VICKERS 6 TON AND T-26E TANKS

(Vickers Mk E Alt B)

PICTURE: Vickers 6-ton tank equipped as during Winter War. The white and blue stripes on turret were Finnish nationality marking used during Winter War. However the 6-ton tanks that took part in battles, were painted white with whitewash to give them winter camouflage. Notice 37 Psv.K/36 main gun. (Photo taken in Panssarimuseo). CLICK THUMBNAIL TO SEE LARGER PIC (181 KB).

This light tank was a private development (developed without any existing order from any Armed Forces) developed by design team lead by John Garden and Vivian Loyd for Vickers Armstrong Ltd, which was one of the most successful manufacturers of armoured vehicles in between 1^st and 2^nd World Wars. The tank model was known both as Mark E and 6-ton tank. While the name 6-ton tank refers to its weight in metric tons, it is slightly misleading, since most versions seem to have weight fully equipped about 7 - 9 tons. One might note that while the particular light tank design failed to be spectacular in any way, it was a simple, affordable and mechanically quite reliable light tank design, which many countries acquired from Vickers Armstrong Ltd in 1930’s. Even if the first prototype was introduced already in year 1928, to its benefit the design was still quite up to date even around 1939 - 1940, but admittedly became outdated soon after that due to very rapid tank development during World War 2. The first production version known as Alt A (Alternative A) had two small turrets, each of which contained air-cooled Vickers medium machinegun in .303 British (7.71 mm x 56R) calibre. The second production version was Alt B (Alternative B), which had single larger conical turret equipped with 47-mm low-velocity tank gun and coaxial machinegun in .303 British (7.71 x 56R) calibre. In addition to these two basic versions, also towing tractor (Vickers Medium Tractor) and anti-aircraft versions (without turret, 2-pound Vickers pom-pom automatic cannon on open compartment on front part of the hull) existed and were manufactured in 1930's.

This tank design had little success in domestic British market. British Army lost interest towards 6-ton tank after testing one early on and bought only dozen Vickers Medium Tractor (Dragon, Medium Mk. IV) as towing vehicles, but Vickers succeeding finding plenty of export customers for this tank model to become a commercial success. The total number of Vickers 6-ton tanks manufactured for export reached almost 200 vehicles of this family, from which apparently 143 were Alt A and Alt B tanks. The manufacturing of Vickers Mark E tanks started year 1929 and ended in year 1939.

Export orders of Vickers Type E tank, Vickers Medium Tractor and Vickers Anti-aircraft tank based to Type E:

Later during early World War 2 British government seized some of the 6-ton tanks, which had not yet been delivered to export customers and British Army used the seized tanks as training vehicles. The seized tanks included at least some of the tanks ordered by Siam (modern day Thailand) and possibly few of the tanks ordered by Finland. Besides the export deals, Vickers also made contracts about production licenses with Poland (T7P tanks) and Soviet Union (T-26 tanks). In addition 6-ton tank directly influenced tank development in many countries, which included Bulgaria, Japan and Italy.

PICTURE: Photograph showing three Finnish Army tanks during their visit to Keski-Suomi (Infantry) Regiment in winter of 1935. From left to right the tanks are Renault FT 17, Vickers-Carden-Lloyd amphibious tank model 1931 and Vickers 6-ton tank Alt B. Photographer unknown. Photo source The Finnish Forest Museum Lusto (Lusto - Suomen Metsämuseo) , acquired via finna.fi and used with CC BY 4.0 Creative Commons license. CLICK THUMBNAIL TO SEE LARGER PIC (80 KB).

Finland ordered three tanks representing three different alternative tank models for testing from Vickers Armstrong in 6^th of July 1933. The largest of these three tanks was Vickers 6-ton Tank Alt B number 546. All three tanks were delivered to Finland 2^nd of October 1933 and were thoroughly tested by Finnish Army. The 6-ton tank did very well when tested against various antitank-obstacles, showed good performance in deep snow and against obstacles created from snow. The test results proved it to be obviously the most suited for Finnish use of the three tested Vickers designs. But while Vickers 6-ton Alt B was a good tank, its armament was not fitting to Finnish wishes. The short-barrel 47-mm tank gun, which Vickers was offering with Mark E tanks, was reasonably effective against soft targets, but due to low muzzle velocity quite a poor weapon against other armoured vehicles or bunkers. For this reason the 47-mm tank gun was obviously unsatisfactory, especially so since the 37-mm Puteaux SA-18 (37 Psv.K/18) tank guns of Renault FT 17 tanks already in Finnish inventory had the exactly the same problem. Also other part of the Vickers-offered original armament (machinegun) was less than ideal for Finnish military due to its calibre - which would have been non-standard, as far as Finnish Army was concerned. Otherwise 6-ton tank represented a considerable improvement over old Renault FT 17, which makes an obvious point of comparison. Power to weight ratio (about 13 hp per ton) of Vickers was not too great, but still considerable improvement over the old Renault FT 17 tanks and maximum speed (likely the biggest handicap of FT 17) was a huge improvement. The suspension was rather simple design with double bogies and leaf springs, which worked relatively well for tank of its size. Air-cooled 90-horsepower Armstrong-Siddeley gasoline engine was fairly reliable, but bit under-powered even for tank this light and had cooling problems. But with petrol tank of 182 liters also it provided much better operational range than what Renault had offered. Average fuel consumption was about 20 liters per hour. Armour-protection-wise the two designs were about equal. Due to larger turret 6-ton tank could carry more powerful armament and thanks to crew of four the tank-commander was not quite so over-burdened with tasks other than commanding the tank.

