title: Truly Madly Deeply

text: The next day, the duo brought up the new chorus for discussion with producer Charles Fisher in the studio, recording it as a trial. Fisher was delighted with the result, expressing his belief that Savage Garden had a number-one single.


title: Truly Madly Deeply

text: Larry Flick from "Billboard" wrote that "this is the single that should help affirm that Savage Garden is more than a one-hit wonder." He described the song as a "percussive ballad" and complimented it for revealing "vocal skills and charisma not previously displayed". He noted further that "with its romantic lyrics and plush, guitar-etched instrumentation, this song "truly madly deeply" deserves as much airplay as top 40 programmers can heap upon it." Insider described it as "a truly sweet song, written out of homesickness, this love ballad has total staying power and is still played over 20 years later." Pan-European magazine "Music & Media" stated that "this Australian duo possess a fine knack for writing excellent mainstream pop with top flight radio appeal." They added that "this track, taken from their eponymous debut album, is no exception—as proven by its recent two-week stay at the top of Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart." In 2018, "Stacker" placed the song at No. 21 on their list of the "Best pop songs of the last 25 years", noting it as "a quintessential '90s pop song". In 2019, they ranked it No. 9 on their list of the "Best 90s pop songs".


title: Truly Madly Deeply

text: There are two versions of the song. The first was made available on the Australian version of the group's album, whereas the second version appears on the release of the album in Europe and America. This version was composed in 1997, and features a drum machine track instead of the more acoustic-sounding music featured on the Australian version. The European version also features on the group's greatest hits compilation, "Truly Madly Completely" and "The Singles".


title: Truly Madly Deeply

text: Two music videos were made for the song. The original Australian video, which presents Hayes with long hair, features the band in a white room with several other people. Hayes is on a red sofa singing the song while Daniel performs on the piano. It was directed by Tony McGrath. The video used for the European market, which presents Hayes with short hair, was filmed in Paris. It was directed by Adolfo Doring. The video depicts the story of two lovers, a young man and a lady, who have been separated by circumstances. The woman arrives in Paris, possibly at Gare du Nord station, in search of her lover, who is also waiting for her. He is wandering in various places within the Montmartre area, including the Soleil de la Butte restaurant. In between the scenes involving the two lovers, Hayes can be seen walking around Paris, in locations such as the Place de la Concorde and the Jardin des Tuileries. He is singing, thereby acting as a narrator to the story involving the two lovers. Towards the end of the video, Hayes enters a small concert hall where Daniel Jones is playing guitar. Shortly afterwards, the young lady manages to find her lover, right in the centre of Paris, at the feet of the Tour Saint-Jacques. They are both filled with emotion on seeing each other again. The video ends with Hayes and Jones coming out of the concert hall, and coming across the two lovers who are rejoicing in their reunion.


title: Truly Madly Deeply

text: The song was a major and sustained success in the US beginning in 1997. Entering the "Billboard" Hot 100 singles chart at No. 26 on 6 December 1997, it peaked at No. 1 for two weeks in January 1998 and lingered for a full year on the chart. It became the first song in the chart's history to spend its first 52 weeks inside the top 30. The song spent half a year in the top 10. It hit No. 1 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 Airplay chart and No. 2 on the Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks chart. It also entered the top 10 on the Rhythmic Top 40 chart. On the "Billboard" Top 40 Mainstream chart the song reached No. 1 for one week on 31 January before dropping to No. 2 as Celine Dion assumed the top spot with the theme to the hit film "Titanic", "My Heart Will Go On". Savage Garden's single held at No. 2 for 10 weeks, before returning to the No. 1 spot on the week of 18 April.


title: Truly Madly Deeply

text: The song eventually set a record for the most weeks of any single in history on the US Hot Adult Contemporary chart. In 1998 the song logged 11 weeks at No. 1 on this chart, but its full chart span lasted 123 weeks. That record would stand for just under two years, when another of the group's ballads spent its 124th week on the chart. The song was "I Knew I Loved You", from the album "Affirmation". After leaving the main Adult Contemporary chart, the song entered the Hot Adult Contemporary Recurrents chart where it charted for another 202 weeks. The song was so popular that it re-entered "Billboard's" Hot Singles Sales chart in March 2002 and—four and a half years after its release—again became a U.S. Top 30 bestseller, remaining on that chart until late July 2002. The original version logged its final week on the Hot Adult Contemporary Recurrents chart on 17 June 2006. This combined with sales still makes it the #1 Billboard AC song of all time. In 2013, the song was listed at No. 35 on "Billboard"s All Time Top 100.


title: Truly Madly Deeply

text: The song also reached No. 1 in their home country of Australia, and in Canada. It reached No. 2 in Norway, Sweden, Austria and Ireland, and went top ten in France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium and the UK. In 1998, the song was certified a Gold single in France, for sales of 200,000 copies. In May 2001 the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA), as part of its 75th Anniversary celebrations, named "Truly Madly Deeply" as one of the Top 30 Australian songs of all time.


title: Truly Madly Deeply

text: The song was covered in 1998 by Brazilian brother-sister singing duo Sandy & Junior. The Portuguese-language version, "No Fundo Do Coração" ("From the Bottom of the Heart"), was released as the third single from the teens' eighth album, "Era Uma Vez (Ao Vivo)". The album was certified Diamond in Brazil in 1999 by the Brazilian Association of Discs Producers (ABPD) for sales of over 1.8 million copies in Brazil alone. The album was their last for PolyGram Records before moving to Universal Music Group.


title: Truly Madly Deeply

text: German Eurodance group Cascada covered "Truly Madly Deeply" on their debut album, "Everytime We Touch" (2007), and released it as the second single in the UK and Germany. Although the album version of the song is a ballad, there is also an up-tempo version of the song that is the main single version. Both versions are featured on the UK edition of the album. First released in the United States exclusively in the iTunes Store on 27 February 2006, the US physical release was 13 March 2007. The single entered the UK Singles Chart at number 17 solely on downloads and peaked at number four the following week, after its physical release. In Ireland, it remained in the top 4 for four weeks.


title: Sui Ishida

text: Sui Ishida is best known for his dark fantasy series "Tokyo Ghoul", a story about a young man named Ken Kaneki who gets transformed into a ghoul after encountering one. The series then ran from 2011 to 2014 in Shueisha's "Weekly Young Jump" magazine, and was later adapted into a light novel and anime series in 2014. The manga was also translated into English where it topped "The New York Times" Best Seller list in 2015. A prequel titled "Tokyo Ghoul [Jack]" was briefly serialized digitally on "Jump Live" in 2013. In 2014, he began a sequel titled "". In 2017, a live-action adaptation of "Tokyo Ghoul" was released theatrically in Japan. In March 2018, an anime adaptation for "Tokyo Ghoul:re" began to air with a second season released in October 2018.


title: Sui Ishida

text: In 2016, Ishida created a 69-page storyboard of a manga chapter based on Yoshihiro Togashi's "Hunter × Hunter" series. Depicting the past of the character Hisoka, the storyboard was released digitally via "Shonen Jump+" on June 2, 2016.


title: Sui Ishida

text: on May 10, 2021, Ishida started the manga series "Choujin X" on Shueisha's "Tonari no Young Jump" website.


title: Pearle Maaney

text: Pearle Maaney (; born 28 May 1989) is an Indian actress, lyricist, YouTuber, and television presenter who works in Malayalam films. She is known for co-hosting three seasons of the Malayalam dance reality show "D 4 Dance". In 2018, Pearle emerged as the first runner-up of the "Big Boss" Malayalam season 1.


title: Pearle Maaney

text: Pearle Maaney was brought up in a Syro-Malabar Syrian Christian joint family based in Kochi with roots at Chowara. She did her schooling in Holy Angel's Convent Trivandrum and Rajagiri Public School, Kalamassery, and completed her graduation in media studies from Christ University, Bangalore.


title: Pearle Maaney

text: Pearle Maaney has anchored over 250 episodes of the music show "Yes Jukebox" on the Malayalam television channel Yes Indiavision, a subsidiary of Indiavision. She hosted "Taste of Kerala", a travel-based cookery show on Amrita TV under the stage name Serah.


title: Pearle Maaney

text: In October 2014, she started hosting the dance reality show "GumOn D2" on Mazhavil Manorama, replacing host Jewel Mary. Her co-host was Govind Padmasoorya. She also hosted season 2 of the Kaumudy TV programme "Cinema Company". In 2018, she contested in the first season of the reality show "Bigg Boss" on Asianet and emerged as the runner-up. She was the only female contestant to complete 100 days.


title: Pearle Maaney

text: During season one of the "Bigg Boss" reality show in 2018, she got involved in a romantic relationship with her co-contestant Srinish Aravind and both of them expressed their wish to get married. On 17 January 2019, Pearle Maaney got engaged to Srinish Aravind at a private ceremony. On 5 May 2019 the couple got married as per Christian customs and on 8 May 2019 they had a Hindu wedding ceremony as well. On 20 March 2021, Pearle gave birth to their daughter, Nila Srinish.


title: Chip Fields

text: Chip Fields, sometimes credited as Chip Hurd or Chip Fields-Hurd, is an American singer, actress, television director, and producer who has appeared in popular films, television shows, and Broadway theatre. She is best known for portraying Lynetta Gordon, the abusive birth mother of Penny Gordon Woods (played by Janet Jackson) in a four–part episode (1977) of the 1970s sitcom "Good Times".


title: Chip Fields

text: Fields began her career as a singer. She joined Ronnie Spector as a Ronette in 1973 and recorded two singles for Buddah Records.


title: Chip Fields

text: Fields began her acting career as an extra in the 1974 film "Claudine". She has had numerous supporting roles and guest appearances on television. She played an unwed mother opposite Patty Weaver in the NBC television soap opera, "Days of Our Lives". Also during the 1970s, she played the abusive birth mother of Millicent "Penny" Gordon Woods (Janet Jackson) on the sitcom "Good Times".


