TOG 1 Tank

At the outbreak of the Second World War the British Ministry of Supply replaced the Master-General of Ordnance's responsibility for the procurement of munitions. The Ministry promptly set up two committees to study tank design, but unfortunately failed to involve the Army in its plans, One of the committees, headed by Sir Albert Stern, a leading expert in tank production during World War I, proposed the building of a suitable heavy assault tank with the capability to breech such formidable fortifications as the well-publicized Maginot and Siegfried lines.

TOG 1('The Old Gang')was simply an updated version of the 1918 Mark 8 tank design with the 6-man hull carried entirely between all-round tracks, The main armament was a 75mm howitzer carried in the nose with planned side sponsons to carry additional artillery if required.

By the time that the prototype was completes however sufficient progress had been made on the Churchill tank to make TOG superfluous. Work on the prototype would continue for a while (including the incorporation of a Matilda 2 turret), but by 1941 Stern's committee had been dissolved (largely it is claimed because of the Prime Minister's personal hatred of Stern), and the TOG1 prototype would subsequently be retained only as a test rig.

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