Matilda Mk.IIA*
42nd Royal Tank Regiment

The Matilda A12 tank was an infantry tank armed with a QF 2 Pounder gun and a coaxial Besa 7.92mm machine gun. During the North Africa campaign against the Italians in 1940, the Matilda was superior to anything that was available to the Italians, and was considered invincible, earning the nicknamed “Queen of the Desert”.

When Afrika Korps entered the desert war in early 1941, the situation had changed.

This model represents one of the tanks that participated in Operation Crusader, which happened between 18 November to 30 December 1941, with the objective to relieve the besieged port of Tobruk.

It is based on a reference photo of Matilda T6968 ‘Phantom’, 42RTR, 1st Army Tank Brigade, 24 November 1941. 42RTR participated in Operation Crusader as a part of the 1st Army Tank Brigade that supported the 4th Indian Infantry Division in an attempt to take Omar Nuovo and Libyan Omar. However, they encountered heavy resistance, and although being successful, they suffered a lot of casualties, mostly due to the dug-in German 88mm AT guns.

When Romel realized that the British suffered heavy casualties during the first few days of action, he ordered his “Dash to the wire” on the 23rd of November. 15th and 21st Panzer Divisions were to advance southeast towards the Egyptian border. During this advance, Panzer Regiment 5, 21st Panzer Division reached Bir Sherferzen and encountered the remaining 5 Matildas of 42nd RTR. They repelled several German attacks until forced to withdraw due to casualties. One more Matilda was lost, but Matilda ‘Phantom’ was probably one of the survivors. This may be the moment when the reference photo was taken.