The "Churchill" began life as a 1939 requirement that envisaged a return to trench-warfare, and was therefore slow and heavily armored like the Russian KV-1 series. That said, the final Churchill prototype was much lighter than had first been thought acceptable, although it still resembled a World War I tank in appearance. Rushed into production at a time when a cross-channel invasion seemed imminent, it suffered early reliability problems and was not fully introduced until 1943. Early combat experience during the ill-fated Dieppe raid in 1942 was disappointing, but the vehicle proved more mobile in the rough terrain of North Africa. The tank excelled in its specialized variants, which include the AVRE, Crocodile flamethrower tank, bridgelayer and more. In fact, it wasn't until the 1960s that the last Churchill was finally retired.

The second big redesign for the Churchill, the VII, used the 75mm gun, was wider and carried much more armour, 50 percent thicker at the front than a Tiger I, giving it the ability to withstand massive amounts of punishment. It is sometimes called the Heavy Churchill and was re-named "A42" in 1945. This version of the Churchill first saw service in the Battle of Normandy and equipped three Royal Armoured Corps regiments in western Europe, one in Italy and with 7th Royal Tank Regiment in Korea. The Mark VII was designed to be able to be converted into the Crocodile flame-throwing variant without major modification. Together with the Mark VIII, 1,600 Mk VII variants were produced.

Pictured here is a 1:43 scale replica of a British Churchill Mk. VII infantry tank that was attached to the 34th Armoured Brigade, 79th Armoured Division, then deployed to Grande-Bretagne, France, during 1944. Now in stock!

Dimensions:
Length: 7-inches
Width: 3-inches

Release Date: August 2022

Historical Account: "Briton" - The 34th Armoured Brigade was an armored brigade of the British Army that saw active service in World War II. It was formed in 1941 as the 34th Army Tank Brigade and subsequently re-designated as the 34th Tank Brigade in February 1945 and became part of the 79th Armoured Division. It was equipped with Churchill tanks and provided close support for assaults by the infantry. During the fighting in North-west Europe from July 1944 to May 1945 the brigade served with both the First Canadian Army and the British Second Army. The brigade was disbanded in early 1946.

The brigade was formed on December 1st, 1941, as one of ten independent Army Tank brigades to be equipped with Churchill tanks. In June 1942, the word "Army" was dropped from the brigade's title and it became part of the 1st Mixed Infantry Division. The 34th Tank Brigade was transferred to the 43rd Mixed Infantry Division in September 1942 and in September 1943 it returned to independent status (attached to XII Corps), when the concept of mixed divisions was abandoned.