The Vickers Medium Mark II was a British medium tank built by

Vickers Vickers was a British engineering company that existed from 1828 until 1999. It was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by Edward Vickers and his father-in-law, and soon became famous for casting church bells. The company went public in 18 ...

during the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

of the

First First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

and

Second The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

World Wars. The Medium Mark II, derived from the

Vickers Medium Mark I The Vickers Medium Mark I was a British tank of the Inter-war period built by Vickers from 1924. Background After the First World War Britain disbanded most of its tank units leaving only five tank battalions equipped with the Mark V and the ...

, was developed to replace the last of the

Medium Mark C The Medium Mark C Hornet was a British medium tank developed during the First World War, but produced too late to see any fighting. Development In 1917 Sir William Tritton had developed the Medium Mark A Whippet without involving his former co- ...

s still in use. Production and rebuilding ran from 1925 until 1934. The tank was phased out of service from 1939, replaced by the

Cruiser Mk I The Tank, Cruiser, Mk I (A9) was a British cruiser tank of the interwar period. It was the first cruiser tank: a fast tank designed to bypass the main enemy lines and engage the enemy's lines of communication, as well as enemy tanks. The Cruis ...

. It featured several improvements over the Vickers Mark I: a higher superstructure with the driver's visor on top of it instead of in front of it; an improved suspension protected by armour skirts; and Rackham clutches, providing a primitive form of mechanical servo-control. Due to a slightly higher weight its rated speed of was slower than the of the Medium Mark I.

Design

The Mark II used the same chassis, suspension and transmission as the Medium Mark I but had a new superstructure. The Mark II was equipped with a 47 mm 3 pdr gun and four machine guns in the turret. The back of the turret had a slope so that the machine gun there could be used against aircraft. There were two Vickers machine guns, one in each side of the hull to the rear.

Operational history

The Vickers Medium Mark II and its predecessor the

replaced some of the Mark V heavy tanks. Both tanks equipped the

Royal Tank Regiment The Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) is the oldest tank unit in the world, being formed by the British Army in 1916 during the World War I, First World War. Today, it is an Armoured warfare, armoured regiment equipped with Challenger 2 main battle tanks ...

s until they were phased out starting in 1938. The tanks saw their first combat use when two were used against the Mohmands on the Northwest Frontier of British India during the

Mohmand campaign of 1935 The Second Mohmand campaign of 1935 was a British military campaign against the Mohmand tribes in the Northwest Frontier area of British India, now Pakistan. The campaign began in August 1935 where Tanks were used, their first operational use in I ...

. In November 1939, some Medium Mark IIs were sent to

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

for experiments being conducted by Major-General Sir

Percy Hobart Major-General Sir Percy Cleghorn Stanley Hobart, (14 June 1885 – 19 February 1957), also known as "Hobo", was a British military engineer noted for his command of the 79th Armoured Division during the Second World War. He was responsible for ...

and his Mobile Division (Egypt), but the Vickers Mediums in Egypt were also phased out before

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

declared war in June 1940. The Mediums were used for initial instruction in driver training. During the threat of German invasion of the summer of 1940, some of these outmoded vehicles were reactivated for a short time. No "mobile" Vickers Mediums faced the

Italian invasion of Egypt The Italian invasion of Egypt () was an offensive in the Second World War from Italian Libya, against British, Commonwealth and Free French in the neutral Kingdom of Egypt. The invasion by the Italian 10th Army () ended border skirmishing on th ...

in September 1940, but at least one was dug in as an armoured pillbox in the defences at

Mersa Matruh Mersa Matruh (), also transliterated as Marsa Matruh ( Standard Arabic ''Marsā Maṭrūḥ'', ), is a port in Egypt and the capital of Matrouh Governorate. It is located west of Alexandria and east of Sallum on the main highway from the Nile ...

at the time of the invasion.

