The Great Tank Crisis A summary from public office record document wo 165/39 1 May 1940 BEF in France 1st Armd recce bde - 94 light tanks 2nd Armd recce bde - 94 light tanks 1st Armd div - 143 light tanks, 172 cruisers 1st Army tank bde - 17 light tanks, 100 mk 1 and 2 Matildas 12th Lancers - 38 CS9 a/cars total - 38 a/cars, 348 light tanks, 172 cruisers, 100 infantry tanks MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA 7 armed div - 75 a/cars ,145 light tanks, 61 cruisers UK 2nd Armd div - 150 light tanks 20th Armd bde - 25 a/cars, 12 light tanks, 21/23/24/25 Armd bde - jointly 8 light tanks, 14 Matilda tanks ( these units were new ) 8 RTR - 7 light tanks, 39 Matilda II tanks 2nd Lothian and Border - 8 light tanks 2nd Fife and Forfar - 28 light tanks Total UK - 25 a/cars, 214 light tanks ,0 cruiser tanks, 53 Matilda tanks. In France we lost all the AFV's except 6 light tanks and 7 cruiser tanks recovered by 1st Armd div. 31 Dec 1940 As of 31st Dec 1940, Britain had the following ( can be broken down into units if you want it ); Middle east 55 a/cars, 328 light tanks, 236 cruiser tanks, 100 matilda tanks. ( note ; no Matildas reach North africa until 7th RTR lands 50 vehicles on 05/09/1940 ) Malta 1 Vickers light tank, 4 Matilda 2 UK 58 a/cars, 222 light tanks, 113 cruiser, 465 matilda, Back to Frontline Vol. 3 Iss. 1 Table of Contents Back to Frontline List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2002 by Rolf Hedges This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com