The poor state of Allied tank technology was little short of a scandal

Tank technology was little short of a scandal. It left Allied tank crews disheartened and reluctant, a malaise which never affected the Germans.

A later generation of Allied tanks, including Shermajis and Churchills, began to overcome some - but not all - of the difficulties. Yet no design, no matter how superior, could compensate for the problems thrown up by the terrain the tanks were working in. Every theatre of war offered its pitfalls to tanks. In Europe the rain made the earth unacceptably boggy; in North Africa the desert dust clogged engines and sharp stones tore the tracks; in Asia, where there were few tanks, the humidity affected the engineering. In nine days of fighting in Germany in 1945 the 9th Royal Tank Regiment and the 147th Regiment suffered 85 tank casualties - and only 17 were due to enemy action. No less than 36 succumbed to mechanical problems while 32 got stuck in the mud. Nevertheless, while tanks did much to speed the progress of Germans into France, they also helped to chase those same invaders

Out of France. This time the innovators were the British. A series of modified tanks were used to breach the beaches at Normandy. Witnesses reported that some German soldiers threw down their guns and ran at the sight of this bizarre new breed.

Behind them was Major-General Sir Percival Hobart. Like bis brother-

A series of modified tanks were used to breach the beaches at Normandy

In-law Montgomery, Hobart was outspoken and did not suffer fools gladly. His forthright manner won him few friends at the War Office and by 1940 be was retired. It was only the personal intervention of Churchill which installed Hobart back in tbe fight against Hitler.

¦ HOBART’S FUNNIES ¦

Mindful that Allied troops would encounter all manner of defences during the landings, his priority was to install tough armour to protect the troops. Then he looked at ways of tackling an amphibious landing, crossing a minefield, blasting a well-fortified pill-box and travelling with heavy vehicles across boggy ground.

To get hefty tanks ashore from landing craft, he came up with the Duplex Drive, an amphibious tank with propellers and a canvas skirt to protect it from the water. When the tank made it to the shore, the canvas was lowered.

An adaptation of the Churchill tank helped to combat tbe threat of minefields. On the front he installed a large rotating drum hung with heavyweight chains, turned by power from tbe engines. This ‘Crab’ would