The Infantry tank, Mk III, Valentine was an
infantry tank produced in the United Kingdom during the World War II. More than 8,000 of the type were produced in eleven marks, plus various specialised variants, accounting for approximately a quarter of wartime British tank production. The many variants included riveted and welded construction, petrol and diesel engines and a progressive increase in armament. It was supplied in large numbers to the
USSR and built under licence in Canada. Developed by Vickers, it proved to be both strong and reliable.
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| Tank, Infantry, Mk III, Valentine Mk I - Kubinka Tank Museum |
For more about the Valentines, see here:
Valentines - Special Versions:
Valentine DD: Valentine Mk V, IX and Mk XI, made amphibious by the use of
Nicholas Straussler's "
Duplex Drive". Conversions by Metro-Cammell of 625 tanks delivered in 1943–1944. Used by crews training for the M4 Sherman DD tanks for the Normandy Landings as well as training in Italy and India. A few were used in Italy in 1945.
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| Valentines Mk V and IX Duplex Drive, in trials. |
Valentine OP / Command: Artillery Observation Post and Command Vehicle; extra radios, to give more space inside, the gun was removed and a dummy barrel fitted to the front of the turret. Used by battery commanders and observation post for Archers, Achilles or M10s tank destroyers units.
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| Valentine Mk XI OP serving in north-west Europe as the command tank for a battalionof M10 Tank Destroyers |
Valentine CDL: Continuation of
Canal Defence Light experiments; conventional turret replaced with one containing a searchlight. This is the version of this article...
Valentine Scorpion II: Mine flail; turretless vehicle with flail attachment never used operationally.
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| Valentine Scorpion, converted from a Valentine II (T18072), used by 79th Armoured Division, early - 1944. |
Valentine AMRA Mk Ib: Armoured
Mine Roller Attachment, a few used on the beaches of Normandy during D-day.
Valentine Snake: Mine exploder; using "Snake" Mine-clearing line charge equipment; a few used operationally.
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| Valentine Snake is the desert... |
Valentine Bridgelayer: armoured bridgelaying vehicle; a turretless Mk II fitted with 10 m long by 2.90 m wide Class 30 (capable of bearing 30 long tons) scissors bridge. Several dozen were produced, some of them supplied to the USSR. Used in action in Italy, Burma and North-west Europe.
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Valentine Bridgelayer -3rd Independent Bridge Building Company, Royal Armoured Corps,
picks up a scissors bridge after it was used to cross an estuary near Meiktila, Burma - 28 March 1945
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Valentine with 6-pounder anti-tank mounting: Experimental vehicle built by
Vickers-Armstrong to examine the possibility of producing a simple tank destroyer by mounting the 6-pounder in its field carriage on the hull in place of the turret. Trials only, 1942 not required since the Valentine could be fitted with a 6-pounder in a turret.
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| Valentine 6pdr. SPG in trials... |
Valentine flame-throwers: Two Valentine tanks were modified to carry flame-throwers and were tested by the Petroleum Warfare Department to determine which system was best for a tank-mounted flame projector. One used a projector pressurised by slow burning cordite charges (designed by the Ministry of Supply) and one designed by AEC with the PWD using a projector operated by compressed hydrogen gas.
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| Valentine flamethrower (cordite-operated equipment) |
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| Valentine flamethrower (gas-operated equipment). |
Both carried the flame-thrower fuel in a trailer and the flame projector was mounted on the hull front. Trials started in 1942 and showed that the gas-operated system was better. From this test installation was developed the Crocodile equipment for the Churchill and
Sherman V Crocodile flame-thrower used in the North West Europe campaign in 1944–45.
Valentine 9.75-inch flame mortar: Experimental vehicle with the turret replaced by fixed heavy mortar intended to fire 25 lb TNT incendiary shells to demolish concrete emplacements. Trials only by the Petroleum Warfare Dept, 1943–45. Effective range was 370 m (maximum range 1,800 m)). Few used in Normandy on D-day to help clear buildings.
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Flame mortar fitted to Valentine tank chassis, firing phosphorus bombs
during Petroleum Warfare Department trials
Barton Stacey, 20 April 1944. |
Burmark: Valentine
"Ark" design using Valentine hull for a light ramp tank to be used in Far East. The end of the war precluded further development.
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| Valentine Burmark; the Ark version in trials |
Gap Jumping Tank: Weird experiments with rockets late in the war to propel a Valentine tank across obstacles such as minefields , trenchs, dragoon-teeths, etc.
