Considering that the tank was basically a British invention, it is surprising that the British Army found itself lagging behind in tank development until near the end of World War II. Perhaps it was due to the perceptions of what was needed or an inability to adapt to change. Whatever the reason, the majority of British tanks were either under gunned, under armored, or both. Such is the case of the most built British tank of WWII, the Valentine.

When this tank was developed in the late 1930s, British armor consisted of three types; cruiser tanks that were relatively fast, but poorly protected, infantry tanks that were well armored but had small main armament and tankettes, which are useless for nearly all tasks aside from helping to keep the peace in colonies.

Requiring medium tanks, the war office was looking for a development of the Matilda II when Vickers proposed a tank with a 40mm main gun that would allow the tank's overall dimensions to be smaller. This meant a claustrophobic two man turret, but with a proven automotive portion that would require no development. Initiated as a stop-gap, the Valentine was born.

The tank proved itself to be reliable, under armored and with a gun that was too small to deal with German medium tanks. However, when you are at war, you tend to develop what you have and build what is available, so it was with the Valentine. It was developed into the Bison self propelled artillery vehicle, the Archer anti-tank gun and a variety of bridge-layers, flame tanks and other vehicles. Not surprisingly, the tank was replaced as soon as something better became available, but continued to serve in secondary fronts and was widely exported to the Soviets, who did not like it all that much.

The author provides a full account of the development of the tank as well as a rundown on all the different variations on the theme that are the norm with subjects like this. The photos are well chosen and the art work is superb. The book also has a large section that provides quite a few specification tables, and descriptions of things like the rangefinder, electrical power system, how the controls operated, what it was like to drive it and things like that. There is very little on its use in combat, which is something I have come to expect from this series. Despite this, I found the book to be interesting to read and a nice primer on this tank, which made up over a quarter of all British armor production during WWII.

March 2016

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