Pte W. Christmas MM - Tank Corps

[Sidearm]

Hi

Here's hoping someone can shed a little light on this chap and the action in which he won the MM. All I have is what's recorded on pages 149 - 150 of "Fighting Tanks" by G. Murray Wilson, published in 1929. According to the book, Pte Christmas was the driver of a 10th Tank Battalion supply tank that was hit by artillery and lost a track, the remaining crew members being wounded. Pte Christmas continued to drive the tank and ran over everything he came across until hit again. At that point he was temporarily captured but was freed by two Whippets. The action seems to have happened in April 1918, as in the book the account follows an account of the first tank versus tank contest. The only other thing I know is that the tank was called "Kingfisher", which suggests 11th Battalion rather than 10th.

Does anyone have any more, hopefully from a more reliable source?

Thanks

Gwyn

[johntaylor]

Does anyone have any more, hopefully from a more reliable source?

Thanks

Gwyn

This is an obvious suggestion Gwyn, but have you tried the 10th and 11th Battalion War Diaries at Kew? These sometimes contain information about individual tanks and may list gallantry awards etc.

Joh

[Sidearm]

Thanks John. I have a copy of the 10th Battalion War Diary here but there's no reference to an award to a Pte Christmas (though a list of MMs does appear in April 1918). I have looked at the 11th Battalion War Diary in the past but there's nothing in my notes about this incident.

A trip to The National Archives sounds a good solution, but as I live in far west Wales (so far west I'm almost Irish) it's not something I can do on any day of the week.

Thanks again for your interest and suggestion.

Gwyn