A10 Cruiser Mk IIA (Desert)

With their speed, Cruiser Squadrons could quickly react to opportunities present in battle and punch through gaps in the enemy’s lines. In many ways their tactical doctrine represented the glory days of the British heavy cavalry, and hence their design emphasised speed over armour.

However, by 1938 the A10 was considered too lightly armoured to fall into the new classification of an infantry tank; therefore to it was classified as a heavy cruiser. The A10 saw action with the 1st Armoured Division in France during 1940 and in the Western Desert until the later stages of 1941. With more advanced designs on the drawing board, both the A9 and A10 were known as a stop-gap measure until designs like the A13 could reach the battlefield.