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The Infantry Tank Mark II was a British infantry tank of the Second World War. It served from the start of the war to its end and became particularly associated with the North Africa Campaign. With its heavy Armour the Matilda II was an excellent infantry support tank, but with somewhat limited speed and armament.
While the Matilda possessed a degree of protection that was then unmatched in the North African theatre, the sheer weight of the Armour mounted on the vehicle contributed to a very low average speed of about 6 mph on desert terrain. The slow speed of the Matilda was further exacerbated by a troublesome suspension and a comparatively weak power unit, the latter of which was actually created using two bus engines linked to a single shaft. This arrangement was both complicated and time-consuming to maintain. It did however, provide some mechanical redundancy, since failure in one engine would not prevent the Matilda from traveling under its own power using the other. [Wikipedia]
| Weight | 25 tons |
| Length | 15' 11" |
| Width | 8' 6" |
| Height | 8' 3" |
| Crew | 4 |
| Armor | 3.07" max |
| Primary Gun | 2 pounder Rifled Cannon |
| Engine | 2 diesel, AEC 6 cylinder engines 2 x 93 hp |
| Speed | 16 mph (on road 9 mph (off road) |
| Range | 160 miles |