Most underrated British WW2 Tank?  

7:50 Love the idea of a German complaining that the British use of a Churchill just wasn't cricket.

The Valentine was very effective especially in coordination with a box of chocolates.

Not only did the Soviets like the Valentine, according to Peter Samsonov's book on the Sherman in Red Army Service the Soviets used Valentines to meet their needs until enough Shermans arrived. The Soviets even paired Shermans and Valentines in the same unit, which shows how much they liked the Valentine, I think, since the Valentine is not exactly the equal of the Sherman in terms of speed.

The Tank Museum David's are national treasures in the way HMS Victory is.

To understand why the Soviets liked the Valentine, one need only look at the aborted T-50 tank. A light infantry tank intended to replace the T-26, less than 100 were built before production was halted while the Soviets moved their tank factories to the Urals and then did not restart production, instead choosing to churn out T-34s. However, the Infantry support role still needed filling by something more modern and capable than the T-26 and that gap was filled with lend lease Valentines. The Valentine was slower than the T-50, but much better protected and was optimised towards the same role, being otherwise quite similar in terms of weight and firepower.

My Uncle Ted recently restored a New Zealand Army Valentine tank to more or less working order for the Army Museum. I think it was one of the ones with the 3-inch howitzer, a local modification for the Pacifit War where we used them with some success alongside Stuart's. As to whether that one was used in combat or for training I don't know, we used them until 1960 I think, and he did do compulsory service as an engineer before a truck explosion cut his time short. Didn't stop him, did amazing work all over the world as an engineer though. He is one of those cool ones!

The Valentine, just like for instance the P-40, was all-right, cheap, rugged and useful. Not the star of the show - but the right vehicle at the right moment.

The Churchill and its variants - Crocodile! - remain one of my favourite tanks.

My Dad in 41 and 42 was a workshop foreman at Chillwell COD preparing tanks for Russia. He was an A vehicles man all his life. He ended up as head of scales branch after years at Woolwhich, Bordon, FVRDE always on mod and RandD. He told me his top five were: Valentine (dependable) Comet could go like one Sherman with the five bank Chrysler. Ease of field maintenance and the lovely tool kit that came with one. Centurion all marks. He went to Israel to chat to them about it and they really did put right a few things that were wrong with it. Keeping the ranging gun and so forth. Many Arab tank crews bailed out after hearing the knock of that! Chieftain for what could have been. If you ignore that awful engine. Which he cautioned against. Bottom five Crusader Covenanter Early Churchill Grant bolted armour and gun arrangement. tetrarch - clever but pointless. Could have been. Any Vickers export jobs. Indians loved them. I loved talking to him. Starting as an Apprentice in 1930 and ending up as a Principle Technical Officer he got there through merit. However, he made no friends back in the days when, as he said, between the 2 pounder and the firefly you had to take your hat off to those tank crews. In 44/45 he was attached up the sharp end to look at battle damage and so on.. So, I guess he should know. He took that with him to War Office and then Woolwich. So an all round career. The thing I remember most about him was his ability to explain technical matters simply and his drawing skills. Of course it all started as an apprentice when he was told to file a square round and then back to square. Nice guy. Love your work.

The Matilda II needs more love. It's the only British tank to see service throughout the war, with Australia still using them in 1945. In fact the Australians tested other tanks for jungle warfare, like the US M3 Lee/Grant and the M4 Sherman and they still preferred the Matilda.

Years ago I knew a Dutch lady who'd been a little girl at the end of WWII. She often talked about the day her village was liberated. What was the first British tank she saw as it rumbled passed her house? A Churchill.

Thank you for the most interesting material. My grandfa rode a Valentine in 1942, Volkhov war theatre, Russia and loved the tank greatly. Later, since 1943 he served as coach for newly formed T-34 crews in Nizhny Novgorod, and after the war he used to say T-34 was the best tank of the war, nevertheless Valentine wasn't worse it.

I love Churchill. To be it represents the British attitude, it's the British bull dog of tanks. Slow and steady, reliable and overcomes heavy obstacles and there at the victory line.

i hope theres a few more of these interviews with david

Glad to see the Valentine getting some love. Also, I find a Matilda II tank named Greyhound to be .. optimistic. (Yes, I know the British units named tanks based on having the same first letter.)

