In February 1938, the War Office invited Vickers to develop a derivative of the Infantry Tank Mark II (Matilda II) or the A10 (later the Cruiser II).
Vickers naturally chose to develop the A10, whose design it owned.
Vickers judged the capacity of the A10 vehicle at 16 tons, which would limit the armour standard to 60 mm, thinner than the Matilda’s, and limit the turret crew to two. Vickers even suggested a Vickers 40 mm cannon in place of the Royal Ordnance 40 mm two-pounder gun, to allow an even smaller turret.
More than 8,200 Valentines or derivatives were produced, accounting for about one-quarter of all the tanks and derivatives produced in Britain during the Second World War.
The turreted tank was produced in eleven marks, with main armaments from 40 mm to 75 mm guns.
The Tank Museum’s Tank Infantry Mark III, Valentine Mark II – T16065
This vehicle was assembled by Vickers in October 1940 as part of the first batch of Valentines ordered. Judging by the tank number, it was Vickers’ 119th delivery.
It remained in Britain for training or experiments. This one was held by the School of Tank Technology for instructional purposes before transfer to the Tank Museum in 1949.
The Tank Museum’s Tank Infantry Mark III Valentine I Scissors Bridgelayer
Built as a Mark I Valentine in 1941, this vehicle was the first to be converted to a bridgelayer in early 1942.
It was used for training at the Experimental Bridging Estabilshment, then after a period at the School of Tank Technology, it came to The Tank Museum in 1949.
The Tank Museum’s S-P 17pdr, Archer
Archers replaced Valentine tanks, from which they were developed, on the production lines at Vickers from May 1944.
The Valentine tank turret was never produced with anything larger than a 75mm gun, while the Archer mounted the much longer 76mm seventeen-pounder in a limited traverse mounting overhanging the engine compartment.
665 vehicles and two pilots were produced before production was terminated after Japan’s surrender in August 1945.
Archers were issued to anti-tank battalions in Italy and north-west Europe from October 1944, and to the Egyptian Army after World War 2, and remained in British service until the mid-1950s.
This vehicle has serial number S280017 – and was the 421st of the 665 full-production vehicles, with a delivery date in early to middle 1945.
We do not know its service history, if any.
It was exposed to the elements for a while, both before arrival and at the Tank Museum ,and is painted to represent an Archer in the service of a Canadian unit in Italy in 1944.
Tank Infantry Mark III, Valentine IX
The Mark IX is differentiated from all previous marks by a 57 mm six-pounder gun, although the turret accommodated only two men, and could not mount a coaxial machine-gun or a 2-inch smoke projector, which had fitted to the offside of the main armament in all previous Valentines.
This vehicle was acquired after its markings had been removed, but we know it was made by Vickers because only Vickers welded all their Valentines IXs.
It has been restored with a tank number (T123358) assigned to one of the Vickers-assembled Valentine IXs.
It stood as a gate guard in Northern Ireland at the Long Kesh Army base, Maze Prison, and Lisanelly Camp.
The vehicle had been gutted and contained no automotive components. The gun is a dummy.
In the 1990s, it was acquired by Vickers Defence Systems in Newcastle, which restored it to running order, with the engine and gearbox from the Tank Museum’s Archer.
Vickers loaned the vehicle to the Museum before gifting it in March 2002 – and it has since been painted to represent a vehicle of 50th Royal Tank Regiment, 23rd Armoured Regiment, in Tunisia around March 1943.
