Infantry tank
Encyclopedia
The infantry tank was a concept developed by the British
and French
in the years leading up to World War II
. Infantry tanks were tanks designed to support the infantry in the attack. To achieve this they were generally heavily armoured
compared to the cruiser tank
s, to allow them to operate in close concert with infantry
even under heavy gun fire. The extra armouring came at the expense of speed, which was not an issue when supporting relatively slow moving infantry.
Once the infantry tank-supported attack had broken through heavily defended areas in the enemy lines, other tanks such as cruisers, or light tanks, were expected to exploit their higher speed and longer range to operate far behind the front in order to cut lines of supply and communications
.
division between the first British heavy tanks and the faster Whippet Medium Mark A and its successors the Medium Mark B
and Medium Mark C
.
During the interbellum British tank experiments generally followed these basic classifications, which were made part of the overall doctrine with the work of Major-General Percy Hobart
and the influence of "Captain" B.H. Liddell Hart
.
In 1934 Hobart, the then "Inspector, Royal Tank Corps", put forward two options for a tank to support the infantry. One was a fairly small machine gun-armed tank that would be fielded in large numbers to overwhelm the enemy defences. The other was a larger tank with a cannon and armoured against enemy field artillery
. Within the limitations of the military finances, the Master-General of the Ordnance
Hughe Elles went for the smaller machine gun tank. This requirement was passed to Vickers-Armstrongs who had a prototype ready by late 1936.
, while the cruisers were compared to mediums
, lights
, or even armoured cars. This comparison can be misleading though: particularly as the infantry tank was never intended to have the same anti-tank capabilities as a heavy tank.
The infantry tank was distinctly different from either the "heavy tank" or "breakthrough tank" concepts, although some pre-war multi-turreted heavy tanks such as the Soviet T-35
and German Neubaufahrzeug
(both taking some of their inspiration from the Vickers A1E1 Independent
tank prototype - an idea which was abandoned by the War office in the late 1920s for lack of funding) were similar, and with similar doctrines for their use. The Neubaufahrzeug was considered too slow for Blitzkrieg
tactics and fell from favour. German (and to some extent Soviet) wartime doctrine shifted towards faster medium and heavy tanks fighting large multi-tank battles, with the role of the infantry tank in assaults taken by simpler self-propelled artillery
.
An important difference, however, was that heavy tanks were generally very well armed, while infantry tanks were not necessarily better-armed than other tanks. For example, the Soviet KV-1 heavy tank and British Matilda
infantry tank were deployed at about the same time in 1940. These two tanks had similar levels of armour protection and mobility, but the KV was far more heavily armed than the Matilda.
In British practice, the main armament of the infantry tank went in three phases. The pre-Dunkirk British Army
Matilda I
had only a single machine gun
, a compromise forced by the lightness of its chassis. The Matilda II
gained a capable anti-tank capacity for its time, with the 40mm 2 pounder
, but these were only issued with solid-shot (i.e. non-explosive) for anti-tank use and was of little use for artillery close-support of infantry. The ultimate evolution of the British infantry tank concept began with the Churchill MkI
, where a hull-mounted 3 inch howitzer
could support infantry assaults with HE shells. As the increasing size of tanks, and their turret ring diameters, allowed such a howitzer to be turret-mounted in vehicles such as the Crusader CS
& Centaur CS.
and Mark II "Matilda"
were armed with a heavy machine gun and QF 2 pounder
anti-tank gun respectively. The Mark I had been ordered in 1938, but it had become clear that a better armed tank would be needed and its replacement the Mark II was already under design and would be ordered in mid-1938.
These two saw action in the Battle of France
where in the counterattack at Arras
they caused a shock to the German panzer units. Losses of the Mark I in France were not replaced but the Mark II Matilda remained in production.
British doctrine remained that infantry tanks and cruiser tanks were both expected to engage enemy tank hence the use of both the 2 pounder and then 6 pounder on both.
They were followed into service by the Valentine
and Churchill
designs. The Valentine proved to be difficult to develop further but the Churchill went through successive variants and served up to the end of the war.
As British cruiser tank designs developed into larger tanks with more powerful engines, they could carry larger guns and more armour yet still achieved high speeds. At the end of the war the cruiser tank lineage led to the "universal tank" in the form of the Centurion
.
