One of the biggest tank battles in history. Peter & Dan Snow, 20th Century Battlefields: Middle East 6/8, BBC 2013
From north Africa to the Russian front tanks ruled the battlefield. Mark Urban, Tankies: Tank Heroes of World War I, BBC 2016
The A13 – a tank that embodies everything that was worst about British inter-war armoured vehicle design … A deathtrap to the men of the 5th. ibid.
On 22th July the 5th’s tanks received some new American-made armour … The Honey. ibid.
The desert rats became celebrated heroes and the 5th Tanks returned to Britain expecting a well-earned rest … A new fight … The 5th’s Tanks were now going to spearhead the invasion of Europe – D Day. Mark Urban, Tankies: Tank Heroes of World War II
The Romans also created a mobile and deadly armoured weapon likened to the tank. Ancient Impossible s1e8: Roman Empire, History 2014
Hitler’s tank divisions shocked the world with their overwhelming mobility, armour and firepower as they carved up the continent for the Axis Forces. Killer Tanks: Fighting the Iron Fist I: Churchill Tank: Britain Fights Back, Discovery 2016
In 1942 Britain unveiled its new weapon of war ... the Churchill tank. ibid.
Matilda II: Queen of the Battlefield: ‘Matilda II was an enormous advance on Matilda I.’ ibid.
The Churchill: Britain fights back ... The Black Prince: ‘It was decided to build a super-Churchill.’ ibid.
In the First World World War Britain pioneered the use of an important weapon – the tank. Nothing like it had ever been seen on the battlefield before. In 1918 it helped the British armies in France to crush the Germans. Killer Tanks: Fighting the Iron Fist II: Cromwell Tank: A British Heavyweight
A merciless Panzer thrust in France ... It forced the British to flee the continent, leaving its tanks on the beach at Dunkirk. ibid.
The Cromwell: a British heavyweight. ibid.
The first Cruiser – the A9: manned by a crew of six ... a 2-pounder gun, 3 x 7.65 Vickers machine guns and a 3-inch Howitzer ... 25 miles per hour ... By 1939 models were being delivered ... the supply problems that had dogged the A-9’s development were far from over. ibid.
Russia: the outstanding off-road performance of the Russian BT tanks that incorporated a suspension system designed by the American inventor J Walter Christie. ibid.
Desert Predator – the Crusader: the first models of the A-15 Crusader tank were leaving the production line: five-man crew, it mounted a 2-pounder gun, 2 x 7.92 mm Besa machine guns, the Crusader’s armour was up to 40 mm thick. ibid.
The Germans simply knew how to use their tanks to devastating effect. ibid.
So in May 1943 production of the Cromwell was transferred to Leyland motors: 5-man crew, it mounted a 6-pounder gun, 3 v 7.92 mm Vesa Besa machine guns, and another 75 mm gun, its armour was up to 76 mm thick ... a top road speed of 40 miles per hour. ibid.
Last of the Cruisers – the Comet ... ‘It was a little bit too late to have an impact.’ ibid.
America’s vast car industry became a tank-production line overnight. When the US joined the Allies in 1941 it brought a tank that went on to become one of the most prolific and successful of the War: M-3 General Lee. Killer Tanks: Fighting the Iron Fist III: Sherman Tank
The M-2 had a 6-man crew, it mounted 1 x 37 mm M6 gun, 8 x .30 cal machine guns, 32 mm amour plating ... a top road speed of 26 miles per hour. ibid.
By evening Rommel had lost at third of his tanks and his plan was in ruins. It was a promising start for the Grant. ibid.
The Grant’s successor, the Sherman, started to arrive in the desert. ibid.
Rumble in the Jungle – Burma: a number of Lee tanks were transported to Burma ... They had underestimated the courage of Japanese tank crews. ibid.
During the Second World War the United States experienced a revolution in tank design and production ... producing vast number of tanks to challenge the Axis forces. Its war-winning weapon was the Sherman. Killer Tanks: Fighting the Iron Fist IV: Grant M3 Tank: America’s Answer
The Sherman [M-4] tank – the workhorse. ibid.
The M-3 General Lee had a 7-man crew, 1 x 75 mm M2 or M3 gun, 1 x 37 mm M5 or M6 gun, 4 x .30 cal machine guns, 37 mm armour plating ... a top road speed of 26 miles per hour. Under the lend/lease policy the UK bought 300 M-3 tanks and called them the General Grant. ibid.
Easy to operate and maintain: so designers came up with a medium tank they hoped would fit the bill: the Americans called it the M-4 but the British named it the Sherman. ibid.
The Sherman firefly had a 5-man crew, British 17-pounder gun, an M1919 machine gun, 89 mm thick ... range of 100 miles ... a top road speed of 25 miles per hour. ibid.
Normandy: the sheer number of Shermans was starting to tip the balance in favour of the Allies. ibid.
Shermans were rearmed as rocket launchers, flame-throwers, self-propelled artillery, and mine-laying. ibid.
The KV tank symbolised the iron will of communist Russia. To out-produce, out-armour and outgun the capitalist West in the Second World War ... It was the most powerful tank in the world. Killer Tanks: Fighting the Iron Fist V: KV Tank: Russian Steel Monster
Russia lacked the industry to equip a twentieth-century army. Stalin soon found a radical solution to this problem: the five-year plan. ibid.
The KV Tank: Steel Monster: 5-man crew, 76.2 mm gun, 3 x 7.62 mm machine guns, 106mm armour plating, V2 diesel engine ... top road speed of 35 km per hour. ibid.
In 1939 He [Hitler] ordered the invasion of Finland ... one and a half-thousand tanks. ibid.
Operation Barbarossa: Hitler launched his most ambitious attack of the Second World War. To defeat the Red Army, Germany sent a force of over three million men, backed up by hundreds of thousands of armed vehicles, horses and aircraft. ibid.
In one of the biggest set-piece battles in history, and the largest tank engagement of the war, Soviet tank crews came face to face with the Tiger. ibid.
The IS2 emerged – by 1944 the IS2 was in general production ... It worked well ... and served as a fighting statement of strength against the dying Nazi dream. ibid.
The T-34 medium tank was one of the technological wonders of the Second World War. Designed, built and used in Russia, the T-34 stunned the invading German army and prevented it seizing Moscow. The Third Reich even tried to clone the T-34 but its attempts never challenged the supremacy of the Soviet colossus. Killer Tanks: Fighting the Iron Fist VI: T-34 Tank: Russia’s Cutting Edge
The BT series: Russia forges ahead … ‘It was really more of an armoured car than a tank … It didn’t do terribly well in American trials … The Russians were interested in it.’ ibid.
The BT7 tank: 3 man crew, 45mm gun, 2 x 7.62 mm machine guns, 22 mm armour plating, V-12 liquid-cooled diesel, range 430 km, 500 bhp, Road speed 73 kph. ibid.
‘The first Soviet tank that entered Free Prague carried the number 23. It was the same tank, now a monument, that was surrounded by other Russian tanks in August 1968.’ Grin Without a Cat aka The Base of the Air is Red, 1977, commentator
‘What are you doing in Prague? And you call yourself a communist.’ ibid. demonstrator
The Tiger was rushed into production. Early Tigers are particularly unreliable: they often break down during combat and have to be abandoned. In fact, more Tigers are destroyed by their crews than by the enemy. Project Nazi: Blueprints of Power s1e6: Retreat from Reality, 2017
By the summer of 1943 the War is going badly for Germany. ibid.