An Observation

[Kiwikkiwik]

In P.M. Knights book, crusader tank a technical history Lieutenant-General Martel is quoted as saying this
We have been worried by the number of tanks that have got on fire after being hit by the enemy in battle...as he had eleven of his Mark IV crusaders burning at the same time...They all went up in a sheet of flame....Incidentally they say that on the whole the Germans (tanks) very seldom burn.
The cause is explained later
An examination of the interior of German A.F.V.s reveals that the ammunition of their main armament, whether it be 50mm of 75mm calibre, is very much better stowed than is our own. All rounds of this nature are either in small metal lockers or in bins let into the floor and rounds are hidden in these bins up to the rim.
Our 2 pr. amn on the other hand is stowed in a rack all round the fighting compartment...It is clear that an A.P.H.E. shell bursting inside the fighting compartment of any of our AFVs will have all the 2 pr. cartridge cases fully exposed to its fragments.
They did live firing trials and found that this was correct and the likely cause of so many British fires and so few German fires.
They also comment that the german tanks fuel tank being very low, below the engine and the British AFV's placement of the fuel tank high in the engine compartment and with a high profile also made it more likely for British tanks to catch fire.

I think also maybe that Stuart and some Sherman tanks burnt easily as their Aircraft type engines used highly flamable high octane aircraft type fuel? instead of regular petrol. Russian diesel fuel (t34) is less flamable than ordinary petrol.

So maybe this type of information could be used to adjust the vehicles Survival rating and then the chance of catching fire can be related to the Survival rating?