In practice the British did not operate only infantry and cruiser tanks. Lack of production capacity meant the large scale adoption of US medium tanks.
, the Renault R35 and the FCM 36
. All three had two–man crews were similar to the Matilda I in terms of size, weight and armour. However, they were better armed, having 37mm guns as well as co-axial machine guns.
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. Invariably the cruisers ended up meeting enemy tanks in combat, while the infantry tanks were the only ones present when a breakthrough was accomplished. The infantry tank idea faded as tank design progressed during the war. It was eventually replaced outright with the general acceptance of the universal tank idea.
The concept was also employed by the other big tank-producing nation of the 1930s: the Soviet Union
, as exemplified by the T-26
tank. The T-26 was a light tank assigned to Infantry units and thus fulfilled the infantry tank role, but in it had the relatively thin armour of light tank, but with a potent 45 mm gun. Their BT tanks were the fast cruiser types.
Germany
had its separate Panzerwaffe 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 the concept of splitting of tanks into infantry and cruiser roles being an instance of the general economic principle of division of labour
in mechanization
, during World War II its application in mechanized warfare
proved to be hugely inefficient in terms of technical development, production, maintenance, logistics, and — worst of all — tactical flexibility. Therefore it was not surprising that during the war, it was progressively abandoned by all the major belligerent countries.
s" instead. This attitude, and their deployment with cavalry units, encouraged their treatment as light tanks. When the first medium tank
design appeared, it was a confused design that had some features of the already outdated multi-turret designs: multi machine-gun mounts, light anti-tank weapon, but omitted the close-support howitzer that was by now an important feature of British and French designs.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in the years leading up to World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Infantry tanks were tanks designed to support the infantry in the attack. To achieve this they were generally heavily armoured
Vehicle armour
Military vehicles are commonly armoured to withstand the impact of shrapnel, bullets, missiles, or shells, protecting the personnel inside from enemy fire. Such vehicles include tanks, aircraft, and ships....
compared to the cruiser tank
Cruiser tank
The cruiser tank was a British tank concept of the inter-war period. This concept was the driving force behind several tank designs which saw action during the Second World War....
s, to allow them to operate in close concert with infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
even under heavy gun fire. The extra armouring came at the expense of speed, which was not an issue when supporting relatively slow moving infantry.
Once the infantry tank-supported attack had broken through heavily defended areas in the enemy lines, other tanks such as cruisers, or light tanks, were expected to exploit their higher speed and longer range to operate far behind the front in order to cut lines of supply and communications
Line of communication
A line of communication is the route that connects an operating military unit with its supply base. Supplies and reinforcements are transported along the line of communication. Therefore, a secure and open line of communication is vital for any military force to continue to operate effectively...
.
Background
The split between the infantry tank and cruisers had its origins in the World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
division between the first British heavy tanks and the faster Whippet Medium Mark A and its successors the Medium Mark B
Medium Mark B
The Medium Mark B was a British tank of the First World War developed as a successor to the Whippet, but ultimately unsatisfactory and production was cancelled at the end of the war.-History:...
and Medium Mark C
Medium Mark C
The Medium Mark C Hornet was a British tank developed during the First World War, but produced too late to see any fighting.-Development:In 1917 Sir William Tritton had developed the Medium Mark A Whippet without involving his former co-worker Walter Gordon Wilson. In response Major Wilson began to...
.
During the interbellum British tank experiments generally followed these basic classifications, which were made part of the overall doctrine with the work of Major-General Percy Hobart
Percy Hobart
Major-General Sir Percy Cleghorn Stanley Hobart KBE CB DSO MC , also known as "Hobo", was a British military engineer, noted for his command of the 79th Armoured Division during World War II...
and the influence of "Captain" B.H. Liddell Hart
Basil Liddell Hart
Sir Basil Henry Liddell Hart , usually known before his knighthood as Captain B. H. Liddell Hart, was an English soldier, military historian and leading inter-war theorist.-Life and career:...
.
In 1934 Hobart, the then "Inspector, Royal Tank Corps", put forward two options for a tank to support the infantry. One was a fairly small machine gun-armed tank that would be fielded in large numbers to overwhelm the enemy defences. The other was a larger tank with a cannon and armoured against enemy field artillery
Field artillery
Field artillery is a category of mobile artillery used to support armies in the field. These weapons are specialized for mobility, tactical proficiency, long range, short range and extremely long range target engagement....