PICTURE: Side profile of Vickers 6 ton tank equipped as they were used in Winter War. Notice slightly conical turret design. As mentined the tank has been painted with Winter War era Finnish nationality markings. There is a BMP-1 parked behind this tank with its gun stick out. (Photo taken in Panssarimuseo). CLICK THUMBNAIL TO SEE LARGER PIC (160 KB).

Finland ordered the 32 Vickers 6 ton tanks Type E Alt B 20^th of July 1936. The number of tanks (32) was similar to original Finnish order of Renault FT 17 tanks and just enough for equipping a small tank battalion, which had two companies of 15 tanks plus 2 additional tanks in Battalion HQ. The price was agreed as 4,500 £ / 1.1-million Finnish Marks per tank. To save money the tanks were ordered without armaments, optics, radio equipment, turret rotation mechanisms, tools and some even without driver’s seats. The basic idea was to equip the tanks after their arrival in Finland. The armaments needed were to be manufactured locally by Finnish factories. While the reason behind buying the tanks in such an incomplete condition was financial (saving money), when it comes to the tank main gun, this may have been only one of the causes. As mentioned the guns that Vickers readily offered for this tank were less than ideal for Finnish Army and if 37-mm tank gun chosen for this tank could have been acquired quickly from any other source is quite uncertain. The planned manufacturer VTT (Valtion Tykkitehdas / State Artillery Factory) had not yet even started its production and two other existing manufacturers (Bofors in Sweden and SMPzA in Poland) might have not been able to provide the 37-mm tank gun fast enough either. The tank gun chosen by Finnish Army for this tank was tank-gun version of 37-mm Bofors antitank-gun, which State Artillery Factory was also about start producing. Finland acquired manufacturing licenses for Bofors gun designs in year 1937 and this included also the manufacturing license for the 37-mm antitank- and tank-guns. Finnish military knew the tank-gun as 37 Psv.K/36 (37-mm tank-gun model 1936). The chosen coaxial machinegun was a Finnish design - 7.62-mm (tank) machinegun M/09-31, which was belt-fed air-cooled 7.62 mm x 54R calibre Maxim-machinegun earlier refined by Aimo Lahti for anti-aircraft use. It was similar to M/09-31 machinegun also used in Renault FT 17 tanks of Finnish Army starting year 1937, but due to its coaxial status on left side of the main gun, had ammunition feed, which fed ammution to the gun from the left. In addition to these Finnish Army decided to equip the tanks also with a hull gun and in rather unusual manner instead of machinegun chose a submachinegun for the role. The hull submachine gun of Finnish Vickers 6-Ton tank was tank-version of 9-mm Suomi M/31 submachinegun, which had been designed especially for Vickers 6-ton tanks and was originally issued with this tank model only.

One could say that the 32 Vickers 6-ton tanks that Finland ordered represent unique interesting mix of features usually found in Vickers Alt B, Mark F prototype and possibly also Polish 7TP tanks. Belgium had ordered from Vickers Armstrong Ltd a prototype known as Mk F, which had been equipped with Rolls Royce engine. In earlier Vickers Type E Alt B tanks turret on left side of the hull. But in this version the turret was moved to right side of hull, which brought it on the same side in hull as the driver. To give the driver the necessary room Vickers modified the hull making it slightly longer. The 32 Vickers 6-ton tanks delivered to Finland had hull resembling Mark F hull - slightly longer hull with turret on right side of the hull, but were equipped with Armstrong-Siddeley engine. Also the armour protection in various parts of the hull does not seem to be exactly similar to that used in earlier Mark E tanks. As noted also armaments chosen for the tank differed from those used by other countries. Finnish-chosen main gun was 37-mm high-velocity Bofors design - basically tank-gun version of the 37 PstK/36 antitank-gun also chosen as standard issue antitank-gun for Finnish Army. Only other country to use this 37-mm tank-gun design with Vickers 6 ton tank was Poland with its 7TP tank. Other weapons that Finland used to equip its Vickers 6 ton tanks were even more unique as tank armament. Turret has been claimed to have been Bofors design, but more likely it may have been simply earlier Vickers turret design for Type E Alt B equipped with a turret rear bustle.

