These Italian tanks were easy prey to the British, South African and other Commonwealth and Allied forces, here a member of the crew of an Italian M13/40 tank giving himself up near Gazala.
The rectangle background colour identified the Company, the number of stripes the Platoon. Note on the main featured image: The number 3 on the turret and the rectangle with a white stripe identifies this tank as the 3rd tank of first Platoon. Nevertheless, time and again, they charged gallantly against a superior adversary, often paying the ultimate price for their courage. To these men in dark blue overalls, destined to fight on unequal terms, history has often been cruel. Its semi-automatic 47 mm Ansaldo 47/32 gun could penetrate 1.7 inches (43mm) of armour at 550 yards (503 m), making it more than adequate to deal with most allied t anks -saved for the cumbersome Matildas- and its diesel engine had a low probability of catching fire when hit, but it lacked power which made the M13/40 a slow moving target, specially off-road.Īlthough it had armour deemed adequate by 1940 standards, this was made of low quality steel which lacked tensile strength, resulting in a higher probability to shatter when hit, spraying the crew inside with deadly pieces of metal from their own armour. For the unfortunate crews who manned it, it was nothing short of a death-trap. Weighting only 14 tons, by Allied standards the Italian M13/40 tank was seen as a light tank. History is very cruel to these very brave Italian tankers fighting alongside Nazi German forces and the likes of Rommel against the South Africans, British and Allied forces. You may have heard the joke the old South African World War 2 North African campaign veterans used to often tell about ‘Italian Bravery’ – how many gears does an Italian tank have? Answer one forward and four in reverse!
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