M22 'Locust' Airborne Light Tank - 6th AARR

[Wiggly_Armed_Man 2,383]

I felt like telling the story, of what I know of, of the M22 'Locust' Airborne Light Tank, and those 8 that were attached to the British 6th Airlanding Brigade during Operation Varsity.

 

 

M22 'Locust' Airborne Light Tank

 

As the title says, the M22, nicknamed the 'Locust' due to their small size and that they come from the sky in swarms, is a Airborne Light Tank. It was designed to replace the Mk.VII 'Tetrarch' Light Tank but ultimately failed at doing so. However, it was an improvement with a more crew-friendly design. It has a small hull carrying the Driver and the legs of the Loader and Gunner. It uses a Lycoming Q-435T 6-Cylinder Radial Engine with 162 HP (Horsepower). With that, it also uses a Vertical Volute Spring Suspension and, combined with the engine and transmission, gives it a speed of 64 km/h (40 mph) and a range of up to 217 km (135 miles). It is also small in order to fit within the gliders the British use, with a length of 12 feet and 27.94 centimeter, a width of 7 feet and 2.54 centimeters, and a height of 6 feet and 2.54 centimeters. It has a 37mm M3 Tank Gun in the turret with 50 rounds and a Coaxial 7.62mm M1919A4 Light Machinegun with 2,500 rounds. This totals for 3 crewmembers, the Driver located in the front of the hull, the Gunner located on the Right side of the turret (if you are facing the front), and the Loader located on the Left side of the turret (if you are facing the front).

 

If you read all of this, you realize you could've just looked at the model in-game.

 

 

6th Airlanding Brigade

 

The 6th Airlanding Brigade is a British Brigade under the rule of the 6th Airborne Division. They served alongside the 5th and 3rd Parachute Brigades in Operation Varsity whom were also under the rule of the 6th Airborne Division. The first Commanding Officer of the Brigade is Brigadier Hugh Kenyon Molesworth Kindersley whom brought 2 Battalions from the 1st Airlanding Brigade to be transferred to the 6th Airlanding Brigade. This included the 1st Battalion, the Royal Ulster Rifles (1st RUR), and the 2nd Battalion, the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (2nd OBLI). They were also joined by a new Battalion/Ragiment, the 12th Battalion, Devonshire Regiment (12th Devons). Later Battalions and Regiments that also participated during Operation Varsity, this included the 53rd Worcestershire Yeomanry Airlanding Light Regiment (also Royal Artillery), the 249th Airborne Field Company, the Royal Engineers, and finally the 195th Airlanding Field Ambulance Battalion. As they are a Airlanding Brigade, they used Gliders. The type of Glider they used is the Airspeed AS.51 Horsa Glider which is piloted by 2, has a wingspan of 88 feet, length of 67 feet, and capable of carrying up to 28 troops, 2 jeeps, a jeep and a trailer, or a jeep and a 6-pounder gun. They also used the General Aircraft Limited GAL.49 Hamilcar Glider which carried the M22 'Locust', but also carried 2 Universal Carriers, which was used to carry Mortars and Machineguns, before they carried the M22 'Locust' and after.

 

They were commented as having the most heavily armed Battalions with each Battalion (1st RUR, 2nd OBLI, and 12th Devons) having 1034 men divided into four rifle companies and a support and headquarters company. Each Rifle Company was further divided into 4 Platoons, the Support Company divided into 2 Anti-Tank Platoons with 4 6-Pounders in each, 2 Mortar Platoons with 12 3-inch Mortars in each, and 2 Vickers Machinegun Platoons with 4 Vickers in each, and finally the Headquarters Company is divided into a Signals Platoon, Assault Pioneer Platoon, Transport Platoon, and a Administration Platoon.

 

 

6th Airborne Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment (6th AARR)

 

 

Operating Varsity - The Falling 'Locust'

 

The 6th AARR only had some elements dedicated to the airborne portion. This included 8 'Locust' from the 'A' Light Tank Squadron, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Stewart, with it being divided into 3 parts. 3 'Locust' were put in the 1st Troop, 3 'Locust' in the 2nd Troop, then 2 'Locust' in a HQ Troop. The 'A' Squadron was nicknamed a Half-Squadron, missing 3 other Troops, and had a total of 3 Officers and 24 other ranks. The 'C' Support Squadron, under the command of Captain O'Hanlon, also participated, sending their Mortar Troop with 4 4.2" Mortars to support the Light Regiment, Royal Artillery as reinforcements. Also with the 'C' Squadron were 6 Jeeps with the 'Airborne' Package, 4 to tow the 4.2" Mortars and the other 2 to tow ammunition trailers. The 'C' Squadron had 2 Officers and 26 other ranks to assist in this operation. In total 14 Hamilcar Gliders would've been used to transport the units and their members.