PICTURE: Vickers 6-ton tank photographed during war games of summer 1939. This phograph shows the coaxial M/09-31 (tank) machinegun and temporarily installed blank-firing 37 Psv.K/18 (37-mm Puteaux) tank gun loaned from old Renault FT-17. The tank does not yet have nationality markings, but the side that it plays in war games has been marked with coloured cloth around turret. (SA-kuva photo archive, photo number 147). CLICK THUMBNAIL TO SEE LARGER PIC (155 KB).

When the order of 32 tanks was made to Vickers Armstrong in July of 1936 the delivery dates were agreed as:

• 20^th of July 1937: 11 tanks
• 1^st of April 1938: 10 tanks
• 1^st of January 1939: 11 tanks

However as it turned out, Vickers Armstrong failed to meet this delivery schedule. The first tanks were not delivered until July of 1938 - a whole year later as originally agreed. Half of the tanks (16 vehicles) were delivered in year 1938, 10 before Winter War in year 1939 and apparently the last 6 tanks only during and after Winter War. As if this had not been enough equipping the tanks proved at least as challenging. While order about establishing it had been issued in year 1936 VTT (Valtion Tykkitehdas / State Artillery Factory) was not officially opened until February of 1939. Among its first orders was a order of 33 tank guns 37 Psv.K/36 needed for equipping Vickers 6 ton tanks, but starting of the production took its time, so by the time Winter War started in 30^th of November 1939, none of the tank guns had yet been manufactured. Coaxial M/09-31 (tank) machineguns and Suomi M/31 tank submachineguns were likely available in time, since they had been in production already well before the war. Radios, which had not been acquired before the war, did not become available later either - so during Winter War Finnish 6-ton tanks lacked radio equipment. German gun sights (Zeiss TZF) had been ordered before Winter War, but due to Soviet-German Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact Germany refused to deliver them. Due to not having suitable armaments available, those Vickers 6 ton tanks that took part in Finnish Army war games in summer of 1939 were temporarily equipped with only M/09-31 machinegun and/or 37-mm Puteaux SA-18 (37 Psv.K/18) tank gun. The 37-mm Puteaux guns used in them during those war games had been loaned from Renault FT 17 tanks and attached to their turrets in somewhat improvised manner, due to which the 37-mm Puteaux SA-18 guns installed to Vickers 6 ton tanks were only suitable for firing blank ammunition.

PICTURE: Finnish Army Vickers 6 ton tanks photographed during war games of summer 1939. At least the tank closest to camera has similar temporary armament arrangement as in the previous photograph. Colored cloth tied around turret and pieces of similarly colored cloth attached to tank crew's hats indicate on which side they belong in the war games. Photographer unknown. (SA-kuva photo archive, photo number 157). CLICK THUMBNAIL TO SEE LARGER PIC (129 KB).

So, when Finnish – Soviet Winter War started in 30^th of November 1939, only 26 of the ordered 32 Vickers 6-ton tanks had arrived and none of them was combat-ready. VTT (Valtion Tykkitehdas / State Artillery Factory) received orders not only manufacture the 37 Psv.K/36 main guns, but also equip the tanks with other weapons, tools, seats and other missing items to get them combat-ready as soon as possible. But this proved slow, since these guns had not yet been manufactured and much of the equipment needed to be both designed and fabricated. According original plan, all of these tank guns should have been completed by 1^st of October 1939, but by end of December 1939 VTT succeeded manufacturing only ten of the guns. While VTT ultimately manufactured all 33 tank guns, it seems uncertain if all of the guns were even ever installed to tanks, for which they had been intended, before decision was made to re-equip Vickers 6-ton tanks with captured 45-mm Soviet tank guns. Since the 37-mm Bofors tank guns were not needed in tanks later during Continuation War remaining 37 Psv.K/36 tank guns were used to equip Finnish-modified captured BT-2 tank turrets, which were installed to Salpa fortification line in year 1944.

Deliveries of equipped Vickers 6-ton tanks from VTT to Tank Battalion by end of Winter War:

The tank commander would serve also either as a gunner or a loader, who were both sitting inside the turret. The loader sitting on right side of the turret took care of loading both 37-mm main gun and its coaxial 7.62-mm machinegun. The gunner, who was sitting in left side of the turret, was shooting with both 37-mm main gun and its 7.62-mm coaxial machinegun. For this purpose the gunner had a simple (likely British-made) straight through telescopic gun sight with simple crosshair reticle located in between the machine gun and main gun, plus a pedal for firing either of these two weapons. Changing elevation of the main gun changed elevation of this gun sight, forcing the gunner to move his head with it - sometimes resulting him ending up in far less than ideal position. The loader had easy access to eight 37-mm gun shells and nine machinegun belt-boxes, which all were located in small ammunition rack in rear of the turret. Rest of the main gun and machinegun ammunition was located to larger ammunition rack, which was in right rear corner of the combat department. The driver was sitting in right side of the front hull had his own optical equipment - "triplex" and obviously took care of driving the tank. The submachinegun-gunner was sitting in left side of the front hull and took care of shooting with hull submachinegun, which was also equipped with simple (probably British-made) optical sight. Other equipment allowing tank crew to see outside were two periscopes with 2X magnification placed on turret and five prisms. The periscopes rotated with the turret, which made them less than ideal. While the Soviet test report notes visibility of the tank crew hatch closed to outside world somewhat superior to that of Soviet T-26, the main sight used for 37-mm tank gun and coaxial machinegun was quite unsatisfactory with their small field of view and were poorly suited for estimating range to target.

