Though most of the initial defects were overcome to an
extent, the Crusader, as it was named in. late 1940, always suffered from
unreliability and the speed and urgency with which it was rushed into
production did not allow long development trials, particularly for desert
operations, where the Crusader became the principal British tank from Spring
1941 onwards. It first saw action near Capuzzo in June 1941, was prominent in
all the major North African desert actions which followed, and was still in
service, in its later 6pdr-armed form at the time of the Battle of Alamein in
October 1942, though by then in the process of being displaced by
American-built M3 and M4 mediums (qv). The last Crusaders in North Africa were
finally withdrawn from first line use in May 1943, but the type was used for
training until the end of the war. From mid-1942 onwards Crusaders were
converted for numerous special purpose roles, including AA tanks, gun tractors,
and ARVs.
The Crusader was designed just too late to incorporate any
of the lessons learned in the early tank actions in France in 1940, but several
modifications resulted from trials with the prototype. These included removal
of the front auxiliary machine gun turret, mainly because it was too poorly
ventilated and of limited value, which also simplified production. This turret
was also removed retrospectively from many Mk I vehicles in service, and the
space allowed extra ammunition stowage. It was also possible to increase the
armour thickness slightly on hull and turret front. Finally, the Mk III version
was up-gunned with a 6pdr replacing the 2pdr. The Germans respected the
Crusader for its speed, but it was no match for the PzKw III with 50mm gun, its
main desert opponent, in hitting power, armour thickness, or serviceability.
The German 55mm, 75mm and 88mm antitank guns also had no trouble in picking off
Crusaders in the desert fighting.
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