Churchill Mrk.III. (Part 2)

The Tank



The Churchill tanks were obviously named after Winston Churchill the British war time leader. The initial models were manufactured by Harland and Wolff of Belfast. However, these models proved ineffective and were largely all lost during the evacuation of Dunkirk. The project was then handed over to Vauxhall, Harland and Wolff had been asked to make a tank ideal for trench warfare but this no longer seemed to be the type of battlefield that would dominate WWII with the conquest of France. Vauxhall's first models too, were unsatisfactory. They were lightly armoured, under armed and unreliable, the Churchill plan looked to be going under until the Mark III came along in 1942. A vast improvement of the earlier models it was armed with a more powerful 6 pounder gun and heavier armour which proved crucial in the Second Battle of El Alamein against Rommell's troops in Egypt. This was the battle where the Mark IIIs would show their worth and a special force of of 5 of the Mrk. IIIs went in as the 'King Force'. After intense, heavy shelling 4 returned. Their new armour had proved effective as would their new guns as they ended up destroying a feared nazi Tiger Tank.





Soviet Mrk IIIs

The Churchills were not only utilized by the British. Several were sent to the Soviet Union.





















49th Separate Guards Breakthrough
Tank Regiment. Leningrad Front, Feb. 1944. (Apparently. I'm confused by the 61 on the side of the turret.)













48th Separate Guards Breakthrough Tank Regiment. Kiev, Nov. 1943.






Info Given By Box

The Churchill medium take came into service with the British Army in 1942 to support and replace the earlier Valentines, Matildas and Crusaders, whihc by then, were all outdated and inadequate in terms of both armour and weaponry, easily falling prey to the more advanced German tanks. Equipped with thick armour and a reiable engine, it proved to be tough and dependable, later being produced in ever-more efficient, upgraded versions. Its chasis was also used as a platform for specialised support vehicles such as the mine clearer, the bridgelayer and the flame-thrower.