With armour of 14mm the British A9 tank was the result of some rather muddled thinking, having a maximum speed of 25mph and two machinegun turrets in the forward arc in addition to the co-ax machinegun. The main gun, the 2pounder, was a fine gun for its day, and was the only positive feature. The A9 was designated as a ‘cruiser’ tank and had several innovative design features, but was rather unreliable. During the campaign in France the weakness of the armour and unreliability proved fatal for the design, and of the 125 tanks built, the 40 designated CS (Close Support) tanks with the 3.7” howitzer proved of little value either to the crews or the infantry that they were supposed to support.
70 of the A9 and CS variants were sent to North Africa, with very similar results to those in France. The argument that the tank was ‘a learning experience’ was certainly true for any crew... if they survived.