Tank Chats #14 Canal Defense Light

From the Tank Museum:

Mark II A12, Matilda Canal Defence Light (CDL)

Night fighting always presents problems but searchlights had been tested on tanks as early as 1919. The idea of turning them into an offensive weapon is credited to a Mr A V M Mitzakis, who devised his scheme before the war but the British authorities did not take it up until about 1940. The idea was to use a light of such power that it would dazzle the opposition, leaving them temporarily blind and disorientated.

Five British and two American battalions were trained on CDL and two of the British units went out to Egypt. In fact the CDL was never employed as intended. A few tanks were used to cover the Rhine Crossing and there were incidents in India after the war but that is all.

 

Tank chats #10 Crossley Chevrolet Armored Car

The Tank Museum presents another installment in their series of Tank Chat videos starring David Fletcher.  This episode takes a look at the Crossley Chevrolet Armored Car.

Armoured cars had proved so successful in India during the First World War, that shortly after its end the Indian Government ordered 16 Rolls-Royce cars. However, these proved so expensive that subsequent orders were placed with Crossley Motors in Manchester who made a tough but cheap 50hp IAG1 chassis. Substantial numbers of these cars were supplied between 1923 and 1925.

The car shown in this film was presented to The Tank Museum by the Government of Pakistan in 1951.

Tank Chats #9 Whippet – Medium A

The ninth in a series of short films about some of the vehicles in our collection presented by The Tank Museum’s historian David Fletcher MBE.
While the heavy tanks were designed for direct attacks against enemy trenches the Tank Corps also wanted a lighter, faster tank to work with the cavalry over open country. Designed by Sir William Tritton and built by Fosters of Lincoln the Medium A, or Whippet, was the only such tank to see service with the Tank Corps, starting in 1918.

 

 

Also, here is a video of the Whippet in use.

Tank Chats #8 Renault FT-17

The Tank Museum has released the eighth video in their Tank Chats series staring David Fletcher.  This episode focuses on the Renault FT-17

Conceived by General Jean-Baptiste Estienne and manufactured under the control of the Renault Company this was the world’s first mass-produced tank, 3800 being built in all.

They went into action for the first time on 31 May 1918 near Ploissy-Chazelle and proved very successful when they were used in numbers. British forces used a few Renaults as liaison vehicles while the United States Army used them in combat and copied the design.

Tank Chats #7 British Mark II with David Fletcher

The Tank Museum has posted another installment in their Tank Chats series featuring David Fletcher.

The seventh in a series of short films about some of the vehicles in our collection presented by The Tank Museum’s historian David Fletcher MBE.

Only fifty tanks each of Marks II and III were produced. They were unarmoured, in the sense that the steel from which they were built was not heat treated to make it bullet proof. The reason being that these tanks were only intended for use as training machines.

The chief external differences from Mark I lay in the tail wheels, which were not used on Marks II and III and later heavy tanks, the narrower driver’s cab and the ‘trapezoid’ hatch cover on the roof.

Tankchats #6 Vickers Light MKVI B

The Tank Museum has released another video in their Tankchats series featuring David Fletcher.  This episode looks at the Vickers Light Tank MKVI B.

Being, in terms of numbers, the most significant British tank at the outbreak of war, the Mark VIB saw service with the British Expeditionary Force in France, the Eighth Army in North Africa and in various subsidiary theatres. As a reconnaissance vehicle it was satisfactory, as a fighting tank quite useless since armour protection was minimal and the armament ineffective against enemy tanks.

Tank Chats #5 Lanchester Armored Car

The Tank Museum has released the fifth video in their series of “Tank Chat” videos featuring tank expert David Fletcher.  This episode features the Lanchester Armored Car.

Tank Chats #4 Vickers Armstrongs Mark E

David Fletcher MBE of the Tank Museum returns with another Tank Chat video.  This episode looks at the Vickers Armstrong Mark E.


Tank Museum text:

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David Fletcher’s Tank Chats #3: Medium Tank MkII

The Tank Museum has released the third of their Tank Chats videos featuring British tank historian David Fletcher.  This episode looks at the 1920’s era British Medium Tank MkII.

David Fletcher’s Tankchats #2: The Carden Loyd Carrier

The Tank Museum has released a second video in it’s series of “tankchat” video clips with tank historian David Fletcher.  This episode focuses on the Carden Loyd Carrier.

To give an idea of how small the Carden Loyd Carrier was, [Read more…]