title: Chip Fields

text: From 1978 to 1979, she played Rita Conway in the short-lived "The Amazing Spider-Man" TV series. Rita Conway was J. Jonah Jameson's secretary, the same function as the African-American Glory Grant from the 1970s comics. She also appeared in "What's Happening!!", "Hill Street Blues", "T. J. Hooker", "Roc", "Kirk" (a short-lived sitcom starring Kirk Cameron), "The Wayans Bros.", and "The Parkers". She played the role of "Laverne", mother to the character "Regine" on "Living Single. "


title: Chip Fields

text: Fields was a consultant for "The Parkers", "", "Living Single", and was a dialogue coach for the film, "Menace II Society". She also directed episodes of the popular UPN sitcoms, "One on One", "All of Us", "Girlfriends", "The Parkers", as well as episodes of "Romeo!", "Just Jordan", "Hannah Montana", "Tyler Perry's House of Payne" and "Meet the Browns"."


title: Chip Fields

text: Chip is the mother of actress Kim Fields (famous for her roles on "The Facts of Life" and "Living Single") and Alexis Fields (famous for her roles on "Kenan & Kel", "Moesha" and "Sister, Sister"). Chip has been married to technical director Ervin Hurd since August 20, 1994.


title: Aglaonema

text: Aglaonema is a genus of flowering plants in the arum family, Araceae. They are native to tropical and subtropical regions of Asia and New Guinea. They are known commonly as Chinese evergreens.


title: Aglaonema

text: These are evergreen perennials with stems growing erect or decumbent and creeping. Stems that grow along the ground may root at the nodes. There is generally a crown of wide leaf blades which in wild species are often variegated with silver and green coloration. The inflorescence bears unisexual flowers in a spadix, with a short zone of female flowers near the base and a wider zone of male flowers nearer the tip. The fruit is a fleshy berry that ripens red. The fruit is a thin layer covering one large seed.


title: Aglaonema

text: "Aglaonema" have been grown as luck-bringing ornamental plants in Asia for centuries. They were introduced to the West in 1885, when they were first brought to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. They have been cultivated, hybridized, and bred into a wide array of cultivars. They live in low-light conditions and are popular houseplants.


title: Aglaonema

text: This mainly tropical genus is known for its intolerance of cold temperatures. Chilling injury can begin at . The injury manifests in dark, greasy-looking patches on the foliage.


title: Aglaonema

text: Cultivars have been selected for their shape and size, and especially for the color and pattern of the leaves. Many have white or cream-colored stems. Some have also been developed to tolerate colder temperatures. The most common cultivar is 'Silver Queen', which has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.


title: Aglaonema

text: Most propagation of "Aglaonema" is done with cuttings and by dividing the basal shoots. Care of the houseplant involves protecting it from cold temperatures and excessive sunlight and removing any inflorescences that develop, which can prolong the life of the plant. It requires moist soil, and while some cultivars require a small amount of fertilizer, plants are easily injured when oversupplemented. "Aglaonema" are prone to false mites ("Brevipalpus californicus"). They may also acquire populations of nematodes, such as root-knot nematodes and "Pratylenchus" species, which cause root lesions. Pathogens include the fungus "Myrothecium roridum" and bacteria such as "Pseudomonas cichorii", "Erwinia chrysanthemi", and "Xanthomonas campestris", which can all cause leaf spot. "Colletotrichum" fungi can cause anthracnose.


title: Aglaonema

text: The NASA Clean Air Study determined that the species "modestum" of this plant genus was effective at removing common household air toxins formaldehyde and benzene.


title: Aglaonema

text: "Aglaonema" plants are poisonous due to calcium oxalate crystals. If ingested they cause irritation of the mucous membranes, and the juice can cause skin irritation and painful rash.


title: Danny Murphy (footballer, born 1977)

text: Daniel Ben Murphy (born 18 March 1977) is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.


title: Danny Murphy (footballer, born 1977)

text: Having begun his career at Crewe Alexandra in 1993, he moved to Liverpool in 1997, where he won a treble of the League Cup, FA Cup and UEFA Cup in 2001. During his time at Liverpool he scored the winning goal against arch rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford in three Premier League games, each a 1–0 win. After brief spells at Charlton Athletic and Tottenham Hotspur he joined Fulham, which he helped reach the 2010 UEFA Europa League Final, and ended his career at Blackburn Rovers. He served as captain at his last two clubs.


title: Danny Murphy (footballer, born 1977)

text: Murphy made nine appearances for the England team from his debut in 2001, scoring once. Since retiring, he has been a regular analyst on the BBC programme "Match of the Day".


title: Danny Murphy (footballer, born 1977)

text: Born in Chester, Cheshire, Murphy started out as a trainee at Crewe Alexandra. Murphy has always praised the role of Crewe manager Dario Gradi in his footballing education, considering him as his mentor.


title: Danny Murphy (footballer, born 1977)

text: In November 2016, as the United Kingdom football sexual abuse scandal erupted, Murphy also strongly defended Gradi's reputation.


title: Danny Murphy (footballer, born 1977)

text: Gradi always rated the footballing brain of Murphy, and used to send him on scouting missions even as a trainee. Murphy made his debut as a 16-year-old substitute in December 1993, coming off the bench at Valley Parade against Bradford City in a Football League Trophy tie. Murphy scored on his home debut for Crewe, the winner in a 4–3 win against Preston North End. Murphy generally played as a deep-lying forward for Crewe, scoring several spectacular long range and set piece goals. While at Gresty Road, Murphy formed a prolific partnership with striker Dele Adebola.


title: Danny Murphy (footballer, born 1977)

text: Many top flight clubs had their eye on Murphy before his eventual move to Liverpool. Before he left, he helped Crewe reach the second tier of English football for the first time since 1896, as Crewe finished third in Division Two, before going on to defeat Brentford 1–0 at Wembley in the 1997 play-off final.


title: Danny Murphy (footballer, born 1977)

text: After signing for Liverpool in 1997, for an initial fee of £1.5 million, he made his debut as a substitute on the opening day of the 1997–98 season in a draw with Wimbledon. However, he did not break into the first team squad immediately and, after making just one league appearance for the club during the following season, he returned to Crewe for a successful period on loan, during which he helped save his old club from relegation. After the loan period ended, he looked set to be sold but he went on to become a first-team regular at Anfield.


title: Danny Murphy (footballer, born 1977)

text: Though naturally a central midfield player, Murphy often played as a wide midfielder due to the fierce competition for places, particularly from Steven Gerrard and Dietmar Hamann. Murphy's career at Liverpool included a cup treble in 2001 (where Liverpool won the League Cup, FA Cup and UEFA Cup), a Premier League second-place finish in 2002 and a second League Cup in 2003. During the 2001–02 season, when he established himself as a key member of the side, Liverpool's assistant manager Phil Thompson praised Murphy, citing his versatility and describing him as 'probably the most tactically aware player that we have.' Although the 2002–03 season was overall a disappointing one for Liverpool, with the club slumping to fifth in the table after a lengthy winless run in mid-winter, Murphy had a fine individual campaign which saw him score 12 goals and be voted the supporters' player of the season. He also started the 2003 Football League Cup Final as Liverpool defeated Manchester United, having missed the 2001 final due to injury.


title: Danny Murphy (footballer, born 1977)

text: He developed a habit of scoring the deciding goal in 1–0 wins against Manchester United at Old Trafford, a feat he achieved three times in four seasons (2000–01, 2001–02 and 2003–04).


title: Danny Murphy (footballer, born 1977)

text: Murphy signed for Charlton Athletic from Liverpool for £2.5 million on a four-year contract in August 2004. In his first season at Charlton, Murphy struggled to recapture the form that he had shown at Liverpool. However, in the first three months of the 2005–06 season he emerged as a viable option for England once more, and also won the September player of the month award, scoring several goals along the way.


title: Danny Murphy (footballer, born 1977)

text: On 31 January 2006, Murphy was transferred to Tottenham Hotspur for £2 million. He appeared only fleetingly in the remaining games of the season. Murphy scored his first Tottenham goal in the 2–1 defeat of Portsmouth on 1 October 2006 after only 39 seconds of the game.


title: Danny Murphy (footballer, born 1977)

text: He scored his second goal for Tottenham when Jermain Defoe was injured in a pre-match warm-up against Newcastle United; manager Martin Jol brought Murphy into a 4–5–1 formation. Murphy scored with a scissors kick which hit Steven Taylor in the face, deflecting it past goalkeeper Shay Given. After several months, the FA decided to take the goal away from Murphy and put it down as an own-goal for Taylor.


title: Danny Murphy (footballer, born 1977)

text: Murphy was unable to establish himself as a regular at Tottenham, but made clear later that despite reports in the media, there was no disagreement between him and Jol.


title: Danny Murphy (footballer, born 1977)

text: Murphy cemented himself as a regular starter, kept his place in the team throughout the season and scored six goals in 43 matches. One goal, a rare header scored on 11 May 2008, gave Fulham a 1–0 win away at Portsmouth and ensured their Premier League survival at the expense of Birmingham City and Reading; the goal was scored as manager Roy Hodgson prepared to substitute Murphy. Following the match, Murphy highlighted Hodgson's "key role" in the team's avoiding relegation. Murphy signed a new one-year contract, with an option for a further year, at the end of the season, and was appointed club captain for 2008–09.


title: Danny Murphy (footballer, born 1977)

text: On 9 November 2008, Murphy scored his 100th goal at club level from the penalty spot, as Fulham beat Newcastle United 2–1. Murphy scored another penalty as, for the first time in 45 years, Fulham beat title-chasing Manchester United at home.


title: Danny Murphy (footballer, born 1977)

text: The year's option on Murphy's contract was taken up during the season, but in August 2009, amid reported interest from clubs including Birmingham City and Stoke City, he signed another extension, until June 2011. Murphy missed two months in the early part of the season with a knee ligament problem, but went on to captain Fulham to their first European final. They eliminated opponents including Juventus, defending champions Shakhtar Donetsk, Bundesliga champions Wolfsburg, and Hamburg to reach the 2010 UEFA Europa League Final. Ahead of the semifinal, Murphy said that just reaching the final "would be one of the greatest achievements of our history". Fulham lost 2–1 to Atlético Madrid to a goal scored just four minutes from the end of extra time.


