Pat Ware tells the story of the 1420 Valentine infantry tanks that were produced by the Angus Workshops of the Canadian Pacific Railway between 1941 and 1943

Originally dating from 1938, the British Valentine infantry tank was a private venture by Vickers-Armstrongs and was designed largely by Leslie Little reusing as many components as possible from Sir John Carden’s A11 Matilda infantry tank.

The Valentine was the first British tank to carry a name – which, depending on the source consulted, was either derived from the company’s name and location (Vickers-Armstrongs Limited, Elswick, Newcastle-upon-Tyne); was chosen as a tribute to the late Sir John Carden whose middle name was Valentine; or, less likely but always a popular story, because it was offered to the War Office on St Valentine’s Day 1938... although, in fact, the meeting in question took place on 10 February not the 14th.

At first, the War Office was unhappy about the size of the two-man turret and Vickers was asked to produce a full-scale mock-up of the Valentine with increased armour and with a three-man turret mounting a two-pounder (40mm) gun. By the time the War Office was ready to review the mock-up, in April 1939, Vickers had completed the three-man turret but had not increased the level of armoured protection. When questioned, Vickers stated that the drawings could be completed by October 1939 with production starting in April 1940, and it seems that, reluctantly, the War Office was prepared to sign off the design without more changes.

The first contract, placed in April 1940, called for 100 tanks, but a month later this was increased to 300, with 50 to be produced by Vickers and 125 each by Metropolitan-Cammell and the Birmingham Carriage Company. By this time the demand for tanks to replace those abandoned following the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) from France and Belgium was so pressing that the need for any pilot model was waived and the first examples were delivered during May 1940 ready for trials. However, when the War Office expressed nervousness about the rate that Vickers would be able to produce the Valentine it was told that if the numbers proved insufficient then Vickers would ask its Canadian subsidiary, the Canadian-Vickers Company based in Montreal, to become involved.

For the full feature pick up the April issue of Classic Military Vehicle magazine.
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