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Desert Dolphin: 'Dolphin' In The Desert
Matilda from the Fourth Royal Tank Regiment Named "DOLPHIN" in the Desert
The Matilda was first used in combat by the 4th and 7th Royal Tank Regiments in France in 1940. Its 2-pounder gun was comparable to other tank guns in the 37 to 45 mm range. Due to the thickness of its armour, it was largely immune to the guns of the German tanks and anti-tank guns in France. In some desperation, the famous 88 mm anti-aircraft guns were pressed into the anti-tank role as the only effective counter.
In the early days of the war in North Africa, the Matilda again proved highly effective against Italian and German tanks, although vulnerable again to the larger caliber anti-tank guns. During Operation Compass, Matildas of the British 7th Armored Division wreaked havoc among the Italian forces equipped with L3 tankettes and M11/39 medium tanks. However, in the rapid maneuver warfare often practiced in the open desert, the tank's low speed and unreliable steering mechanism became major problems. Another problem was the lack of a high-explosive capability (the appropriate shell existed but was not issued). Ultimately, when the German "Africa Corps" (Afrika Korps) arrived in North Africa, the 88 mm anti-aircraft gun was again pressed into the anti-tank role against the Matilda. This, together with the rapid maneuver warfare, doomed the Matilda in this theatre of war.
The German army received new tanks with more powerful guns and the Matilda proved less and less effective. Due to the small size of its turret ring, it could not be up-gunned sufficiently. The tank was also somewhat expensive to produce. Vickers proposed an alternative, the Valentine tank, which had the same gun, a similar level of armour protection, but on a faster and cheaper chassis. With the arrival of the Valentine, American Lee/Grant and Sherman tanks, the Matilda was phased out by the British Army. By the time of the battle of El Alamein, few Matildas were still in service. This Matilda "DOLPHIN" is being examined by DAK personnel after a mechanical breakdown... many were put back into service and used against their original owners... 
Just before El Alamein the Matilda was removed from frontline service and 30 were converted into Matilda "Baron" Flail Mine Detonation AFV's.
Infantry Tank Mks I and II Matilda
A requirement for a British army 'Infantry' tank was first made in 1934 and the immediate result was the All Infantry Tank Mk I, later nicknamed Matilda I. This was a very simple and small tank with a two-man crew but with armor heavy enough to defeat any contemporary anti-tank gun. The small turret mounted a single 7.7-mm (0.303-in)Vickers machine-gun and the engine was a commercial Ford V-8 unit. Orders for 140 were issued in April1937, but when the type was tried in combat in France in 1940 it revealed many shortcomings: it was too slow and under armed for any form of armoured warfare, and the small numbers that remained in service after Dunkirk were used only for training. The Matilda I was intended only as an interim type before the A12 Infantry Tank Mk II became available. This project began in 1936 and the first examples were completed in 1938. The Mk II, known later as Matilda II, was a much larger vehicle than the Matilda I with a four-man crew and a turret mounting a 2-pdr (40-mm/1.575-in) gun and liberal belts of cast armor (varying from 20 to 78 mm/0.8 to 3.1 inches in thickness) capable of defeating all known anti-tank guns. The Matilda II was slow as it was intended for the direct support of infantry units, in which role speed was not essential, Overall it was a good-looking tank and it turned out to be far more reliable than many of its contemporaries. And despite the light gun carried it was found to be a good vehicle in combat. The Matilda IIA had a 7,92-mm (0.312-in) Besa machine-gun instead of the Vickers gun. The main combat period for the Matilda (the term Matilda II was dropped when the little Matilda I was withdrawn in 1940) was the early North African campaign, where the type's armour proved to be effective against any Italian or German anti-tank gun with the exception of the German '88' and later PAK 75.The Matilda was one of the armoured mainstays of the British forces until El Alamein, after which its place was taken by better armed and faster designs, but the importance of the Matilda did not diminish, for it then entered a long career as a special-purpose tank. One of the most important of the special purpose conversions was as a flail tank for mine-clearing. Starting with the Matilda Baron and then the standardized British purpose built "FLAIL" on the Matilda Scorpion, it was used extensively for this role, but Matildas were also used to push AMRA mine-clearing rollers. Another variant was the Matilda CDL (Canal Defence Light), which used a special turret with a powerful light source to create 'artificial moonlight', Matildas were also fitted with dozer blades as the Matilda Dozer for combat engineering, and many were fitted with various flame-throwing devices as the Matilda Frog, There were many other special and demolition devices used with the Matilda, not all of them under British auspices for the Matilda became an important Australian tank as well. In fact Matilda gun tanks were used extensively by the Australian army in New Guinea and elsewhere until the war ended in 1945, and they devised several flame-throwing equipments. The Germans also used several captured Matildas to mount various anti-tank weapons of their own. It is doubtful if a complete listing of all the many Matilda variants will ever be made, for numerous 'field modifications' and other unrecorded changes were made to the basic design. But the Matilda accommodated them all and many old soldiers still look back on this tank with affection for, despite its slow speed and light armament, it was reliable and steady, and above all it had good armor. Specification Matilda II: Crew: 4 Weight: 26926 kg (59,360 lb) Powerplant: two Leyland 6-cylinder petrol engines each developing 71 kW(95 bhp) or two AEC diesels each developing 65 kW (87 bhp) Dimensions: length5.613 m (18 ft 5 in); width 2.59 m (8 ft 6 in); height 2.51 m(8 ft 3 in) Performance: maximum speed 24km/h (15 mph); maximum cross country speed 12.9 km/h (8 mph); road range 257 km (160 miles); vertical obstacle 0.609 m (2 ft); fording 0.914 m
(3 ft); trench 2.133 m (7 ft)
Early campaign photo of lead Matilda II "DRAKE" T6837 marked with white 1 in Caunter Camouflage 
The Fourth RTR was badly mauled at Halfaya Pass 
Australian Matilda at Puckapunyal: Longer Service Life for the Matilda in Australia
Puckapunyal (37°00′S, 145°02′E) is an Australian Army base in north-central Victoria, Australia
Photo courtesy of Brian Voon Yee Yap The base was established during World War II and for many years was the largest Army Camp in Australia. The camp has reduced in size since the late 1960s when it housed the 2nd National Service Training Battalion and as many as 4000 personnel were training or based permanently in the camp. Today only 25% of the original National Service Barracks remain and have been recently restored and upgraded to provide emergency accommodation for up to 1000 people. Named for the area's Aboriginal name meaning "Valley of the Winds". Today Puckapunyal houses the Australian Army's Combined Arms Training Centre, Land Warfare Development Centre, and three of the five principal Combat Arms schools, including the School of Armour, the School of Artillery and Combat Command Wing. Additionally the Army School of Transport maintains it's driver training wings and the 'Bushmaster Infantry Mobility Vehicle' driver training programme is centered at Puckapunyal. The area also houses the Royal Australian Armoured Corps Memorial and Tank Museum, featuring exhibits on the Australian Light Horse of WWI, with a fine collection of WWII and Vietnam-era fighting vehicles and anti-tank weapons. Also displayed are more recent exhibits on Australian armour involved in peacekeeping in Somalia, Rwanda, East Timor and other conflicts. The Museum also features a number of collapse-of-communism-era Warsaw Pact vehicles. Puckapunyal also hosts the Australian Army Cadets (AAC) of the Victorian AAC Brigade. Some buildings in the Puckapunyal Area have now been heritage listed as 21st Construction's Compound.
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