title: Danny Murphy (footballer, born 1977)

text: The 2010–11 season started without Hodgson, who left for Liverpool, and was replaced by Mark Hughes. In October, Murphy made a controversial comment about managers responsible for dangerous tackles made by players. His comment was supported by some, but received heavy criticisms from other managers. In response to these criticisms, Murphy said his comments "were blown out of all proportion". In late-January 2011, Murphy signed another contract extension that will extend until 2012. Just one day after signing a new contract, Murphy scored his first goal of the season and then another, as Fulham beat his former club Tottenham 4–0 in the fourth round of the FA Cup. Murphy was praised by Manager Mark Hughes for helping the club turn things around and avoid relegation.


title: Danny Murphy (footballer, born 1977)

text: Ahead of the 2011–12 season, Murphy believed he could play a major role and declared himself "fitter than ever". After making forty-nine appearances and scoring seven times in all competitions, he was released by Fulham at the end of the 2011–12 season as he and Martin Jol, who had replaced Hodgson's successor, Hughes, could not agree on a contract extension. In his last season at Craven Cottage, Murphy created more goalscoring chances than any other player in the top-flight.


title: Danny Murphy (footballer, born 1977)

text: On 25 June 2012, Blackburn Rovers confirmed the signing of Murphy on a two-year contract. He was unveiled on 2 July 2012, wearing the same number 13 squad number that he wore throughout his career, therefore also taking Mark Bunn's number. Murphy said that he moved to Blackburn Rovers for first team football and said it was the right time to leave Fulham.


title: Danny Murphy (footballer, born 1977)

text: He scored his first goal for Blackburn in a 2–2 draw with Huddersfield Town on 6 November 2012. His second goal came in the FA Cup against Bristol City on 5 January 2013. In March 2013, Murphy was succeeded as Blackburn captain by Scott Dann.


title: Danny Murphy (footballer, born 1977)

text: On 1 July 2013, Murphy had his contract terminated by mutual consent despite being willing to stay at the club for another season. While at the club, Murphy was praised by manager Gary Bowyer for his assistance during Bowyer's management career at Blackburn Rovers.


title: Danny Murphy (footballer, born 1977)

text: Murphy was capped nine times for England and scored one goal. He made his debut in a friendly match against Sweden in November 2001, and scored his only international goal in a 4–0 victory over Paraguay in April 2002. Having been called up as a replacement for injured club teammate Steven Gerrard, he was set to play at the 2002 World Cup, but had to withdraw from the squad after he suffered a metatarsal injury similar to that which had affected England teammates David Beckham and Gary Neville in the run-up to the tournament.


title: Danny Murphy (footballer, born 1977)

text: On 18 August 2013, Murphy appeared as a new pundit on the BBC show "Match of the Day". He announced his retirement as a player on 10 October 2013, with the intention of continuing his media work and completing his coaching badges.


title: Gerald Anderson

text: Gerald Randolph Opsima Anderson Jr. (born March 7, 1989) is a Filipino-American actor. He is managed and under contract to Star Magic, ABS-CBN's home based talent agency.


title: Gerald Anderson

text: Recognized as the "Action-Drama Prince" of Philippine industry, He is one of the most bankable leading men of his generation. Anderson is best known for his lead roles in a series of hit television shows such as "Sana Maulit Muli" (2007), "My Girl" (2008), action dramas, "Tayong Dalawa" (2009) in which he plays a soldier, and an NBI Agent in "Kung Tayo'y Magkakalayo" (2010), a mentally challenged young man in "Budoy" (2011–2012), in the TV adaptation of the iconic comics character "Fredo" in "Mars Ravelo's Dyesebel" (2014), the Fantasy drama, "Nathaniel" (2015) and in the Cannes Film Festival Director's Fortnight entry "On the Job" (2013).


title: Gerald Anderson

text: Anderson was born on March 7, 1989, in Subic, Zambales, Philippines. His father is an American instructor in the Subic Naval Base who travels back and forth between the United States and Zambales while his mother is a Filipina businesswoman from General Santos City, Philippines. He also has a younger brother (Kenneth Anderson) and two older sisters from his mother's first marriage.


title: Gerald Anderson

text: When he was three years old, he and his family moved from General Santos City to San Antonio, Texas, and then to Springfield, Missouri, when he was six. Finally, at 14 years of age, his family moved back to General Santos City.


title: Gerald Anderson

text: Anderson demonstrates oral fluency in English, Tagalog, and Cebuano. He finished his elementary studies in San Antonio, Texas, and completed high school in General Santos City, Philippines.


title: Gerald Anderson

text: Anderson was discovered by Joross Gamboa when Gamboa performed in Anderson's hometown. Gamboa introduced him to his manager, Jhun Reyes, who brought him to ABS-CBN for the first season of "".


title: Gerald Anderson

text: Anderson and the other housemates entered the Big Brother house on April 23, 2006. After 42 days, he was named Teen Third Big Placer on the show.


title: Gerald Anderson

text: Six months later, Anderson and screen partner/then-girlfriend, actress Kim Chiu, appeared together on several ABS-CBN shows (including "Love Spell" and "Aalog-Alog") and in the film "First Day High". In 2007 Anderson and Chiu starred in their first primetime TV series, "Sana Maulit Muli"; in September of that year they appeared in their first feature film, "I've Fallen For You", produced by Star Cinema. That year, he was the Best New Male TV Personality (for "Sana Maulit Muli") at the 21st PMPC Star Awards and the 38th Guillermo Mendoza Memorial Scholarship Foundation Box Office Awards (with Chiu). In May 2008 Anderson and Chiu were cast in "My Girl", an adaptation of the South Korean TV series.


title: Gerald Anderson

text: In 2009, Anderson starred in the primetime drama series "Tayong Dalawa", winning the Best Drama Actor award at the NSUU TV Awards; Anderson and Chiu were the Most Popular Loveteam for the third consecutive year at the Guillermo Mendoza Memorial Scholarship Foundation Box Office Awards. In August of that year, he appeared in ":Tiagong Akyat".


title: Gerald Anderson

text: The following year, Anderson started with Kim Chiu in the film "Paano Na Kaya". He was cast in the ABS-CBN primetime drama "Kung Tayo'y Magkakalayo", and appeared in "Your Song Presents: Isla" with his "Pinoy Big Brother Unlimited" former housemates. Anderson and Chiu teamed up again in October 2010 for the film "Till My Heartaches End". That month, it was reported that the couple had ended their romantic relationship.


title: Gerald Anderson

text: By the end of December 2010, Anderson announced his departure from Bench following his decision not to renew his contract due to busy commitments.


title: Gerald Anderson

text: In 2011 Anderson first worked with Sarah Geronimo in a film collaboration with Star Cinema and Viva Films entitled "Catch Me, I'm in Love" (shown on March 23, 2011), and in October he returned in the primetime series "Budoy" (his first primetime television series without Chiu). He starred with Jessy Mendiola; Chiu had an adjacent time slot with her drama, "My Binondo Girl" with Xian Lim. In November 2011 Anderson made another film with Geronimo, "Won't Last A Day Without You". He reunited in a movie with Chiu titled 24/7 in Love, Star Magic's ensemble film in view of the agency's 20th anniversary. He is starring as Miguel Dizon in the 2013 teleserye, Bukas Na Lang Kita Mamahalin alongside Dawn Zulueta and Kapamilya Leading Lady The Jewel of Drama Cristine Reyes.


title: Gerald Anderson

text: "Chalk Magazine's" Top 50 Hottest Guys (2006-2008) and Number One Hokage (2013); "Yes! Magazine's" 100 Most Beautiful Stars (2007-2015, 2017), The Next Big Star (2011), and Top 20 Endorsers (2011); "Candy Magazine's" Top 3 Hottest Celebrity Cutie (2007) and Swoon-Worthiest Crushes (2008); "Meg Magazine's" Annual 50 Hottest Guys (2007, 2009-2010); "Star Studio Magazine's" Number #1 (2008), Sexiest Stars (2011), and Top 25 Most Intriguing and Inspiring People (2012); "Cosmo Men Magazine's" Top 1 Cosmo Celebrity Centerfold (2009); "Inside Showbiz's" Top 40 Hottest Men (2012); and "Metro Magazine's" Hottest Leading Men (2013)


title: Gerald Anderson

text: In May 2018, Anderson joined the Marikina Shoemasters in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League. He also played for the team at the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3x3, a three-on-three basketball league, debuting in the third tour of the 2019 President's Cup helping the team win their first game in the conference. They won over the 1Bataan Risers but was not able to clinch a win for the remaining of the third tour. He later joined Imus Bandera for the following season. After suiting up for Imus, Anderson joined the GenSan Warriors, a team based in General Santos which is also his hometown


title: Thats What They All Say

text: Thats What They All Say is the debut studio album by American rapper Jack Harlow. It was released on December 11, 2020, by Generation Now and Atlantic Records. The album features guest appearances from Lil Baby, Big Sean, Chris Brown, Adam Levine, EST Gee, Bryson Tiller, DaBaby, Tory Lanez and Lil Wayne, the latter three appear on the remix of Harlow's breakout single, "Whats Poppin".


title: Thats What They All Say

text: "Thats What They All Say" debuted at number five on the US "Billboard" 200, with 51,000 album-equivalent units (2,000 including pure album sales) in its first week. The album also accumulated a total of 66.21 million on-demand streams of the album's songs during the tracking week.


title: Heaven or Las Vegas

text: Heaven or Las Vegas is the sixth studio album by Scottish alternative rock band Cocteau Twins, released on 17 September 1990 by 4AD. Despite 4AD president Ivo Watts-Russell proclaiming it one of the best-ever releases on his label, he released the group from their contract at the end of 1990 because his relationship with the band had soured.


title: Heaven or Las Vegas

text: "Heaven or Las Vegas" peaked at number seven on the UK Albums Chart and number 99 on the US "Billboard" 200, becoming the band's most commercially successful release. It eventually sold 235,000 copies by 1996, according to "Billboard". The album was included in the book "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die", and was voted number 218 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's "All Time Top 1000 Albums". In 2020, "Rolling Stone" listed it at No. 245 in its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.


title: Heaven or Las Vegas

text: The album was voted 18th of "Scotland’s 100 Best Rock and Pop Albums" in 2003 and was the focus of a BBC Scotland programme, "Classic Scottish Albums" in 2007.


