A27 type turret on a Matilda chassis

Matilda with 6-pdr turret

Experimental tank with modified chassis and Ordnance QF 6 pounder in a Centaur turret. One produced, no documentation other than photographs of it remain.

Please note this is a Matilda Mk III chassis WITH a A27 turret FITTED to it, not a Matilda Mk III!

The Matilda is best remembered for its important part in the early Western Desert campaigns. In Libya in 1940 it was virtually immune to any Italian anti-tank gun or tank, and Matildas reigned supreme until the appearance of the German 88mm Flak gun in the anti-tank role in mid-1941, the first gun able to penetrate Matilda's heavy armour at long range. It was not possible to fit the 6pdr gun in the Matilda (though an attempt was made to mount the A27 type turret [CENTAUR ] on a Matilda chassis), due to the small size of the turret and turret ring. Thus in 1942, the Matilda declined in importance as a gun tank and was last used in action in this role at the first Alamein battle in July 1942.