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| Valentine in take-off with rockets (artistical vision) |
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Valentine chassi equiped with 26 rockets, 13 each side in four containers...
Incredible, but true... And, of course, don´t work!! |
A similar system was fitted to Universal Bren Gun carrier but with fatal results. The Carrier kept landing upside down during trials.
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Universal carrier with 6 rockets ( 3 rockets each side)
Notice the covers or flaps on the bottom of the Universal Carrier meant to deflect/ shield the blast away
from the tracks to prevent them from being damaged from the heat.
Before and after the tests... |
Specs:
| Tank, Infantry, Valentine Mk II CDL |
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| Type | CDL tank |
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| Place of origin | United Kingdom |
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| Service history |
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| In service | 1942–45 |
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| Used by | British Army |
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| Wars | Second World War |
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| Production history |
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| Designer | Vickers-Armstrongs |
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| Designed | 1938 |
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| Manufacturer | Vickers-Armstrongs |
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| Produced | 1941 |
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| No. built | ? |
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| Specifications |
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| Weight | about 16 long tons (16–17 tonnes) |
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| Length | 5.41 m |
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| Width | 2.629 m |
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| Height | 2.238 m |
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| Crew | 2 (Commander, driver) |
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| Armour | 8–65 mm |
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Main
armament
| Arc Light Weapon - Carbon Arc Spotlight - 13.000.000 candles |
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Secondary
armament
| 7.92 mm BESA machine-gun with 3,150 rounds |
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| Engine | AEC A190 diesel 131–210 hp (97–157 kW) |
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| Power/weight | 12.4 hp (9.2 kW) / tonne |
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| Transmission | Meadows Type 22 (5 speed and reverse) |
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| Suspension | modified three-wheel Horstmann suspension "Slow Motion" |
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| Fuel capacity | 164 liters internal |
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Operational
range
| 140 km on roads |
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| Speed | 24 km/h on roads |
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Steering
system
| clutch and brake |
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The kit:
As usual, for these strange projects, I like to use simple and economical kits. and my treasure chest is full of this kind of kits. For Valentine CDL, I unearthed from my catacombs a very, very old kit (1995) manufactured by VM Co. Models, from Mother Russia:
Valentine IV Mk III British Infantry Tank (#359503).
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| VM Models box art |
This is the same molds for all these beauties:
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| Different versions of the same nightmare ... |
The kit is incredible... But, let's go. For the turret, I have some copies of my adventures with resin casting, when I corrected the Verlinden CDL turret for my
Matilda II CDL:
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| Panzerserra's Foundry |
As there are no photos and references about the Valentine Mk II CDL, I will place my elusive girl in the same
Unit of the Matilda Mk II CDL: 49th RTR - 35th TB.
After green color base, I used Archer decals for casting markings in the turret.
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| Archer decals with Future for casting markings... |
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| Ready for decals... |
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Valentine Mk II CDL - 49Th RTR - 35th TB
1st Squadron - 2nd troop |
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| Briton...with proud!! |
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| In good company!! |
And after the wheatering: Valentine Mk II Canal Defense Light (CDL); Tank, Infantry, Mk III - 49th Royal Tank Regiment - 35th Tank Brigade - 1st Squadron - 2nd troop - "BRITON" - England, 1942.
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Valentine Mk II Canal Defense Light (CDL); Tank, Infantry, Mk III
49th Royal Tank Regiment - 35th Tank Brigade - 1st Squadron - 2nd troop - "BRITON"
England, 1942. |
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Valentine Mk II Canal Defense Light (CDL) with Kojak and
Rover, the dog. |
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Valentine Mk II Canal Defense Light (CDL); Tank, Infantry, Mk III
49th Royal Tank Regiment - 35th Tank Brigade - 1st Squadron - 2nd troop - "BRITON"
England, 1942. |
Well, Tankers... This was another vehicle in my CDL tanks series. It was a pleasure to build one more piece in this historic puzzle. I hope you have enjoyed it too ...
See you, soon!!
Valentine Scorpion II: Mine flail; turretless vehicle with flail attachment never used operationally.
Thank you for an entertaining and informative read. I am making a series of models exploring the Valentine tanks. Next was to be the Indian Army driver training vehicle but I am now very interested in the huge mortar carrier. I had never see that one before.
ResponderExcluirHello, Bertie... good day! The Valentine CDLs are mentioned in old books, but I never really found a photo or drawing about this beast... But for that, let's use modelism! A big hug and success with your Valentines collection!!! lets modeling!!!
Excluir