Product Description
Matilda II (BR052) with CS option
The Matilda I (A11 Infantry Tank Mk I) got it’s name when General Sir Hugh Ellis, watching the new tank in trials, commented that it waddled like Matilda the Duck, a comic strip character of the time. The Matilda II naturally inherited the name.
The Matilda II was first considered even before the Matilda I was in service. The British had two initial Infantry Tank concepts. They were for either; a) a very small and inconspicuous tank with heavy armour and armed with machine-guns and available in large numbers or b) a larger tank with an anti-tank gun and heavy armour able to engage enemy tanks as well as infantry with its machine-guns.
The Matilda II was first considered even before the Matilda I was in service. The British had two initial Infantry Tank concepts. They were for either; a) a very small and inconspicuous tank with heavy armour and armed with machine-guns and available in large numbers or b) a larger tank with an anti-tank gun and heavy armour able to engage enemy tanks as well as infantry with its machine-guns.
Of these two ideas the Matilda I fulfilled the first, but it was soon decided that something similar to the second concept was required.
Initially the A11 Matilda I was considered for upgrade, but it was quickly decided that its hull and turret were too small to take the 2pdr gun.
A new tank was designed and designated the A12. Initially it was called the Matilda Senior or the Matilda II, but with the withdrawal from service of the Matilda I it became simply known as the Matilda.
Initially the A11 Matilda I was considered for upgrade, but it was quickly decided that its hull and turret were too small to take the 2pdr gun.
A new tank was designed and designated the A12. Initially it was called the Matilda Senior or the Matilda II, but with the withdrawal from service of the Matilda I it became simply known as the Matilda.
The pilot models were ready as early as April 1938, but production difficulties meant only 2 were in service at the outbreak of war in September 1939. By early 1940 the first units were in service in France with the 7th Royal Tank Regiment and were very successful at the Battle of Arras, proving the superiority of their armour against the 3.7cm Anti Tank guns of the Germans.
They went on to see extensive service in North Africa where Italian tank or anti-tank guns could not stop them. The arrival of the German 88 in the ground role in mid 1941 changed this and their last major deployment as a gun tank occurred at Alamein in July 1942.
They went on to see extensive service in North Africa where Italian tank or anti-tank guns could not stop them. The arrival of the German 88 in the ground role in mid 1941 changed this and their last major deployment as a gun tank occurred at Alamein in July 1942.
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