Quote:
Originally Posted by Weisenwolf
The Churchills used by the 8th Army in North Africa and The Italian campaign with US 75mm guns were actually 6pdr models as built with US guns fitted 'in the field' from wrecked Shermans (complete with mount as I recall!). If memory serves there were about 120 of them so converted. So again as with the Firefly is this really a British Tank?
The British built 75mm Churchills did not arrive in numbers until the Normandy campaign (even then they were in short supply and battalions had a mix of these and 6pdr's) and although they were popular from a certain perspective since unlike everything else they could resist hits to the front from some German weapons and the specialist armour was useful they could still not take on the Panthers and Tigers plagueing the commonwealth forces in particular so I can't see 'Best British Tank' being a worthy title.
How about Matilda II in 1940 ?
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The Churchill with the 75mm QF was the Churchill VII, the Churchill with the Sherman front turret (not just the gun) was the Churchill NA (North Africa). They were converted Churchill IVs. Btw, the 6pdr QF on the Churchill III and IV was a better anti-tank gun than the 75mm, but the HE round of the 75mm was slightly better, and the ammo more plentiful, so they wanted to take advantage of that.
I'd agree with the Matilda II, it was probably the best tank in the world in 1940.