14 February 1942. Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England.
allanpcameron
Donor
14 February 1942. Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England.
Some of the team had planned a surprise for Sir John Carden. St Valentine’s Day was a running joke among some of Sir John’s friends and colleagues, as Valentine was his middle name. There was a box of chocolates on his desk and a card. The card had been signed by Lieutenant-General Giffard le Q Martel on behalf of the Royal Armoured Corps.
While Martel had backed the Christie suspension because of his experience in Russia before the war, he had come round to Carden’s point of view about the need for a single type of tank. The speed of the cruiser tank had been proven to be less important than reliability, protection and firepower. The A13 and Crusader weren’t bad tanks compared to the early Panzers, but their inability to be upgraded was due more to the limitations of the engine and Nuffield’s designers. What Carden had done with the A9, A10 and A11, and especially with the Valiant, had made the men of the RAC confident and victorious.
The new Carden designed tank, the Victor, had been put its paces at the various testing facilities. As with every new machine there had been plenty of teething troubles. These had been identified, and back and forth the prototypes had gone to the factories to sort out lasting fixes. Each of the pre-production models had been incrementally improved, and handed over to training establishments to let crews and mechanics begin to get to grips with all the new systems.
The Meteor engines were still being developed from Merlin aero-engines that were no longer airworthy. The various factories that were preparing to move to Meteor production from scratch were getting close to production, running a few months later than hoped, but confident that once they were up and running, they could fulfil the orders placed on them. The problem, as was often the case, was getting the sub-contractor’s efficiency and quality control up to standard.
The Merritt-Brown triple differential tank transmission on both the Churchill and Victor was proving a good system, once again, after the teething troubles had been ironed out. Quality control was proving to be a bug-bear that needed more man hours to get right. For the army’s fitters and mechanics there was a lot to learn about how to maintain and fix the new systems, so training was a priority.
As planned, the first production Victor tanks were to be fitted with the 6-pdr gun, while Vickers and the Royal Ordnance Factories geared up to produce the 75mm HV gun. The conflict between the production of the 75mm HV tank gun and 17-pdr anti-tank gun had been eased by the agreement about using a common projectile although in a different cartridge. Since the Americans had more experience with the 75mm, boring machines had been ordered to add the limited numbers available within the Vickers company. This would allow an increase in numbers of barrels being produced, so that the Victor Mark II with the 75mm HV could be in full production before the end of 1942.
Towed 6-pdr anti-tank production was just beginning to get fully into its stride, some 18000 expected to be completed by the end of the year. 2-pdr production was planned to begin to wind down later in the year, but the needs of the expanding army meant that there were a lot of anti-tank regiments, especially in the Empire forces, that needed any kind of anti-tank weapon. 11000 2-pdrs had been built so far, at least another 10000 were on order, which would take about a year at the current level of production. The first production 17-pdrs were expected to be completed in April, with about 700 expected by the end of the year, with about 4000 expected in 1943.
The ladies working in the Vickers offices enjoyed the chocolates that Sir John passed onto them. As it was a Saturday, the office staff had an early finish. As they went off, some to their own romantic adventures, there was a general feeling of hope in the air. The fighting in North Africa had gone so well. Now both the Russians and Americans were in the war on Britain’s side, the fact that Japan had entered on the side of Germany and Italy didn’t seem so bad. The battles in Malaya suggested that, like North Africa, the British Empire would soon have the upper hand, the fortress of Singapore providing the security for Australia and India. The battle of the Atlantic was still going badly, but the Royal Navy, with Canadian and American help, would sort that out sooner or later. Tonight, the dance halls would be open, and the unmarried women (and some of the married) would be out in their best clothes enjoying the idea that one day soon the war would be over and the pursuit of love, marriage and family would be all they’d have to worry about.
Some of the team had planned a surprise for Sir John Carden. St Valentine’s Day was a running joke among some of Sir John’s friends and colleagues, as Valentine was his middle name. There was a box of chocolates on his desk and a card. The card had been signed by Lieutenant-General Giffard le Q Martel on behalf of the Royal Armoured Corps.
While Martel had backed the Christie suspension because of his experience in Russia before the war, he had come round to Carden’s point of view about the need for a single type of tank. The speed of the cruiser tank had been proven to be less important than reliability, protection and firepower. The A13 and Crusader weren’t bad tanks compared to the early Panzers, but their inability to be upgraded was due more to the limitations of the engine and Nuffield’s designers. What Carden had done with the A9, A10 and A11, and especially with the Valiant, had made the men of the RAC confident and victorious.
The new Carden designed tank, the Victor, had been put its paces at the various testing facilities. As with every new machine there had been plenty of teething troubles. These had been identified, and back and forth the prototypes had gone to the factories to sort out lasting fixes. Each of the pre-production models had been incrementally improved, and handed over to training establishments to let crews and mechanics begin to get to grips with all the new systems.
The Meteor engines were still being developed from Merlin aero-engines that were no longer airworthy. The various factories that were preparing to move to Meteor production from scratch were getting close to production, running a few months later than hoped, but confident that once they were up and running, they could fulfil the orders placed on them. The problem, as was often the case, was getting the sub-contractor’s efficiency and quality control up to standard.
The Merritt-Brown triple differential tank transmission on both the Churchill and Victor was proving a good system, once again, after the teething troubles had been ironed out. Quality control was proving to be a bug-bear that needed more man hours to get right. For the army’s fitters and mechanics there was a lot to learn about how to maintain and fix the new systems, so training was a priority.
As planned, the first production Victor tanks were to be fitted with the 6-pdr gun, while Vickers and the Royal Ordnance Factories geared up to produce the 75mm HV gun. The conflict between the production of the 75mm HV tank gun and 17-pdr anti-tank gun had been eased by the agreement about using a common projectile although in a different cartridge. Since the Americans had more experience with the 75mm, boring machines had been ordered to add the limited numbers available within the Vickers company. This would allow an increase in numbers of barrels being produced, so that the Victor Mark II with the 75mm HV could be in full production before the end of 1942.
Towed 6-pdr anti-tank production was just beginning to get fully into its stride, some 18000 expected to be completed by the end of the year. 2-pdr production was planned to begin to wind down later in the year, but the needs of the expanding army meant that there were a lot of anti-tank regiments, especially in the Empire forces, that needed any kind of anti-tank weapon. 11000 2-pdrs had been built so far, at least another 10000 were on order, which would take about a year at the current level of production. The first production 17-pdrs were expected to be completed in April, with about 700 expected by the end of the year, with about 4000 expected in 1943.
The ladies working in the Vickers offices enjoyed the chocolates that Sir John passed onto them. As it was a Saturday, the office staff had an early finish. As they went off, some to their own romantic adventures, there was a general feeling of hope in the air. The fighting in North Africa had gone so well. Now both the Russians and Americans were in the war on Britain’s side, the fact that Japan had entered on the side of Germany and Italy didn’t seem so bad. The battles in Malaya suggested that, like North Africa, the British Empire would soon have the upper hand, the fortress of Singapore providing the security for Australia and India. The battle of the Atlantic was still going badly, but the Royal Navy, with Canadian and American help, would sort that out sooner or later. Tonight, the dance halls would be open, and the unmarried women (and some of the married) would be out in their best clothes enjoying the idea that one day soon the war would be over and the pursuit of love, marriage and family would be all they’d have to worry about.
