The Red Army treated the Allied tanks supplied to the USSR under Lend-Lease in different ways. Some overseas machines were almost considered useless, while others were recognized as worthy examples of technology and faithful assistants in achieving victory. One of these tanks turned out to be the British Churchill, unpretentiously named by the enterprise in honor of the famous Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
When the Second World War spread to the Soviet Union, they say that Winston Churchill, commenting on an agreement with the Soviets, said that against Hitler he was ready to make an alliance with even the devil, if required situation. As subsequent history showed, Winston Churchill was ready to make alliances with the devil against anyone, just to maintain the position of Great Britain in Europe and the world. However, there's nothing to be done: such is the policy. By the way, the Soviet leadership's relationship with Churchill has always been difficult. But the Red Army's relations with "Churchill" have developed exclusively comradely and kind. True, not with a famous prime minister, but with a heavy tank named after him. The question regarding the name is: “But didn’t leaderism capture the minds of ordinary Englishmen in a difficult time for the country?” - leave it for another time. For now, let's talk about the tank.
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Without exaggeration, it will be said that the Churchill tank has become an almost perfect embodiment of the concept of a heavy infantry tank. This is such a fighting machine that should advance along with the queen of the fields. It was planned that the Churchills would support the soldiers with fire, suppressing firing points and destroying barrage obstacles in their path. Before the mass appearance of the "Tiger" and "Panther" from the German side, the British tank with its 152-mm armor was virtually invulnerable. It was possible to effectively deal with it only with the help of anti-tank artillery.
Actually, it was for the 152-mm armor that the tankers loved the car. In the early years of the war, it was so weakly vulnerable. In the overseas "Churchill" our tankers felt almost as calm as in the heavy domestic KV, with which the British car was quite comparable, despite the fact that for a number of parameters it still yielded. The infantry loved the Churchill for its huge dimensions. It was easy and quick to hide behind a tank. Moreover, "Churchill" could cover a large number of infantry, including because of its gigantic length by the standards of Soviet armored vehicles.
Of course, the British tank also had its shortcomings. The very low speed of movement was partly offset by good cross-country ability and maneuverability, although in autumn and winter it became really difficult for the Churchills on the eastern front. Many questions were raised by the main caliber of the tank, which in 1941 was already frankly outdated. In addition, "Churchill" did not know how to fire high-explosive shells. They were simply not included. For this reason, Soviet gunsmiths even had to develop their own ammunition of this type for Lend-Lease tanks. However, despite all this, the British car showed its best side. Although the losses among the Churchills were higher than the losses among the KV (primarily non-combat), individual tanks fought right up to 1945.
If you want to know even more interesting things, then you should read about why neither the USSR nor the Allies began to copy formidable tank "Tiger".
Source: https://novate.ru/blogs/050422/62627/