When Britain went to war in 1939, its tank crews were ill-equipped, under-trained and badly led. Compared with German and Soviet tank forces, the performance of British tank units during Worl War II was largely ineffective and the lives of hundreds of British tank crews were wasted unnecessarily. This was not due only to the poor design and construction of British tanks, but also to the lack of thought and planning on the part of successive pre-war governments and the War Office. At the end of World War I, Britain's tank forces were more advanced than any others in the world, and ideas were being developed for the provision and use of progressively more effective tank forces. Had progress been maintained, even on a modest scale, it would have been possible for Britain to have had tank forces comparable with those of Germany in 1936. This was not to be, however, and at no time until 1945, did Britain's armoured capability meet that of the Germans. This text reviews British tank development up to 1945 and attempts to identify the causes that led to those forces being so ill-prepared to fight during World War II. The author considers the main international events of the period 1919 to 1939 and the response of the British government to those events, particularly relating to the provision of the armed forces, the development of tank doctrine, tanks and tank guns, and the training provided at all levels of the tank forces. The resulting thesis is a warning to governments and military planners: a nation must always be prepared to defend itself and it should take all reasonable steps to ensure that those entrusted with its defence are properly prepared to do so.
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About the Author
Peter Beale witnessed first hand the tragedies described in his book while serving as an officer in the 9th Battalion Royal Tank Regiment. He saw action at the battle of Normandy and was part of the push into Germany in 1944-45.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good information in a confusingly edited book,
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This review is from: Death by Design: The Fate of British Tank Crews in the Second World War (Hardcover)
This book explores a little researched area of the Second World War: armored fighting vehicle design. The thesis in and of itself is nothing new to students of the conflict: namely that British tanks were inferior to their German opponents in armor (Quality and thickness), firepower (main tank weapon, and fire control) and reliability. What is new is the perspective from a crewman and his contemporaries. The narrative is a sad story of official indifference and political infighting that cost unnecessary lives during the fighting in the ETO. Unfortunately, these insights are somewhat clouded by a confusing and contradictory work. For example, the 75mm medium-velocity gun on the Sherman series is rightly derided for its lack of penetrating power; however, later it is lauded for its overall usefulness (due to the effective HE round it fired) without reservations. The reader is left to wonder, "did crews think the weapon was effective or didn't they"? The text is unclear on this point and often repeats its assertions although they are reworded. This doesn't normally bother me in larger books, but in a work of only 200+ pages it shows some inattentive editing. The author's opinions of the British leadership in the armored branch at this time, that very few understood armored warfare, are impassioned and validated by other research and make interesting reading. If you are a serious student of WW2 armored warfare you will find some value here. A general interest reader may wish to wait for another edition.
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