Comment by David Fletcher on the UK buying foreign designs in his book The Great tank Scandal
In March 1939 a Praga model TNH/P tank, weighing 8 tons, was imported form Czechoslovakia by Morris Commercial. Trials at MEE proved that in general it was a fine design and the tracks, in particular, were considered to be very good indeed. Its greatest fault was a tactical one; the gun mounting was designed in such a way that it had to be locked before the main armament, a 37mm gun, could be fired. Since the suspension was rather harsh, this meant that the tank could only fire accurately when it was stationary, apart form with its machine gun. The RTC was trained to shoot on the move – the very essence of tank fighting in British eyes – and as the Czech tank failed on that score it was rejected. About a year later a French tank, the Hotchkiss model H39, was examined as a possible infantry tank and, it seems, some important business interests were involved. The evaluation team were impressed by the use of large castings to form the hull and turret. They liked its power and armour protection but again felt that the suspension was not forgiving enough on difficult ground. They failed to comment on its worst feature, the two-man crew. One was the driver, but the commander occupied a one-man turret where he had to direct the tank, load and fire the main armament and the machine gun as well. The A11 must have seemed child’s play by comparison. In the event the reason given for rejecting the French deal was the worsening international situation; now much more would this have applied to the Czech design?