When the Mk VI was first produced in 1936, the
Imperial General Staff considered the tank to be superior to any light tank produced by other nations, and well suited to the dual roles of reconnaissance and colonial warfare. Like many of its predecessors, the Mark VI was used by the British Army to perform imperial policing duties in
British India and other colonies in the
British Empire, a role for which it and the other Vickers-Armstrongs light tanks were found to be well suited. When the British government began its rearmament process in 1937, the Mk VI was the only tank with which the
War Office was ready to proceed with manufacturing; the development of a medium tank for the Army had hit severe problems after the cancellation of the proposed
"Sixteen Tonner" medium tank in 1932 due to the costs involved, and cheaper models only existed as prototypes with a number of mechanical problems. The majority of the tanks in the
British Expeditionary Force when the Battle of France began in May 1940, were Mark VI variants. The seven
Royal Armoured Corps divisional cavalry regiments, the principal armoured formations of the BEF, were each equipped with 28 Mk VIs. The
1st Armoured Division, elements of which landed in France in April, was equipped with 257 tanks, of which a large number were Mk VIB and Mk VICs. The 3rd Royal Tank Regiment, which formed part of the division's 3rd Armoured Brigade, had 21 Mark VI light tanks at this time. The British Army lost 331 Mark VI light tanks in the Battle of France of 1940. Several of these vehicles were captured by the
Wehrmacht and redesignated as
Leichter Panzerkampfwagen Mk.VI B 735(e) (for Mk VIBs) and
Leichter Panzerkampfwagen Mk.VI C 736(e) (for Mk VICs). They were used for training purposes until the autumn of 1942. During 1941 several of these captured vehicles were converted to create self-propelled artillery and supporting vehicles for the 227th infantry division, the first self-propelled artillery in the
Wehrmacht. They carried a 10.5 cm or 15.0 cm field howitzer and were designated
G.Pz. Mk. VI (e). In September 1941 the division deployed to Army Group North in Russia and were used during the winter 1941–42 battles. The Mk VIB was also by the 7th Armoured Division against the Italians in the
North African campaign late in 1940. At this time, the British had 200 light tanks (presumably Mk VIBs) along with 75 cruiser tanks (A9, A10,
A13) and 45
Matilda IIs. An attack by the 3rd Hussars at
Buq Buq on 12 December 1940 resulted in its tanks getting bogged down in
salt pans and severely mauled. In ten minutes, 13 tanks were destroyed, ten officers and men killed – including the
CO – and 13 wounded. The
7th Armoured Division had 100 tanks left on 3 January 1941. This increased to 120 tanks by 21 January, when they were used in flanking far into the rear and gathering up scattered Italian troops, sometimes joining or leaving the main attacks to the cruiser and Matilda II tanks. During an
engagement at Mechili on 24 January, six Mk VIs were destroyed by newly arrived superior Italian
Fiat M13/40s for no loss, forcing a retreat until cruiser tanks arrived. The 2nd RTR continued to battle the Italians with light tanks as late as 6 February 1941. The Mk VIB made up a significant amount of the tanks sent to the
Battle of Greece in 1941, mostly with the
4th Hussars. Ten Mk VIB tanks fought with the
3rd The King's Own Hussars during the
Battle of Crete. The same armoured unit had previously embarked three MK VIB tanks for the
Norwegian Campaign, but they were lost in transit to a German aircraft attack. The tanks also saw limited service against the Japanese in the
Dutch East Indies. ==Gallery==