Inside the Great Tanks by Hans Halberstadt

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A full-strength company in 1944 had 17 tanks; A/37 lost 32 during the war - nearly 200 per cent attrition. The normal tank company included five officers; Whitehill was the fifteenth officer lost when he was wounded by a Panzerfaust; and in all Able Co. would loose 176 men against an authorized strength of 117. It was, in other words, a bloody business. "My first tank was destroyed when a German infantryman fired a Panzerfaust at us. It hit the turret broadside, and didn't penetrate the armor, but it sure shook us up; the noise was tremendous, sparks and smoke flew everywhere, and there was a smell that reminded me of brimstone.

The capture of Bardia on 5 January brought another 38,000 prisoners; that of Tobruk on the 22nd, 25,000, 208 guns and 87 tanks; and of Beda Fomm on 7 February, 20,000 men, 200 guns and 120 tanks (to no more than 3,000 Commonwealth troops engaged). The Matildas of 7th RTR were the key to many of these victories, and the tank was christened "Queen of the Battlefield". Although many were temporarily disabled by mine or gunfire damage to tracks and suspension, or shell splinters jamming the turret ring, there were no penetrations of the turret or hull (one Matilda crew counted no less than 38 shell scars on their armor), and personnel casualties were minimal.

The M16 served on for many years; this one bears the markings of the 2nd Infantry Division's 82nd Anti-Aircraft Auto Weapons Battalion during the Korean War, where the quad-50 tracks saw much ground fighting. (Left) The upper armor flap on the cab doors of the scout cars and halftracks folds outwards when not "tactical", showing the sliding plate over the vision port. (Above) Many late-production halftracks were fitted with a 10,000-poundcapacity winch in place of the sprung front roller much more useful for keeping vehicles moving under the actual conditions of Europe in winter.