Its always a joy to hear David Willey explain ups and downs of certain tanks

Another allied tank in Russian service that the Russians quite liked was the Sherman. While it wasn't considered as tough as the Russian tanks, it reliability and creature comforts were much prized by the Russian crews. I recall reading an account where a Russian Sherman was in combat with the Germans. The tank was hit and started to burn. The crew managed to bail out of the tank, but were forced to shelter under the tank for a time due to German fire. They were trapped there long enough that they were convinced a T-34 would have exploded due to the fire, but the Sherman just continued to burn. What I found amusing about the account is that once the crew had managed to escape from under the tank to a safer area, the driver was absolutely distraught. It seems that he couldn't handle the idea of his padded driver's seat, something that was unheard of in a T-34, going up in flames.

Some of the Valentines from the Desert Campaign made it to Tunisia and Italy, on the same engine they were built with. One unit of Free-French kept the Valentine for as long as they could before being ordered to change to Shermans, they liked the better all over armor protection. I think after the Normandy break-out the Cromwell came into it's own, it could roam the countryside at speed popping up against the enemy where they weren't expecting a tank to be.

The reason I am fond of the Churchill is that over 50 years ago I made up an Airfix model kit. Now, with the Tank Museum on the web, I am learning all the time.

There are 2-British WWII tanks at the monument and museum to the Great Patriotic War. Both are Matilda II. The remains of the 609 tanks successfully supplied, initially used for training but thrown into the defence of Moscow in 1941

Once you realize that the war winners are not the big fancy tanks with superlative firepower and armour, but the though workhorses with multiple uses that keep soldiering on and make life much easier for other troops rather than cling to the myopic idea of tanks dueling each other at the exclusion of everything else.

I'm a fan of the Churchill after hearing of some of its amazing ground crossing abilities and climbing, also hearing of the incredible frontal armour and the beatings some took and kept going, I read a report of a Churchill Crocodile causing a bunker full of German soldiers to surrender without needing to fire a shot, it was the slow determined and hard to stop advance of the Churchill while taking fire and never giving up that one soldier said was the embodiment of British determination. . . Also I heard the infantry loved them as they knew they wouldn't speed off and leave them behind unlike Shermans and Cromwells, you knew you had a mobile bunker to shelter behind for as long as you needed.

The Valentine is among my favourite tanks of the second world war. Although originally rejected for service in favour of the Matilda II, it would outshine it in the end. Plus I think it looks cute.

Glad to see the Valentine getting more love. It's an adorable tank.

The reason I like the Churchill is because I am born in the same town as the Churchill was builted And that it can do anything

I remember one Valentine being found in a mud in Poland a few years ago. It must have been used no earlier than mid 1944 to be laid to rest in the place. I think it is a nice testament to its reliability.

The Valentine was the 'Hurricane' of the ground forces.

Must be the Valentine. Brilliant little thing that.

I straight away thought of the Valentine first, then almost Matilda II but went for the Cromwell second. And rather ironic the comment by a German officer that British tanks weren't fast enough!

Nail in the Valentine coffin, it was not modelled by Airfix. That is the yardstick.

Matilda remained in combat until the end of the war with Australian forces in the Pacific theatre. Modified for jungle combat. Its speed was less important than its off-road capability and good armor for close combat. Also, the Japanese had limited anti tank weapons. Often using improvised attacks including infantry carrying bombs and incendiaries to put on the hulls. The Stuart light tank was used effectively at times, but suffered heavy casualties. Importantly, involved a big factor in the bloody battles for Buna and Gona. Australian testing led the army adopting the Churchill to replace the Matilda, but did not arrive in time for combat. Australian experience showed that tanks were effective in jungle combat. And light tanks were not the best option for jungles.

Not a candidate for underrated imo but I really like the Comet. Fast, powerful gun, in that weird late-war design spot being half Cromwell and half Centurion.

I have always had a soft spot for the Churchill. The thick armour and it's climbing strengths. The 2 pounder was an OK gun at the start of its career but something heftier was quickly required, and they upgraded to larger calibres. They were always constrained by maximum transportation dimension limits. If they hadn't been they might have produced something akin to Tiger 1. It wouldn't have been a better tank though.

Valentine’s were deployed in the pacific theatre against the Japanese by NZ, with some locally converted to mount 3 inch howitzer, and the 2 pounder models having improvised 40 mm HE rounds (bofors AA rounds being crimped onto 2 pounder cartridges).