Both hull and turret of the Vickers 6-ton tank were riveted steel. The Bofors-designed tank turret used in 32 tanks delivered to Finland had inside diameter of 132-cm and inside of a turret had been upholstered with sponge covered with leather - presumably to reduce damage caused by ricochets in case the turret would be hit and its armour pierced. As mentioned the main gun was 37 Psv.K/36 tank gun (37 mm Bofors tank gun with L/45 barrel) manufactured by Valtion Tykkitehdas (State Artillery Factory) in city of Jyväskylä. This tank gun was quite up to date during Winter War and was perfectly capable tank gun against Soviet tanks of that time, but somewhat handicapped by poor gun sight, other optics and less than ideal main armament aiming system. The coaxial 7.62-mm (tank) machinegun M/09-31, was a air-cooled Maxim machinegun with increased rate of fire and therefore could have been a reliable weapon, but was handicapped in this regard by the over-complicated feed system. This feed system fed the 250-round disintegrating steel ammunition belts to the machinegun ammunition feed from belt box placed in a holder attached to right interior wall of the turret via groove on interior roof of the turret. In addition to this, the coaxial machinegun also shared the same gun sight as 37-mm main gun and because of this suffered from its limitations - although using tracers might have reduced this problem as a smaller nuisance. Surprisingly the hull-submachinegun might have been most successful part of the armaments used in Finnish Vickers 6-ton tank. Apparently the simple optical sight worked quite well with its limited envelope of engagement - proving quite satisfactory within its limited effective range. With its normal 70-round drum magazines tank-version of Suomi M/31 submachinegun proved its excellent reliability also in this role.

When they finally had started arriving in year 1938, the still unarmed Vickers 6-ton tanks had been issued as training vehicles to Panssaripataljoona (Tank Battalion). By year 1939 two of them had also been issued as training vehicles to Erillinen Panssarieskadroona (Separate Armoured Squadron) of Ratsuväkiprikaati (Cavalry Brigade). As mentioned while some were temporarily equipped with weapons for war games of summer 1939, for all practical purposes all the delivered Vickers 6-ton tanks delivered to Finland were still unarmed when Winter War started in November of 1939.

As part of Finnish mobilisation also one and only Panssaripataljoona (Tank Battalion) of Finnish Army was ordered to be mobilised in 8^th of October 1939. As grand majority of Finnish Army also Tank Battalion relied heavily to earlier trained reservists, which called to active military service in mobilisation. Since the Finnish armoured unit had earlier produced rather large number of trained men to reserve and large man-pool had been reserved for it, the Tank Battalion now found itself with far more reservists, than it needed. The battalion formed five companies, from which 1^st and 2^nd companies were equipped with obsolete Renault FT 17 tanks, 3^rd and 4^th Companies were equipped with modern but unarmed Vickers 6-ton tanks. The 5^th company didn't have tanks and was used as a reserve of trained personnel, which was reserved for later used of replacing losses.

4^th Tank Company of Tank Battalion was formed 12^th of October 1939 in Vuorela elementary school in Hämeenlinna. Its company commander was Lieutenant Oiva Heinonen (who later changed this surname as Horte). Platoon leaders were:

• 1^st Platoon: Lieutenant (in reserve) V. Mikkola
• 2^nd Platoon: 2^nd Lieutenant (in reserve) O. Voionmaa
• 3^rd Platoon: 2^nd Lieutenant (in reserve) S. Sirmiö

Rank and file soldiers of the company had received their pre-war training with Renault FT 17 tanks, but for some reason this particular company was selected as the first unit to be supplied with Vickers tanks, which VTT (State Artillery Factory) to its best was trying to equip combat-ready during the war. With the first equipped Vickers 6-ton tank arriving from VTT in mid December and six more arriving 6^th of January the company had quite limited amount of time to get used for using guns of their tanks, before the company was sent to war. Practical combat training for tank platoons and companies was also started just in February. The driver training with unarmed Vickers tanks had obviously started already earlier. The company was officially equipped with 16 of Vickers 6-ton tanks in 23^rd of February 1940 and received transfer order to the front that same day. However, the company didn't get to take all those 16 tanks to war.

