Classic Military Vehicle – September 2019

reconnaissance is communication and for

this the tanks relied on a wireless set located

at the back of the turret and operated by the

gunner. Strangely, in contrast to most previous

Light Tanks, and what came after the turret

of the Light Mark V was not well suited to

accommodating a bulky old valve set such

as the No. 1 or No. 7 and it was a tight fi t. On

the other hand, the provision of the larger .50

Vickers machine-gun did at least give the tank a

very modest anti-armour capability.

Firing armour piercing rounds the gun was

said to be able to penetrate 11mm of armour

at 100yds and although this was not suffi cient

to disable a German light tank it was adequate

to deal with some of the smaller German

armoured cars although it was, of course

necessary for the tank to halt in order to fi re

accurately since the suspension caused it to

bounce around so much on the move that there

was little chance of actually hitting anything.

We come now to one of the most inexplicable

of developments in the British tank story; the

involvement of the tank design department at

Woolwich. The very fact that the government

and the war offi ce had such a department

under their direct control calls into question

the need for the War Offi ce to go off doing

business with a private fi rm like Vickers-

Armstrongs and one can only assume that they

were better at what they did.

As we have seen, most earlier efforts at AFV

production by Royal Ordnance had not been

particularly successful while Vickers had a long

history of getting it right. Certainly, there were

features, such as gun mountings and turrets

which were developed at Woolwich and which,

incidentally Vickers were forbidden to use on

any of their commercial designs. But, when

it came to producing whole tanks, Royal

only one or the other could be selected for
fi ring at any one time. Evidently when they
incorporated the third man the designers saw
to it that he had plenty to do. L3E1 went on to
become the prototype scissors bridge layer,
without its turret of course.
L3E2 had a different style of turret not so large
at the back but sloped and fi tted with a drum
shaped cupola with a hatch alongside on the
left for the gunner which gave him a chance to
stick his head out when required.
Naturally the new turret was larger, in order
to accommodate two men and as a result the
tank’s hull was wider to carry it. Otherwise the
hull layout was as one might expect and was
essentially the same on the production tanks.
The driver sat alongside the engine, a
Meadows type ESTE straight six rated at 84bhp,
driving through a fi ve-speed gearbox to a front
driving axle and drive sprockets.
In addition to the two prototypes 22
production tanks were built by Vickers-
Armstrongs to a contract dated February 1934
and entered regimental service, mostly with
newly mechanised cavalry regiments. Primarily
their role was reconnaissance, scouting ahead,
guarding the fl anks and if necessary, covering
the retreat of the main force.
Of course, the essence of good

L3E2, the second prototype Mark V outside

some sheds at Lulworth, the purpose of the

suspension modifi cation is not known

A section of 9th Lancers in their Light Tanks. Each

one has a spotlamp fi tted to the cupola and the guns

of the leading tanks on full elevation. The .50 calibre

Vickers is on the left as you look at it

The Boulton and

Paul anti-aircraft

turret fi tted to a

Light Mark V