Light Tanks of the UK include the Light Tanks Mk II to Mk V.

Between the First

World 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...

 and Second World Wars

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...

, the British produced a series of similar light tank

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...

s. They saw use in training, and in limited engagements with British Empire

British Empire

The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...

 units such as the South African Army

South African Army

The South African Army is the army of South Africa, first formed after the Union of South Africa was created in 1910.The South African military evolved within the tradition of frontier warfare fought by commando forces, reinforced by the Afrikaners' historical distrust of large standing armies...

 during the East African Campaign

East African Campaign (World War II)

The East African Campaign was a series of battles fought in East Africa during World War II by the British Empire, the British Commonwealth of Nations and several allies against the forces of Italy from June 1940 to November 1941....

 of 1941. All were around 5 long ton

Long ton

Long ton is the name for the unit called the "ton" in the avoirdupois or Imperial system of measurements, as used in the United Kingdom and several other Commonwealth countries. It has been mostly replaced by the tonne, and in the United States by the short ton...

s in weight and capable of 30 mph (50 km/h) on roads and around 20 mph (30 km/h) cross-country. Armament was machine gun only — Vickers 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...

s firing either a .303 inch or .50 inch calibre

Caliber

In guns including firearms, caliber or calibre is the approximate internal diameter of the barrel in relation to the diameter of the projectile used in it....

 round - in a rotating cupola. Suspension was Horstmann coil spring

Horstmann suspension

Horstmann suspension is a type of tracked suspension devised by the British engineer Sidney Horstmann in 1922.The system uses coil springs and has the advantages of a relatively long travel and, consisting of a self-contained bogie that is bolted to the hull, causing little or no encroachment on...

 on bogies. The engine was a Meadows

Henry Meadows

Henry Meadows of Wolverhampton, England were major suppliers of engines and transmissions, to the smaller companies in the British motor industry...

 6 cylinder petrol. Up until the Mk V, they had a crew of two: a driver/commander and gunner. The Mk V had a crew of three: a driver, a gunner, and the commander helping on the gun.

Tank, Light, Mk II

• MK II: Built by Vickers Armstrong
  Vickers Armstrong
  Vickers-Armstrongs Limited was a British engineering conglomerate formed by the merger of the assets of Vickers Limited and Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Company in 1927...
  
   from 1929;
• Mk IIA: 29 were constructed at the Royal Arsenal
  Royal Arsenal
  The Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, originally known as the Woolwich Warren, carried out armaments manufacture, ammunition proofing and explosives research for the British armed forces. It was sited on the south bank of the River Thames in Woolwich in south-east London, England.-Early history:The Warren...
  
  , Woolwich
  Woolwich
  Woolwich is a district in south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.Woolwich formed part of Kent until 1889 when the County of London was created...
  
  ;
• Mk IIB: 21 built by Vickers-Armstrong.

Tank, Light, Mk V

• Produced during 1936. A slightly bigger vehicle with two machine guns, one .303 and the other .50

Service history

The light tanks were kept in use for training until around 1942.
Some saw active use in the Western desert

Libyan Desert

The Libyan Desert covers an area of approximately 1,100,000 km2, it extends approximately 1100 km from east to west, and 1,000 km from north to south, in about the shape of a rectangle...

 or Abyssinia

Ethiopian Empire

The Ethiopian Empire also known as Abyssinia, covered a geographical area that the present-day northern half of Ethiopia and Eritrea covers, and included in its peripheries Zeila, Djibouti, Yemen and Western Saudi Arabia...

They were followed by the Light Tank Mk VI

Light Tank Mk VI

The Tank, Light, Mk VI was a British light tank, produced by Vickers-Armstrongs in the late 1930s, which saw service during World War II.- Development history :...

from 1936.

External links

• WWII vehicles
• Light tanks Mk I, Mk II/III, Mk IV/V at ww2photo.mimerswell.com.