British Vickers VI B Light Tank
By Brian Bocchino

History:

Between World War I and World War II, the British designed 3 classes of tanks: Light, Infantry, and Cruiser.  The Light tanks were to be used for Reconnaissance; Infantry tanks would support the Infantry while being slow and heavily armored; Cruiser tanks were designed to be fast and used for mobile warfare.

When England launched its rearmament program in 1936, only the Vickers Mark VI series was available for mass-production.  By 1940, 1218 Mk VI series tanks were produced; of which, the Mk VI B was the most numerous, totaling 874 vehicles.  These vehicles were used to equip the Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) and the mechanized cavalry.  By 1941 most of the Mk VI series tanks still in service were B models.  These vehicles saw service in both France with the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and in North Africa.  This vehicle had a crew of 3 and by 1942 these vehicles were withdrawn and replaced with U.S. Stuart tanks as rapidly as possible.  The withdrawn vehicles were then converted into Anti-Aircraft vehicles that mounted either quadruple Besa 7.92mm machine guns or two Besa 15mm guns.

The Mk VI, VIA, and VIB all were armed with one .303 inch and .5 inch Vickers machineguns.  200 rounds of Armor Piercing ammunition was carried for the .5 inch and 2,500 rounds of ball ammunition for the .303 inch.  The vehicle was fitted with external smoke projectors on the turret, and a wireless transmitting-receiving set in the turret.  The turret could traverse by using a hand mechanism.  The vehicle had armor protection against .303 inch rounds.  They weighed 5.2 tons and had a maximum speed of 30 mph.  Only minor alterations were made between A and B models.  Most of these changes dealt with the cooling system and ventilation.  The C model differed in armament, ammunition, and in the cupola.  The armament was changed from the Vickers to the Besa 15mm and 7.92mm machineguns.  Ammunition storage consisted of 175 AP rounds for the 15mm and 2,700 rounds of ball ammunition for the 7.92mm.  The commander's cupola was replaced with a split hatch containing a periscope.  Initially the Vickers VI series of tanks carried Number 7 wireless sets, but were quickly replaced with Number 19 sets.  The No 19 allowed satisfactory communication for the first time between all crewmen. 

Use in Africa:  On 1 March 1941, the British reported the following number of light tanks in the Middle East: 36 Mk VI, 55 Mk VI A, 276 Mk VI B, and 1 Mk VI C.  Of the 368 total Mk VI tanks, 149 belonged to the 7th Armor Division and 169 to the 2nd Armor Division leaving 50 unaccounted for - possibly war reserve.  Trying to trace who had these tanks is difficult, but here is what I have found.  In the 7th Armor Division, the 7th Brigade had 7 VI B light tanks, B Squadron, 4th Brigade 1 VI C.  The 2nd Armor Division, 1st Brigade had 3 VI B, and 3rd and 4th Hussars had 52 VI B each.