Richard Haigh MC "Life in a tank"

[delta]

have recently seen a book: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...mMakeTrack=true

but cannot find the author in the gazette or medal index except one reference to an offr of the Berks

Has anyone else heard of him or his book?

[Jarvis]

Just Googling around :

Life in a tank,

by Richard Haigh

Type: English : Book

Publisher: Boston and New York, Houghton Mifflin Co. [1918]

OCLC: 1906675

Haigh, Richard, 1895- ?

Life in a tank, by Richard Haigh, M. C., captain in the Tank corps .

I have managed to find an extract of text with some reference, might be interesting :

The officers took advantage of this crowd by talking of the Tiird Liberty

Loan and also recruiting. Accompany ing the tank was a truck from the Ma-

jestic Theatre advertisilln the play "Getting Toaether," featuring Blanche

Bates and Holbrook- Blinn. The proceeds from this play are all given to

the British and Canadian armies.

It required the full width of the street in order to turn around, but tile

tank wshirled on its own tread and ambled off down the strets to its gra-

rage, turning in its own length. At a signal that the tank was about

to make its first plunge against the wall, the police cleared a square, but

the crowd pressed in so close and there seemed to be some danger that the tank-

would swin- about and strike some of them. One of the meclhanicians gave

a gllance around and Capt. Richard Haigh gave a signal to which the tank

responded by swinging about on one of its runners and as gently as a turn-

table could have accomplished it headed for the brick wall.. .

Capt. Haigh stepped aside and the tank started for the wall. not with a

ramming effect as one would expect, but just a gentle push, and as it rose

up slightly on its rumners the wall split up and went crumbling down in a

mass of crushed bricks and mortar.

This feat was received by wild cheering, in which Bria,.-Gen. Johnston and his

staff, who were among, the eye-witnesses, joined.

At small look-outs in the front were the grinning faces of the two "chauf-

feurs," and they made ready to take yet another wallop, but by this time

the contractors, who felt the jar of the crumbling walls and realized that the

tank was about to go over the top, called a halt in the activities.

Many students of the Institlte were present to -witness this further destruc-

tion of their old home, and it is to be conjectured how so many happened to

have a free period at that particular momentl There was no visible sorrow

expressed on the part of the students and it is almost certain that whatever

sorrow they might Lave felt at seeing the walls which once sheltered them

torn down by the monster was more than outweighed by their gratitude for

the magnificent buildings which they now occupy.

I have not found any real detail on his M.C. though.

[Coldstreamer]

have recently seen a book: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...mMakeTrack=true

but cannot find the author in the gazette or medal index except one reference to an offr of the Berks

Has anyone else heard of him or his book?

the gazette isnt very working correctly at the mo - might be worth a look when it is

[Stebie9173]

Only one I can find is MC, New Year's Honours 1917. Lt. (acting Captain) Royal Berkshire Regiment.

http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/archiveVi...;selHonourType=

LG 11-11-1916

R. Berks. R.—Lt. R. Haigh to be acting Capt. whilst comdg. a Co. 26th Sept, 1916.

LG 11-1-1917

R. Berks. R.—Lt. R. Haigh is seconded for service with Machine Gun Corps (Heavy). 13th Dec. 1916.

http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/archiveVi...;selHonourType=

Looks like our man....

LG 19-3-1917

R. Berks. R.—

Lt. R. Haigh, M.C., relinquishes the acting rank of Capt. 12th Dec. 1916.

LG 22-6-1917

REGULAR FORCES.

MACHINE GUN CORPS.

The undermentioned to be actg. Capts. 12 Apr. 1917: —

Lt. R. Haigh, M.C. (R. Berks. R.).

LG 31-3-1919

R. Berks. R— Lt. (temp. Capt.) R. Haigh, M.C., resigns his commn. 1st Apr. 1919.

Steve.

[delta]

Jarvis

the link would appear to be to a Broadway production between Jun and Sep 1918; Blanche Gates etc appearing at the Shubert Theatre so (presumably) Haigh was on tour with his raising funds etc.

Steve; as ever you are the master; I found the MC but not the others; presumably he joined one of the new Bns forming in Dec 1916 and later become a section comd. Must follow this through....

My thanx to you both

On......... on........

Stephen

[Stebie9173]

From the online Berkshire Regiment war Diaries:

2nd Royal Berkshire

Tuesday 16th May 1916

France, ALBERT

In billets at ALBERT. LIEUTS R. HAIGH, H.E.W. PREST and 2nd LIEUT V.R. HUMPHREYS joined the Battalion. Lieut J McDONALD RAMC ceased to be attached to Battalion. CAPTAIN H.K.V. SOLTAU RAMC attached to Battalion. A draft of 35 other ranks joined Battalion.