 

The 14 Hamilcars took off from Tarrant Rushton Airfield, being towed across the channel and released. However, there were several accidents. The first, and strangest, one was when a Hamilcar carrying the 'Locust' of Sergeant Dawson disenagrated without warning. The 'Locust' then fell out and was found a few months later in the mud at the edge of Rhine, with everyone supposisably dead. The official cause of this is debated, as it has been stated that it has been due to enemy fire or structural failure, it has also been debated if the Glider landed safely with the floor missing or if it crashed. However, due to the presence of no German flak in the area when it happened, most historians agree that it was indeed a structural failure when the tank broke from its moors, crashed through the tail, and then the glider tow cable breaking apart. An eye witness, and I quote from 'Airborne Armour':

 

"Just before we crossed the Rhine, the tank being carried by a Hamilcar flying on our port side shot out through the tail of the aircraft complete with its shackle chains and the crew still sitting on its side. The tank seemed to stand still in mid air then slowly turned over, whilst the rest of the glider began to the break up on the tow rope which was eventually released, presumably by the tug aircraft." - Hamilcar Pilot Peter Davies

 

It did not get easier for the other Gliders, or any Glider at all, when they reached their target. The smoke and haze caused by the allied bombardment, meant to suppress German positions, only partly worked and the smoke and haze caused the Gliders to have trouble identifying their landing sites and even their height. To make things even worse, they ran a little early and the parachute troops didn't have time to destroy all of the flak guns, leaving the Gliders easy targets to anyone that could still fire on them.

 

The CO's, Stewart's Glider, got one of the landing wheels shot off, probably by flak. This caused it to go slightly off the LZ  but still landed safely. Lt. Davies' Glider made a safe landing on the LZ despite being shot 3 times by German flak in the area. Lt Kenward's, someone I will mention later, Glider landed on the LZ but had to break through the nose of the Hamilcar due to it being broken. The other 4 Gliders, which I could not find who were in them, crashed with only 1 of them landing safely. The first 'Locust', even though its Glider crashed, only had its Machine gun damage but other than that was fine. The other 'Locust' had a much more violent rumble. First, it flew out of the Glider that was crashing and landed into a house, somehow the crew remaining unhurt, but the Wireless and 37mm gun getting damaged. Sadly, the 37mm problem wasn't realized until after they fired it, spraying it open. They continued to support the American troops in the area who got drawn off course but still fought the German hostiles. The most likely unit that 'Locust' supported would've been the 513th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 17th Airborne Division, drawn off course but still fought the Germans. The final Glider, at first, landed safely by the CO's Glider. However, it then hit a ditch which caused it to pop up like a person hitting the bottom of a rake and the tank to be ejected out of the Glider. The tank, which Trooper K.W. Dowsett was apart of, somersaulted through the air before landing on its turret, being flipped back over later. This is a report made by Trooper K.W. Dowsett from 'Airborne Armour':

 

"Our ETA at the LZ was 1040 hrs and as we approached we secured ourselves into our seats. The guns were loaded (37mm and .30 coaxial machine gun), the engine started and we were all set. I heard one of the glider pilots say, 'Hang on chaps. We're going in now.' A very short time later we seemed to be going around and around and then, with an almighty crash, we came to a halt upside down suspended in our safety harnesses. It transpired later that, after casting off, we had glided down very close to a light flak position which took part of the Hamilcar's wing off. In the resulting crash both our pilots were killed and the tank, propelled by its own movement, tore loose from the securing shackles and somersaulted through the air, landing upside down on its turret.

We eventually, with great difficulty, released our harnesses and were able to crawl out from under the tank. We were a pretty sore and sorry crew. My personal weapons was a Sten gun which, due to insufficient storage space inside the turret, was strapped to the outside - this was bent and totally unserviceable. A somewhat uninspiring descent into Germany - I didn't even have a weapon!

As the three of us lay alongside the wreckage, keeping our heads down and wondering when it would be practical to move on foot towards our RV, we heard the sound of tracks and thought this was the end for us. But, unbelievably, it was our commanding officer's 'Locust' ratting up with the commanding officer himself, bedecked in his brightly coloured cavalry forage cap, sounding his hunting horn as he stood upright in the turret! We climbed on the back of his tank and set off to the RV where defensive positions in the vicinity of divisional headquarters were being established." - Crewman of the flipped 'Locust', Trooper K.W. Dowsett

 

THIS IS WHY YOU WEAR SEATBELTS!

 

The last Hamilcar landed safely but North of the LZ.

 

So, in summary, out of the 8 tanks that were meant to take part in operation, only 6 did. The other 2 included the one that got flipped and Lt. Kenward's 'Locust'. Shortly after breaking through the nose of the Glider, Lt. Kenward came under fire from, a variety of sources, states it as a SPG, tank, or Panther. It is most likely a Panther due to the shot being a 75mm, Lt. Kenward describing it as a Panther, and Lt. Kenward's son also stating it is a Panther. The other 'Locust', of which Corporal Ward commanded, landed safely but broke down after attempting to tow a jeep out of a crashed Horsa. However, it did manage to rack up at least 100 kills by staying in that position.

