re: #29 Romantic Heretic

Many of the Brit and French tanks were better than the German ones as well. Thicker armor and better guns.

Their ergonomics sucked though. Many French tanks had a single crewman in the turret. So he had to command the tank as well as lay and fire the gun. If he was a unit commander he had to command his unit as well. Also, no radios. Communication between tanks was performed by going outside and waving flags. Not recommended in a battle.

The heaviest British tank could only move at a brisk walking speed and had no explosive ammo for its main gun. No machine guns either as I recall.

Most importantly, the people in command of the French and British forces still thought in terms of WWI speed. They just couldn’t think or react fast enough to respond.

The German Panzer doctrine worked well in France. But in Russia there was too much space for it to be successful.

My opinion anyway.

Actually, the Matilda Mk. II had a co-axial MG. Of note is that it was a BESA, which fired the standard German 7.92mm cartridge. The British did that to avoid redesigning the gun (it was a Czech design).