Modellers of a certain age will probably associate Morris with small cars from the inter-war years until the 1970s including the Morris Oxford, Morris Minor, Morris Mini and even the infamous Morris Marina. However, Morris Motors' parent company, The Nuffield Organisation, also boasted an essential role during the Second World War building Spitfires at an enormous new purpose-built plant at Castle Bromwich, as well as designing and building armoured cars and tanks. Even at the outbreak of war in 1939, it was clear that British tanks were too lightly armed and armoured to deal with the new generation of armour deployed by Germany. By 1943, Allied armies advancing through Italy encountered stubborn obstacles on the Siegfried Line, and there were no answers available in the current British arsenal. This led to a Joint Memorandum for a heavy assault tank with sufficient armour and firepower to clear such obstacles and break through heavily fortified lines.
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