title: Heaven or Las Vegas

text: Cocteau Twins released their fifth album, "Blue Bell Knoll", in 1988. Despite signing a major label deal with Capitol Records, the band declined to promote it extensively but nevertheless shot a video for "Carolyn's Fingers" which was issued as a single only in the US. The album was not supported by a tour. The band brought on a manager for the first time as they had run into tax trouble previously. Watts-Russell, 4AD president at the time, reportedly "didn't care" for the new manager and his relationship with the band began to sour.


title: Heaven or Las Vegas

text: The band took on new familial responsibilities as bassist Simon Raymonde married his first wife, Karen, and vocalist Elizabeth Fraser was expecting her first child with guitarist and co-founder Robin Guthrie. The latter's cocaine habit previously "escalated" during the recording process for "Blue Bell Knoll"; Fraser and Raymonde believed that the new baby would prove a diversion from Guthrie's dependency and allow the pair to "play [as] happy families." Their wishes did not pan out, with Guthrie relying heavily on drugs as the band developed "Heaven or Las Vegas," causing him to experience "deep" paranoia and mood swings. His relationship with Fraser grew increasingly strained as a result.


title: Heaven or Las Vegas

text: In September 1989, Fraser and Guthrie's child, Lucy Belle was born; "Heaven or Las Vegas" was released on her first birthday. Of her pregnancy, Fraser said that she gained clarity about what mattered to her most: "Suddenly I had confidence which I'd never ever had in my life, which I consequently lost after I had the baby, because it's such a frightening experience you lose it again and you have to start over again. But it does change you." Raymonde's father, Ivor Raymonde, died shortly after Lucy Belle's birth, as the band were in the middle of recording. He recounted: "I was only 27, I was still quite young and he was a very influential guy for me so that was a big blow but, looking back on it, having a major life event happening probably helped the record have that edge to it."


title: Heaven or Las Vegas

text: "Heaven or Las Vegas" displays musical evolution, with the music becoming more accessible. Fraser's lyrics were more intelligible; many concerned her newborn child Lucy Belle, particularly "Pitch the Baby", which is about her experience in giving birth and welcoming a child. Despite most of Fraser's lyrics "[emerging] in alien tongues", which she sums up as "laziness" and "bad diction", she attributed the album's more identifiable words to Lucy Belle's influence.There was salvation in [Fraser's vocals and lyrics] too, in terms of helping save her relationship with [Guthrie], the joy of bringing a baby into the world that they could love. It did give them a new lease of life, and it gave the album an energy and vibrancy. It was very easy to make the music.Raymonde wrote "Frou-Frou Foxes in Midsummer Fires" the day after his father's death, and "Heaven or Las Vegas" straddled the two themes: "writing songs about birth, and also death, gave the record a darker side that I hear in songs like 'Cherry-Coloured Funk' and 'Fotzepolitic'". Despite being in a "very good space musically" and describing the recording process as an "inspirational time", Raymonde said: "It was trying to mask all the other shit that was going on that we didn't want to stop and think about for too long". In a retrospective of 4AD by music journalist Martin Aston, he noted that Fraser named the album "Heaven or Las Vegas" as "a suggestion of truth versus artifice, of music versus commerce, or perhaps a gamble, one last throw of the dice".


title: Heaven or Las Vegas

text: The album's drum programming was done by Guthrie, the first step in every Cocteau Twins recording session. Guthrie and Raymonde constructed the music before Fraser recorded her vocals. Raymonde likened Guthrie's rhythms on the album to hip hop beats–despite their music being far removed from it, he acknowledged that it came from a "dance-y" place. Much of "Heaven or Las Vegas"' "mysterious" instrumental effects were achieved by accident, with guitars as opposed to "omnipresent" synthesizers. As a result of Guthrie's decreased time in the studio, Raymonde's playing was more prominent and he became more involved in the recording process. Raymonde recounted that he would record Fraser's vocals alone for days at a time, during which he first "fully appreciated how amazing she was": "She'd come into the control room and say, 'What was that like?' and I'd scrape the tears away and say, 'That was alright, Liz'. She didn't get off on praise. If I said. 'That was fucking amazing', she'd say 'I thought it was shit.' I learnt not to be too effusive, which was difficult because I was so blown away with what I was hearing."


title: Heaven or Las Vegas

text: "We've had it in the back of our mind that we wanted to play live again", said Guthrie at the time of the album's release, "so we thought we'd make some of the pieces more like songs we could actually play live [...] We like it better than all our last records. That's why we continue to make more–because if we made the perfect record we'd sit back and say, 'We can't do any better than that'. We think all our other ones are fucking crap. I'm slightly proud of a couple of tracks on a couple of them, but essentially I'm really embarrassed about what we've done in the past".


title: Heaven or Las Vegas

text: The band wanted a visual representation that would capture "the ethereal", according to Guthrie. Paul West, of the design studio Form, previously worked with Cocteau Twins on the cover for "Blue Bell Knoll". West recruited photographer Andy Rumball, and the pair experimented with various materials to generate a "textural and otherworldly" effect. The final artwork is a long exposure of Christmas tree lights against a color backdrop, with its typography produced by hand on an acetate overlay. Much of the original artwork was later destroyed in a flood.


title: Heaven or Las Vegas

text: "Heaven or Las Vegas" was released on 17 September 1990 by 4AD in the United Kingdom, and in conjunction with Capitol Records in the United States. 4AD later reacquired American distribution rights for much of its back catalogue, resulting in a 2003 reissue solely on 4AD, which was remastered by Guthrie. A vinyl edition of the reissue was released in July 2014, which was repressed on 180g in 2020, remastered from high definition audio files.


title: Heaven or Las Vegas

text: The album was voted "Album of the Week" by German radio broadcaster Südwestrundfunk, and in France by radio broadcasters RMC and Radio Nantes.


title: Heaven or Las Vegas

text: The album has received positive critical acclaim. ""Heaven or Las Vegas" is their finest hour yet," enthused Martin Aston in "Q". "Ten exquisite moments that make Kate Bush – their only possible comparison – sound as airborne as Motörhead". The album subsequently featured in the magazine's "best of the year" roundup: "The Cocteaus continue on their inimitable course, blissfully regardless of what's going on in the world outside their surreal reality".


title: Heaven or Las Vegas

text: "You may be able to dig out some of the words," wrote Andrew Perry in "Select", "you may even get to hear some of the songs live, but "Heaven or Las Vegas" is Cocteau Twins in their usual, spectacular and enigmatic context". "In times when every other pop group is dragging on board whatever chemicals, '60s techniques and hypno-rhythms they can grab in order to achieve the desirable blissed-out condition," said Roger Morton in "Vox", "it's a good joke that the Cocteaus can get there with such apparent effortlessness".


title: Heaven or Las Vegas

text: "Heaven or Las Vegas" was listed as the 90th best album of the 1990s by "Pitchfork", who complimented Fraser's more direct vocals and the album's complex songwriting. It was also included in the 2008 edition of "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die", and in "The Guardian"'s online edition of a similar list. It was considered the band's strongest work since "Treasure" by AllMusic reviewer Ned Raggett, who called it "simply fantastic" and successful in creating "more accessibility".


title: Heaven or Las Vegas

text: "NME" named "Heaven or Las Vegas" the 28th best album of 1990. Retrospectively, "The Observer" listed the album as the 97th-greatest British album ever made. In 2017, NPR listed "Heaven or Las Vegas" 138th of the 150 Greatest Albums Made By Women. In 2018, "Pitchfork" ranked it first on its list of the 30 best dream pop albums.


title: Heaven or Las Vegas

text: R&B singer The Weeknd named a song "Heaven or Las Vegas" on his mixtape "Thursday", and sampled "Cherry-Coloured Funk" for his song "The Knowing" from "House of Balloons" (2011).


