Most underrated British WW2 Tank? @thetankmuseum

7:50 Love the idea of a German complaining that the British use of a Churchill just wasn't cricket.

Not only did the Soviets like the Valentine, according to Peter Samsonov's book on the Sherman in Red Army Service the Soviets used Valentines to meet their needs until enough Shermans arrived. The Soviets even paired Shermans and Valentines in the same unit, which shows how much they liked the Valentine, I think, since the Valentine is not exactly the equal of the Sherman in terms of speed.

The Valentine was the 'Hurricane' of the ground forces.

To understand why the Soviets liked the Valentine, one need only look at the aborted T-50 tank. A light infantry tank intended to replace the T-26, less than 100 were built before production was halted while the Soviets moved their tank factories to the Urals and then did not restart production, instead choosing to churn out T-34s. However, the Infantry support role still needed filling by something more modern and capable than the T-26 and that gap was filled with lend lease Valentines. The Valentine was slower than the T-50, but much better protected and was optimised towards the same role, being otherwise quite similar in terms of weight and firepower.

Nail in the Valentine coffin, it was not modelled by Airfix. That is the yardstick.

The Tank Museum David's are national treasures in the way HMS Victory is.

The Valentine was very effective especially in coordination with a box of chocolates.

The Valentine, just like for instance the P-40, was all-right, cheap, rugged and useful. Not the star of the show - but the right vehicle at the right moment.

My Uncle Ted recently restored a New Zealand Army Valentine tank to more or less working order for the Army Museum. I think it was one of the ones with the 3-inch howitzer, a local modification for the Pacifit War where we used them with some success alongside Stuart's. As to whether that one was used in combat or for training I don't know, we used them until 1960 I think, and he did do compulsory service as an engineer before a truck explosion cut his time short. Didn't stop him, did amazing work all over the world as an engineer though. He is one of those cool ones!

My Dad in 41 and 42 was a workshop foreman at Chillwell COD preparing tanks for Russia. He was an A vehicles man all his life. He ended up as head of scales branch after years at Woolwhich, Bordon, FVRDE always on mod and RandD. He told me his top five were: Valentine (dependable) Comet could go like one Sherman with the five bank Chrysler. Ease of field maintenance and the lovely tool kit that came with one. Centurion all marks. He went to Israel to chat to them about it and they really did put right a few things that were wrong with it. Keeping the ranging gun and so forth. Many Arab tank crews bailed out after hearing the knock of that! Chieftain for what could have been. If you ignore that awful engine. Which he cautioned against. Bottom five Crusader Covenanter Early Churchill Grant bolted armour and gun arrangement. tetrarch - clever but pointless. Could have been. Any Vickers export jobs. Indians loved them. I loved talking to him. Starting as an Apprentice in 1930 and ending up as a Principle Technical Officer he got there through merit. However, he made no friends back in the days when, as he said, between the 2 pounder and the firefly you had to take your hat off to those tank crews. In 44/45 he was attached up the sharp end to look at battle damage and so on.. So, I guess he should know. He took that with him to War Office and then Woolwich. So an all round career. The thing I remember most about him was his ability to explain technical matters simply and his drawing skills. Of course it all started as an apprentice when he was told to file a square round and then back to square. Nice guy. Love your work.

The Churchill and its variants - Crocodile! - remain one of my favourite tanks.

Thank you for the most interesting material. My grandfa rode a Valentine in 1942, Volkhov war theatre, Russia and loved the tank greatly. Later, since 1943 he served as coach for newly formed T-34 crews in Nizhny Novgorod, and after the war he used to say T-34 was the best tank of the war, nevertheless Valentine wasn't worse it.

Glad to see the Valentine getting some love. Also, I find a Matilda II tank named Greyhound to be .. optimistic. (Yes, I know the British units named tanks based on having the same first letter.)

The valentine was far from perfect ,but it was available. It was there,not still "on the way"

The Matilda II needs more love. It's the only British tank to see service throughout the war, with Australia still using them in 1945. In fact the Australians tested other tanks for jungle warfare, like the US M3 Lee/Grant and the M4 Sherman and they still preferred the Matilda.

i hope theres a few more of these interviews with david

Years ago I knew a Dutch lady who'd been a little girl at the end of WWII. She often talked about the day her village was liberated. What was the first British tank she saw as it rumbled passed her house? A Churchill.

Its always a joy to hear David Willey explain ups and downs of certain tanks

I'm a fan of the Churchill after hearing of some of its amazing ground crossing abilities and climbing, also hearing of the incredible frontal armour and the beatings some took and kept going, I read a report of a Churchill Crocodile causing a bunker full of German soldiers to surrender without needing to fire a shot, it was the slow determined and hard to stop advance of the Churchill while taking fire and never giving up that one soldier said was the embodiment of British determination. . . Also I heard the infantry loved them as they knew they wouldn't speed off and leave them behind unlike Shermans and Cromwells, you knew you had a mobile bunker to shelter behind for as long as you needed.

I love Churchill. To be it represents the British attitude, it's the British bull dog of tanks. Slow and steady, reliable and overcomes heavy obstacles and there at the victory line.