Good point about reliability issues as quite a few different tanks were being manufactured in different countries by companies that were far more familiar with building locomotives than tanks

After the war Australia tested Churchill's, Sherman's and Chaffee's in the jungle and found the Churchill superior in most aspects so until the Centurion came along the Churchill was Australia's battle tank.

I as a Brit have always loved the Cromwell tank... although for me that's in spite of it's namesake. It was rough and ready and fast, good for swanning around North France and the Low Countries!

I was one of those students of WW2 (my father being in the RAF) who thought German tanks good, British generally bad. Thanks for this five minute guide. And I've recently been to the museum!

I very much enjoy these casual Q and A sessions! The only improvement I can suggest is the addition of Fin. That charming energy and charisma would be a compliment to how friendly you both are.

Yeeeess

I'm glad he mentioned the valentine's reliability. The only thing worse than having no weapon is having an unreliable weapon. An amazing tank that doesn't work is just an embarrassingly expensive paperweight.

My father made the newspaer in a Valintine. They were in a parade to raise money with what were called victory bonds in Canada. Dad was driving. The Valinetine did not have very good sight lines to the side. Driving down the street everybody started yelling and he stopped. He had driven lengthwise down the side of a car flattening one side that was parked on the side of the road and a picture of it made headlines in a major Toronto paper.

valentine had similar effective armor thickness to matilda (26t) but was ligther (had 16t)

I like the Churchill tank. It's kind of quirky but ultimately the hull was used in so many different ways, successfully no less. The only thing that's really odd that I don't like is the road wheels. The only thing that the US built that had road wheels like that was the lvt.

Also my uncle droves the Valentine. He bloody hated it.

I like seeing David Willie in more of your videos. You should do a top 5 or bottom 5 tanks on the The Tank Museum's channel.

The problem with talking about tanks in WWII is that people can’t see past Tigers and Panthers, but the reality tanks like the Matilda, Valentine and Churchill were more than capable against the vast majority of standard german armour.

Its my favorite. Build with 1/3 of man hours needed to build a Matilda II. One of most reliable British tanks. Cheaper than T-34 but has similar armor. Gets up gunned twice. And its less than 20 tons so transpiring it is easy.

1:20 The Matilda II is named "Greyhound" by its crew. Classic British humour.

I grew up in the U.S. during the 70s, and I don't believe there was the bias against British tanks that (ironically) the British had. The Matilda-II, Valintine (series) and Churchill (series) were all seen as decent tanks at least from the limited opinions of my friends, schoolmates and adults interested in the topic. Furthermore, I was particularly cognizant of the first two tanks near indestructibility against anything short of an 88mm Flak gun while playing the AH board game 'Tobruk' as a kid. While the Churchill stood out as a tough tank in the Squad Leader expansion game 'Crescendo of Doom.' But then again, this was long before the internet and social media, so this assessment may be distorted by my immediate environment at the time.

Fabulous, thank you.

Nice video - well done! You should do more collabs like this!

I've loved the Matilda ever since reading Tramp in armour as a boy . Great book.

Love these collaborations, keep up the awesomeness...

Awesome!! You two together great!

Fantastic vid. I am so glad that this "in between video came. Its the story and the forgotten reality coming to life. Thanks a lot

I spent a wonderful day at Bovington in 2011 on a trip to Europe. If I ever get back I intend at least another full day. Could do a week easily.

Great conversation!

Such good thought provoking video. Really good.

Interesting opinions from the experts . Totally agree with the idea of certain tanks being useful at a particular moment in time .

So true about the need to look at the tank when it was used and how well it did in its prime. OMG! You mean tanks did things other than fight other tanks?? Inconceivable! LOL

For me at least, part of the cool thing with the Churchil was the funnies that came from it. Crocidile, especially, with heavy armour, a regular tank main gun, oh, and fire just for a bit extra. The AVRE I find an ammusing concept too, on a beast of a tank.

Good short interview. looking good DW❤️ 😍

Valentine was indeed very popular in Red Army. It get a nickname Valentinka - loveable form of popular name Valentina, like Valentina Tereshkova, first woman in space. The main complain was unreelable gun with low amount of ammunition supplied. So tanks were refitted with Russian 45mm gun before sent to front . Extra layer of slope armour was also added to the front as German 57mm antitank can destroy it from almost any distance. From 1943 production in Canada switched to a new and better gun.

1941 December 170 M3 light tanks in North Africa, 108 in the Philippines.

Thank you for the video. Please bring the curator again; he always has something interesting to say. ^^

Interesting discussion! Thanks.

