the manufacturers in 1939. The pilot model (with welded hull) was tested with a favourable outcome in 1940; though the second pilot suffered from overheating. The first deliveries of production vehicles were not until after the battle of Dunkirk. Production of turrets lagged behind that of hulls. Although the Covenanter was needed, production continued even when newer, better tank designs were waiting for space on production lines. By late 1943, the Covenanter was considered too weakly armed and armoured to deal with new German tanks. It was decided that neither problem could be addressed without significant changes in the design, so the tank was declared obsolete and all vehicles except the bridge-layer variant were to be scrapped. Service Except for a few trial vehicles, Covenanters were never deployed outside the UK. The Covenanter was used to re-equip the 1st Armoured Division (six armoured regiments in two brigades), which had lost most of its tanks in the Fall of France. When the 1st was sent to Egypt, the tanks were transferred to the 9th Armoured Division. Eventually, a handful of vehicles were sent to the desert for service trials and were allocated to the REME for maintenance and evaluation. It is not clear if these tanks were ever used in combat, although the unit markings indicate they may have been deployed alongside Kingforce with their new 6 pounder-equipped Churchill Mk III tanks. Covenanters were also used to equip the Guards Armoured Division in 1942 and elements of the 1st Polish Armoured Division when it was formed in the UK; they were replaced before these units were sent to the frontline, except for a few bridgelayers that both divisions retained and used in their advance through Belgium and the Netherlands. Observation Post tanks were issued to artillery units to carry Forward Observation Officers for Royal Artillery batteries. In an armoured division, there were two OP tanks for each RHA or field battery. Medium gun batteries had just one. Command tanks were similar to OP tanks, but had only two No. 19 sets; one on the regiment radio net and the other on the brigade net. Covenanter bridgelayers were used by the 1st Czechoslovak Armoured Brigade during the siege of Dunkirk from October 1944 to May 1945. The bridgelayer version was also used by the 4th Armoured Brigade of the Australian Army at Bougainville and Balikpapan during the Pacific Campaign in 1945. Variants