2nd Royal Berkshire

Saturday 29th July 1916

France, IN BRIGADE RESERVE TRENCHES

In Brigade Reserve Trenches. Captain R. HAIGH to Hospital. 2 men to Hospital.

2nd Royal Berkshire

Tuesday 19th September 1916

France, IN BRIGADE SUPPORT

In Brigade Support. 1 O.R. wounded. 2 O.R. from hospital. Draft of 1 O.R. joined battalion. LIEUT R. HAIGH rejoined this day for duty and is attached to "D" Company.

2nd Royal Berkshire

Tuesday 26th September 1916

France, IN THE TRENCHES

In Brigade Reserve trenches. 3 O.R. to and 3 O.R. from hospital. 1 O.R. wounded. MAJOR A.G. MACDONALD DSO assumes command of the Battalion from this date vice LIEUT COLONEL R. HAIG DSO to leave.

LIEUT R. HAIGH is attached to "B" Coy from this date inclusive, and assumes command of the company.

2nd Royal Berkshire

Saturday 16th December 1916

France, METIGNY

Battalion in Billets at METIGNY. Lieut H.T.W. QUICK to hospl. Lieut H.E. HOWSE and 6 O.R. joined from Base. T/Captain R. HAIGH transferred to Heavy Branch M.G. Corps.

I think he also served with the 1st Battalion during 1915.

Steve.

[delta]

There is no matching you , is there? thanx once more.

[delta]

Got the book today from the US; it wwas published in 1918.

Haigh did join the tanks in the Winter of 1916/1917 and served with D Bn; the book includes a fascinating descritpion of the battle of Arras from tankees point of view but, as the book was written in 1917, the names of the "characters" are pseudonyms and the place names are reduced to initial capital letters.

Still it will give me more of a challenge trying to find out where he went.

[delta]

Have finsihed the book - he describes the formation and initial training of D Bn and the build up to the Battle of Arras. His desciption is of action at First Bullecourt and Crossilles (where he was commanding a section of 11th Coy); he then switches to philsophical mode and describes the importance of why soldiering should be valued by society.

It appears that the book was written for the American market, published in the US and includes several photos I had not seen before.

Would others be interested in reading; if so, should I publish it on the net or will be be protected by copy right?

[tanks3]

Have finsihed the book - he describes the formation and initial training of D Bn and the build up to the Battle of Arras. His desciption is of action at First Bullecourt and Crossilles (where he was commanding a section of 11th Coy); he then switches to philsophical mode and describes the importance of why soldiering should be valued by society.

It appears that the book was written for the American market, published in the US and includes several photos I had not seen before.

Would others be interested in reading; if so, should I publish it on the net or will be be protected by copy right?

Hi Delta,

I for one would be very interested in reading the section(s) about the initial training and the build up to Arras, also for when he commanded a section of 11 coy. Not interested in the philisophical stuff!!

I would think this materail was now out of copyright but I know there has been several threads on the firum about this and what is legal. Do a search of the forum and I think you will have your answer.

Let me know the url if and when you do put this on the net (with photos)

Cheers for now

Tanks3

[delta]

Looks like I have a new project then!

[Simon Jones]

Thanks for the the info. I have a Hodder & Stoughton edition of this book published about 1918, paperback without photos. On the cover it states 'Commander of the tank Britannia' which has been pasted over, as if it was confidential information. I think Britannia was the name given to the tank in which he toured the US.

S

[delta]

Simon

Gives me another clue - thank you

I think I have seen a picture of Britannia in New York passing the Flat Iron building

but of course.....

Stephen

[delta]

London gazette finds:

Haigh was commissioned from the RMC (Sandhurst) to the Berkshires 16th Feb 1915; on resigning his commission in 1919, he joined the General Reserve of Officers

He stayed on the reserve until 1st May 1947 when, having exceeded the age limit of liability to recall, relinquished his commission, retaining the rank of Capt.

[delta]

here is the other picture of "Britania" in New York

[bob lembke]

Have finsihed the book - he describes the formation and initial training of D Bn and the build up to the Battle of Arras. His desciption is of action at First Bullecourt and Crossilles (where he was commanding a section of 11th Coy); he then switches to philsophical mode and describes the importance of why soldiering should be valued by society.

It appears that the book was written for the American market, published in the US and includes several photos I had not seen before.

Would others be interested in reading; if so, should I publish it on the net or will be be protected by copy right?

