During the early stages of World War II, the rampaging

Wehrmacht began running into some hardened British

steel among the softer skinned Crusaders and Vickers
Lights. This was of course, the famous Queen of the
Desert, Infantry Tank Matilda Mk.II, and nothing short of
an 8.8 mm would stop one.

Rendition of the Oswald

Witnessing this excellent, unyielding armor first hand, the

Wehrmacht were more than happy to capture any
operational Matildas for themselves.
In fighting in North Africa, some of the captured Matildas
were turned on their original operators. A tank under the
name of Dreadnought is one such vehicle frequently
seen in photographs from the time.
A few of the vehicles were sent back to Germany for
analysis. This practice of sending captured equipment
back to HQ was the norm in all armies. The tanks were
mostly used for training purposes in their standard
configuration, but one vehicle, previously identified as
No. 111, was converted into the Infanterie
Panzerkampfwagen MK II 748(e) mit 5cm KwK 39 L/42.
It was nicknamed Oswald by its operators.

Here Oswald can be seen taking part in training

exercises, note the name Oswald on the fender.
Source: beutepanzer.ru

Oswald on the back of a PiLaBo.41, No. 504, during

training exercises. Source: beutepanzer.ru

This particular Matilda is believed to have served under

the British Army in North Africa before its capture, and
bared the serial number 111. Almost untouched, the tank
came into German possession at some point in 1942. It
was transported back to occupied Holland. Here, it was
handed over to the Hochsee-Lehrkommando in
Terneuzen where it underwent its modifications. It was
then used to train loaders and take part in combat
training. It took park in invasion Operation Sea Lion style
invasion training.

It is unknown what happened to the Oswald, it is

possible that it was used against the allies as Holland
was liberated. Destroyed in this action, or scrapped, it
didnt see much action during the rest of the war and
does not survive today.
An article by Mark Nash

The conversion of the Oswald was caused by the

Hochsee-Lehrkommando (High Seas Instructional
Command). For a time, it was trained on in its original
form. It later underwent some modifications. The tanks
hull and power plant remained the same as the standard
Matilda II.
The major modification was the removal of the 2 pounder
main armament and the turret, being replaced with the
5cm KwK 38 anti-tank gun. The gun is thought to have
come from an irreparable Panzer III. It was pivotmounted, protected by a specially hand-made shield
which went over the weapons standard gun shield. Two
7.92 mm MG 15s were mounted atop this. Quite why the
turret was changed out is unknown, it is quite possible
that the supply of 2-Pounder ammunition ran out and, for
obvious reasons, it was easier to resupply with 5 cm
shells. Also, the extremely tight turret of the Matilda
wouldve made it ill-suited to training purposes. The open

Schiffer Publishing, Ltd.: Captured American & British

Tanks Under the German Flag

space the modification granted wouldve made training,

and guidance of the training, a lot easier.
The only other modifications were cosmetic. It was
repainted in German camouflage and markings. The name
Oswald was stenciled onto the track guard above the
front left idler-wheel.

Oswald on en.valka.cz (Slovak)

Oswald on world-war-2.wikia.com