. Within the limitations of the military finances, the Master-General of the Ordnance
Master-General of the Ordnance
The Master-General of the Ordnance was a very senior British military position before 1855, when the Board of Ordnance was abolished.-Responsibilities:...
Hughe Elles went for the smaller machine gun tank. This requirement was passed to Vickers-Armstrongs who had a prototype ready by late 1936.
Comparisons to other tank types
Using later terminology, the infantry tank has been compared to a heavy tankHeavy tank
A heavy tank was a subset of tank that filled the heavy direct-fire role of many armies.Heavy tanks have usually been deployed to breakthrough enemy lines, though in practice have been more useful in the defensive role than in the attack...
, while the cruisers were compared to mediums
Medium tank
Medium tank was a classification of tanks; the medium being intermediate in size and weight and armament between heavy tanks and light tanks.The medium tank concept has been eclipsed by the main battle tank.-History:...
, lights
Light tank
A light tank is a tank variant initially designed for rapid movement, and now primarily employed in low-intensity conflict. Early light tanks were generally armed and armored similar to an armored car, but used tracks in order to provide better cross-country mobility.The light tank was a major...
, or even armoured cars. This comparison can be misleading though: particularly as the infantry tank was never intended to have the same anti-tank capabilities as a heavy tank.
The infantry tank was distinctly different from either the "heavy tank" or "breakthrough tank" concepts, although some pre-war multi-turreted heavy tanks such as the Soviet T-35
T-35
The T-35 was a Soviet multi-turreted heavy tank of the interwar period and early Second World War that saw limited production and service with the Red Army. It was the only five-turreted heavy tank in the world to reach production but proved to be slow and mechanically unreliable...
and German Neubaufahrzeug
Neubaufahrzeug
The German Neubaufahrzeug series of tank prototypes were a first attempt to create a heavy tank for the Wehrmacht after Adolf Hitler had come to power. Multi-turreted, heavy and slow, they did not fit in with the Blitzkrieg tactics and therefore only five were made...
(both taking some of their inspiration from the Vickers A1E1 Independent
Vickers A1E1 Independent
The Independent A1E1 is a multi-turreted tank that was designed by the British armaments manufacturer Vickers during the interwar period. Although it only ever reached the prototype stage it influenced many other tank designs....
tank prototype - an idea which was abandoned by the War office in the late 1920s for lack of funding) were similar, and with similar doctrines for their use. The Neubaufahrzeug was considered too slow for Blitzkrieg
Blitzkrieg
For other uses of the word, see: Blitzkrieg Blitzkrieg is an anglicized word describing all-motorised force concentration of tanks, infantry, artillery, combat engineers and air power, concentrating overwhelming force at high speed to break through enemy lines, and, once the lines are broken,...
tactics and fell from favour. German (and to some extent Soviet) wartime doctrine shifted towards faster medium and heavy tanks fighting large multi-tank battles, with the role of the infantry tank in assaults taken by simpler self-propelled artillery
Sturmgeschütz
Sturmgeschütz is a German word for "assault gun", usually abbreviated StuG. The vehicle was a leading weapon of the Sturmartillerie, a branch of the German artillery tasked with close fire support of infantry in infantry, panzer, and panzergrenadier units...
.
An important difference, however, was that heavy tanks were generally very well armed, while infantry tanks were not necessarily better-armed than other tanks. For example, the Soviet KV-1 heavy tank and British Matilda
Matilda tank
The Infantry Tank Mark II known as the Matilda II was a British infantry tank of the Second World War. It was also identified from its General Staff Specification A12....
infantry tank were deployed at about the same time in 1940. These two tanks had similar levels of armour protection and mobility, but the KV was far more heavily armed than the Matilda.
In British practice, the main armament of the infantry tank went in three phases. The pre-Dunkirk British Army
British Expeditionary Force (World War II)
The British Expeditionary Force was the British force in Europe from 1939–1940 during the Second World War. Commanded by General Lord Gort, the BEF constituted one-tenth of the defending Allied force....
