Q of the Week: Tank names?

[Leon]

This weeks question is a bit of an 'Educating Leon' edition!  Just browsing through the catalogue, I was wondering where some of the WWII tanks get their names from?  I can have a guess at Oliver Cromwell, Winston Churchill, and the Crusader being something to do with heading off to the desert?  But what about names like 'Sherman', the M7 'Priest', M36 'Jackson', Matilda, etc.  Where have these come from?

[GordonY]

Sherman, Lee, Jackson, Stuart, etc

Well try ACW Generals names Leon.

The rest? Well I dunno.

Gordon

[fred.]

US lend lease tanks tended to be named after US Generals

There was also the C series of crusiers (Crusader, Cromwell, Comet)

Infantry tanks were a mixed bag with Matilda, Churchill, Valentine. I'm not sure where these came from.

The assault guns seem to have generally gained their names post war.

[fred.]

Priest was apparently due to the pulpit like AAA MG 'turret'. This in turn led to Sexton.

[NTM]

We Brits gave SP Guns ecclesiastical names before the Priest, hence Deacon and Bishop.

I believe Matilda came from a cartoon duck, the first mark having a ducklike profile.

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

Believe it or not there was a poliocy on naming tanks - C for Crusier, hence Crsader, Covenator, Cavalier, Centaur,Challenger et al, this followed through post war with Centurion, Cheiftain, and Challenger - as a reuse.

No policy with the I tanks, Matilda I was named after the Duck, and the II inherited the name, Valentine after the day it was ordered, Churchill after the Prime Minister.

SP - artillery - no policy initally, Bishop appears to have been named after the Preist (M7), which was so called cause it had a pulpit !, SExton followed on.

SP-AT - were given A names - no idea why - hence Archer, Achilles, and Avenger, the M10 was aparently called Ajax, b ut I've never seen that used, nor Wolverine, which may be Canadian.

Lend - lease were named after Civil War generals - but these were not used by the US Army, who didnt adopt names until post war. There is a partial exception - the Honey, which is unoffical - should be M3 Stuart.

IanS

[NTM]

SP - artillery - no policy initally, Bishop appears to have been named after the Preist (M7), which was so called cause it had a pulpit !, SExton followed on.

Had an inkling that may be the case was it the same with the Deacon?

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

Think its one of the ones not used but....as far as I can tellit was called the 6pdr Portee...

IanS

[Leon]

Interesting, so some of them were given almost pet names by the troops when they received them?

I believe Matilda came from a cartoon duck, the first mark having a ducklike profile.

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

Thats how Matilda was derived, some were assigned - the Stuart got the name Honey after a test by a British dirver, got out and said "Its a Honey Sir !". Any non-civil war Generals on US kit are post war, many not used, ie M48-M60 are all "Patton", I have never heard an M60 called a Patton. Sherman seems to have benn used by US troops, but rest were normally refered to by their M number, which must have been confusing, as the number M3 referes to a Light Tank, Medium Tank, SMG and 105mm howitzer at least. I only know of one occasion when these were changed - on the M20, I think from M10.

IanS

[goat major]

I believe Matilda came from a cartoon duck, the first mark having a ducklike profile.

i always assumed it was after Queen Matilda. Oh well a duck will do i suppose ......

[Maenoferren]

Interesting, so some of them were given almost pet names by the troops when they received them

yep the sherman was called the Ronson after the famous cigarette lighter and the other the tommy cooker...
I met a sherman driver who called it a dangerous heap of sh*te, but after having various rounds do nasty things to it I fear he might be biased

[Dazza]

YOu have to love this thought :


VALENTINE, which had an excuse for being given a name as it was a private venture by Vickers and which the British Army initially had no enthusiasm for; when it was accepted for service it was belatedly given the title, Infantry Tank Mark III, but had no A number designator as it had not sprung from a GS specification! Its name has been the subject of much debate, with at least three versions available; I dont know which is true, so take your pick!

The first is that Valentine was the middle name of the tanks designer, Sir John Carden; this is true but cannot be proved to be the reason.

Next, the design was reputed to have been shown to the army on Valentines Day, 14th February 1938, although recent investigation makes this seem a little contrived as the meeting actually took place on the 10th.

Lastly, and if Im honest this is my favourite, it could come from an acronym derived from Vickers Armstrong Limited Elswick Newcastle upon Tyne.

[Dazza]

M7 Priest :  It was given the official service name 105 mm Self Propelled Gun, Priest by the British Army, due to the pulpit-like machine gun ring.

M36 Jackson : It was known as Jackson or Slugger by the British, after the Confederate general Stonewall Jackson.

Sherman :  the M4 was named after Union General William Tecumseh Sherman, following the British practice of naming their American-built tanks after famous American Civil War generals

Matilda : It is said that the Matilda I got its name when General Sir Hugh Ellis, while watching a prototype, commented that it waddled like Matilda the Duck, a comic strip character of the time.

Churchill : This series of tanks was named after Winston Churchill, who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Minister of Defence at the time, and had been involved with the development of the tank as a weapon during the First World War.

[Maenoferren]

[Lastly, and if Im honest this is my favourite, it could come from an acronym derived from Vickers Armstrong Limited Elswick Newcastle upon Tyne.
/quote]
I had heard that too somehwere, the factory is tiny now compared to what it used to be like