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: This article on military tanks deals with the history and development of tanks of the British Army from their first use in the First World War, the interwar period, during the Second World War, the Cold War and modern era.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: Tanks first appeared on the battlefield as a solution to trench warfare. They were large, heavy, slow moving vehicles capable of driving right over the top of enemy trenches; thereby eliminating the need to send soldiers "over the top" only to be blasted to pieces by enemies. The British Army was the first to use them, who built them in secret to begin with. To keep the enemy from finding out about this new solution, the public were informed that the vehicles were large water carriers, or tanks, and the name stuck.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: The First World War established the validity of the tank concept. After the war, many nations needed to have tanks, but only a few had the industrial resources to design and build them. During and after the war, Britain and France were the intellectual leaders in tank design, with other countries generally following and adopting their designs. This early lead would be gradually lost during the course of the 1930s to the Soviet Union who with Germany began to design and build their own tanks.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: While the First World War saw the first use of the tank as a weapon of war, it was during the Second World War that the tank soon became a dominant force on the battlefield. The British, American, German and Soviet armies all had different approaches to tanks and tank warfare, each with their fair share of successes and failures. The infantry tank was a concept developed by the British and French in the years leading up to the Second World War. Infantry tanks were tanks designed to support the infantry in the attack. To achieve this they were generally heavily armoured compared to the cruiser tanks, to allow them to operate in close concert with infantry even under heavy gun fire. The extra armouring came at the expense of speed, which was not an issue when supporting relatively slow moving infantry.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: Once the infantry tank-supported attack had broken through heavily defended areas in the enemy lines, other tanks such as cruisers, or light tanks, were expected to exploit their higher speed and longer range to operate far behind the front in order to cut lines of supply and communications.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: No one individual was responsible for the development of the tank. Rather, a number of gradual technological developments brought the development of the tank as we know it closer until its eventual form was unveiled out of necessity by the British Army. The British Army designs were forced by the trench warfare in which neither side could achieve more than small incremental gains without heavy loss of soldiers lives, but tanks changed that. They were made to cross the trenches and quickly break into the enemy rear, while other tanks supported the main attack. The development between the infantry tank and the cruiser tanks had its origins in the First World War division between the first British heavy tanks which supported the infantry and the faster Whippet Medium Mark A and its successors the Medium Mark B and Medium Mark C. During the interbellum British tank experiments generally followed these basic classifications, which were made part of the overall doctrine with the work of Percy Hobart and Captain B. H. Liddell Hart. The next development of the more heavily armoured and upgunned tanks was brought about by the tank on tank battles in the Second World War German Blitzkrieg. This continued throughout the war, and led to heavy tanks which became the basis of the current Main Battle Tanks seen throughout the armies today.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: The Landship Committee commissioned Lieutenant Walter Gordon Wilson of the Royal Naval Air Service and William Tritton of William Foster & Co. of Lincoln, to produce a small landship. Constructed in great secrecy, the machine was given the code-name tank by Swinton.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: The "Number 1 Lincoln Machine", nicknamed "Little Willie" weighed 14 tons and could carry a crew of three, at speeds of less than 2 mph over rough ground. Trench-crossing ability was deemed insufficient however, leading to the development of a rhomboidal design, which became known as "HMLS "Centipede"" and later "Mother", the first of the British heavy tanks. After completion on 29 January 1916 very successful trials were made, and an order was placed by the War Office for 100 units to be used on the Western Front in France, on 12 February 1916, and a second order for 50 additional units was placed in April 1916.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: The great secrecy surrounding tank development, coupled with the skepticism of infantry commanders, often meant that infantry at first had little training to cooperate with tanks.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: The first use of the British tanks on the battlefield was the use of 49 Mark I tanks during the Battle of the Somme on 15 September 1916, with mixed, but still impressive results. Many broke down but nearly a third succeeded in breaking through. Finally, in a preview of later developments, the British developed the lighter Whippet. This tank was specifically designed to exploit breaches in the enemy front. The Whippet was faster than most other tanks, although it carried only machinegun armament. Postwar tank designs would reflect this trend towards greater tactical mobility.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: While the British took the lead in tank development, the French were not far behind and fielded their first tanks in 1917. The Germans, on the other hand, were slower to develop tanks, concentrating on anti-tank weapons.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: Following the Great War, many experiments involving armoured vehicles were conducted in the United Kingdom. Particularly many advances were made in the areas of suspensions, tracks, communications, and the organization of these vehicles on the battlefield. Britain continued its technical dominance of tank design from 1915 through to at least the early 1930s. British designs, particularly those from Vickers-Armstrong, formed the basis for many of the most common tanks of the 1930s and early WWII. The Vickers 6-Ton, which was arguably the most influential design of the late 1920s, was not adopted by the British Army.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: The Carden Loyd tankettes (two-man vehicles with machine guns) influenced the tankette concept through export and similar designs such as the Soviet T-27, Italian CV-33, German Panzer I and other copies. Another notable design was the Vickers Medium Mk II, a pivotal design which combined some of the best traits of WWI tanks into a much faster tank. Eventually, by the 1930s, British experiments and policy and their strategic situation led to a tank development programme with three main types of tank: light, cruiser, and infantry. The infantry tanks were intended to support dismounted infantry. The maximum speed requirement matched the walking pace of a rifleman, and the armour on these tanks was expected to be heavy enough to provide immunity to towed anti-tank guns. Armament had to be sufficient to suppress or destroy enemy machine gun positions and bunkers as well as enemy tanks. Cruiser tanks were to carry out the traditional cavalry roles of pursuit and exploitation, working relatively independently of the infantry. This led to cruiser tank designs requiring greater speed. To achieve this they were unable to carry as much armour as the infantry tanks, and tended to carry anti-tank armament. In practice both cruiser and infantry tanks entered the Second World War with the same gun. The light tanks were tasked with reconnaissance and constabulary-type colonial roles, with cost the major design factor.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: An outstanding achievement of the British Army had been the creation of the Experimental Mechanised Force in the late 1920s. This was a small Brigade-sized unit developed to field-test the use of tanks and other vehicles. The unit pioneered the extensive use of radio to control widely separated small units. The unit was short-lived, however. However even though the British in the 1930s continued the design and development of tanks themselves, the Germans began to further develop tank strategy and incorporate them into their tactical employment more than the British. This doctrine of deployment led armies to equip their tanks with radios, to provide unmatched command and control, Germany along with the USSR also led the way with welding, although the US followed closely. Riveting and bolting remained in use in British designs.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: Infantry tanks were a continuation of the Great War tanks, heavily armoured and designed to accompany an advancing infantry unit and hence slow. Once the infantry tanks had punched through an enemy line, lighter and faster cruiser tanks would be let loose to disrupt supply lines.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: The main problem with this strategy however, was that the British infantry tanks were just too slow and the cruisers of the time were vulnerable, and often mechanically unreliable. Come 1940, most of the British armour had been abandoned in France when the British Expeditionary Force was evacuated from Dunkirk, but this encouraged new designs. By the end of the war the increase in speed of the infantry tanks, and the increased armour of the cruisers, meant that there was little difference between the two classes of British tank. However, the British had to quickly build more reliable and more heavily armoured designs from the experienced gained in the early battles or acquire US designs to meet the needs.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: At the start of the war most British tanks were equipped with the Ordnance QF 2-pounder (40mm) gun which was able to penetrate contemporary German armour. The trend towards bigger guns and thicker armour which resulted in heavier tanks, made itself felt as the Second World War progressed, and some tanks began to show weakness' in design.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: In 1939, most tanks had maximum armour of 30 mm or less, with guns no heavier than 37–47 mm. Medium tanks of 1939 weighed around 20 tons. Also if the tank's gun was to be used to engage both unarmoured and armoured targets, then it needed to be as large and powerful as possible, making one large gun with an all-round field of fire vital. Also, mounting the gun in a turret ensured that the tank could fire from behind some cover. Hull-mounted guns required that most of the vehicle be exposed to enemy fire. Multiple-turreted or multi-gun designs such as the British A9 Cruiser Mk I slowly became less common.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: British tanks armament and use in the battles also had to change as German Blitzkrieg tactics and doctrine shifted towards faster medium and heavy tanks fighting large multi-tank battles, with the role of the infantry tank in assaults taken by simpler self-propelled artillery. In British practice, the main armament of the infantry tank went in three phases. The pre-Dunkirk British Army Matilda I infantry tank had only a single Vickers machine gun, a compromise forced by the low cost to which they had been built. The Matilda II had a capable anti-tank gun with the 40mm 2 pounder but these were only issued with solid-shot (i.e. non-explosive) for anti-tank use and was of little use for artillery close-support of infantry. The follow-up gun to the 2pdr was already in development but the need to rapidly replace the losses in France delayed its production. Eventually QF 6-pounder (57mm) guns were put into the British tanks, and these could deal with pretty much anything but head on attacks on the German Tiger and Panther tanks - thanks to their special armour piercing rounds. As the war progressed many British tanks were equipped with a gun firing the same 75mm ammunition as American Sherman tanks. These had better performance using high explosive or smoke ammunition, but could not match the 6-pounder against armour. Then the 17-pounder (76.2 mm) was developed, becoming the best British gun of the war - able to deal with almost any armour put up against it.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: The British Mark I was the world's first combat tank, entering service in August 1916, and first used in action on the morning of 15 September 1916. It was developed to be able to cross trenches, resist small-arms fire, travel over difficult terrain, carry supplies, and be able to capture fortified enemy positions. The Mark I was a development of "Little Willie", the experimental tank built for the Landships Committee by Lieutenant Walter Wilson and William Tritton in the summer of 1915. A small number of Mark I tanks took part in the battle of the Somme during the Battle of Flers-Courcelette in September 1916. They were used to cut through barbed wire to clear the way for infantry, and were even driven through houses to destroy machine gunner's emplacements. Although many broke down or became stuck, almost a third that attacked made it across no mans land, and their effect on the enemy was noted, leading to a request by the British C-in-C Douglas Haig for a thousand more. The Mark II and Mark III incorporated minor improvements and changes over the Mark I with the Mark II used in the Battle of Arras in April 1917 because of delays in the production of the Mark I tank. The Mk IV incorporated thicker armour to resist German armour-piercing bullets. The Mark V had more power (150 bhp) and could be steered by one man, thanks to the epicyclic gear system created by Walter Wilson. It was first used in the Battle of Hamel on 4 July 1918 when 60 tanks contributed to a successful assault by Australian units on the German lines. During the Battle of Amiens in August 1918, several hundred of the Mark V and the lengthened Mk V* tanks, together with the new Whippet tanks, penetrated the German lines in a foretaste of modern armoured warfare.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: The Mark VI did not progress past the stage of a wooden mock-up; the project was cancelled in December 1917 in order that a tank co-developed with the US (the Mark VIII) could go forward. Because of technical troubles the Mark VII, almost identical to Mks I to V, had only three produced out of an order for 74 when war ended. The Mark VIII was a cooperative design between the Allies and was also known as "Liberty," "International," or Anglo-American tank. It did not see combat in the war but was used and upgraded until the 1930s when given to Canada for training. The Mark IX was designed in 1917 as the world's first specialised Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC). Thirty-four were completed, but none saw service. One was experimentally equipped as an armoured ambulance, and another rebuilt as an amphibious tank by the staff of the test base at Dollis Hill. There is photographic evidence that some Mk IX were used post-WWI as Infantry Carriers, but no record of their peacetime service is known to exist. The Mark X, a further improvement on the Mk V, was planned but never built.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: The Medium Mark A Whippet was a British tank of the First World War. It was intended to complement the slower British heavy tanks by using its relative mobility and speed in exploiting any break in the enemy lines.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: The Whippet tanks arrived late in the First World War, and went into action in March 1918. Alongside Mark V and V* tanks, they took part in the Amiens offensive (8 August 1918) where they broke through into the German rear areas causing the loss of the artillery in an entire front sector.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: A first offensive using 49 Mark I tanks took place on 15 September 1916, during the Battle of the Somme, under Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, with limited success. Not until 20 November 1917, at Cambrai, did the British Tank Corps get the conditions it needed for success. Around 400 tanks penetrated almost six miles on a 7-mile front. This was their first large-scale deployment in combat. Unfortunately, success was not complete because the infantry failed to exploit and secure the tanks' gains. The British scored another victory the following year, on 8 August 1918, with 600 tanks in the Amiens salient. General Erich Ludendorff referred to that date as the "Black Day" of the German Army.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: The German response to the Cambrai assault was to develop its own armoured program. Soon the massive A7V appeared. The A7V was a clumsy monster, weighing 30 tons with a crew of eighteen. By the end of the war, only twenty had been built. Although other tanks were on the drawing board, material shortages limited the German tank corps to these A7Vs and some captured Mark IVs. The A7V would be involved in the first tank "vs". tank battle of the war on 24 April 1918 at Villers-Bretonneux—a battle in which there was no clear winner.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: Parallel to the British development, France designed its own tanks. The first two, the medium Schneider CA and heavy Saint-Chamond, were not well-conceived, though produced in large numbers and showing technical innovations, as for the latter type a petro-electrical transmission and a long 75 mm gun. The later Renault FT was the first operational tank with a "modern" configuration: a revolving turret on top and an engine compartment in the back; it would be the most numerous tank of the war. A last development was the superheavy Char 2C, the largest tank ever built, be it some years after the armistice.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: Numerous mechanical failures and the inability of the British and French to mount any sustained drives in the early tank actions cast doubt on their usefulness—and by 1918, tanks were extremely vulnerable unless accompanied by infantry and ground-attack aircraft, both of which worked to locate and suppress anti-tank defenses.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: The first American-produced heavy tank was the 43.5-ton Mark VIII, a US-British development of the successful British heavy tank design. Armed with two 6-pounder cannon and five .30-caliber machine guns, it was operated by an 11-man crew, had a maximum speed of 6.5 miles per hour, and a range of 50 miles. Production difficulties meant that none was produced before the War ended.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: After the Great War, General Erich Ludendorff of OHL, the German High Command, praised the Allied tanks as being a principal factor in Germany's defeat. The Germans had been too late in recognizing their value to consider them in their own plans.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: At a time when most soldiers regarded the tank as a specialised infantry-support weapon for crossing trenches, officers in the Royal Tank Corps had gone on to envision much broader roles for mechanized organizations. In May 1918, Colonel J.F.C. Fuller, the acknowledged father of tank doctrine, had used the example of German infiltration tactics to refine what he called "Plan 1919". This was an elaborate concept for a mass armoured offensive in 1919.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: An outstanding achievement of the British Army was the creation of the Experimental Mechanised Force (EMF) in the late 1920s. This was a small brigade-sized unit developed to field-test the use of tanks and other vehicles. The EMF formed by the British demonstrated a mobile force with its own motorised infantry and self-propelled guns. The unit pioneered the extensive use of radio to control widely separated small units. The unit was short-lived.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: In 1920 the Infantry had plans to acquire a Light Infantry Tank. Colonel Johnson of the Tank Design Department derived such a type from the Medium Mark D. In competition Vickers built the Vickers Light Tank. but the project was abandoned in 1922 in favour of a more conventional design: the Vickers Light Tank Mark I, that would be renamed to Vickers Medium Tank Mark I in 1924. The first prototypes were sent to Bovington for trials in 1923. The Medium Mark I replaced some of the Mark V heavy tanks and served in the Royal Tank Regiment, being the first type of in total 200 tanks to be retired in 1938. The Medium Mark I was the first tank to see "mass" production since the last of the ten Char 2C's had been finished in 1921. As of the next tank, the Renault NC27, only about thirty were built, the British Mediums represented most of the world tank production during the Twenties.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: The Medium Mark I successor, the Vickers Medium Mk II combined some of the best traits of Great War tanks into a much faster tank. It was derived from the Vickers Medium Mark I and was developed to replace the last of the Medium Mark Cs still in use. It had a rotating turret on top like the FT but mounted a dual-purpose 3-pounder gun (that could fire both high-explosive and anti-tank shells) with a coaxial machine gun.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: The Medium Mark III was ordered in 1928 and proved reliable and a good gun platform. It suffered from a poorly-designed suspension, road speed increased to but during cross-country rides the bogies were often overloaded. Three Mark IIIs were built, one by Vickers and two by the Royal Ordnance Factory at Woolwich: Medium III E1, E2 and E3. The third had an improved suspension and the vehicles were in 1934 taken into use by the HQ of the Tank Brigade. One of the Mark IIIs was fitted as a command vehicle with an extra radio aerial around the turret. This was used by Brigadier Percy Hobart for the Salisbury Plain exercises during 1934.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: The cavalry and the Royal Tank Corps wanted fast, lightly armoured, mobile vehicles for reconnaissance and raiding—the light and medium (or "cruiser") tanks. In practice the "light tanks" were often small armoured personnel carriers. Army Tank Battalions for infantry-support required thickly armoured tanks. As a consequence of this doctrinal split, firepower was neglected in tank design.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: After the First World War, the British began to produce a series of similar light tanks and developed them right up to the Second World War; the Light Tanks Mk II through to the Mk V. Eventually, by the 1930s, British experiments and their strategic situation led to a tank development programme with three main types of tank: light, cruiser and infantry. The Infantry tanks were for the support of infantry. The maximum speed requirement matched the walking pace of a rifleman and the armour on these tanks was expected to be thick enough to provide immunity against towed anti-tank guns. Armament had to be sufficient to suppress or destroy enemy machine gun positions and bunkers. Cruiser tanks gained the traditional cavalry roles of pursuit and exploitation, working relatively independently of the infantry. This led to cruiser tank designs having great speed. To achieve this they were lightly armoured and tended to carry anti-tank armament.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: The light tanks were for reconnaissance and colonial repression, with cheapness the major design factor. They were not expected to fight anything other than other light tanks nor need a gun for fighting heavier tanks. They saw use in training and in limited engagements with British Empire units such as the South African Army during the East African Campaign against forces of the Italian Empire. Up until the Mk V, they had a driver–commander and a gunner. The Mk V had a driver, gunner and the commander helping on the gun. The light tanks were kept in use for training until around 1942. Some saw use in the Western Desert Campaign or Abyssinia. They were followed by the Light Tank Mk VI from 1936.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: The Light Tank Mk VI was the sixth and final design in the line of tanks built by Vickers-Armstrongs for the British Army during the interwar period. The company had achieved a degree of standardization with their earlier five models and the Mark VI was identical in all but a few respects. Production of the Mk VI began in 1936 and ended in 1940 with approximately 1,000 Mark VI tanks built.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: When the Mk VI was first produced in 1936, the Imperial General Staff considered the tank to be superior to any light tank produced by other nations, and well suited to the dual roles of reconnaissance and colonial warfare. Like many of its predecessors, the Mark VI was used by the British Army for imperial policing duties in British India and other colonies in the British Empire, a role for which it and the other Vickers-Armstrongs light tanks were found to be well suited. When the British government began rearming in the 1930s, the Mk VI was the only tank with which the War Office was ready to proceed with manufacture, the development of a medium tank for the Army had hit severe problems after the cancellation of the proposed "Sixteen Tonner" medium tank in 1932 due to the cost and cheaper models only existed as prototypes with a number of mechanical problems. When the Second World War began in September 1939, the vast majority of the tanks available to the British Army were Mk VIs - there were 1,002 Mk VI Light Tanks. The British and Commonwealth forces employed a relatively small number of these light tanks and armoured vehicles in East Africa against the forces of the Italian Empire from June 1940 to November 1941. For the most part, an assortment of armoured cars was used. B Squadron 4th Royal Tank Regiment did include small number of Matilda II infantry tanks.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: In 1934 the best features of the earlier Mk III light tank were incorporated into a cruiser tank design. Sir John Carden of Vickers-Armstrong produced this new tank, to General Staff specification A9, which was subsequently accepted as the Cruiser Mk I (A9). A prototype was tested in 1936 and it went into production the following year, 125 examples being produced in 1937 and 1938. The follow-up to the A9, the Cruiser Mk II (A10), was also designed by Carden. Designated as a "heavy cruiser" tank, it was put into production in July 1938. It resembled the Cruiser Mk I but had thicker armour and was one of the first British tanks with Spaced armour and the first to be equipped with the Besa machine gun.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: Orders for the cruisers Mk I and Mk II were restricted, since the British Army had already decided to produce a more advanced and faster cruiser tank which would incorporate the Christie suspension acquired from the American inventor J. Walter Christie and have better armour. In 1936, Giffard LeQuesne Martel, a pioneer in tank design who had published works on armoured warfare and pioneered the lightly armoured "tankette" to enhance infantry mobility, became Assistant Director of Mechanization at the War Office. Earlier that year Martel had witnessed demonstrations of Soviet tank designs including the BT tank, which had been influenced by Christie's work. He urged the adoption of a tank that would use the suspension system and also follow Christie's practice of using a lightweight aircraft engine such as the Liberty Engine. The government authorized purchase and licensing of a Christie design via the newly formed Nuffield Mechanisation and Aero.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: The vehicle obtained from Christie became the basis of the Cruiser Mk III (A13 Mk 1) though Christie's tank required extensive redesign as it was too small. Following testing of two prototypes, the A13 was ordered into production and 65 were manufactured. The Mk III weighed , had a crew of four, a 340 hp engine which gave a top speed of and was armed with a Ordnance QF 2 pounder gun and a machine gun. When it was introduced into service in 1937, the Army still lacked a formal tank division. The Cruiser Mk IV (A13 Mk II) was a more heavily armoured version of the Mk III and was used in some of the early campaigns of the war.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: By the time the Second World War had come around, the design of the tank had shifted from its uses as a terrain covering vehicle, and the full potential of the tank as an armoured, combat vehicle had been realised.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: Since the infantry tanks were to work at the pace of the infantry units, which would be attacking on foot, high speed was not a requirement and they were able to carry heavier armour. The Infantry Tank came about as a result of a 1934 requirement by the General Staff for a tank that would directly support an infantry attack. Armament would consist of a machine gun and an overall speed of a walking man when moving. Vickers designed an inexpensive (cost was a serious consideration) pilot which was delivered and accepted in 1936. Although heavily armoured it was slow and under-armed. Most would be lost or left behind in France.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: The first purpose-designed infantry tanks were the Matilda I armed with a machine-gun and Matilda II, which was armed with a machine gun and a QF 2 pounder anti-tank gun. It was quickly seen that the Matilda I, with only a machine gun, was inadequate for its intended role. The second Matilda was ordered directly off the drawing board in 1937. During its production years of 1940 to 1943, 2,987 of these sturdy tanks were built. Though small, the tank presented a massive appearance due to its armoured skirts and cast armour. The Matilda 2 totally dominated all Italian armour and could claim title to "Queen of the Desert" until the arrival of German tanks in North Africa.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: The British Army were pioneers in tank combat but by 1939 it could be argued they were behind the times in terms of strategy and tactics, their methods based on the trench warfare of the First World War. The British Army entered the Second World War with an array of poor designs and hobbled by poor doctrine. According to the theories of Captain BH Liddell Hart and Major-General Sir Percy Hobart, they split their tank force into two groups; Infantry tanks and Cruiser tanks. British tank use focused on cavalry-type missions and infantry support without the focus on the combined-arms tactics that dominated German and later Soviet thinking.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: The result was a series of under-armed, mechanically unreliable designs such as the A9 which Sir John Carden of Vickers-Armstrong produced in 1934 and A10 and Crusader (A15) cruiser tanks, and the Matilda (A11) also by Vickers-Armstrongs Ltd, began in 1935 and Matilda II (A12) infantry tanks, and a series of deathtrap light tanks, the Light Tank Mk I built earlier by Vickers Armstrong from 1929, up to the Light Tank Mk V produced during 1936, that were suitable for reconnaissance work only.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: The Matilda Mk I, (A11) and Matilda II (A12) infantry tanks fought together in France as part of the 1st Army Tank Brigade of the British Expeditionary Force in the Battle of France. They participated in the defence and counter-attack operation at Arras against the invasion by Nazi Germany in May 1940, temporarily discomfiting the 7th Panzer Division under Rommel. In the battle, elements of motorized SS regiment ""Totenkopf"" (later to be expanded into SS-Division "Totenkopf")—were overrun, their standard PaK 36/37 anti-tank guns proving ineffective against the heavily armoured British Matilda tank. Rommel committed some of his armour to local counterattacks, only to find the guns of the "Panzer" II and Panzer 38(t) tanks could not penetrate the Matildas' armour. Desperate to prevent a British breakthrough, Rommel ordered the division's FlaK 18 anti-aircraft guns and field guns be formed into a defensive line and fire anti-tank and HE rounds in a last-ditch effort to stop the Matildas, and this stopped the British tanks. The attack made the German commanders nervous, and the battle is historically credited with shaking the confidence of the German High Command (OKW) and it may have been one of the factors for the surprise German halt on 24 May that gave the BEF the slimmest of opportunities to begin evacuation from Dunkirk. The main British force consisted of only 58 machine gun armed Matilda Is and 16 QF 2-pounder gun armed Matilda IIs supported by a few lighter armoured vehicles.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: The Mk I (A9) cruiser was used in the French, Greek and early North African campaigns. Sixty British Cruiser Mk II's went to Greece with the 3rd Royal Tank Regiment and fought against the German tanks, but over 90% suffered mechanical breakdowns as opposed to enemy action. The Cruiser Mk III saw action in Greece and early North African campaigns where they equipped units of the 7th Armoured Division. The Cruiser Mk IV tank saw action in the French and early North African campaigns.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: The Cruiser tank Mk V Covenanter was first cruiser tank design to be given a name, and never deployed outside the British Isles. They first were used to re-equip the British 1st Armoured Division after the Fall of France.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: The Crusader tanks became the main British tank, the A15 Crusader Mark I and II variants had QF 2 pounder (40mm) main gun, but the 'Crusader III' was fitted with an Ordnance QF 6 pounder (57mm) main gun. It used the same main turret as the A13 Mk III Covenanter designs, and over 5,000 tanks were manufactured. The A15 Crusader Mark III and Mark IV finally replaced most tanks in the British forces after the fall of France and was used extensively during the North African Campaign.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: When the BEF returned to the United Kingdom, nearly all their armour was left behind and the remaining Matilda Mk Is were withdrawn. The Matilda II was used up to early 1942, in the war in North Africa, the Matilda II proved highly effective against Italian tanks, although vulnerable again to the larger calibre and medium calibre anti-tank guns. When the German Afrika Korps arrived in North Africa, the anti-aircraft gun was again pressed into the anti-tank role against the Matilda, causing heavy losses, and, by the time of the Second Battle of El Alamein in October 1942, few Matildas were still in service.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: Combat experience against the Germans in the Western Desert Campaign demonstrated to the British many shortcomings with their cruiser tanks. The Cruiser Mk I was an effective tank in the French, Greek and early North African campaigns. The 2-pdr gun was lethal against the primitive Italian tanks encountered first during the North African campaign, but was, at best, a mediocre weapon against the modern German armour of the Afrika Korps. The heavier Cruiser, Mk II (A10), were part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) sent to France in the early stages of the Second World War. Their cross-country performance was initially recorded as poor but they were still used later in North Africa at the defence of Tobruk in 1941, where reliability and suspension performance in the desert conditions was praised.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: Hence a request was made in 1941 to the Nuffield Organization's subsidiary and Leyland Motors for a new heavy cruiser tank that could achieve battle superiority over German models. With the A34 Specification later called "Comet" the tank designers were to use a new gun, the "77mm HV". This gun used the same calibre (76.2 mm) projectiles as the 17-pounder but the shell casing was from the older QF 3 inch 20 cwt gun (loaded to higher pressures) permitting a smaller gun that could be readily fitted into a tank. The A34 Comet began to be delivered by September 1944. Intended to be in service by December 1944, crew training was delayed by the German Ardennes Offensive. By the end of the war, 1,200 had been produced.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: They were followed by the Valentine tank (Infantry Tank Mk III) and Churchill tank (Infantry Tank Mk IV). Designed using the interior and chassis layout of the experimental A10, the Valentine met an emergency 1938 requirement for a tank to supplement the Matilda. Ordered "off the drawing board" in 1939, by the time production ceased in 1944, some 8,275 of these sturdy tanks had been built. Considered stable and reliable by its crews, the tank was only hampered by its small size. Unlike the Matilda tanks, this model allowed the later fitting of a larger main gun but at the expense of operating a two-man turret. The initial riveted construction soon was replaced by welding. The Valentine proved to be difficult to develop further but the Churchill went through successive variants and served up to the end of the war. The early Churchills were fraught with mechanical defects and required many changes before they were considered sound. The army had this machine designed to meet a possible need for a tank to operate in a "shelled area" on the Western Front which in 1939 was expected to eventually look like 1918. The initial A20 design was not successful which caused Vauxhall to take over from Harland and Wolff. The Vauxhall design was called the A22 and the first production vehicles were delivered around the middle of 1941. Eventually, the teething problems were resolved and the tank went on to become one of the best tanks in the army. The tank was refined into many special roles, mostly with the Royal Engineers. The tank had excellent weight distribution and was considered very stable in movement.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: As British cruiser tank designs developed into larger tanks with more powerful engines, they could carry larger guns and more armour yet still achieved high speeds. At the end of the war the cruiser tank lineage led to the "universal tank" in the form of the Centurion.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: In practice the British did not operate only infantry and cruiser tanks. Lack of production capacity meant the large scale adoption of US medium tanks.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: The Cruiser Mk I was an effective tank in the French, Greek and early North African campaigns. The 2 pdr gun was lethal against the primitive Italian tanks encountered during the North African campaign, but was, at best, a mediocre weapon against the modern German armour of the Afrika Korps. Engaging the more thinly armoured flanks and rear of German tanks was generally the only way to have any effect. The minimal armour made the A9 an easy kill for most German anti-tank weapons. Also problematic was the lack of High Explosive shells for the 2 pdr gun and even worse the lack of AP for the 95 mm gun on the Close Support version. Another issue was that the areas around the front machine gun turrets created a frontal surface that was more vulnerable to enemy fire than it would have been had it been a flat plate, let alone a sloped glacis.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: A number of Cruiser Mark IIs were part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) sent to France in the early stages of the Second World War II. The A10 cross country performance was recorded as poor, but they were still used later in North Africa at the defence of Tobruk in 1941, where reliability and suspension performance in the desert conditions was praised. Sixty worn out examples were taken to Greece, by the 3rd Royal Tank Regiment and although they performed well against the German tanks, over 90% were lost due to mechanical breakdowns as opposed to enemy action (mainly tracks). (See "A Tankie's Travels" By Robert Watt )


