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The WWII Tank That Was Designed Backwards
One of the oddest tanks of the war
At first glance, the Self-propelled 17-pdr, Valentine, Mk I, Archer looks like a standard tank destroyer. It features an open-top gunner and a long barrel designed to sling 76.2 mm shells down range at oncoming enemy tanks. However, if you look closer, you will notice that this tank was designed backward. The gun faces the rear, and the tank drives away from the direction that the gun is pointing. This makes it seem as though this weapon would only be good when retreating as it can fire shells in reverse, in the opposite direction that you are driving. It is an odd design and one of the only tanks to be built with this puzzling configuration.
But nothing in war is done without good reason.
The origins of the Archer Valentine tank destroyer were born out of a battlefield necessity. As the British continued to face heavier tanks, they required equally heavy anti-tank guns to slow them down. One of the British’s best anti-tank guns was the Ordnance QF 17 pounder gun. However, the Ordnance QF 17 pounder gun was extremely heavy, hard to move, and unwieldy. Before the design of the Archer Valentine, the guns could only be moved by tractor or truck, making them infeasible in a fluid military situation. So, a call went out to design a chasse that would allow the gun to be…
