Abstract

During the early years of the Second World War, Canada was cut off from Britain, its traditional supplier of war materiel. This forced the Canadian Army and the Mackenzie King government to attempt to arm itself using domestic resources as well as those of the then-neutral United States. One of the results of this policy was the Ram Tank, a design based upon the latest US medium tank in combination with the recent battle experience and expertise of British tank designers. Originally intended to arm Canadian and British formations, the Ram design was outstripped by faster and more responsive American technical innovation in the form of the Sherman tank. Though the Ram proved adequate for training, for conversion to an armored troop carrier, and gave useful experience for the later manufacture in Canada of self-propelled guns, it was an undoubted failure as a tank. This essay examines the reasons for that failure.