During the interbellum, British tank experiments generally followed these basic classifications, which were made part of the overall doctrine with the work of Major-General Percy Hobart and the influence of Captain B.H. The split between the infantry tank and cruisers had its origins in the First World War division between the first British heavy tanks and the faster Whippet Medium Mark A and its successors the Medium Mark B and Medium Mark C.

5.2 Other variants, field modifications and prototypes.

4.4 Australian use in the Pacific theatre.

It was replaced in front-line service by the lighter and less costly Infantry Tank Mk III Valentine beginning in late 1941. Only two were available for service by the outbreak of the World War II in 1939. It was the only British tank to serve from the start of the war to its end, although it is particularly associated with the North Africa Campaign. With its heavy armour, the Matilda II was an excellent infantry support tank but with somewhat limited speed and armament. The Mark I was abandoned in 1940, and from then on the A12 was almost always known simply as 'the Matilda'. The Mark I was also known as Matilda, and the larger A12 was initially known as the Matilda II or Matilda senior. The design began as the A12 specification in 1936, as a gun-armed counterpart to the first British infantry tank, the machine gun armed, two-man A11 Infantry Tank Mark I.

The Infantry Tank Mark II, best known as the Matilda, was a British infantry tank of the Second World War.

Typestatus 2 a12