Quote:
Originally posted by ericnuyt
In May 41 the US ordered 240 CTLS for Lendlease purposes to be delivered to China. When the first tanks were completed in March42, Chinese officials rejected them flatly.
By July 42 the whole batch had been completed. They were designated T14 and T15 (depending on the position of the turret.
Some were used by the US in Alaska.
They were withdrawn and scrapped in 1943.
|
Thanks Nuyt, but Jane's listing is too generic. What we need to find out is whether these Marmon-Herrington Light Tanks shipped to China were actually tanks built for the KNIL. We know for a fact that 234 CTLS Light Tanks were ordered by them, but only a handful made it to the NEI before the surrender to Japan. The remainder of the order were then taken over by US Ordnance for Lend-Lease purposes, handing them out piecemeal to anyone who was interested (including the original buyers who reportedly had paid for them in full...). I assume it was during this period that the Chinese were offered them. As far as I know China was not frantically re-arming like the NEI, and not being able to buy all the needed from the US or UK governments, turned their wallet over to companies like Marmon-Herrington.
Like I said, I think this is intriguing stuff!
H.