Seadog Posted 12 October , 2011 Author Share Posted 12 October , 2011 I can only repeat that any questions relating to the tank should be addressed to the museum Norman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
centurion Posted 12 October , 2011 Share Posted 12 October , 2011 I can only repeat that any questions relating to the tank should be addressed to the museum Norman Yes Bovington not Lincoln Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seadog Posted 13 October , 2011 Author Share Posted 13 October , 2011 Tank Museum Bovington Part of the display of artifacts from the Battle of Flers - Coucelette in September 1916, the first use of tanks in war. The background is a trench map of the area of the attack This is the Webley Revolver belonging to 25 year-old Acting Captain Herbert Blowers the commander tank D5 “Dolphin” that got further than anyone else on the 15th September 1916 and who was awarded the Military Cross for his actions that day. His Son relates that his Father was awarded the MC for returning to his burning tank to rescue the driver. He said that he sat in the tank all day firing the revolver at German Infantry; firing over 100 rounds he recalled that none of the targets were more that 10 yards away “so I didn’t miss many”. Tank D5 Info Norman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seadog Posted 13 October , 2011 Author Share Posted 13 October , 2011 Tank Museum Bovington This is a WW1 tank sponson trolley used when the tanks were bring transported by rail and the gun sponsons were removed because of width restrictions. The one shown is viewed from inside showing the ammunition shell racks. The sponsons would then be loaded onto railway wagons for transport to the front. A grappling-hook is also shown on the right, this would be towed behind the tank in order to drag the barbed-wire defences aside and allow troops to pass through the gap. Norman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
centurion Posted 13 October , 2011 Share Posted 13 October , 2011 Only applied to Male Mk I, II and III tanks. On the Mk IV and V (the overwhelming majority) the male sponson could be slid inboard obviating the need to remove it. The photo show a male sponson on its trolley which could be towed behind the tank until it was time to fit it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom W. Posted 14 October , 2011 Share Posted 14 October , 2011 Some Panzertrupps. Note the leather crash helmet, Guard lace on the collars, light-gray shoulder straps with red "K," and Machine Gun Marksman Detachment badges on the upper left arm. Most tank machine gunners were recruited from the Machine Gun Marksman Detachments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom W. Posted 14 October , 2011 Share Posted 14 October , 2011 Here's an interesting one: A7V 506 at St. Quentin on March 21, 1918. Note that the machine gun has an armored barrel jacket, which I didn't know was fitted to the A7V. The man on the left may be a tank crewman carrying a flamethrower covered in a camouflage cloth. At St. Quentin dismounted tank crewmen rolled up British positions with hand grenades and flamethrowers carried for them by the accompanying infantry patrols. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seadog Posted 14 October , 2011 Author Share Posted 14 October , 2011 Interesting photos Tom, what does the "K" shoulder patch signify in the first one?. Norman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom W. Posted 14 October , 2011 Share Posted 14 October , 2011 Interesting photos Tom, what does the "K" shoulder patch signify in the first one?. Kraftfahrer or Motor Transport Driver. Technically the machine gunners weren't drivers, but they were transferred into the Motor Transport Troops to crew the tanks, so they wore the light-gray shoulder strap with red "K." Here's a nice portrait of a motor-transport member who could be a tanker. They wore no special insignia until after the war. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seadog Posted 14 October , 2011 Author Share Posted 14 October , 2011 Thanks Tom. If you have not seen this already I highly recommend a visit: Flickr WW1 German images Norman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seadog Posted 15 October , 2011 Author Share Posted 15 October , 2011 British Supply Tank WW1 Originally designed as a gun carrier to transport a 60 pound field gun they were eventually used to carry supplies. The driver and brakesman were carried in the superstructure seen on the front of the tank, there being two of these. This one is pictured in Bucquoy, France in August 1918. Photo from the German book Der Weltkrieg im Bild pub late 1930`s. Norman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
centurion Posted 15 October , 2011 Share Posted 15 October , 2011 This particular Gun Carrier was much photographed. The Australian War Memorial museum places it at Miraumont and not Bucquoy. Whilst the German source you are using has some excellent photos some of the captions need treating with caution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seadog Posted 15 October , 2011 Author Share Posted 15 October , 2011 WW1 British Tank The Mark 1 Tank at Bovington Tank Museum, England. This is a "Male" version with 6 pdr guns in the side sponsons. Photo taken prior to a redesign of the display. Norman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seadog Posted 18 October , 2011 Author Share Posted 18 October , 2011 Tank Museum Bovington The plaque reads: This 77mm German field gun was captured at Graincourt during the Battle of Cambrai on the 30h November 1917 by the of the tank Gorgonzola 2, tank commander Captain A Baker MC and tank gunner Private Phillips. This gun held up the infantry and knocked out two tanks before being put out of action by Private Phillips and was subsequently towed out of the battle. Norman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WDPyke Posted 25 July , 2014 Share Posted 25 July , 2014 Hello everyone. Sorry if I am posting this in the wrong section area. I realise that this is an old thread, but I am intrigued by the last posting. I have also seen reference to a Captain Baker of 13th Tank Battalion who apparently distinguished himself at Amiens in August 1918. I am currently trying to sort out the experiences of Arthur Harold Baker. Originally a private in 1/7th Hampshires, he followed his brother Percy (Walter) Baker into getting a commission,. His brother was killed at Gommecourt n July 1916 (NOT a tank man I know!). Arthur won both the MC and bar, in 1918. BUT, he was a 2nd Lieut. rising to full Lieut. Does anyone know if there were two A. Bakers or if somehow they were the same man but with stories mixed up? Will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Davies Posted 25 July , 2014 Share Posted 25 July , 2014 Two Tank Corps officers called A Baker were warded the MC and Bar. The first was Albert George who won his MC on 19 Aug 17 while with G Bn in Ypres (the Cockcroft action). His bar to his MC was from his actions with G Bn at Cambrai on 20 and 21 Nov 17. The other was Arthur Harold. His first MC was not an immediate award but was dated Jun 18 from his time in 1st Field Coy. His bar came when still with No 1 Fld Coy and his actions on 1 Jul 18 at Hamel near Corbie. It was the former who captured the gun in Salty's photograph and your chap is the latter. I can post more detail of his bar citation if required. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WDPyke Posted 26 July , 2014 Share Posted 26 July , 2014 Gareth Many thanks. I have tracked down the fuller version of 'my' chap's bar citation from the Tank Corps book of honour. I suppose the name and initial are fairly common, but it threw me at first! I am tracing the stories of former members of Bournemouth School in the war, which is why my interests seem to selective! Will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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