Military vehicles

In the Midlander's mini series and 'Stories from the Wars', a series of different military vehicles appear. These help in combat and showed the future of warfare

## Mk 1 tank

### Top speed (road)

3.7mph (6km/h)

The **British Mk I tank** is a model of tank that first appeared in World war One. These were the first tanks to be ever seen and are a symbol of WWI trench warfare.

#### History

The tank was deceived by Ernest Swinton who thought of a "bullet-proof, armoured vehicle, capable of destroying machine gun nests and crossing trenches." The introduction of the caterpillar (continuous) track allowed for the development of the tank to start, but the tracks dropped away from the vehicle and became a problem. At this time, they were commissioned by Winston Churchill as "landships".

When the prototype was unveiled to officials, they decided to replace the name "landship" with "tank", since it was easier to remember and was an easy way of making the Germans think it's a "water tank". They first saw action at the Battle of the Somme in 1916, which showed the British that they had the element of surprise, since the German soldiers mistook the tanks for monsters or the Land Ironclads created by H. G. Wells 12 years before. The British Army tank was upgraded a few times during WWI with the final one being the MkV tank, the last British "rhombus" tank model built during WWI. After WWI, some were decommission and scrapped or sold to museums.

## Churchill tank

### Barrel calibre

40mm (Mk I & II), 57mm (Mk III & IV), 75mm (MkVI & VII) and 95mm (MkV & VIII)

### Top speed (road)

15mph (24km/h)

The **Churchill Mk IV Infantry** is a model of tank used by the British and Commonwealth armies during WWII. It is one of the vehicles in the Moorland Steam Railway's military vehicle collection and is featured during the European Campaign marshes on the Wartime Weekend.

#### History

The Churchill was built as a response to the German heavy tanks being built to combat the Soviet Union, especially the Henschel Tiger I. The first Churchill went onto the battlefield in 1941 in Africa since the Nazis had already pushed the British out of mainland Europe. Despite of being a heavy tank, the Churchill was built to support infantry troops (hence it being called an "infantry tank") and its slow speed made it perfect in the sands of North Africa, along with the Matilda Mk II light tank.

After D-Day, the Churchill now had its chance to battle against the tanks they designed to fight against, on the grounds they were built for. this lead to them encountering other classes of German tank not seen in North Africa (Jadgpanzer "Hetzer" is one example).

#### Trivia

The model of Churchill preserved by the Moorland Steam Railway is a Mk VII variant. This version is fitted with a 75mm cannon which was modified from a standard British 6-pounder cannon.

* Mk VII-onwards can be told from the design of the doors on the sides. On Mk VI before, the door was square in shape while the Mk VII onwards have a round door.

The MSR's Churchill is an Airfix 1:72 scale model while the rest of the tanks seen are 1:76 scale Mk IIIs made by Oxford Diecast.

## M4 Sherman

### Barrel calibre

75mm, 76mm (M1A1, M1A1C, M1A2, 104mm howitzer M4

### Top speed (road)

22-30mph (35-48km/h)

The **Medium M4 Sherman tank** is a model of tank used by the Allied forces during WWII and the Korean War. This was developed the United States with many variants produced, making the most famous American tank of WWII. Two of these tanks are owned by the Moorland Steam Railway and are featured during the European Campaign marches on the Wartime Weekend.

#### History

The M4 was designed to be a development and a replacement of the M3 "Stuart" light tank, which first saw military service in 1941. The first M4 entered service in North Africa campaign.

#### Trivia

The name "Sherman" was never used by the US Army to reference this tank, who called it just the "M4 medium tank". The name "Sherman" was given to the tank model by the British Army and was named after General William Tecumseh Sherman, a Union general from the American Civil War.

A British version of the M4 was produced with a 17-pounder gun and thicker armour. This is known as a "Firefly". This is the only variant of the M4 that can match a Tiger I.

The M4 Shermans are built from a combination of Airfix, Revell and 3D-printed kits. Like most of the tanks, the Shermans are built to 1:72 scale instead of 1:76 scale.

* The 3D-printed models were done to 1:76 scale, which makes them look slightly smaller than the other Shermans.

## Tiger I

### Top speed (road)

28.2mph (45.4km/h)

The **Tiger I** is a model of German heavy tank from WWII. It is most famous Nazi tank used in WWII and is only German tank everyone knows about.

#### History

The Tiger I was developed because of the heavy tanks the Germans encountered during their invasion of the Soviet Union, which lead to their development against a prototype by Porsche.

#### Trivia

The one owned by the Moorland Steam Railway has the turret number 007, which is the Tiger I that tank ace Michael Wittmann was killed in.

* Before, it was going to be 212, the Tiger I seen in the Japanese anime 'Girls und Panzer' and is also another one of Wittmann's Tiger Is.

The Tiger Is seen during 'Stories from the Wars' are captured or destroyed, are made from Airfix kits.

Tiger Is are also referred to as "Panzer VIs".

Tiger 131 of the Tank Museum at Bovington is the only operational Tiger I in the whole world.

* This tank played the Tiger I seen in the war movie 'Fury' in 2014, which was destroyed the movie's namesake at "point blank" range in the rear.

## T-34

### Top speed (road)

33mph (53km/h)

The **T-34** is a model of tank used by the Soviet Union in WWII. This tank model is still active in some countries, despite of their age and technology.

#### History

The T-34 medium tank of the Soviet Union was built as a replacement for the ageing "between-the-wars" light and cruiser tanks, such as the BTs of the 1930s, and as a response to the German invasion of the USSR in 1941. These early T-34s (T-34/76) were armed with a 76mm cannon, which gave the tank a signature look from the front and sides, and gave them heavy armour penetration, since it was a relatively large gun for an Allied medium tank.

As the Germans developed more armoured vehicles such as the Panzer VI (Tiger I) and Tiger II heavy tanks, the Soviet Union responded with their heavy tanks and even gave the infamous T-34 a 85mm cannon, classifying them as the T-34/85, the most infamous version of the T-34. After WWII, both sides have used T-34s (some were captured by Germany) and the "Eastern Block" continued to produce the T-34/85 until 1958. The tank even battled against the new M26 Pershing heavy tanks developed by the United States and Centurion MBTs developed by the United Kingdom. The T-34 was retired from the Red Army in the 1960s but is still in use today by many armies in Asia including Vietnam and North Korea.

#### Trivia

Many of the T-34s shown in the series are T-34/85s produced by Airfix. Unlike many tanks made to 1:72 scale, the tanks are the same scale as the trains themselves, 1:76 scale.