- Churchill Mk II with crane
- Churchill Mk III tank and Bersaglieri in Tunisia 1943 2
- Churchill AVRE with fascine on tilt forward cradle
- Churchill ARV and Ram tank at Aborfield, 23 April 1943
- Churchill tank maintenance ,Normandy August 1944
- Churchills of the 11th Armoured Division 24 March 1945
- Churchill tank crossing a Bailey bridge, 1944
- A column of Churchill Crocodile tanks
- M19 Tank Transporter carrying a Churchill
- Churchill Mk I during trials
- A lend-lease Churchill IV #505 “For Soviet Ukraine” of the 48th Separate Guards Breakthrough Tank Regiment, Kursk July 1943
- Captured Churchill Mk III tank after Dieppe raid, 1942
- Churchill Mk III T32149 during field trials
- Churchill Mk II tank 1943
- Churchills NW Europe 1944
- Churchill Mk III support Biritsh Army infantry, Libya 1943
- British heavy infantry tanks Churchill Mk II
- Churchills of the 6th Guards Tank Brigade November 1944
- Churchill ARV Mk II
- Churchill Mk IV and VI tanks near Caen 1944
- Churchill Crocodile Mk IV flame throwing tank fires at enemy positions. British infantrymen move along the road to St. Joost, in the Sittard battle area in Holland
- Italian Bersaglieri and captured Churchill, Tunisia 1943
- The first prototype of the infantry tank A22 during trials 1940
- Churchill Mk VII during field trials, England 2
- Churchill Mk IV of North Irish Horse crossing the Senio River over two Churchill Ark, April 1945
- Churchill Mk I tank T30971 during field trials
- Churchills Mk VII 1944/45
- Knocked out Churchills Mk III Tunisia 1943
- Churchill Mk VII Crocodile in action 1944
- Churchill Mk VII Crocodile of 141st RAC in Höngen, Germany
- German soldiers taking cover behind Soviet Churchill, Eastern Front
- British Churchill Crocodile in Oberhausen-Sterkrade, Germany 31 March 1945
- Churchill ARV Mk II 2
- A lend-lease tank Churchill Mk IV #215, 1943
- Churchill Mk V CS during field trials
- Churchill Mk IV AVRE T68024/B
- Churchill Ark (Armoured Ramp Carrier) and Sherman 52 “Spiteful”
- Canadian Churchill Mk III named Betty Dieppe 1942
- Tank Churchill Mk VII 4
- Churchill Mk II during field trials 2
- Churchill Mk IV AVRE T-69124/C of 5th Assault Regiment, Royal Engineers, 79th Armoured Division
- Churchill Mk VII during field trials 3
- Tank Churchill Mk IV AVRE Germany 1945
- Churchill VI of 6th Guards Tank Brigade Holland 1945
- Churchills Mk III of the “Kingforce” North Africa 1942
- Canadian Churchills Mk II
- Gun Carrier, 3-inch, Mk I, Churchill (A22D)
- Churchill Mk II T68495
- Churchill Mk IV tank Normandy 1944
- Churchill Mk III
- Churchill Mk I T-30971 during field trials
- Churchill Mk IV England 1942
- Churchills ETO 2
- Churchill Mk II on heavy tank transporter M19. M20 Diamond T Model 980 truck and 12-wheel M9 trailer.
