Valentine (Introduction) 

Type: Infantery tank

Nationality: Great Britain

The infantery Tank Valentine was built on the blueprint of a cruiser tank with a reinforced armor. It had a cost advantage over the Matilda and eventually replaced it. It was a reliable and stable machine, but its small size hindered improvements.
Almost 9000 Valentine of all versions were turned out between 1940 and 1944, among them a third in Canada. It is the British tank with the greatest production number during the war. Russians too were big user of this tank.
Identification: The Valentine shares the shape of its running gear (two bogies with 3 wheels each, one of them being bigger than the two others) with the cruiser tank A-9 and A-10. The Valentine had a characteristic cylindric turret.
Other designation(s): Infantry Tank Mark III
Production: 8 725 units

 Bishop 

Type: Self propelled gun

Nationality: Great Britain

The British mounted the 25-pounder howitzer on the chassis of the Valentine. By analogy with the American Priest, it took the nickname "Bishop".
It first saw action during the battle of El-Alamein. Not so good as its American counterpart (smaller gun on a smaller chassis), it ended up being replaced by it.
Identification: A high superstructure mounted above the characteristic running gear of the Valentine.

A Bishop on the Italian front during the campaign for Cassino.

 Valentine I 

Type: Infantery tank

Nationality: Great Britain

The first version of the Valentine was ordered "off the drawing board" and was tested in 1940. Mass-production started right away. It was not engaged overseas, because of its too lack of autonomy.
Production: 350 units

Production & Usage
	Années 20	1930-35	1936-38	1939				1940				1941				1942				1943				1944				1945
Production:									.	.	.
Front ouest:									.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
Users: Great Britain

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 Valentine III 

Type: Infantery tank

Nationality: Great Britain

The third version addressed the second major drawback of the Valentine by remplacing the two-men turret with a larger one where a third man could take place. That relieved the tank commander of some of his tasks.

Production & Usage
	Années 20	1930-35	1936-38	1939				1940				1941				1942				1943				1944				1945
Production:																	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
Méditerranée:																		.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
Users: Great Britain

Valentine III, recognizable to the gun shield and to the lay out of the front ot the turret. Notice the external fuel tank on the rear of the hull.

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 Valentine IV 

Type: Infantery tank

Nationality: Great Britain

Version of the Valentine II with a diesel GMC (instead of AEC). No other difference.
The American engine had the advantage over its British counterpart to be more silent and above all more reliable. Those advantages were paid by a slight decrease in range.

 Valentine IX 

Type: Infantery tank

Nationality: Great Britain

Valentine V rearmed with the 57 mm turret, without coaxial MG.

 Valentine V 

Type: Infantery tank

Nationality: Great Britain

Valentine III reengined with a diesel GMC (instead of an AEC). No other difference.

 Valentine VI 

Type: Infantery tank

Nationality: Great Britain

First version of the Valentine built in Canada. It differed from the English Valentine V by the front hull, which was cast instead of being riveted and the Browning MG instead of the Besa. Most of the production went to Russia.

 Valentine VII 

Type: Infantery tank

Nationality: Great Britain

Improved version of the Valentine, built in Canada with jettisoneable fuel tanks and a new kind of track. In total, Canada produced slightly less than 1500 Valentine. Almost all of them were delivered to the USSR as part of the "Lend and Lease" agreement. 30 units remained in Canda for training purposes.

 Valentine VIII 

Type: Infantery tank

Nationality: Great Britain

There was a long-felt need for an upgunned version of the Valentine, but the narrow hull of the tank did put severe constraints on the size of the turret. To install a bigger gun (6-pounder instead of a 2-pounder), it was necessary to leave the third occupant out of the turret, to give up the coaxial MG and to decrease the side armor.
The new model entered service in 1942 and was the first to be able to compete against the last German Panzer III, as far as firepower was concerned.
Identification: The turret is larger and the gun longer than on the Valentine VII models. Compared to the Valentine X, there is no coaxial MG.

 Valentine X 

Type: Infantery tank

Nationality: Great Britain

Thanks to a new turret, the coaxial MG reappeared in this version of the Valentine.
Identification: The presence of a coaxial MG besides the 6-pounder gun distinguishes this model from the Valentine VIII et des Valentine IX, which had the same gun.

Valentine X with the longer 6-pounder gun and a coaxial MG.

 Valentine XI 

Type: Commanding tank

Nationality: Great Britain

Last and all-welded version of the Valentine, with a 7.5 cm gun. Used only as commanding tank.

Production & Usage
	Années 20	1930-35	1936-38	1939				1940				1941				1942				1943				1944				1945
Production:																					.	.	.	.	.
Méditerranée:																				.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
Users: Great Britain

Valentine X with a 7.5 cm gun. It had a muzzle-brake

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