Matilda I
Matilda Mk I
The Tank, Infantry, Mk I, Matilda I was a British infantry tank of the Second World War. It is not to be confused with the later model Tank, Infantry Mk II , also known as the "Matilda II" which took over the "Matilda" name after the early part of the war when the first Matilda was withdrawn from...
had only a single machine gun
Vickers machine gun
Not to be confused with the Vickers light machine gunThe Vickers machine gun or Vickers gun is a name primarily used to refer to the water-cooled .303 inch machine gun produced by Vickers Limited, originally for the British Army...
, a compromise forced by the lightness of its chassis. The Matilda II
Matilda tank
The Infantry Tank Mark II known as the Matilda II was a British infantry tank of the Second World War. It was also identified from its General Staff Specification A12....
gained a capable anti-tank capacity for its time, with the 40mm 2 pounder
Ordnance QF 2 pounder
The Ordnance QF 2-pounder was a British anti-tank and vehicle-mounted gun, employed in the Second World War. It was actively used in the Battle of France, and during the North Africa campaign...
, but these were only issued with solid-shot (i.e. non-explosive) for anti-tank use and was of little use for artillery close-support of infantry. The ultimate evolution of the British infantry tank concept began with the Churchill MkI
Churchill tank
The Tank, Infantry, Mk IV was a heavy British infantry tank used in the Second World War, best known for its heavy armour, large longitudinal chassis with all-around tracks with multiple bogies, and its use as the basis of many specialist vehicles. It was one of the heaviest Allied tanks of the war...
, where a hull-mounted 3 inch howitzer
Ordnance QF 3 inch howitzer
Ordnance QF 3 inch howitzer was a howitzer fitted to British tanks of the Second World War so they could fire a HE shell in "close support" of infantry....
could support infantry assaults with HE shells. As the increasing size of tanks, and their turret ring diameters, allowed such a howitzer to be turret-mounted in vehicles such as the Crusader CS
Crusader tank
The Tank, Cruiser, Mk VI or A15 Crusader was one of the primary British cruiser tanks of the early part Second World War and perhaps the most important British tank of the North African Campaign...
& Centaur CS.
UK
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 purpose-designed infantry tanks, the Mark I "Matilda"Matilda Mk I
The Tank, Infantry, Mk I, Matilda I was a British infantry tank of the Second World War. It is not to be confused with the later model Tank, Infantry Mk II , also known as the "Matilda II" which took over the "Matilda" name after the early part of the war when the first Matilda was withdrawn from...
and Mark II "Matilda"
Matilda tank
The Infantry Tank Mark II known as the Matilda II was a British infantry tank of the Second World War. It was also identified from its General Staff Specification A12....
were armed with a heavy machine gun and QF 2 pounder
Ordnance QF 2 pounder
The Ordnance QF 2-pounder was a British anti-tank and vehicle-mounted gun, employed in the Second World War. It was actively used in the Battle of France, and during the North Africa campaign...
anti-tank gun respectively. The Mark I had been ordered in 1938, but it had become clear that a better armed tank would be needed and its replacement the Mark II was already under design and would be ordered in mid-1938.
These two saw action in the Battle of France
Battle of France
In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...
where in the counterattack at Arras
Battle of Arras (1940)
The Battle of Arras took place during the Battle of France, in the early stages of World War II. It was an Allied counterattack against the flank of the German army, that took place near the town of Arras, in north-eastern France. The German forces were pushing north toward the channel coast, in...
they caused a shock to the German panzer units. Losses of the Mark I in France were not replaced but the Mark II Matilda remained in production.
British doctrine remained that infantry tanks and cruiser tanks were both expected to engage enemy tank hence the use of both the 2 pounder and then 6 pounder on both.
They were followed into service by the Valentine
Valentine tank
The Tank, Infantry, Mk III, Valentine was an infantry tank produced in the United Kingdom during the Second World War. More than 8,000 of the type were produced in 11 different marks plus various purpose-built variants, accounting for approximately a quarter of wartime British tank production...
and Churchill
Churchill tank
The Tank, Infantry, Mk IV was a heavy British infantry tank used in the Second World War, best known for its heavy armour, large longitudinal chassis with all-around tracks with multiple bogies, and its use as the basis of many specialist vehicles. It was one of the heaviest Allied tanks of the war...
designs. The Valentine proved to be difficult to develop further but the Churchill went through successive variants and served up to the end of the war.
