David Greentree, Crusader vs M13/40 (Osprey, 2024)
When you picture tank duels in the Western Desert during World War II, my bet is that you do not conjure up British Crusaders fighting Italian M13/40s. You may also believe the myth that the Italian tanks were weak and as likely to run as stand and fight. Some British tank commanders thought that too, but as David Greentree highlights in this new volume in Osprey’s Duel series, the truth was quite different.
Greentree notes that the M13/40 was more than capable of holding its own against the early model Crusader, which had an inferior engine, a defective water pump, a weak gun, and was prone to throwing a track. It would not be until the Grant and Sherman arrived before the Italian tank became overmatched. Greentree explains that the British were late to the show when it came to realising the potential of tanks, and they opted for many designs over a few good ones. From that emerged the Crusader as a cruiser tank, though one with numerous problems and difficult to operate. The Italians initially focused on tankettes over tanks. Their first medium tank was the M11/39 but was soon superseded by the M13/40 then the M14/41 and other models. Greentree then compares technical specifications: ammunition, armour (with the M13/40 sadly lacking in that department), mobility, vision, and communications (the latter reads like an afterthought on both tanks).
Moving on to doctrine, Greentree laments the British lack of a clear plan on how to use tanks. The concept of combined arms was a notion that escaped them in practice, and the old cavalry mentality hindered development – the Axis forces would teach them the hard way. By 1938, writes Greentree, the Italians had adopted a mobile warfare doctrine that fostered combined arms divisions incorporating M13/40 tanks. Greentree also compares training and organisation before describing the action in the desert. He begins that with the Italian army under pressure then destroyed in February 1941. In the German supported fightback, the M13/40s suffered from mechanical issues under desert conditions. Combat wore down the tanks mechanically, and they suffered under British counterattacks, including a substantial contingent of Crusader tanks. It should be noted here that Greentree discusses the overall tank forces rather than duels between Crusaders and M13/40s. However, he emphasises actions between those tanks in his accounts of Operation Crusader, the Battle of Gazala, and the Second Battle of El Alamein – his descriptions of close combat are particularly illuminating. In his final analysis, Greentree argues that the Italian medium tanks were a match for the high maintenance Crusaders, but as the tide turned in the desert, the Italians found themselves outgunned and susceptible to miscommunications with their German allies, resulting in almost inevitable defeat.
Crusader vs M13/40 is an interesting addition to Osprey’s Duel series. Greentree’s survey opens the vista of the desert war for those who are only familiar with the Afrika Korps and its headline grabbing heavy tanks. The fighting between these medium tanks was a much closer affair, though Greentree makes it clear that tanks alone were rarely successful on the desert battlefield. He also highlights how a tank was not a self-contained war machine but one that relied on a support network on and off the battlefield. Greentree’s well-written combat descriptions are neatly woven into the technical aspects of these medium tanks, and enthusiasts of tank warfare and the desert war will enjoy this book.
