The Tank Squadron that came too late

From the Blogger archive: The Tank Squadron that came too late

By 1942malaya · 12 July 2009

One of the few things that were never quite mentioned in the history books. The fall of Malaya could have been a better defended battlefield if the British had tanks to meet the Japanese invasion. In fact the British did had the tanks shipped to Singapore albeit a little late and poorly trained tankers. I do feel a bit proud to write about this nearly forgotten tank regiment chapter in Malaya.

100^th Indian Indp. Light Tank Squadron, Malaya 1942

In April 1941 one Jat squadron was detached from 8th King George’s Own Light Cavalry and assigned to the newly raised 44th Cavalry then at Risalpur. Subsequently, this squadron was detached and redesignated as 100th Light Tank Squadron. It was composed of three troops and equipped with obsolete light tanks. These tanks would have been: Light Tank Mk II Indian Pattern
[the production version of Carden-Loyd Mk VII/VIII light tank]
two-man (commander/gunner, driver) light tank with cupolaarmament: 1x Vickers .303in machine gunarmour: 10mm to 4mmmaximum speed: 30mph (20mph cross country)
Horstmann suspension
Light Tank Mk IV India Pattern
two-man (commander/gunner, driver) light tank with cupolaarmament: 1x Vickers .303in machine gun Or 1x Vickers .5in machine gunarmour: 12mm to 4mmmaximum speed: 36mph (28mph cross country)
Horstmann coil spring suspension

The squadron had between 9 and 18 of these tanks.

The squadron was sent to Malaya early in 1942. On 29 January 1942, His Majesty’s Transport Empire Star arrived in Singapore with "16 tanks of obsolescent type." On 11 February 1942 a detachment of squadron was attached to Massy Force of 18th Infantry Division for counterattacks against the Japanese forces on Singapore Island. The entire squadron was lost when British forces surrrendered on 15 February 19

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