- Churchill Crocodile in action color photo
- Churchill AVRE 3
- Polish Churchills Mk II 1942/43
- Churchill crew use white bed sheets to help camouflage their tank
- Churchill Mk VII
- Canadian Churchill Mk III named Bert, Dieppe 1942
- Churchill AVRE with applique armour carrying a fascine
- Churchills Mk VII 1944
- Russian Churchill IV of 36th Guards Tank Regiment Prohorovka 1943
- Italian Bersaglieri and captured Churchill, Tunisia 1943 2
- U.S. 17th Airborne and British 6th Guards with Churchill tank named Thunderbolt in Munster
- Churchills NW Europe 1944 2
- Heavy tank Churchill Mk III Tunisia 20 May 1943
- 51st Royal Tank Regiment Universal Carrier and Churchill Mk III Tunisia 1943
- Churchill Ark – Armoured Ramp Carrier Italy October 1944
- Churchill Mk VII Crocodile tank and NZ soldier Senio River Italy April 1945
- Flame throwing tanks Churchill Crocodiles wait in Granarolo dell’Emilia Italy April 1945
- Churchill Tanks Tunisia 20 May 1943 2
- British 8th Army Churchill NA75 tanks in action Italy 1945
- Churchill Mk V tank and POW Goch Germany 22 February 1945
- Luftwaffe Officer next to the Churchill tank Dieppe
- Churchill tanks near Hanover Germany 1945
- Churchill Crocodile Flame Thrower tank in action in France 1944
- Churchill Mk II OKE no. 8 T68875 nicknamed Beetle Dieppe
- Churchill AVRE (Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers) in France
- Churchill Mk III Victory Parade In Tunis, Tunisia, 12 05 1943
- Close Up Petard 290 mm Mortar of Churchill AVRE tank named Fury 1944
- Churchill Tank 1944
- Captured British Churchill Mk III tank 2
- Churchill Tank Mk III T32203 1944
- Polish Churchill Mk II tank T31829
- Captured British Churchill Mk III tank
- Soviet Churchill Mk IV, tank coded 506
- Captured Churchill tank Mk II Dieppe 1942
- Churchill tank unloads from LCU England 1943
- Captured Churchill Mk II tank after Dieppe
- Churchill Mk VII named Calgary of 8th Army, Senio River Italy 1945
- Churchill tanks 1944
- Captured Churchill Mk II Dieppe 1942
- Destroyed Churchill Mk III T68560, named BERT in Dieppe 1942
- Churchill Mk VII tanks move over the snow Birgden Waldenrath Germany
- German Churchill Mk II tank 8
- German heavy infantry tank Churchill Mk III (ex “Blondie”)
- German Churchill tank of the Panzer-Kompanie 81
- German Churchill tank front view
- German Churchill tank 2
- Captured Soviet Churchill Mk IV tank of 36th Guards Heavy Tank Regiment, Kursk 1943
- Heavy infantry tank Churchill photo
- German Churchill is loaded onto a flatbed railway car
- German Churchill heavy tank photo
Churchill (A22) tank, Infantry, Mk IV (A22) was a heavy British infantry tank used in the Second World War, best known for its heavy armour.
The Churchill tank was based on the previous design labelled A20. The A20’s design, proposed in December 1939, was meant to be used in position warfare, typical for World War I. The A20 tank was then substantially modernized version of British World War I tanks. However, A20’s tests quickly shown that maneuver warfare requires a lighter construction. The work on the changed tactical and technical requirements, labelled A22, was taken over by the Vauxhall Motors company which designed the MK IV infantry tank, later named Churchill. The Vauxhall company developed a heavy armoured tank with large continuous tracks which gave it a World War I tank’s look. Unfortunately, initial versions of the Churchill tank were put into production in such a hurry that first copies had to be majorly modified before handing over to the soldiers. They were produced, though, in the period after defeat in France when British armoured forces were weak and the German invasion seemed very close. Those initial defects were eliminated in the subsequent models.
Churchill tank’s armament evolved from a 40 mm gun through a 57 mm gun (Churchill Mk II-IV) to a 75 mm gun in Mk VI-VII (A42) versions of the Churchill. There were also the CS (Close Support) variants with a 95 mm howitzer in the Churchill Mk V and Mk VIII tanks. The Churchill tank was additionally armed with a 76,2 mm howitzer placed in the hull. There were also made gradual enhancements, for instance, track covers were added and the engine cooling system was improved. Overall there were eleven versions of the Churchill tank from which the last three were a result of the upgrades of the previous models aimed at transforming them into the Mk VII standard with a 75 mm gun. Soldiers in combat were appreciating the very good armour of the tank: 102 mm in the Mk I-VI versions and 152 mm in the Mk VI-VIII versions. Those tanks were used in combat for the first time during the unsuccesful landing at Dieppe in 1942 where many of them were unable to cross the stony beach. However, in Tunisia the tanks proved their fantastic capability to overcome terrain obstacles and to give an excellent support to panzer and infantry units. Low maximum speed was a considerable drawback.
The Churchill tank, though, achieved the biggest success as the tank for special tasks. Many of its specialist versions became important, commonly used vehicles, e.g., the engineer Churchill AVRE (Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers), the Churchill Crocodile with a flamethrower and the various Churchill Bridgelayer or the Churchill Ark ramp carriers. Apart from them there were the Churchill tank mine-clearing variants from the Churchill Plough to the Churchill Snake with a Bangalore torpedoes. The Churchill tank was susceptible to different modifications and capable to carry a wide range of odd devices such as charges to destroy fortifications (the Churchill Light Carrot, the Churchill Onion and the Churchill Goat), mine rollers (the Churchill AVRE/CRID), devices to make a passage through boggy grounds (the Churchill AVRE Carpetlayer), repair and evacuation tanks (the Churchill ARV), etc. The Churchill tanks look was somewhat archaic, but they proved well in a combat and the last Churchill (AVRE) was withdrawn from service only in 1965.