Valentine was a British infantry tank of the Second World War. The first prototypes were built in 1940, and serial production was carried out in 1940-1944. In total, about 8,300 copies of this tank of all versions were built, which makes it one of the most produced British tanks during the Second World War. Valentine was powered - depending on the version - or an engine AEC A 190 with power or the GMC 6004 engine with 130 to 210 HP. The armament of the vehicle is - depending on the version - a single 40 mm, 57 mm or 75 mm cannon and two 7.92 and 7.7 mm machine guns.
The Valentine tank is based on the Cruiser Mk. II (A10) and due to the huge losses in equipment suffered by the British army in the French campaign in 1940, it was quickly put into mass production. The Valentine had relatively weak armor, a lot of weight, but it made up for this with decent mobility, a very low failure rate and a good upgrade potential. It was also cheap to produce, which additionally determined its production until 1944. A dozen or so versions of this tank were made in the course of serial production. One of the first, widely produced, was the Valentine Mk. III, which had a larger turret than the previous versions, which increased the crew from 3 to 4 people. Another important variation was the Valentine Mk. VIII with the 57mm 6-pounder ROQF cannon, instead of the 40mm gun. The last mass-produced version was the Valentine Mk. The XI, which featured a 75mm ROQF cannon and was most often used as a command tank. Valentine tanks were sent to the USSR under the Lend-and-Lease program, and they were also used by the Canadian army and the Polish Armed Forces in the West (PES).
The British Eighth Army was formed in September 1941 in North Africa from forces stationed in Egypt. Until November of the same year, it was composed of two corps - XIII and XXX. It included, among others: the 2nd New Zealand Infantry Division, the 4th Indian Infantry Division, the 7th Panzer Division (the famous Desert Rats) and the 1st South African Infantry Division. At the end of 1942, there were about 220,000 people formed in 10 divisions and several independent brigades. The Eighth Army underwent its baptism of fire during the Battle of Tobruk in November 1941. Later, in 1941-1943, she fought in North Africa, winning a very important victory in the Battle of El Alamein, and later beating Axis forces in Libya and Tunisia. It is worth adding that its commander from August 1942 to December 1943 was Bernard Law Montgomery - one of the best British commanders of World War II. In the years 1943-1945, the Eighth Army fought in the area of Apennine by taking part in the landing in Sicily and in the landing in southern Italy. Its soldiers later broke through the Gothic Line and the Gustav Line, as well as fought at Monte Cassino in 1944. It was the 8th Army that included the 2nd Corps of the Polish Armed Forces under the command of General Anders. In 1945, the Eighth Army fought in the Po Valley, and later entered Austria, where it ended its combat route during World War II.