When the company headed to the front it had only 13 tanks with it. Likely reason for not leaving to war with less than full strength was due to engine troubles. Listing of 4^th Company tanks 10^th of February lists four of them with broken engines. However there is also a possibility that some of the battle-ready tanks may have been left behind for the 3^rd Company, which was the next in line to be equipped with them, but by end of the war did not received many enough to be send to front. Other vehicles issued to 4^th Company included 5 motorcycles, 2 passenger cars and 12 trucks. The company was loaded into train in Hämeenlinna and disembarked in Hovinmaa railway station (about 12-km northwest of Viipuri in Karelian Isthmus) the next day. It was placed under command of II Army Corps and ordered to accommodate in Markovilla facility. Finnish Army was living desperate times. The Soviets had achieved a breakthrough through Finnish defences in Mannerheim-line about two weeks earlier and Finnish troops had retreated to next defence line. That next line, V-line (Välilinja aka Middle-line) was basically just a line drawn in map without any real existing fortifications, so keeping it proved very difficult. In Honkaniemi area Soviet troops had recently succeeded pushing forward creating a near breakthrough and 25^th of February 4^th Company received its orders to lead the counter-attack there. This attack launched the following day proved to be only tank operation of any real size for Finnish Army in Winter War - and a costly disaster.

The first problems appeared even before starting of the battle. Due to engine trouble caused by water in the gasoline and frozen fuel lines only 8 of the 13 tanks even succeeded getting to battlefield. Once they got there, one of them got stuck in a tree trunk and had to be abandoned, leaving only seven tanks to take part in attack. The attack schedule did not hold and artillery preparation hit also positions of own infantry. Once the seveb remaining tanks started their attack the infantry unaccustomed to tank support failed to follow the tanks and was soon pinned down. After that the tanks were fighting alone. Intelligence failed that day also. The Soviets had been preparing their own attack, which was about to start later that day, so now the few Finnish tanks found themselves fighting masses of Soviet infantry, direct fire guns and tanks of Soviet 35^th Light Tank Brigade. Ultimately grand majority of Finnish tanks that entered to this battle were damaged. Four of them were hit and their crews had to abandon them. Those four tanks lost in battle and left behind included R-648, R-667 and R-670. The fourth tank abandoned due to battle damage was R-655, which was hit in the engine compartment and turret - it was later salvaged from the battlefield, but was never repaired. One of the tanks, R-668, got stuck to a tree trunk and had to be abandoned due to Soviet infantry getting too close. In addition also tank R-664 was damaged, but it succeeded returning back to own lines after suffering a hit, which jammed the turret. At least one Soviet tank was reported knocked out in this battle. After the battle Finnish troops used R-667 left in the battlefield as a pillbox and succeeded knocking out two additional Soviet tanks with its guns.

PICTURE: Another view of only still remaining Finnish Army Vickers 6-ton tank. Notice 37 Psv.K/36 main gun and the armoured cover for coaxial M/0931 machinegun. Also notice location of firing port for hull submachinegun in front hull. (Photo taken in Panssarimuseo). CLICK THUMBNAIL TO SEE LARGER PIC (177 KB).

After Honkaniemi battle 4^th Company fought two smaller battles, in which it lost three more tanks. The company was placed under command of Infantry Regiment 68 and received antitank-mission in Rautlampi area. 29^th of February 1940 1^st Platoon of the company equipped with was near Vääräkoski crossroads. Around 9 AM that day it was attacked by T-28 tanks of Soviet 20^th Heavy Tank Brigade, the battle ended with several of the Soviet tanks hit, but resulted only one of the them knocked out. Late that same day 1^st Platoon succeeded knocking out another Soviet tank, but this provided the Company little solace considering the losses that 2^nd Platoon suffered that day. Around 2 PM the Soviet infantry supported by tanks attacked from direction of Ahola towards Pero nail factory. 2^nd Platoon equipped with two Vickers tanks was in the area and covered retreat of own infantry before following the retreating infantry. During this retreat tanks of the 2^nd Platoon suddenly run into Soviet tanks and in the resulting battle lost both of Vickers tanks. The first tank lost in this battle was R-672, which lost its track in worst possible moment. When this happened R-672 was under fire of several Soviet tanks and loosing of the track left the tank in a tilted position, from which it was unable to return fire. Crew of R-672 abandoned their vehicle and continued to fight as infantry support for the remaining tank. That remaining tank was R-666, which fought an uneven battle against six Soviet tanks (one of them T-28) and succeeded knocking out two of them before being destroyed. 1^st of March the company was placed under command of 4^th Division and received orders for moving to city of Viipuri, where it served as antitank-reserve of the division. 6^th of March one of its tanks, R-664, was ordered to support a small counter-attack. During this counter-attack R-664 got stock on a rock only 75 meters from trenches of Soviet infantry. After the tank crew helped by infantry had failed getting it moving and two Soviet tanks had shot it in the engine compartment, the tank crew had no other alternative than demolish the tank and abandon it. Only seven days later Winter War ended and the remaining tanks of 4^th Company started their long march towards the new Finnish - Soviet border.

