You know that:
- The development of the tank under the ARV project was a symbol of freedom for the United Kingdom and for the rest of the world, as the complete design and subsequent production was carried out exclusively by British engineers.
- The Churchill Mk. was the largest British tank developed in the 1940s.
- Vauxhall had no experience in tank design, but in the end a powerful and reliable machine was actually created. Thus, the army had only reservations about the tank due to the extreme discomfort of the interior. A British commander once remarked: "Imagine five biscuits in a tin box. Shake it hard. What's left of the biscuits is the tank crew on the road after a few miles of driving,.
- A total of 7,368 were produced in various versions.
- Thanks to its long construction, it easily overcame the enemy's wide trenches.
- The tank was decently armoured for the time it was built, but unbearably slow, reaching speeds of 13 km/h in the field.
- In addition to its weaker armament, the tank's high consumption of 682 litres of petrol per 100 km hindered its effective deployment.
- Despite its archaic appearance and clumsiness, it was an extremely reliable machine.
- The tanks saw their first combat deployment at Dieppe on 19 August 1942, when 60 Churchills rolled into German positions, of which 46 were unfortunately destroyed.
- Despite the heavy losses, the great durability of the armour was demonstrated as over 80 hits were counted on one of the undestroyed tanks.
- The Churchill tank also knocked out of the fight the only surviving working Tiger tank, No. 131, which is now housed in the Bovington Tank Museum by hitting it in the turret and blocking its rotation.
- Many units were provided to the Red Army as Allied aid.
Technical parameters:
- dimensions length 7,44 m, width 3,24 m, height 2,49 m
- weight 38 500 kg
- armour up to 120 mmpropulsion unit 12 cylinder Bedford Twin petrol engine with 261 kW
- number of gears 4 forward + 1 reverse
- maximum speed 25.7 km/h (road) to 13 km/h off-road
- fuel consumption 682 l / 100 km
- range 145 km including additional tanks
- wading distance 1.02 m
- main weapon 6-PDR MK III cannon 57 mm calibre
- 2 x 7.92 mm BESA MG machine gun
- crew 5 persons
Winston Churchill about the MK.IV tank
"Apparently, the soldiers named the new tank after me after realizing it would be useless,.
Assembly instructions