Infantry tank

The infantry tank was a concept developed by the British in the years leading up to World War II. They were generally more heavily armoured compared to the lighter cruiser tanks, which would allow them to operate in close concert with infantry to help them break through heavily defended areas in the enemy lines. Once they had opened a gap, the cruisers were expected to exploit their higher speed and longer range to range far behind the front in order to cut lines of supply and communications. In more conventional terminology, the infantry tank was essentially a heavy tank, while the cruisers were either mediums, lights, or even armoured cars.

Background

The split between the infantry tank and cruisers had its origins in the World War I division between British heavy tanks and the faster Whippet Medium Mark A and its successors the Medium Mark B and Medium Mark C. During the interbellum British tank experiments generally followed these basic classifications, which were made part of the overall war doctrine with the work of Percy Hobart and Basil Liddell Hart.

History

Since the infantry tanks were to work at the pace of the infantry units, which would be attacking on foot, high speed was not a requirement and they were able to carry heavier armour. The first two purpose-designed infantry tanks, the Mark I "Matilda" and Mark II "Matilda" were armed with a machine gun and QF 2 pounder anti-tank gun respectively. They were followed in by the Valentine and Churchill designs. This "split" in intended role between the infantry and cruiser designs lasted for most of World War II.

In practice, although able to resist hits from tanks and anti-tank guns, and designed for good, albeit slow, cross country performance, the separation of tank functions into specialised areas such as infantry and cruiser types was not effective. Invariably the cruisers ended up meeting enemy tanks in combat, while the infantry tanks were the only ones present when a breakthrough was accomplished. Although the Churchill was successful in its area, the infantry tank idea faded as tank design progressed during the war. It was eventually replaced outright with the introduction of the first British "Universal Tank", the Centurion, which had the armour and firepower of the infantry tanks, along with the mobility and speed of the cruisers. All new designs since the introduction of the Centurion have been generalists in this regard.

The concept was also employed by the two largest tank-producing nations in the 1930s: the Soviet Union, as exemplified by the T-26 light, and the later KV heavy, infantry tank; and France that built the Renault R35 and the Char B1. This is best seen as a parallel development caused by the fact neither nation had an independent armoured arm. Germany had its separate "Panzerwaffe" (mainly for political reasons to emphasise that it had freed itself from the "Dictate of Versailles" forbidding the possession of any tanks) and the German Infantry used phased out Panzerkampfwagen I's in its Independent Tank Brigades. This is often seen as reflecting some explicit doctrine; in reality it was caused by a simple lack of budget, tank production not having any priority. When more money became available the Sturmgeschütz III was taken into use by the Artillery, in its original role of infantry close support vehicle - the counterpart of the allied Infantry tanks.

Despite being an instance of the general economic principle of division of labour in mechanisation, during World War II its application in mechanised warfare proved to be hugely inefficient in terms of technical development, production, maintenance, logistics and — worst of all — tactical flexibility. During the war it was abandoned by all nations.

See also

* History of the tank