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: The bright spots of British tank design included the Valentine, Churchill (A22), Cromwell (A27M), and Comet I (A34), which together made up a little over half of total British tank production during WWII. The Valentine was a reliable, heavily armoured infantry-support tank used successfully in the desert and by the Red Army as a light tank. The Churchill had heavy armour and good off-road capability. The Cromwell was in most respects the equal of the early model Sherman of the United States or the German Panzer IV, though by the time of its first major deployment in France in the summer of 1944, it was unremarkable compared to many other vehicles being fielded by then, its best advantage being its speed and mobility. The Comet was a design that improved on the Cromwell, fielded in the final months of the war with a modified, slightly less powerful, variant of the 17pdr, known as the 77mm QF. As a stop-gap, the Challenger (A30) Cruiser Tank, mounted a 17 Pounder gun on a lengthened Cromwell chassis with an extra road wheel each side and a widened hull centre section. From June 1944, it added heavier anti-tank firepower to cruiser tank reconnaissance units until the Comet became widely available.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: Beginning about 1942, most British tank units were equipped with vehicles supplied from the United States, such as the Stuart light tank, the Lee (or the Grant variant thereof) and the Lee's/Grant's replacement, the Sherman. The Stuart tanks were the first to come in with the 8th Hussars, and were part of the force of the 1st Armoured Division and also were part of the 4th Armoured Brigade and used for Operation Crusader.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: Immediately before and during the war, the British produced an enormous array of prototype tanks and modified tanks for a variety of specialist tasks (see Hobart's Funnies). For example, the Churchill AVRE mounted a 230 mm (11.4") direct-fire mortar which was used for destroying buildings and clearing obstacles. Responsibility for the buildup of vehicles and the training of crews to use them was given to armoured warfare expert Percy Hobart after whom the collection was named.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: Many of the ideas had already been tried, tested or were in experimental development both by Britain and other nations. For example, the Scorpion flail tank (a modified Matilda tank) had already been used during the North African campaign to clear paths through German minefields. Soviet T-34 tanks had been modified with mine-rollers. Close-support tanks, bridgelayers, and fascine carriers had been developed elsewhere also. However, the Funnies were the largest and most elaborate collection of engineering vehicles available.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: By early 1944, Hobart could demonstrate to Eisenhower and Montgomery a brigade each of swimming DD tanks, Crab mine clearers, and AVRE (Engineer) tanks along with a regiment of Crocodile flamethrowing tanks.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: Montgomery considered that the U.S. forces should use them, and offered them a half-share of all the vehicles available, but take-up was minimal. Eisenhower was in favour of the amphibious tanks but left the decision on the others to Lieutenant General Omar Bradley, then commanding the U.S. First Army. Bradley requested 25 flail tanks and 100 Churchill Crocodiles and the British War Office agreed to supply them as well as British-crewed AVREs. In the event though there was insufficient time to produce the vehicles and train the crews so on the day American forces were limited to DD tanks and their own Sherman bulldozer tanks and armoured bulldozers.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: The British at Normandy were re-equipped with some of the newer British and American tanks and a few days after D-Day, the Armoured Reconnaissance regiment of the 7th Armoured Division landed at Le Hamel on Gold Beach with Cromwell tanks and began going into action almost immediately in the fighting around Villers-Bocage. The tanks were used in the advance through the Bocage with the 22nd Armoured Brigade. They were involved in action against the 2nd Panzer Division, with the tanks leading the way out of the bridgehead.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: During the Cold War (1945–1990), the two opposing forces in Europe were the Warsaw Pact countries on the one side, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries on the other side. Soviet domination of the Warsaw Pact led to effective standardization on a few tank designs. In comparison, the main NATO countries, Britain, France, Germany, and the USA, developed their own tank designs with little in common, and the smaller counties generally adopted one or more of these designs.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: For the UK regiments, the Centurion was the primary British tank of the post-Second World War period. Development of the tank began in 1943 and manufacture of the Centurion, began in January 1945. With the 20-pounder gun it first entered combat with the British Army in the Korean War in 1950, in support of the UN forces. It was noted for its high mobility, able to climb to the top of hills that were considered difficult for infantry, let alone tanks. Upgraded to mount the 105 mm L7 gun, it became the UK's first main battle tank.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: At first, the Centurion was not considered capable of dealing with all Soviet tanks and it was joined by a traditional heavy tank design, the Conqueror. This design was almost as heavy as the German WWII King Tiger and was tasked with dealing with the heavy Soviet designs like the Joseph Stalin IS-3. They were issued at nine for each regiment in Germany; usually grouped in three tank troops. It used the American 120 mm gun and was expected to give long range firepower and support to the Centurion tanks that made up the bulk of British tank force. To provide even more firepower for the British Army of the Rhine tank units, Charioteer, a variant of the Cromwell tank with a 20 pounder gun, was deployed; it was a defensive weapon, in practice more a self-propelled anti-tank gun.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: This hodge-podge of designs was far from ideal, and there were efforts to improve the Centurion. When equipped with the L7 105 mm gun, along with greatly improved shells, the Centurion was able to penetrate even the heaviest Soviet designs. It became the truly "Universal tank" it had originally been intended and began to displace other designs in service. With future combat thought to be dominated by nuclear weapons, rendering armour as ineffective as infantry, development of newer tank designs began to wane. Instead, designs like the Centurion continued to be improved with the addition of better fire control, stabilization and NBC protection. The Centurion would go on to be one of the most widely used tank designs, equipping armies around the world. Between 1946 and 1962, 4,423 Centurions were produced, consisting of 13 basic marks and numerous variants. As recently as the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict the Israel Defense Forces employed modified Centurions as armoured personnel carriers and combat engineering vehicles. South Africa still employs over 200 Centurions.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: While the L7 equipped Centurion was an excellent tank, improvements in gunnery and especially drivetrain made it possible to equip a tank with the protection and firepower of the Conqueror with the mobility of Centurion. Leyland began experiments on such a design as early as 1956 with early prototypes in 1959. This emerged as the Chieftain, one of the most heavily armed and armoured tanks of its era, and one of the most modern designs in any force of the era. From this point the Army forces relied on single designs, adopting the main battle tank concept whole heartedly.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: Iranian orders for an improved Chieftain led to what were initially relatively minor upgrades, but the development of Chobham armour in the 1960s led to the design of a new tank combining a wide variety of improvements, the Challenger. Among its many improvements, the Challenger used a laser rangefinder in a highly automated fire control system, an improved engine, a greatly improved suspension that offered far better off-road performance. Entering service in 1983, it was beaten into NATO service by the M-1 Abrams, which also used Chobham armour.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: Almost immediately after the Chieftain entered development, the West German government began collaborating with the British on a new tank design combining features of the Chieftain with a number of new concepts. Development officially began in September 1978 with the aim of introducing a new design in the late 1980s that would replace both British and German designs. This project fell apart, but a number of experimental design concepts were then worked into the Challenger 2, which first entered service in July 1994. The Challenger 2 forms the core of the Army's heavy tank units today.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: The Challenger 2 is the main tank currently being used today by the British military in combat situations. It is renowned for its durability and endurance. Only one has ever been recorded as destroyed, of which was due to a friendly fire incident involving another Challenger 2 tank. This is possibly due to the use of Chobham armour for the Challenger's outer armour. Chobham armour is an incredibly tough armour, the details of which still remain secret to the developers. It uses layers of ceramics and other materials, combined in such a way as to withstand extreme heat and impact.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: In May 2021 the Ministry of Defence announced that 148 Challenger 3 tanks would be produced by upgrading current Challenger tanks with fully-digitised systems and a smoothbore gun. The contract costing £800 million to be carried out by Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land (RBSL) to be delivered 2027-2030.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: The headquarters of the 1st Armoured Division was deployed to Saudi Arabia in 1990 to command British land forces. It had two brigades under its command, 4th and 7th Armoured Brigade. During the war, it came under the US VII Corps and was part of the great armoured left-hook that destroyed many Iraqi Republican Guard formations. The two brigades in the division alternated heading the advance. The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, Queens Royal Irish Hussars and 14th/20th Kings Hussars saw active service during the Gulf War in 1991 deploying 57 Challenger tanks per regiment.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: The Army contributed 50,000 troops to the coalition force that fought Iraq in the Persian Gulf War. This included Challenger tank units within the 1st Armoured Division


