Tankopedia
InterwarLightLight TankUnited Kingdom

Light Tank Mk VI

In service 1936 - 1942

Britain's standard light tank in 1940 - fast, cheap, reliable and hopelessly outgunned.

Built byVickers-Armstrongs

Light Tank Mk VI
Light Tank Mk VI, Bovington — Geni, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

Development history

Built for imperial policing rather than European war, the Mk VI was mechanically sound and pleasant to drive, with a two-man turret and machine-gun armament adequate against irregular opposition. In France in 1940 and in the Western Desert it met German armour and anti-tank guns and lost badly, though its speed made it useful for reconnaissance and screening in Greece, Crete and North Africa. Withdrawn from combat by 1942 in favour of the Stuart.

Variants

One canonical record, 3 recorded variants.

  1. Light Tank Mk VIA

    1936

    Revised return roller and cupola

  2. Light Tank Mk VIB

    1937

    Most numerous version, one-piece cupola

  3. Light Tank Mk VIC

    1939

    15 mm Besa replacing the Vickers guns, no cupola

Notable actions

  • Battle of France (1940)
  • Greece and Crete (1941)
  • Western Desert Campaign