British Tanks of World War 2
The British were no slouches when it came devising armored systems of war in World War 2.

1 Cruiser Tank Comet (A34) The Comet Cruiser tank was arguably Britain's most powerful tank platform in the Second World War. Arriving in late (November) 1944, tank crews had to be retrained in the finer points of this exceptional weapons system, thus ... 1944

2 Cruiser Tank Mk VI Crusader The Crusader series of British cruiser tanks was an important contributor to the early war years, particularly in North Africa where it would take part in El Alamein and Tunisia. Dogged by reliability problems, overheating an... 1941

3 Cruiser Tank Mk VIII Centaur (A27L) The Centaur series of main battle tanks was a product of Leyland Motors and developed alongside the competing Cromwell series of tank and built to the same specifications. The Centaur grew into a very similar design when comp... 1942

4 Cruiser Tank Mk VIII Challenger (A30) The Challenger Mk VIII Cruiser was a British response to the very real and deadly threat being posed by German armor on the battlefields in World War 2. The system was a purpose-built design - intended as a tank destroyer by ... 1943

5 Cruiser Tank Mk VIII Cromwell (A27M) The Cromwell (officially known as Tank, Cruiser, Mk VIII, Cromwell (A27M)) was one of two design proposals submitted to fulfill the British Army specification A27. The specification centered on a direct replacement for the ar... 1943

6 Cruiser Tank Ram Like most of the Allied nations at the start of World War 2, Canada saw itself with an outdated armor corps made up of mostly World War 1-era equipment passed on to them by the United States. With Britain firmly entrenched wi... 1941

7 Gun Motor Carriage M10 (Wolverine / Achilles) The M10 3-inch Gun Motor Carriage was the principle allied tank destroyer of the Second World War. The British produced their own version of the M10 Wolverine known as the Achilles. The idea of the Wolverine tank destroyer ca... 1942

8 Infantry Tank Mk II Matilda (A12) The Matilda II was the definitive infantry tank for British armed forces in the early years of World War Two. With the Mark I series leading the way, the Mark II became the version produced in quantity. By war's end, however,... 1937

9 Infantry Tank Mk III Valentine Considered one of the more successful British tank designs of the early war years, the Valentine series served both British and Soviet forces effectively. British forces first fielded the system in Operation Crusader, in whic... 1940

10 Infantry Tank Mk IV Churchill (A22) The British Churchill series of tanks was the most important British tank of the Second World War. Built in numbers second only to the Valentine, the Churchill was designed to replace the aging Matildas. Reminiscent of tank d... 1941

11 Medium Tank, M3 (Lee / Grant) The M3 medium tank series appeared at a time when Allied armor (in respects to both armor protection and armament) was generally inferior to their German counterparts in Europe and North Africa. The M3 evolved from the M2 med... 1942

12 Medium Tank, M4 / M4 (Sherman) The M4 Sherman series of medium tanks proved an invaluable asset to Allied operations North Africa, Europe and the Pacific theaters of war in World War 2. The Sherman proved a relatively inexpensive, easy-to-maintain and - pe... 1942

13 Medium Tank, M4A4 (Sherman VC Firefly) Outwardly, the Sherman Firefly series of tank destroyers looked every bit like their M4 Sherman base counterparts. Closer examination would reveal a British-designed system that was finally capable of dealing with the impress... 1944

14 Tank Mark VIII (International Tank / Liberty) The Mark VIII "International Tank" (also "Liberty" when powered by the Liberty engine) would become the first tank in history to be produced via an international collaborative effort - this made possible through an agreement ... 1919