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: The British Army was deployed to Yugoslavia in 1992; initially this force formed part of the United Nations Protection Force. Units of the 1st Armoured Division were deployed as part of the Implementation Force (IFOR) in 1995.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: In November 2001 the United Kingdom, as a part of Operation Enduring Freedom with the United States, invaded Afghanistan to topple the Taliban. The 3rd Division were deployed in Kabul, to assist in the liberation of the troubled capital. The British Army is today concentrating on fighting Taliban forces and bringing security to Helmand province. Combat operations ended in 2014, although there are some small units that operate in a non combat role to protect healthcare staff and foreign diplomats, as well as a select few who still help train the Afghan National Army.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: The United Kingdom participated in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, sending a force that would reach 46,000 military personnel. The 7th Armoured Brigade, consisting of 112 Challenger 2 tanks, 140 Warriors and 32 AS-90 155 mm self-propelled howitzers, entered Iraq on 21 March and advanced towards Iraq's second largest city, Basra and helped encircle and isolate it. The brigade, led by the 1st Fusiliers Battlegroup, made a rapid advance towards the city and soon reached its outskirts, securing Basra Airport and the bridges across the Shatt al-Arab. The advance by the brigade met sporadic though fierce resistance, with The Queen's Royal Irish Hussars, including an engagement between 14 Challenger 2s of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards and 14 Iraqi tanks, all of the Iraqi tanks being destroyed; it was the largest tank engagement by the British Army since WWII.


