The Matilda, queen of the desert.

World War II British Military
#21

Matildas in the desert, operation Compass.

35 mark II were in the spearhead of the british counteroffensive that almost knocked out completely the Italian army off Afrika.

[i]

"The initial British assault would fall on Nibeiwa Camp, where the only available Italian armoured unit was based, and it achieved complete surprise. Raggruppamento Maletti, or Maletti Group, under General Pietro Maletti, was an ad hoc formation consisting of 2,500 Libyan soldiers and 2 Armoured Battalion, with thirty-five M11/39 medium tanks and thirty-five L3/35 light tanks.

It was earmarked for early destruction in the assault, which commenced at 05:00hr with what appeared to be no more than another raid on the eastern side of the camp. At 07:00, however, forty-eight Matilda tanks suddenly appeared from the opposite side of the camp. They struck twenty-three unmanned M11/39 tanks of the Maletti Group, which had been deployed to guard the unmined entrance to the camp. The Italians were caught completely off guard and many did not even reach their tanks, including General Maletti, who was killed emerging from his dugout. They were slaughtered and their vehicles destroyed by the British in less than ten minutes.

The Italian artillery fought on valiantly, firing on the Matildas and recording many hits, some at point-blank range - but none penetrated their 70mm of armour. The remaining Italian tanks were captured intact, and the Libyan infantry, left practically defenceless, quickly surrendered. The British had captured Nibeiwa and destroyed the only front-line Italian armoured unit in less than five hours."

Matilda pictured in conquered emplacements outside Tobruk.

Matilda with ramp for antitank ditch, it was used in the attack against Bardia.

Matilda with fascine. Another device for crossing large trenches/ditches.

#22

As a beutepanzer:

And a nice shot from early 1941 in Libya:

#23

How you put 3 men in that turret ? :slight_smile:

thanks Dani , nice pictures.

#24

The third guy must be very small, or folded up in a really cramped firing position.

#25

You are always welcomed PK!:smiley:

In the line of what you and George have posted on page 1:

#26

Talking about captured Matildas…here is another one. Next to a panzer one.

Is idle to say, but with the coming of the Afrika Korps the Matilda “kingdom” began a stedy decline. However it continued to be a battleworthy tank until 1943 mostly due its good armor.

#27

Matilda in the Bardia italian fortress february 1941, note the bullet impacts on the Wall.

Matilda in dug out emplacemet near Tobruk, those vehicles play a fundamental role in defeating the german attemp to breach into the fortress in april 1941. Exposing only its solid cast steel turret was a hard nut to find and to crack for the advancing german Panzers.

The arrival of the Lufwaffe in early 1941 made camouflage a badly needed improvement.

#28

Some more images of the Matilda in the desert. Recovered by the “Scammel” 30 tons tractor, this vehicle was also used to help the Matilda maneouvering in closed curves like the road outside Bardia. Also some sudanese troops doing maintenence work is depicted.

scammel.JPG

sudanbeses.JPG

#29

Quote from P.K. :“Matilda in dug out emplacemet near Tobruk, those vehicles play a fundamental role in defeating the german attemp to breach into the fortress in april 1941. Exposing only its solid cast steel turret was a hard nut to find and to crack for the advancing german Panzers.”

The Hull defilade(sometimes called hull-down) is a classic when using armor in a defensive postion.There would be 2 or 3 dug-outs for each tank(if time permitted), and after a few shots, would move to an alternate. Indeed it was very difficult for the attackers to get a good shot at them, while the tank in defilade could take its time and engage any targets within its field of fire.Kind of like a tank sniper…

#30

And here you got another Matilda emplacement, this a very ease to conceal and very hard to find by aerial recce operations.
However Rommel did not repeated his 1941 mistakes when he go after the allied fortres in mid 1942 and the value of this positions became a very low one.

#31

Operation Battleaxe, the kingdom in Peril:

The operation Battleaxe was the first british major offensive agaist the Afrika Korps, it took place the June 15th 1941. The armor componentes of this operation arrived to Alexandria in the shape with the convoy “Tiger”. Those were 135 Matildas, 85 “Cruisers” tanks, and 25 light tanks.

The main objetives were to relieve the garrison of Tobruka nd also bring to the battle and destroy most of the german armored forces.
One of the most strategical points were the Halfaya pass near the Libian Egyptian border.
On the eastern side, at 05:15, Coast Force, commanded by Brigadier Reginald Savory and charged with capturing Halfaya Pass, started to move on to their objective.

