New Vanguard 272 - Churchill Infantry Tank

An illustrated history of the most important British-made tank of World War II, featuring all seven Marks of Churchill gun tank with variations and the curious self-propelled gun of 1941/42. The Churchill is quite different from any other British tank of World War II, built outside the normal process of British tanks and the Department of Tank Design. It was built under the watchful eye of the Prime Minister, after whom it was named, by a firm with no previous experience of tank production. Despite being condemned as unsuitable and more than once being scheduled to be replaced by a better design this never actually happened. It remained in production and ultimately vindicated itself since, although it was slow and noisy it was found to have superior climbing ability and thicker frontal armour than the vaunted German Tiger. Opening with coverage of the prototype tank A20, in unprecedented detail, which has not been covered in any detail before, the book goes on to look at all seven Marks of Churchill, in particular their different guns. This book also discusses the tank's service in Russia and later with the Irish, Jordanian and Australian Armies. It also features the disastrous Dieppe raid of August 1942, ending with a brief look at the Black Prince or 'super Churchill' which was only developed up to the prototype stage at the end of World War II.