Variants

*Mark II: the original version of which a hundred were built. *Mark II*: Fifty-six of the same vehicles with the Hotchkiss machine guns removed, a coaxial Vickers machine gun added and the commander's post shifted somewhat further back as in the original position he had been in a very real danger of being hit in the stomach by spent shells ejected by the main gun's breech block. *Mark IIA: Twenty vehicles newly built in 1930. The bevel was removed from the rear of the turret and an armoured electrical ventilator fan added on the left side. *Mark II**: in 1932 the remaining 44 Mark II's were brought to Mark II* standard; in addition a wireless set was fitted in an armoured container at the back of the turret. the weight rose to . *Mark IIA*: the twenty Mark IIA's brought to Mark II** standard. *Medium Mark II Tropical: in 1928 five tanks were shipped to Egypt. They were modified by fitting insulation against the heat, such as spaced

asbestos Asbestos ( ) is a group of naturally occurring, Toxicity, toxic, carcinogenic and fibrous silicate minerals. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous Crystal habit, crystals, each fibre (particulate with length su ...

plates on the upper surfaces. *Mark IIA CS: some Mark IIAs were later rebuilt as close support vehicles, their main armament replaced by a 15-pounder howitzer, mainly intended to give smoke cover, though some HE shells were also carried.Duncan, N.W., ''Mediums Marks I – III'' Each company headquarters was equipped with two of these vehicles. The weight was increased to 14 tons. *Mark D : the Vickers Mk. D was a one-off design built for the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State (6 December 192229 December 1937), also known by its Irish-language, Irish name ( , ), was a State (polity), state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-ye ...

and delivered in 1929. It had a more powerful, water cooled, rear mounted, 6-cylinder Sunbeam Amazon petrol engine, developing at 2100 rpm. A 6 pdr gun was fitted and as many as four Vickers .303 (7.7 mm) machine guns. The tank was scrapped in 1940. *Medium II Bridgecarrier: an experimental project to convert any Mark II optionally into a bridgecarrier by fitting the bridge girders to the vehicle together with a contraption to launch the bridge when finished. This proposal was not adopted. *Medium II Female: Under the command of Lieutenant J.T. Crocker in 1927 two tanks were built for the

Indian Government The Government of India (ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of 36 states and union territor ...

. The turret had no main gun but four Vickers machine guns. Although they were in fact Medium II's and always called that way, their official designation was Tank Light Mark IA Special (L) India. *Medium II Box Tank: This was a single command tank, converted from a Medium II in 1928, by removing the turret from the fighting compartment and fitting a large rectangular superstructure. Its only armament was a single machine gun in a ball mounting in the front of that armoured box. Two radio sets were fitted: a short range set for tactical communication and a long range one to contact higher levels. The Box tank was first used by a battalion commander and from 1931 by the Brigade Commander. *Medium Mark II* Special: in 1929 four vehicles were built for Australia with the coaxial machine gun to the left of the main gun and an additional Vickers machine gun in the right side of the turret. *Medium Mark II* Command Tank: in 1931 another command tank was created for the Tank Brigade by replacing the main armament by a dummy gun, fixing the turret in place and fitting an additional wireless set in the space thus gained. *English Workman: the nickname given by the Soviets to 15 (or 16) Vickers Medium Mk.IIs purchased in 1931. This variant had no cupola, less pronounced turret bevels, and cowled ventilation fans on the hull sides. About half a dozen were found without engines or guns by Finnish forces near in autumn 1941 during the

Continuation War The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet–Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union during World War II. It began with a Finnish declaration of war on 25 June 1941 and ended on 19 ...

. * Birch gun: three prototypes built between 1926 and 1929 of a self-propelled gun for the experiments then conducted in the field of mechanised warfare. The Mark I had the

Ordnance QF 18 pounder The Ordnance QF 18-pounder,British military traditionally denoted smaller ordnance by the weight of its standard projectile, in this case approximately or simply 18-pounder gun, was the standard British Empire field gun of the First World War ...

, The Mark II chassis was lengthened and fitted with a 75 mm gun on a mounting capable of high elevations.

Surviving vehicles

Flickr - davehighbury - Bovington Tank Museum 038

Three Vickers Medium Mark II tanks have survived: *E1949.330 is preserved at

The Tank Museum The Tank Museum (previously the Bovington Tank Museum) is a collection of armoured fighting vehicles at Bovington Camp in Dorset, South West England. It is about north of the village of Wool and west of the major port of Poole. The collectio ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. *U.S. Army Center for Military History Storage Facility, Anniston,

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

(USA). *Royal Australian Armoured Corps Tank Museum, Puckapunyal, Victoria

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Notes

References

* *

External links

The Vickers Medium Tank
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vickers Medium Mark Ii Medium Mark II Tanks of the United Kingdom Medium tanks of the United Kingdom Interwar tanks of the United Kingdom World War II tanks of the United Kingdom History of the tank Military vehicles introduced in the 1920s