Interesting discussion - there is a lot to be said about reliability and knowing the thing is going to work . - The Valentine MK II - had a QF 2 pounder ( 40 mm ) gun - with a 2 man turret - The Valentine Mk IX - had a modified turret to accept the QF 6 pounder ( 57 mm ) - The Valentine Mk XI - was up gunned with a 75 mm high velocity gun

Excellent video by two great experts👍

Lad great interview with a true knowledgeable gentlemen; willing to share his expertise on English Tanks. Well done! 🤔👏💯👌👍👊

Very good and interesting reappraisal.

About the Canadian-manufactured Valentines, railroads and locomotive manufacturers made them there. Notably, many were made at the Angus Shops of Canadian Pacific Railway (now CPKC) in Montreal.

5:10 haha, I like how you brought in Steel Division into this. Great Stuff, can't wait for the new stuff that's coming up for the game.

My 2 favourite tanks! They also did things that mattered. Battle of Arras for the matilda 2 and the valentine was one of only 2 tanks to serve in every theatre,, including Britain's most important battle of Imphal and Kohema

Very interesting,raised issues I was previously ignorant about.

The Centurion entered service in April 1945 and was immediately dispatched to Germany when they arrived the war was over, later testing against a Tiger`s armour proved it to be at least equal to the Tiger if not superior. It later served in many armies around the world but Israel put it to its best in 1973, they loved the tank.

Watching this for a second time. Still great!

I have always been frustrated by the fact that so many Valentines were sent to Russia. Imagine the battle for Malaya and Singapore if the British army there had been given just 200 Valentine Tanks

Is it just me, or do you think someone intended the irony when they name their Matilda Greyhound? If you matched an actual Greyhound against the Matilda in 100 yard dash. You could start with the Greyhound to sleep, let the Matilda starting forward wake it up, and the dog would still win running away. 😂. Love the dry sense of humor that named their Matilda Greyhound.

Agree on the Valentine. An efficient little tank.

I agree with you about the Valentine, I pointed out in one video where they were talking about "obsolete" Valentines holding up Rommels advance, that the Valentine 9 had much better armoured and its 6 pounder the equal of the tanks it was facing down so the battle was not as one sided as they made out.

I just watched this one and your one on US tanks: it's nice to see two people having a nice conversation about a topic they're both very familiar with.

knew the valentine would probably be the first on the list

The other Churchill variant than really worked and certainly has captured the imagination is Crocodile. Good video, well informed discussion.

My father worked on valentines and rated them as well built and serviceable. The Churchill could climb a very steep gradient and the variant’s were awesome. The croc was a fearsome weapon. The Cromwell was very underrated .

For me, it is more forgotten than underrated tank.

Excellent question!

The Valentine is a lovely tank. The 2pdr early on is no slouch in the desert.

Great clip. Actually love the Cromwell, and even the Churchill. Agree the Valentine doesn't seem to get much visibility/recognition.

The silhouette in the thumbnail was the Valentine. Obviously.

I've dived on a couple of DD valentine wrecks off swannage then went to see one in Bovington . I've always had a soft spot for it

Good points made. That David Willey knows his onions... and tanks.

I've always had a soft spot for Valentine. Not an exciting vehicle but it did its job.

The Churchill's extraordinary climbing ability as also put to fantastic use during the Korean War. Just for your information and not mentioned in this video, the Matilda II was NOT a development/carry on of the Matilda I tank. The Matilda II was an entirely new design. An often overlooked thing about the Tiger I tank was that it was designed and planned to be a breakthrough tank and was never intended to go great distances under its own power. The Germans used it in many other roles when other tanks were not available.

😂 were you two brought together by the power and magic of RU-vid? Nice!!!

Matters such as crew comfort, ventilation systems or lack of, field repair are much more important than usually considered.

When you talk the 'Best Tank' you need to do two catagorories, 1) If you are in a demolition derby with tanks. 2) If you are running a country going into a major war and cane only build one tank.

Interesting Video.

More colabs with the tank museum please

Living in Hurley, Berkshire, where the DD = Duplex Drive Tank was invented it is good to hear that the Worlds Authority on Tank History mentions the Valentine DD Tank. We, who were not there on D Day, think only of the Sherman DD Tank. This is yet another reason to go to Bovington Tank Museum and speak to real experts not Me/You who like to comment.