Made in 1942 by the British Ministry of Information, BIRTH OF A TANK shows the assembly of a Valentine Tank as part of the war effort. The Tank, Infantry, Mk III, Valentine was an infantry tank produced in the United Kingdom during the Second World War. More than 8,000 of the type were produced in eleven marks, plus various specialised variants, accounting for approximately a quarter of wartime British tank production. The many variants included riveted and welded construction, petrol and diesel powerplants and a progressive increase in armament. It was supplied in large numbers to the USSR and built under licence in Canada. Developed by Vickers, it proved to be both strong and reliable.
As well as Vickers, Metropolitan-Cammell Carriage and Wagon—an associate company of Vickers—and Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company (BRCW) were contracted to produce the Valentine. Metropolitan and the BRCW had built small numbers of the A.10 and so had previous experience: their production runs were just finishing and they delivered their first Valentines in mid-1940. Metropolitan used two sites, with Wednesbury joined by their Midland site in production of the Valentine. Vickers output started at ten per month rising to 45 per month in a year and peaking at twenty per week in 1943, before production was slowed and then production of the Valentine and vehicles based on the Valentine stopped in 1945. Vickers-Armstrong produced 2,515 vehicles and Metropolitan 2,135, total UK production was 6,855 units.
For developing its own tank forces, Canada had established its own tank production facilities. An order was placed in 1940 with Canadian Pacific and after modifications to the Valentine design, to use local standards and materials the production prototype was finished in 1941. Canadian production was mainly at CPR Angus Shops in Montreal. 1,420 were produced in Canada of which most were sent to the Soviet-Union, with 2,394 from Britain. They formed the Commonwealth’s main export to the Soviet Union under the lend-lease programme. The remaining thirty were retained for training. The use of local GMC Detroit Diesel engines in Canadian production was regarded as a success and the engine was adopted for British production. Between the British and Canadian production, at 8,275, the Valentine was the most produced British tank design of the war.
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