The British and Commonwealth campaign was now centered on North Africa at this point in the war, particularly against famed German General Erwin Rommel. For the British, North Africa would become the proving ground for their own General Bernard Montgomery. Hundreds of thousands of men as well as thousands of armored vehicles would play a role in this early campaign of the war. On October 23rd, 1942, the Allies - led by Britain - went up against the forces of Germany and Italy to begin the 2nd Battle of El Alamein. The battle would last until November 4th of that year and would become the first combat actions of the 25-pdr Valentine gun carrier. By this time, the British Army referred to her simply as "Bishop".
In practice, few doubted the capabilities of the QF 25 gun. However, it was in the overall design of the vehicle that the Bishop suffered mightily. The use of a fixed superstructure provided for many inherent limitations for the combat vehicle. Firstly, the vehicle had to be turned (in whole) to face the direction of the enemy. Secondly, the limited space within the superstructure directly limited the main gun's elevation to just +15 and -5 degrees and traversal as only 8 degrees itself. As such, gunnery crews took to establishing mounds ahead of the Bishop's hull to angle the vehicle further upwards at the front, thusly increasing the trajectory of their 25-pounder guns. The turret's design also made for a high profile along the clean desert horizon - a tempting target to enemy tankers and anti-tank teams alike (the Soviet KV-2 suffered from the same quality). To compound matters, the addition of a heavy gun and superstructure atop the existing Valentine chassis restricted top road speeds and directly limited operational ranges. The Bishop - fitted with its AEC A190 series diesel engine of 131 horsepower - managed 15 miles per hour on ideal surfaces and up to 90 miles of operational range.
Regardless, the need during wartime was great and the Bishop was utilized. Its 25-pounder main gun did not disappoint but crews generally regarded the Bishop as a forgettable creation. It was only the arrival of the American M3 Lee/Grant-based M7 "Priest" self-propelled artillery system that doomed the Bishop to limited use and secondary roles thereafter. The Canadians took the M7 Priest design a step further and developed the "Sexton" - complete with its 25-pounder main gun - and this was used in increasing numbers by the British Army with time. As such, the Bishop only ever existed in 149 total forms with production spanning from 1942 to 1943. Once quantitative levels of the M7 and Sexton were met, the Bishop fell to the pages of World War 2 history.
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