Really? Why? Other than the "evidence" of the convoy speed? Ninety-seven of the 127 A.11 built were lost in France. Another two - at least, were sent to Egypt as training vehicles. So, at most, there were 28 left in England. And perhaps 300 A.12. Why would one squadron of 8 RTR be refitted with A.11 on its return from France after the A.11 had been relegated to training?
There were actually 140 built, including the prototype; two initial contract batches of 60, plus a third batch of 19 ordered in January 1940. Production didn't finish until July 1940, with the last A.11 not being delivered to units until August IIRC...
Prototype T1724 (CMM889) ordered January 1936
First Pattern T3433 to T3492 (HMH788 to HMH847) 60 tanks ordered April 1937
Second Pattern T5551 to T5610 (RMY905 to RMY964) 60 tanks ordered May 1938
and T8101 to T8119 (PMX458 to PMX476) 19 tanks ordered January 1939.
The awkward historiographical issue with this is that it's George Forty who's the source for the widely-disseminated comment regarding the A.11 being relegated to training after Dunkirk - but he's
also the source for 140 being built, not 127, based on Bovington's contract record cards
Apart from the fact that training units were combed out of
everything that moved on tracks in the summer of 1940,
albeit temporarily until new builds came off the lines...A.11s, Vickers "Dutchmen", "India" pattern Lights - especially for the period immediately after the last two weeks in August, when half the "modern" tanks in the UK were sent abroad...
...the issue of whether they were MkIs or MkIIs doesn't actually matter that much in this particular circumstance; not when they're
mandated, whatever they were, to 8mph...and their best anti-personnel weapon against their prospective enemy on S-Day, the FJ, was a single MG...
Indeed. Did I say otherwise?
It doesn't however say anything about the Anti-tank battery.
Again - did I say otherwise? My comments weren't about "C" Sqn Divisional Cavalry...
They were about -
P.S. - the issue of their particular vehicles is entirely relevant too; bit of a bummer once the cross country sweep starts if, as of September 1940, they weren't equiped with 4x4 vehicles...
...the M.G. Coy and "C" Coy 21 Battalion.
Well, don't you think the majority of that "vast amount of ammunition" the M.G. Coy would be carrying into battle in their vehicles would be for their machine guns?
Well clearly you didn't!
Actually - I did; that's why
*I* drew it to
*your* your attention.....in that it wouldn't necessarily be the "huge asset" (your words) to the
rest of the force that
you thought it would be...
Especially when the 2NZ....5 & 7 Bdes.....were
ALREADY "...
complete with all reserves of ammunition and three days' supplies"
Twenty years ago we had Johnny Cash, Bob Hope and Steve Jobs. Now we have no Cash, no Hope and no Jobs....
Lord, please keep Kevin Bacon alive...