Information AboutInfantry Tank |
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The Infantry tank was a concept developed by the British in the years leading up to World War II . They followed from the principle of separating tank functions into two areas - the Infantry tanks that would support the infantry units in making a breakthrough in the enemy lines of defence and Cruiser Tank s which would exploit the gaps moving through into the enemy rear cutting lines of supply. This had its origin in the World War I division between British Heavy Tanks and the faster Whippet Medium Mark A and its successors the Medium Mark B and Medium Mark C . Since the Infantry tanks were to work at the pace of the infantry units which would be attacking on foot, high speed was not a requirement and they were able to carry heavier armour. The first two British Infantry tanks, the Mark I "Matilda" and Mark II "Matilda" were armed with a machine gun and 2 Pounder anti-tank gun respectively. They were followed in by the Valentine and Churchill designs. In practice, although able to resist hits from tanks and anti-tank guns, and designed for good, albeit slow, cross country performance, the separation of tank functions into specialised areas such as infantry and cruiser types was not effective, and although the Churchill was successful in its area the Infantry tank idea faded as tank design progressed during the war. The concept was also employed by the two largest tank-producing nations in the 1930s: the Soviet Union , as exemplified by the T-26 light infantry tank, and France that built the R 35 and the Char B1 . This is best seen as a parallel development caused by the fact neither nation had an independent Tank Weapon. Germany had its separate ''Panzerwaffe'' (mainly for political reasons to emphasise that it had freed itself from the " Dictate Of Versailles " forbidding the possession of any tanks) and the German Infantry used phased out Panzerkampfwagen I 's in its Independent Tank Brigades. This is often seen as reflecting some explicit doctrine; in reality it was caused by a simple lack of budget, tank production not having any priority. When more money became available the Sturmgeschütz III was taken into use by the Artillery, in its original role of infantry close support vehicle the counterpart of the allied Infantry tanks. Despite being an instance of the general economic principle of Division Of Labour in Mechanisation , during World War II its application in Mechanised Warfare proved to be hugely inefficient in terms of technical development, production, maintenance, logistics and — worst of all — tactical flexibility. During the war it was abandoned by all nations. SEE ALSO |
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