Polish Forces

Polish armour.

Polish 7TP light tanks in column. This was a 7-ton Polish development of the British Vickers 6-ton "commercial" tank. The Polish version had improved armour and armament (Bofors 37mm antitank gun), as well as forward-looking refinements such as an all-round periscope. The Polish machine was superior to all of the light tanks fielded by the Germans in the Polish campaign (and that meant the vast bulk of the German tanks involved) and, in terms of firepower, was a threat to the PzKpfw III and PzKpfw IV also. However, with only about 100 vehicles available (plus a small number of the twin-turret, machinegun-armed variant), and underdeveloped Polish armoured tactics, they were not enough to make a difference. That having been said, the 90-odd 7TPs of the First and Second Light Tank Battalions performed creditably in the "open" phase of the Polish campaign, and the tank also performed quite well in the defence of Warsaw, in which it was employed in ad hoc armoured units. Best regards, JR.