Cruiser MkII A10
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The A10 was designed in 1934 by Sir John Carden with the intention of creating an infantry version of the A9 by increasing the armour protection to up to 30mm. The increase in protection was achieved by bolting extra armour plate to the exterior of the hull and turret. Despite this extra protection it was eventually found inadequate to fulfil a infantry role and so the A9 became classed as a ‘Heavy Cruiser’. The original prototype for the A10 had a well sloped hull with no auxiliary machine guns. This however was not thought acceptable and a 7.92mm air cooled Besa machine gun was included into the hull presenting a much more vertical front face. Curiously the turret machine gun mounted co-axially with the main 2 pounder armament was still a Vickers machine gun. It is believed that in practice the hull machine gun would be omitted due to confusions caused by the differing ammunition supply. This Situation was resolved with the A10 Cruiser MkIIA which carried Besas in both mounts. The A10 like the A9 was made available as a close support version (Cruiser MkIIA CS) mounting a 3.7 inch howitzer. It is this version of the A10 that is shown in the associated photo study. Thirty one A10s saw service in France as part of the British Expeditionary Force however it’s performance was subsequently described in a War Office report as "underpowered, gave bad cross country performance and was very slow". These observations are perhaps not surprising when one consider s that the A10 was powered by the same engine as the lighter A9. Despite this dubious start to active service the A10 performed well in North Africa playing an important part in the defence of Tobruk in April 1941. Indeed both A9 and A10 were praised for their reliable engines, simple transmission with the tracks and suspension performing well in desert conditions. A total of 175 A10s were built, 30 were close-support versions fitted with the 3.7-inch howitzer. |
© 1998 Chris
Shillito