4^th Company was the only unit of Finnish Army to use Vickers 6-ton tanks in combat during Winter War and suffered heavy losses during it. From its original 13 tanks the company lost 7 or 8 - depending if R-655, which was salvaged but never repaired, is included. The official list of material losses of 4^th Company dated 21^st of March 1940 lists the complete losses as eight tanks, so it seems to have been considered lost even if salvaged. In addition to Vickers 6-ton tanks, the company lost also three trucks and one motorcycle. In addition to materials, the company paid also heavy price in flesh and blood in these battles. Losses suffered by its tank crews were one man killed in action, ten men wounded in action (six of them gravely) and eight men missing.

The experiences gathered about Vickers 6-ton tank during these battles were not too positive. The reliability of their engines in cold winter conditions had proved less than ideal, with starting problems being common. Also the main sight used with main gun and coaxial machinegun had proved problematic and effectiveness of their 37-mm tank gun against T-28 tanks questionable. It has to be noted, that the poor reliability of the tank engines was likely at least partly due to poor storage of their fuel and raises question if the basic wintertime precautions earlier learned with Renault FT 17 tanks (such as adding paraffin to gasoline) had been neglected.

Ammunition spending of 4^th Company/Tank Battalion in Winter War:

When Vickers 6 ton tanks were acquired Finnish Army was using R-numbers for identifying individual armoured vehicles. The first tank of this type acquired for tests had Vickers Armstrong serial number VAE 546 and Finnish Army marked it as R-546. The later 32 tanks were marked with numbers running from R-646 to R-677. After Winter War a decision was made to modify remaining Vickers 6-ton tanks by equipping their turrets with captured Soviet guns and optical equipment - the resulting tank was named T-26E. Before starting of Finnish - Soviet Continuation War in June of 1941, all Vickers 6-ton tanks remaining in Finnish use had been modified in this way. Only one Vickers 6 ton tank with somewhat the equipment as used during Winter War remains in Finnish museums nowadays - Ps.161-7 in collections of The Parola Tank Museum.

PICTURE: Side profile of T-26E in Parola Tank Museum. Notice 45-mm tank gun. T-26E can be easily seperated from Soviet-build T-26 tanks by comparing shape of turret. (Photo taken in Panssarimuseo). CLICK THUMBNAIL TO SEE LARGER PIC (155 KB).

During Winter War (Nov 1939 - March 1940) Finnish Army captured hundreds of Soviet armoured vehicles. The grand majority of these captured vehicles were damaged, but many of them could still be repaired and issued to Finnish units. Even those captured armoured vehicles that were too severely damaged for repairing them to be reasonable, could still be use as source of weapons and parts. During Winter War more and the months following it more of the captured Soviet tanks repaired and repainted with Finnish insignia rolled out of Panssarikeskuskorjaamo (Armour Centre Repair Shop) in Varkaus. In a few months the captured Soviet-manufactured T-26 tanks (based to Vickers 6-ton tank, whose manufacturing license the Soviets had acquired) surpassed the number of Vickers 6-ton tanks in Finnish use. Around that time decision was made also to replace turret armament of Vickers 6-ton tanks with Soviet 45-mm tank guns and 7.62-mm DT-machineguns, from the Winter War era armament of these tanks only the 9-mm Suomi hull submachinegun was retained. Besides armament also optical equipment previously used in Vickers 6-ton tanks were replaced with captured Soviet equipment. Finnish Army named the resulting tank as T-26E, a name in which the "E" came from "englantilainen" (English/British). By start of Continuation War in June of 1941 all remaining 26 operational Vickers 6-ton tanks of Finnish Army had been modified as T-26E tanks. This included even the Vickers 6-ton tank prototype acquired for tests in year 1933, although it remained bit different from other T-26 tanks due to different turret structure and for lacking the hull-submachinegun.

PICTURE: Front view of T-26E in Maneesi of Military Museum. Notice coaxial DT-machinegun partially peaking behind raised drivers hatch. This photo gives pretty good idea about location of the driver and also tank commander has used his hatch. (Photo taken in Maneesi of Sotamuseo). CLICK THUMBNAIL TO SEE LARGER PIC (82 KB).

Equipping these tanks with Soviet 45-mm tank guns might seem unusual, since PstK/36 antitank-guns using same ammunition as 37 Psv.K/36 tank gun now getting replaced, was still manufactured under license in Finland until 1941. The reason behind the decision was simplifying ammunition supply of Panssaripataljoona (Tank Battalion), but at the same time it allowed replacing of unreliable coaxial M/09-31 (tank) machinegun with far more reliable DT-machinegun and getting rid of previous main sight and periscopes, which had proved problematic during Winter War. While the Soviet optical equipment was far from ideal, they were still better than the ones they now replaced. Shortly said, while the Soviet optics offered the tank crew slightly poorer visibility outside the tank, they offered better tools for estimating the range to target and hitting it. Also, it should be noted that while Vickers 6-ton tanks had apparently been equipped with two periscopes, the grand majority of T-26E had just one periscope and some had none. According inventory listing made 17^th of June 1941 from 26 tanks used at that time 23 tanks had one captured periscope and 3 tanks (R-546, R-656 and R-657) had no periscope at all (however this may have changed before starting of Continuation War, since slightly later photo of R-546 shows it with two periscopes).