As British cruiser tank designs developed into larger tanks with more powerful engines, they could carry larger guns and more armour yet still achieved high speeds. At the end of the war the cruiser tank lineage led to the "universal tank" in the form of the Centurion
Centurion tank
The Centurion, introduced in 1945, was the primary British main battle tank of the post-World War II period. It was a successful tank design, with upgrades, for many decades...
.
In practice the British did not operate only infantry and cruiser tanks. Lack of production capacity meant the large scale adoption of US medium tanks.
France
During the interwar years, the French Army adopted three, light tanks in the infantry tank role. These were the Hotchkiss H35Hotchkiss H35
The Hotchkiss H35 or Char léger modèle 1935 H was a French light tank developed prior to World War II.Despite having been designed from 1933 as a rather slow but well-armoured light infantry support tank, the type was initially rejected by the French Infantry because it proved difficult to steer...
, the Renault R35 and the FCM 36
FCM 36
The FCM 36 or Char léger Modèle 1936 FCM, was a light infantry tank that was designed for the French Army prior to World War II. It had a crew of two and was equipped with a short 37 mm main armament and a 7.5 mm coaxial machine gun...
. All three had two–man crews were similar to the Matilda I in terms of size, weight and armour. However, they were better armed, having 37mm guns as well as co-axial machine guns.
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. Invariably the cruisers ended up meeting enemy tanks in combat, while the infantry tanks were the only ones present when a breakthrough was accomplished. The infantry tank idea faded as tank design progressed during the war. It was eventually replaced outright with the general acceptance of the universal tank idea.
The concept was also employed by the other big tank-producing nation of the 1930s: the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, as exemplified by the T-26
T-26
The T-26 tank was a Soviet light infantry tank used during many conflicts of the 1930s as well as during World War II. It was a development of the British Vickers 6-Ton tank and is widely considered one of the most successful tank designs of the 1930s....
tank. The T-26 was a light tank assigned to Infantry units and thus fulfilled the infantry tank role, but in it had the relatively thin armour of light tank, but with a potent 45 mm gun. Their BT tanks were the fast cruiser types.
Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
had its separate Panzerwaffe 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
Sturmgeschütz III
The Sturmgeschütz III assault gun was Germany's most produced armoured fighting vehicle during World War II. It was built on the chassis of the proven Panzer III tank...
was taken into use by the Artillery, in its original role of infantry close support vehicle - the counterpart of the allied Infantry tanks.
Despite the concept of splitting of tanks into infantry and cruiser roles being an instance of the general economic principle of division of labour
Division of labour
Division of labour is the specialisation of cooperative labour in specific, circumscribed tasks and likeroles. Historically an increasingly complex division of labour is closely associated with the growth of total output and trade, the rise of capitalism, and of the complexity of industrialisation...
in mechanization
Mechanization
Mechanization or mechanisation is providing human operators with machinery that assists them with the muscular requirements of work or displaces muscular work. In some fields, mechanization includes the use of hand tools...
, during World War II its application in mechanized warfare
Mechanized Warfare
Mechanized Warfare is the sixth studio album released by American power metal band Jag Panzer, released in 2001. This album is more progressive than the band's previous work...
proved to be hugely inefficient in terms of technical development, production, maintenance, logistics, and — worst of all — tactical flexibility. Therefore it was not surprising that during the war, it was progressively abandoned by all the major belligerent countries.
US
For political reasons, the US Army was not permitted "tanks" in the years before World War II and so the tracked AFVs that it did develop were termed "Combat CarM1 Combat Car
The M1 Combat Car was a light tank used by the U.S. Cavalry in late 1930s. After the Spanish Civil War, most armies, including the U.S. Army, realized that they needed "gun" armed tanks and not vehicles armed merely with machine guns...
s" instead. This attitude, and their deployment with cavalry units, encouraged their treatment as light tanks. When the first medium tank
M2 Medium Tank
The Medium Tank M2 was a United States Army tank that was first produced in 1939 by the Rock Island Arsenal, just prior to the commencement of the war in Europe. Production was 18 M2 tanks, and 94 slightly improved M2A1 tanks, for a total figure of 112...
design appeared, it was a confused design that had some features of the already outdated multi-turret designs: multi machine-gun mounts, light anti-tank weapon, but omitted the close-support howitzer that was by now an important feature of British and French designs.