The A12 Infantry Tank Matilda II was a British tank of World War II. The name Matilda comes from a cartoon duck.
Specifications
History
Designed at Woolwich Arsenal as an improvement on the Mk I. Armed with a 2-pounder gun with ~7.5cm frontal armor. First produced in 1937; 2,987 built from 1937 to 1943 by Fowler, Ruston and Hornsby, LMS, Harland and Wolff, and North British Locomotive Co.
Variants
- Matilda I – First production
- Matilda II – Besa MG replacement
- Matilda III – Leyland diesel
- Matilda III CS – 3 inch howitzer
- Matilda IV/V – Improved engines and gearbox
- Scorpion – Mine flail variant
- Frog – Australian flamethrower
- Matilda Hedgehog – Naval Hedgehog launcher
- Matilda CDL – Canal Defense Light (searchlight)
Combat History
First used in France in 1940 by the 4th and 7th Royal Tank Regiments. Its armor was largely immune to German tank guns, forcing use of 88mm anti-aircraft guns in the anti-tank role. Highly effective in early North Africa campaigns against Italian and German tanks. As German tanks improved, the Matilda could not be up-gunned sufficiently and was phased out by the British Army. However, it remained in Australian service in the South West Pacific, seeing action in Bougainville and Borneo until the last day of the war.