Tags:   Newport Isle of Wight Classic Cars

© All Rights Reserved

One of the worst tanks ever built !!!

Valiant was ordered as an Infantry Assault Tank for service in the Far East and the designers were instructed to keep the weight down as low as possible but to apply the thickest armour. The project was originally handled by Vickers-Armstrong but later passed over to Ruston & Hornsby Ltd of Grantham. In order to save weight the hull was reduced in size as far as possible. The front casting was virtually moulded around the driver while the turret ring actually stuck out from the sides of the hull. The turret, on the other hand, was enormous since the War Office insisted that a minimum of three men were to be accommodated. Valiant shared some features with the Valentine, notably the General Motors diesel engine, but the suspension was an original, if rather clumsy design.
Two prototypes are believed to have been built in 1944 and designs exist for an improved version featuring a Rolls-Royce Meteorite engine converted to diesel. In fact the tank never went into production and this is explained by the official policy which stated that no new designs should be built if they could not be completed before hostilities ceased. There may however be another explanation. During a test run in 1945 the prototype broke down after covering 13 miles. The driver was then found to be almost crippled by the driving position and in some danger of injury from the controls. The trial was called off immediately and the Valiant project came to an end. Other reports explain that the ground clearance of the tank was too low at the back and that the suspension system, located partly underneath the hull, was vulnerable on cross-country driving. Indeed it is very difficult to find an official report which has anything good to say about the tank at all.
Hostilities in Europe were ending so scheme was dropped in 1945.
(Text from the Tank Museum website)

Tags:   Bovington Tank Museum A38 Valiant Infantry Tank

© All Rights Reserved

Tags:   Bournemouth Aviation Museum Bournemouth Aviation Museum

© All Rights Reserved

Family postcard posted in 1934

The car is an expensive Armstrong Siddeley

© All Rights Reserved

A successful commercial design by Vickers
Alongside their work for the British armed forces Vickers-Armstrongs produced military equipment for foreign buyers. Their earliest commercial tank designs failed to sell but in 1928 they produced a masterpiece. Known as the 'six-tonner' it was a remarkable design, with a rear-mounted, air-cooled engine driving to a gearbox and track sprockets at the front of the tank. There were two main variants; some tanks were supplied with two machine-gun turrets (Type A) while others carried a larger single turret (Type B) like our exhibit.
(Text from The Tank Museum website)

Tags:   Bovington Tank Museum Vickers Armstrongs Mark E Type B Medium Tank

© All Rights Reserved