On the top of theescarpment was the Halfaya Group, composed of the 2nd battalion Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders, the thirteen tanks (twelve Matildas and one light tank) of the 4th Royal Tank Regiment’s C Squadron (which had previously captured
Halfaya Pass during Operation Brevity), and an artillery battery from the 31st Field Regiment.
To their east and below the lip of the escarpment were the 1st battalion 6th Rajputana Rifles and 2nd battalion 5th Mahratta Light Infantry, two troops of the 4th Royal Tank Regiment’s A Squadron, and a few 25-pounder guns.

At 05:40, British artillery for the Halfaya Group was scheduled to open fire on the German and Italian forces stationed in Halfaya to provide cover for the tanks and infantry, but the battery had become bogged down by soft sand.

After waiting until 06:00, fifteen minutes after the fighting began to the west below the escarpment, the commander of C Squadron, Major C.G. Miles, ordered his tanks to attack at the top of the pass; soon after though the [anti-tank guns of the German and Italian defenders opened fire and within a few hours all but one light tank and one of the Matildas had been destroyed, the well concealed 88s Flak 18 guns were particulary aiming to the british infantry tanks.

Two near penetrations by the 88mm gun.

At 10.00 am Miles radioes a last and desperate message “…they are tearing my tank to bits ! “, minutes later he also fell prey of the german antitank guns when one 88 shell penetrated his Matilda and caused a catastrophic internal explotion.

Turret blew off

The British forces below the escarpment did not fare much better, as four of the Matildas were disabled by anti-tank mines which were supposed to have been cleared; this blocked the path of the remaining two and reduced the small tank force to acting in a pillbox capacity.

Burned out. Note the small caliber impacts.

The Rajputana Rifles and Mahrattas made several attempts to reach the pass, but were repelled each time; the former losing their commanding officer, Colonel P.R.H. Skrine, in the final attack.

After 3 days of battle the offensive succeded only in capturing the Fort Capuzzo but failed any other objetive, the british forces withdrawn leaving behind 91 tanks destroyed, including 64 Matildas.

In the other hand the germans have 50 tanks damaged, but only 12 remain irreparable losses.

“Matildas graveyard”, a view of the Halfaya pass with hulls of some matildas and a Marmon Harrington AFV.

#32

Rare cammo in the “Griffin”, a Malta based Matilda mark III, it was designed to mix up the tank with the Maltese envoriment…wich was rich in low white stone walls.

About a dozen of Matildas were based in the mediterranean island paired with some Valentines, those were to be the main defense force in case of the axis landing , that was the operation Hercules, operation that never took place given the german lack of confidence in the Italian naval support.

#33

I have always “enjoyed” the Matilda tank. It looked very stately in a desert setting to me. Besides when I first started studying the British in the desert the Mitilda was the first British tank I learned about.

#34

This is an excellent picture showing the scale of the Matilda, and how small it was relatively speaking considering its thick armor. Unfortunately, this meant the turret was it Achilles Heal as a bigger gun could never be mounted successfully in the design…

#35

Actually the Matilda is a little longer than the pz III and IV with 6.1 meters, however the turret ring in both german designs in larger.

Incidentally the Churchill have a inch more in ring diameter but its different turret allowed the 6 pounder.

#36

A very curious image, a german used Matildad…recaptured by british infantry, I suppose than given the slow speed of the infantry tank you can reach it running.

#37

Profile of the “Gamecok”, a Matilda II mark I captured in France, note the tailskid designed for avoid falling in a wide trench. also it had the increased clearance wich improved cross country capabilities but incemented stress on suspension parts.

The same tank in repair shop.

#38

Ping.

#39

The Germans were using a lot of captured equipment, especially in Africa, but also in Russia, since the German industry was not able to manufacture enough stuff themselves.
E.g. in Northern Africa, whole German artillery regiments were equipped with captured British 25Pdr guns (which BTW were very much liked by the German gunners). Both sides liked to use captured trucks and the LRDG liked to use the Italian Breda 3.7 cm AA gun on their trucks, both for AA defense was well as for ground support (e.g. when they ambushed a German convoy).

Jan

#40

Sure , the germans used captured Matildas even before the Afrika krops, this is one modified with a open turret and 50mm gun.