title: Tanks in the British Army

text: The 1st Armoured Division, including 7th Brigade, raided the city several times and the Desert Rats, led by Challenger 2s of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, Queen's Royal Lancers and 2nd Royal Tank Regiment with Warriors of the 1st Fusiliers, Irish Guards and Black Watch pushed into the city on 6 April and stayed. For the most part, Basra was controlled by 1st Division, though further engagements took place. The war was officially declared over on 1 May. The Desert Rats remained in Iraq after the war, acting as peacekeepers and helping to rebuild the country while based in the British sector in the south of Iraq. The brigade began to leave in late June, being replaced by 19th Mechanised Brigade. The remaining British troops were withdrawn from Iraq after the Iraqi government refused to extend their mandate.


title: Nakagin Capsule Tower

text: The was a mixed-use residential and office tower in Shimbashi, Tokyo, Japan designed by architect Kisho Kurokawa. Completed in two years from 1970 to 1972, the building was a rare remaining example of Japanese Metabolism (alongside the older Kyoto International Conference Center), an architectural movement emblematic of Japan's postwar cultural resurgence. It was the world's first example of capsule architecture ostensibly built for permanent and practical use. The building, however, fell into disrepair. Around thirty of the 140 capsules were still in use as apartments by October 2012, while others were used for storage or office space, or simply abandoned and allowed to deteriorate. As recently as August 2017 capsules could still be rented (relatively inexpensively, considering the Ginza locale), although the waiting list was long.


title: Nakagin Capsule Tower

text: In 2022, demolition of the building was initiated. Attempts to raise funds to save it and campaigns to preserve it as a historic landmark were unsuccessful. The tower was scheduled to be disassembled starting April 12, 2022, with component units repurposed. The building was disassembled, not merely torn down.


title: Nakagin Capsule Tower

text: The building is composed of two interconnected concrete towers, respectively eleven and thirteen floors, which house 140 self-contained prefabricated capsules. Each capsule measures by with a diameter window at one end and functions as a small living or office space. Capsules can be connected and combined to create larger spaces. Each capsule is connected to one of the two main shafts by only four high-tension bolts and is designed to be replaceable. Although the capsules were designed with mass production in mind, none of the units have been replaced since the original construction.


title: Nakagin Capsule Tower

text: The capsules were fitted with utilities and interior fittings before being shipped to the building site, where they were attached to the concrete towers. Each capsule was attached independently and cantilevered from the shaft, so that any capsule could be removed easily without affecting the others. The capsules are all-welded lightweight steel-truss boxes clad in galvanized, rib-reinforced steel panels which were coated with rust-preventative paint and finished with a coat of Kenitex glossy spray after processing.