World War II Database

Contributor: Alan Chanter

ww2dbase Sir Hugh Elles, the British Master General of Ordnance in 1934, insisted that any infantry support tank should be impervious to the German 37-millimeter anti-tank gun, but only needed to move at infantry pace. Sir John Carden of Vickers-Armstrongs, shortly before his death, replied that he could design a tank with 60-millimeter of armour for £6,000. The result was the A11 Infantry Tank Mark I, or "Matilda" as it was christened by Elles, who observed when the prototype was first demonstrated that it "waddled along" like "Matilda" the comical duck character in a contemporary strip-cartoon.

ww2dbaseThe Matilda I tank consisted of a narrow well-armoured body with spindly suspension on each side, and a one-man cast turret containing a single Vickers 0.303 or 0.5-inch heavy machine gun (4,000 rounds). It weighed 11 tons and was powered by an inexpensive Ford V-8 lorry engine and Fordson transmission sited at the rear that drove the tracks through rear sprockets - much of the final drive and steering system being closely derived from other Vickers tracked vehicles. Carden had been forced, by cost considerations to revert to a two-man tank idea, even though this was not to the liking of the military. The difficulties inherent in a one-man turret was that the occupant could either command the tank or fire the gun but not both at the same time.

ww2dbaseThe better Mark II (A12) design, nicknamed "Matilda II" superseded the Mark I (A11) design, leading to the Mark I receiving the new nickname "Matilda I". Some Matilda I tanks were built before being superseded. Matilda I tanks performed quite well in France with the 4th Royal Tank Regiment and 7th Royal Tank Regiment of 1st (Army) Tank Brigade, particularly in delaying the German advance at Arras in May 1940, 7th RTR having only arrived in France on 1 May 1940 and was not as well trained as the 4th RTR. This would lead the Germans to conduct immediate improvements to their guns. But Matilda I tank's slow top speed of about 12 kilometers per hour (about 8 miles per hour) meant that they could be easily outflanked by German tanks and were too lightly armed to be of much use as the war progressed. Many were abandoned as the British Expeditionary Force evacuated from Dunkerque, France, after which the few remaining tanks that returned to Britain were withdrawn for home defence and training purposes, as their lack of an effective armament told against them.

SPECIFICATIONS

Matilda I

Machinery	Ford Model 79 V8 petrol engine rated at 70hp
Suspension	Two four-wheeled bogie unts each side sprung on semi-elliptic springs
Armament	1x0.303in or 1x0.50in Vickers water-cooled machine gun
Armor	10-60mm
Crew	2
Length	2.28 m
Width	4.85 m
Height	1.86 m
Weight	11.0 t
Speed	13 km/h
Range	130 km

Photographs