12 October 1941. Archangelsk, CCCP.
The first PQ convoy had arrived the day before, and unloading was proceeding with as much haste as possible. The 193 crated Hurricanes were being lifted off the ships and hurriedly put on board flat cars, to be moved by train to Vaenga airfield. There, 151 Wing RAF were supervising their reassembly and flight testing before being handed over to Soviet pilots.
In another part of the port the arrival of the first twenty British tanks was being viewed with some interest by the Red Army officers overseeing the process. The Soviet Ambassador, with some help from his military attaché in London, had been keen to send a selection of the British tanks for testing for use in the climatic conditions of the Soviet Union.
There were four each of Valiant I, Valiant I*, Tetrarch Light Tank, A15 and Matilda II. The three types of Vickers tanks had had the usual preparation for a sea voyage, including the protection of tool boxes and the like that might otherwise be pilfered. Some thought had also been given to thinking about preparing tanks for winter conditions, though what might be expected for a British winter would prove inadequate for weather during a Russian winter. The A15 mark II and the Matilda II had been taken up from stocks already delivered to the Army and so were only prepared for the sea voyage in the usual manner.
A small team of instructors from Bovington, familiar with all five types, had sailed with the convoy, and Vickers had sent a few civilian workers along to help show the Soviets what the tanks were capable of. It was expected that the twenty tanks would be tested for at least two months. Along with the twenty tanks, the British had included their full investigations into the Panzer III and IV tanks they had captured and studied. They had also allowed the Russian Military Attaché to examine the tanks for himself, so he could confirm the British reports’ accuracy.
The protocol signed by Lord Beaverbrook and Averell Harriman had promised that the British would send 200 aircraft, 200 Bren Gun Carriers and 250 tanks to the Soviets every month. The fact that this was only the tip of the iceberg in terms of the other supplies that were promised.
The special Tanks for Russia Week that had taken place in September meant that the twelve factory fresh Vickers tanks were covered in messages of support and encouragement from the workers of Britain to the workers of the Soviet Union. The Ministry of Supply’s problem was how to increase production to fill this new commitment to the Red Army, while also equipping the growing numbers of British and Empire Armoured Divisions.
The War Office had hoped that many of the 250 tanks might be supplied through the Lend Lease agreement with the Americans. The full production of both M3 Light and Medium tanks meant that the British order would be fulfilled before too long, allowing follow on orders to be shipped to the Soviets. The problem they discovered was that the American ambassador in Moscow had reported that he wasn’t sure that the Soviets would be able to hold out against the Nazi onslaught. With the time it would take for the American tanks to be shipped to the Soviet Union, the Ambassador’s advice was not to waste the tanks on a lost cause. Until such times as this view was changed, Britain would have to supply the tanks themselves.
With production of the new 6-pdr gun still too low, the Valiant II & II* hadn’t been included. It had also been decided not to send any examples of the A22 until they were reliable enough. Production of the 2-pdr was struggling to cope with the numbers required for the Royal Artillery Anti-Tank Regiments and the increasing numbers of tanks. The War Office was hoping that the Soviets would want the Matilda II, this would allow them to ship those tanks currently issued to the Army Tank Brigades. These would then be replaced with Valiant II and eventually with Victors. Those with a more realistic mindset had a strong feeling that the Soviets would want Valiant Is, and Valiant IIs when available.
Sir John Carden had advised that among the civilians sent to Russia would be one familiar with the mountings of the guns in both the Valiant I and II turrets. Carden knew that the Soviets’ main tank gun was 76mm (3-inch). He was keen to know whether the 2-pdr gun could be replaced with the Soviet gun. More probably it would need to be the mark II turret that could accommodate it. If so, then the Soviets would likely prefer tanks to be sent designed for, but not equipped with, the 76mm gun. He was also keen on getting one or more of these guns shipped back so that he could make the necessary adaptations to the Mark II turret. He also presumed that since the Valiant I and II were powered by diesel engines, which as he understood it, was also the main fuel used by the Red Army tanks, that these would be the preferred choice.
From his own point of view, Carden thought that the plans to get the Victor into production was even more important. If Valiant production needed to be extended for the Soviets, having enough Victors for the British Army was even more crucial. He would need to see Lord Beaverbrook again about prioritising another tank factory. Previously the plan had been to replace much of the current Valiant production with Victors. If the Soviets were looking for about 250 Valiants per month, the previous month all the British factories had produced a total of 580 tanks. It was possible that there was still room for growth in production numbers, Lord Beaverbrook thought the current output could rise towards 700 by the end of the year. The protocol with the Soviets would take a significant chunk out of tank numbers. Carden also suspected that if the Soviets were happy with it, then they would likely be looking for more than 250 per month. The problems of shipping weren’t Carden’s problem, but it would certainly be a massive headache for somebody.