PICTURE: Rear view of T-26E in Tank Museum. Notice location of turret on right side of hull, engine grill, air intake and turret shape. The groove on turret was a design feature intended for venting propellant gasses out from turret. While the periscopes are missing, the places where they used to be can still be seen. The hole in rear bumper is for a starting the motor with winch manually, if needed. (Photo taken in Panssarimuseo). CLICK THUMBNAIL TO SEE LARGER PIC (159 KB).

45-mm Soviet tank guns used to equip T-26E tanks were represented more than one model of this gun. Apparently 45 Psv.K/34 (model 1934) version of this tank guns was most commonly used in T-26E, but also 45 Psv.K/32 (model 1932) was common with them. Some T-26E tanks may have also been equipped with most modern version of these tank guns - 45 Psv.K/38 (model 1938) version, but evidence suggests that if this happened, it must have been very rare. Armour-piercing capability wise there was little difference between 37 Psv.K/36 (Bofors) tank guns and captured 45-mm Soviet tank guns, which replaced them. However, when it came to high-explosive shells used in these guns, there is a notable difference. The HE-shells used with Soviet 45-mm tank guns weight about three times as much as the ones used in 37 Psv.K/36 and due to much larger explosive charge and amount of steel to fragment were far more lethal.

Comparison between high explosive shells of the two tank guns:

(Notice: Weights of high explosive shells without fuse.)

PICTURE: Tank column with T-26E tank as its first tank. Notice "skull and bones" marking in front hull - it was insignia of 3^rd Tank Company. Photographed by 2^nd Lieutenant Kim Borg in Tuullos. (SA-kuva photo archive, photo number 44823). CLICK THUMBNAIL TO SEE LARGER PIC (112 KB).

Ammunition was still apparently storage in the same areas inside the tank, with part of the ammunition placed on turret rear bustle for easy access to crew member taking care loading of the main gun. The exact ammunition load usually used is not known. But according Reino Lehväslaiho's books even if we would know the number of shells fitting to its ammunition racks, this number could be considered quite theoretical. This is because he mentions more than once, that when needed, Finnish tank crews simply piled ammunition boxes on the floor of the combat compartment to take more ammunition into battle with them. The crew of T-26 remained similar to Vickers 6-ton tank. The four crew members included:

• Gunner, who did shooting with the 45-mm main gun and coaxial 7.62-mm DT-machinegun.
• Loader, who took care of loading the main gun.
• Driver, who was located in right side of the front hull.
• Submachine-gunner, who sit on left side of the front hull and shot with the hull submachine gun located there.

Usually tank commander acted as a loader, but apparently acting as a gunner was not completely unheard either. In those T-26E tanks, which had one periscope, it seems to be on loader's position (on right side of turret), which suggests that part of the loader's duties was spotting targets for the gunner. During Continuation War apparently some of the T-26E tanks were also equipped with radios, which seem to have been captured Soviet 71-TK-1 and 71-TK-3 tank radios. Year 1941 these captured radios were in widely issued for captured T-26 tanks, but do not seem to have been used in T-26E tanks at that time. This was not a great loss, since the particular radios also proved so unreliable, that for all practical purposes Finnish T-26 tanks at that time did not have a properly functioning radio equipment. The only exception might have been some of these radios perhaps later (circa 1943 - 1944) equipped with Finnish made receivers. When used these radios were equipped with whip antennas, which can sometimes be seen in period photos. Some sources suggest that tanks issued to platoon and company commanders towards end of Continuation War had better radio equipment - likely 71-TK-1 and 71-TK-3 radios with Finnish-made receivers.

PICTURE: Another T-26E tank belonging to 3^rd Tank Company in Tuullos in September of 1941. Photographed by 2^nd Lieutenant Kim Borg in Tuullos. Tank commander is out of his hatch and driver's hatch is also open. (SA-kuva photo archive, photo number 44819). CLICK THUMBNAIL TO SEE LARGER PIC (138 KB).

When Continuation War started in June of 1941 and only Panssaripataljoona (Tank Battalion) of Finnish Army was using T-26E along captured Soviet T-26 tanks as its standard tanks. While Tank Battalion was enlarged as Tank Brigade (Panssariprikaati) in year 1942, T-26E and captured T-26 tanks remained as the principal tank type in its use until end of Continuation War. Even if these tank types were officially declared obsolete in 7^th of July 1944, a tank company equipped with various T-26 tank versions still was sent to first Finnish offensive of Lapland War and these tanks saw combat use in it. T-26E were apparently used in same companies with captured T-26 tanks, but there is some evidence suggesting that they were usually concentrated to particular platoons of each tank company. Summer of year 1944 T-26 tanks were issued to 1^st, 4^th and 5^th Companies of Tank Brigade (of Armour Division). Combat use obviously resulted combat losses, but still the number of T-26E tanks lost in combat as complete losses was surprisingly small. Two T-26E tanks were removed from inventory in year 1941 and two more in year 1942. Before Soviet offensive of summer 1944 still 22 of T-26E tanks remained in Finnish inventory and only three were written off from inventory after battles of that year.

