +0000

Correct. There was no plans for the M2 Light Tanks to face much heavier weapons then the .50 cal. Most of the total M2 Light Tank production with the exception of part of the M2A4 Light tank production went directly into training schools at the outbreak of war.

By: Kellomies

Kellomies — Thu, 21 Nov 2013 17:30:27 +0000

Guessing they weren’t planning on having to face the 15mm BESA or somesuch, though given that the Germans had been cheerfully sticking 20mm autocannons into light tanks and armoured cars since ’35 a certain degree of excess optimism may have been involved.

By: Okinoshima

Okinoshima — Thu, 21 Nov 2013 17:25:46 +0000

Yes, a complete disaster France 1940 was, as bojan mentioned the Great Tank Scandal is a very good book to read up on this subject, I mean’t that they weren’t supposed to be the backbone of Britain’s tank force in combat but you really have to end up using them as such when you have nearly 900 of them on September, 1939, well a lot of them are going to end up in France. As for the 308 number, I’ve heard it before but there are also other recent print sources stating that there were 100 Matildas (75 Matilda 1s and 25 Matilda 2s) and 150 combined A9 and A10 tanks.

By: Kellomies

Kellomies — Thu, 21 Nov 2013 17:18:02 +0000

More or less: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/37mm_Gun_M3
On that note, the 75mm was a direct descendant of Ye Olde Modèle 1897…

By: Freddy3

Freddy3 — Thu, 21 Nov 2013 16:22:10 +0000

The Belgium C.47 F.R.C. Mod.31 AT gun (47 mm Model 1931 anti-tank gun) was a pretty good gun still in 1940

By: Freddy3

Freddy3 — Thu, 21 Nov 2013 16:10:33 +0000

They formed the backbone because they were the most numerical ‘Tank’ in British service on May 10th 1940 in France (in reality they were Mk VIB though with Vickers guns not Besa’s), they were also the most numerical single type in service in the UK and North Africa (where the majority of the rest of the armoured vehicles were).

Of the 308 armoured vehicles (excluding various carriers) 208 were Mk VIB, 77 A11 Matilda’s, 23 A12 Matilda Senior.

By the 17th May 1940 a further 134 MkVIB had arrived with the 1st Armd Div along with 150 Cruisers .
As you can see the backbone of the British tank strength in May 1940 was the Light Mk VI – it was not intended to be used as a tank in combat but unfortunately it was due to nothing better being available.

By: Rakyth

Rakyth — Thu, 21 Nov 2013 16:10:21 +0000

http://bookza.org/book/786515/8f9750

That you have bought a copy tells me that you have given the author their royalties. This is a .PDF version of the first volume; a digital backup. I will refrain from reading it.

By: Captian Nemo

Captian Nemo — Thu, 21 Nov 2013 15:41:54 +0000

SS didn’t lay all the good stuff out there on the M2A4. And there is more.

But the M2A4 was not bullet proof to the expected advances in the .50 cal HMG bullet tech (Read Penetration) that was expected to come into being some time in the near future. It only had enough armor to deal with the 1930s .50 caliber HMGs. It was expected that the bullet in the .50 cal would get heavier(Denser), harder and be propelled faster in the future.

NEMO.