 

 

 

Aftermath

 

After the battle the 'Locust' were deemed unfit for duties and were replaced by the Mk.VII 'Tetrarch' Light Tank, the very tank they were meant to replace. However, they did see action in the Egyptian Army as combat units up to 1948 and in the Belgian Army as Command Tanks for the M4 Shermans.

 

 

Sources

 

These are all the sources I used:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6th_Airlanding_Brigade_(United_Kingdom) - 6th Airlanding Brigade

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Varsity - Operation Varsity

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M22_Locust - M22 'Locust' Airborne Light Tank #1

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Kindersley,_2nd_Baron_Kindersley - Hugh Kenyon Molesworth Kindersley

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen%27_Own_Worcestershire_Hussars - 53rd Worcestershire Yeomanry Airlanding Light Regiment (Royal Artillery)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Engineers - Royal Engineers

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/195th_(Airlanding)_Field_Ambulance - 195th Airlanding Field Ambulance Battalion

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airspeed_Horsa - Airspeed AS.51 Horsa Glider

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Aircraft_Hamilcar - General Aircraft Limited GAL.49 Hamilcar Glider

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6th_Airborne_Division_(United_Kingdom) - 6th Airborne Division

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_Tank_Mk_VII_Tetrarch - Mk.VII 'Tetrarch' Light Tank

http://www.liquisearch.com/m22_locust/operational_history/world_war_ii/operation_varsity - M22 'Locust' Airborne Light Tank #2

http://www.militaryfactory.com/armor/detail.asp?armor_id=252 - M22 'Locust' Airborne Light Tank #3

Edited March 4, 2016 by Necro_Vin

[SMS_Elbing 7,052]

interesting read up

[Wiggly_Armed_Man 2,383]

Why did my post get deleted? I think I deserve to know why since that took 2 hours to research and type.

[Maki3006 2,690]

Why did my post get deleted? I think I deserve to know why since that took 2 hours to research and type.

 

It got moved.

Edited January 28, 2016 by Springfield3006

[P8triot 3,894]

Thank you for the excellent read.  I don't think it was a failure IMHO.  I'm sure it gave pause to the enemy since it was not common to have armored units of any sort with the paratroopers who themselves had a reputation as fierce soldiers.  The fear factor certainly came into play at least during the nighttime hours :)

[Wiggly_Armed_Man 2,383]

Oh, weird. First when I tried to edit it said 'NO_SUCH_TOPIC', now that I look back at it I find it there again...

 

EDIT: Now I sound dumb, oh well.

Edited January 28, 2016 by Necro_Vin

[Juiceter 2,284]

Very interesting read - thanks. Particularly poignant for me as my father was a sergeant in the Parachute Regiment and later the SAS. He's now lying on his deathbed with Dementia and kidney failure @ 77, and we will loose him anytime soon  :(s . He met some of the men this article talks about.

Edited January 29, 2016 by Juiceter

[Wiggly_Armed_Man 2,383]

Using several sources, I have concluded that one of the tanks was commanded by Lt. V. V. Kenward of the 6th Airlanding Brigade, in the 6th Airborne Armored Reconnaissance Regiment as a Staff Officer.

 

http://www.6thaarr.com/m-22-locust.html - First mention, calling him Lt. Kenward and saying he dueled with a Panther

http://www.pegasusarchive.org/normandy/order_6th.htm - Called him Lt. V. V. Kenward listed under 6th Airborne Armored Reconnaissance Regiment as Staff Officer

[Wiggly_Armed_Man 2,383]

This is not really on-topic, but from the M22 tank that the Robert's Armory has, apparently some were actually sold to farmers as tractors after the war (obviously without the turrets and weapons). This is the case of M22 #110.

 

http://www.robertsarmory.com/m22.htm - M22 #110

[Wiggly_Armed_Man 2,383]

Is anyone capable of finding out this number? All i could get was 7054, I do not know what the other 2 numbers were before that.

 

http://www.combatreform.org/m22lighttanklocust.jpg - M22 #__7054 picture

 

Here are all the numbers I have found:

 

T-__7054

T-159184 - Confirmed by https://armorama.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Reviews&file=index&req=showcontent&id=8748

T-158977 - Confirmed by https://armorama.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Reviews&file=index&req=showcontent&id=8748

T-158978 - Confirmed by https://armorama.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Reviews&file=index&req=showcontent&id=8748

 

T-159184, T-158977, and T-158978 are all M22 used by the 6th Airborne Armored Reconnaissance Regiment

Edited January 29, 2016 by Necro_Vin

[Phaethon666 102]

Thanks for the posting of this.  I knew most of the content but you somehow found more detailed information about Locusts being used Operation Varsity than I had read before.

[Wiggly_Armed_Man 2,383]

I am going to update this as I have found more detailed information on Operation Varsity, and I am in contact with a group that know them well.

Edited February 23, 2016 by Necro_Vin

[Wiggly_Armed_Man 2,383]

The story is only half done but I got pre-battle and landing done in it.