After World War 2 remaining 19 T-26E tanks kept serving with Finnish Army and the last one of these tanks was not removed from inventory until year 1960. One might ask, why Finnish Army kept using T-26 tanks so long. The reason was not that the Finnish military would have not been aware of their limitations and how outdated they were. Already year 1941 Ratsumestari (Captain of cavalry) Lunkinen had written a less than favourable report based to experiences gathered about T-26 tanks that far and sent it to commander of Tank Battalion. He noted that these tanks were unsuitable for areas with dense vegetation (most of Finland in summer) unless their optical equipment was replaced and especially the driver had visibility to area much too small. He suggested adding more optical equipment for gaining wider visibility and criticised the mechanical reliability of these tanks in cold winter weather. In addition he noted that the armour protection was too much too weak. For obvious reasons (the resources for improving or replacing the tanks did not exist) the report did not lead into any measures. While these tanks had become outdated already during the war, Finnish Army still found them good use after it, since using tanks like T-26E in driver training allowed saving more modern tanks and assault guns remaining in Finnish inventory and helped keeping them in operational condition. Nowadays two T-26E tanks can be found in exhibitions of Finnish museums - Ps.161-6 in Maneesi of Sotamuseo in Suomenlinna (Helsinki) and Ps.161-9 in collections of The Armour Museum in Parola.

PICTURE: T-26E tank R-673 being driven from a train in city of Petroskoi / Petrozavodsk in April - May of 1942. Photographed by Lieutenant Vilho Koivumäki. (SA-kuva photo archive, photo number 84708). CLICK THUMBNAIL TO SEE LARGER PIC (87 KB).

When Vickers 6-ton tanks were modified as T-26E, this did not change the R-number used by Finnish Army to identify individual armoured vehicle. The same old numbers were retained and apparently remained in use even after new Ps-number intended to replace R-number system had been in introduced in year 1943. The Ps-number system gave all T-26E tanks Ps-numbers starting with Ps.161, but evidence suggests that these did not in practice completely replace earlier R-numbers in use.

It must be noted that if tank crew of T-26E tank left its tank and had time to take its weapons with them, they were quite well armed tank crew by World War 2 era standard. Each crew member carried a pistol; the tank equipment contained usual Suomi M/31 submachinegun and number of hand grenades. In addition both hull submachinegun (tank-version of Suomi M/31) and coaxial DT-machinegun could be quite easily removed for use outside the vehicle. Hence the four man crew could take with them DT light machinegun, two Suomi M/31 submachineguns, four pistols and several hand grenades.

Kapteeni P. Hovilainen: Tankkirykmentistä Panssaripataljoonaan 1919 – 1949.

Pekka Kantakoski: Suomalaiset Panssarivaunujoukot 1919 – 1969.

Pekka Kantakoski: Punaiset Panssarit, Puna-armeijan panssarijoukot 1918 – 1945.

Pekka Kantakoski: Panssarimuseo.

Esa Muikku ja Jukka Purhonen: Suomalaiset Panssarivaunut 1918 – 1997, The Finnish Armoured Vehicles 1918 - 1997.

Laguksen miehet, Marskin nyrkki by Erkki Käkelä.

Panssarimuseo leaflet.

Tanks in the Winter War 1939 - 1940 by Maksym Kolomyjec.

Panzerbuch der Tanks, Parts 1 – 3 by Fritz von Heigl

Heigl’s Panzerbuck der tanks, Parts 1 – 3 by O.H. Hacker, R.J. Icks, O. Merker and G.P.v. Zezchwitz.

The Tank Pioneers by Kenneth Macksey

Mechanised Force, British tanks between the wars by David Fletcher

Russian Tanks 1900 – 1970 by John Milsom

Reino Lehväslaiho: Panssarisotaa.

Reino Lehväslaiho: Sotkalla sodassa.

Article: Vickers by Kari Kuusela in Ase magazine vol. 1/88.

Military manual: T-26 psv, Aseet ja optiset välineet by Puolustusvoimien Pääesikunta Taisteluvälineosasto (published 1952).

Military manual: Jalkaväen Ampumatarvikkeet I by Puolustusvoimien Pääesikunta Taisteluvälineosasto (printed 1941, updated until September 1944).

Finnish National Archives (Sörnäinen), archive folder T10909.

Finnish National Archives (Sörnäinen), archive folder T10910.

Finnish National Archives (Sörnäinen), archive folder T10911.

Finnish National Archives (Sörnäinen), archive folder T10929/20.

Finnish National Archives (Sörnäinen), archive folder perus 6303.

Finnish National Archives (Sörnäinen), archive folder perus 6336.

Special thanks to Panssarimuseo (The Parola Armour Museum).

Special thanks to Sotamuseo (Finnish Military Museum), Helsinki.

The PIBWL military site More info about Vickers 6-ton tanks.