![]() ![]() During the Invasion Scare, they hit upon the idea of using reinforced concrete pillboxes on the back of trucks. After the First World War, they had formed Concrete Ltd, which specialized in the construction of precast structures. Together, they had created pre-cast concrete bunkers which could be installed relatively quickly. They had met each other when both began working on the problem of bunkers for the front lines and the time it took to erect them. Both Ambrose and Mathews were ex-Royal Engineers, and had served in the First World War. Source: Like most inhabitants of the UK, John Goldwell Ambrose and Charles Bernard Mathews turned their minds to the apparently impending German invasion after Dunkirk, and asked themselves: ‘what can we do?’ As they were the owners of Concrete Ltd, a company based at the Stourton Works near Leeds, they could do quite a bit more than most. This enabled the complete conversion of the British economy to a wartime footing. This common drive was a useful tool for the British Government, as the emergency reinforced in people’s minds the need to come together, and that they were in a very real war. This was not common knowledge in the UK at the time, and the country lept to face the threat. While a daunting prospect for many in the English public and administration, the realistic chances of success of such an operation were non-existent at best. On top of this situation, there was the threatened invasion by the Germans. Equally, the regular armed forces were undergoing massive expansion, and all of these new troops required weapons and equipment far in excess of what had been available even before the debacle in France. Three months later, it was a million men strong. For example, the Home Guard was a quarter of a million men strong by the end of May. However, the problem was the massive increase in the size of the armed forces. However, this was quite accurate, as the British war machine was rapidly churning out weapons to fill the ranks. The second sentence, where Churchill talks about the losses in equipment being made good, might seem quite peculiar, especially given the extent of the losses incurred in France. He was, of course, talking about the evacuation from Dunkirk. This loss inevitably took some weeks to repair, and in the first two of those weeks, the battle in France has been lost.‘ ![]() ‘Our Army and 120,000 French troops were indeed rescued by the British Navy from Dunkirk but only with the loss of their cannon, vehicles and modern equipment. On the 18th of June 1940, Winston Churchill stood up in the House of Commons and gave the first of three speeches which would become some of his most famous works. However, with an understanding of the context and the intended use of these vehicles, their merits and worth are apparent. ![]() This is often held up as part of the ‘Declinist’ view of Britain’s war effort, an attempt to ridicule the entirety of the British armor design process or just as a meme on the internet. In the years since the Second World War, the Bison has been roundly mocked for being a terrible AFV and a bad idea. ![]()
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