Delta;

I (and probably everyone else on earth) have only a very incomplete grasp of copywrite law, but on a practical level have been involved with the topic in the US, UK (the British Library), and Germany (the German state libraries), and, while opinions differ on a lot of points, and of course law and its interpretation differ by country, at least in my experience it seems to be universally held that copywrites on this sort of printed material has extinguished in all senses 70 years out. As I remember this was stated in the signage at the British Library, which is very strict about copying, and for other reasons would basically not copy anything for me. The German state libraries have been repeatedly helpful and such issues seem to be of no concern to them at all. Some of the materials they have happily for me (set up by e-mail, and mailed to me) have been material a bit more recent than 70 years out.

There is also a practical aspect; of course the author and everyone else associated with the production of this book are long dead, although some of them might have decendants,and the book must have very limited commercial value; one can hardly imagine the author's grand-children rising up and retaining lawyers to come after you in the courts. I think that they would be tickled pink. But, at any rate, I am fairly sure that they would not now have any rights left, certainly to prevent you from reproducing the material.

The book is of course a primary source, and must have a lot of interesting material in it, but beware that at that time the British, the Americans, and the Canadians had an enormous highly organized and subsidized propaganda effort underway. At the Imperial War Museum at London a very interesting document has surfaced giving details of this, and specifically listing over a 1000 books that were written for propaganda purposes and then published by reputable publishers with the interesting arraingement that the Brit government paid every cent of the costs of producing the book; every cent of sales were retained by the publishers as profit. One can imagine that this highly profitable and risk-free arraingement, plus patriotism, must have allowed the publishers to put certain scruples into the deep freeze.

I have a similar book, by a supposed "Private Peat" of the Canadian services, who went on a tour all over the US and Canada, and there was a Hollywood film made to accompany the book; "Private Peat" was, admittedly, an actor, and the book is full of the most astonishing and clearly false (often physically impossible) propaganda items, including, of course, the most astonishing atrocity claims against the Germans. This book that I have seems to have almost nothing of either historical interest or of obvious truth. Your book might be quite different, but I suggest regarding its assertions with some caution.

I have read a lot of the literature of other combatants; for example, a lot of the German, some of the French, and a bit of others, like Italian and Austrian, in the original, and I have found nothing comparable in volume and extremity; patriotic, yes; wildly propagandistic and often clearly fantastic, no. But of course the UK had special problems; getting the US (further) into the game, and keeping the Canadians in the game. I have recently read that in 1914 most Americans would have rather come into the war on the side of the Central Powers than on the side of the Allies.

Bob Lembke

[delta]

Bob

thanx for the warning and the advice; I must admit I did think that the book could have been written for propaganda purposes

Stephen

[delta]

I have now read a variety of sources, trying to match up Haigh's descriptions with the tanks particpation in various battles (Gerald - thanx for the Watson extract)

I have come to the conclusion that, whilst he draw on his experiences at the 1st and 2nd Battles of Bullecourt, the descriptions of the action are not a true representation of what actually happened. Indeed he seems to have picked up references to other actions during the Apr to May period.

I am therefore coming to the conclusion that the book was ghosted and was deisgend for propganda purposes. That said, it does provide a useful insight into the formation of C Bn and prepartions for their first battle.

[delta]

Look what I've found

[delta]

I've typed up the first five chapters - what the best of publishing them on this site

Stephen

[centurion]

Before you wear your fingers to the bone - do a search on Google for the title - its now down loadable free , text, photos and all from a Canadian library web site - this is how I got my copy.

Thanks for the posting of another Britannia - Not the one of those on the N American tour. This one is a male if I'm not mistaken and also has a Hotchkiss mounting in the cab not a Lewis. The style of the lettering of Britannia is different - bigger and wider and in a slightly different position of the front plate. I'd be interested if anyone can make out the word written underneath. None of the many photos of the tanks in America show unditching rails fitted

[delta]

Thanx for the warning abut the e-book

I hadn't picked up that the tank has a Hotchkiss fitted; would that make it a mark V?

S

[centurion]

Later model Mk IVs had the Hotchkiss the switch back from the Lewis taking place partway through the period of their production which would suggest that it is later than the American Britannias.

BTW where did you find that photo?

[Mark Hansen]

That tank is a Mk V. The identification points are the assymetrical cab layout, the unditching rails, and the towing point which had an integral shackle, unlike the Mk IV and earlier. There appears to be a WD number just below the name but I can't make it out beyond the first two numbers being 90.

[Sidearm]

This tank is a Mark V (or V*) and not a IV. One can tell by the assymetrical visors. The driver's hatch is larger than the commanders and the ball mount is offset towards the port side. The Mark V** is similar but wouldn't have appeared in this setting. I think that the writing beneath "Britannia" is a serial number in a very unusual position. It seems to start with a 9, which would also be consistent with a Mark V or some Mark V* tanks. The recognition stripes on the cab roof date it to after April 1918.

As I recall this photo is a still from a film.

Gwyn