When the Mk VI was first produced in 1936, the Imperial General Staffconsidered the tank to be superior to any light tank produced by other nations, and well suited to the dual roles of reconnaissance and colonial warfare. Like many of its predecessors, the Mark VI was used by the British Army to perform imperial policing duties in British India and other colonies in the British Empire, a role for which it and the other Vickers-Armstrongs light tanks were found to be well suited. When the British government began its rearmament process in 1937, the Mk VI was the only tank with which the War Office was ready to proceed with manufacturing; the development of a medium tank for the Army had hit severe problems after the cancellation of the proposed "Sixteen Tonner" medium tank in 1932 due to the costs involved, and cheaper models only existed as prototypes with a number of mechanical problems. As a result of this, when the Second World War began in September 1939, the vast majority of the tanks available to the British Army were Mk VIs; there were 1,002 Mk VI Light Tanks, seventy-nine MK I and MK II Cruiser Tanks and sixty-seven MK I Infantry Tanks. Of these tanks, only 196 light tanks and fifty Infantry Tanks were in use by operational units of the Army.

When the Battle of France began in May 1940, the majority of the tanks possessed by the British Expeditionary Force were Mark VI variants; the seven Royal Armoured Corps divisional cavalry regiments, the principal armoured formations of the BEF, were each equipped with twenty-eight Mk VIs. The 1st Armoured Division, elements of which landed in France in April, was equipped with 257 tanks, of which a large number were Mk VIB and Mk VICs. The 3rd Royal Tank Regiment, which formed part of the division's 3rd Armoured Brigade, possessed by this time twenty-one Mark VI light tanks.

The Mk VIb was also in action in North Africa against the Italians late in 1940 with the 3rd Hussars and the 7th Armoured division. Late in 1940, the British had 200 light tanks (presumably the Mk VIb) along with 75 medium tanks (A9, A10, A13) and 45 Matildas. An attack by the 3rd Hussars on December 12, 1940 resulted in them getting bogged down in salt pans and severely mauled. The 7th Armoured division had 100 left on January 3rd, 1941 and 120 tanks on January 21 at which time they were used in flanking far into the rear and gathering up scattered Italian troops, sometimes joining or leaving the main attacks to the Cruiser and Matilda tanks. The 2nd RTR continued to battle the Italians with light tanks as late as Feb 6, 1941.

Being widely used by the British Army, the tank participated in several other important battles. The Mk VIb made up a significant amount of the tanks sent over to the Battle of Greece in 1941, mostly with the 4th Hussars. Ten Mk VIb tanks fought with the 3rd The King`s Own Hussars during the Battle of Crete. The same armoured unit had previously embarked three MK VIb tanks for the Norwegian Campaign but they were lost in transit to a German aircraft attack.

Vier uitvoeringen mogelijk;

Light Tank Mk.VIA of the 2nd Australian Tank Corps Australian Light Horse, October 1940.
Light Tank Mk.VIB captured and used by the Wehrmacht, France 1940.
Light Tank Mk.VIB of the 2nd Fife and Forfar Yeomanry, Northern Ireland, 1941.
Light Tank Mk.IVB of the 1st east Riding Yeomanry, 1st Armored Recon Brigade, BEF, France, April 1940.