WW1 Military Motors - 1916 set x 50 cards

[Lancashire Fusilier]

Ford's experimental Model T motorcar fitted with the ' Chase ' rubberized tracked system, being tested by the U.S. Military.

Shown in the left background, is a Mark VIII Tank.

LF

This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

[David Filsell]

Lancs,

Happy to send to you but not quite ready to put it up on the forum it is by no means complete. No wish to appear snooty, but it is intended as a piece for Stand To! when completed and there is still work to do. The fact is that although the gun - poor though it undoubtedly was - remained in action until at least the Battle of the Somme, I have been unable to find out when it was removed from the British Army inventory. Until then I crave your indulgence - and also any information forumistas can provide nor the piece. That said I will certainly add any comments to pics if I can.

Regards

David

[Lancashire Fusilier]

Lancs,

Happy to send to you but not quite ready to put it up on the forum it is by no means complete.

David

David,

Not a problem, I shall put something together on the 4.7 to go with the photographs, and you can just input as you wish based on any particular 4.7 post.

Regards,

LF

[David Filsell]

Lancs

Thanks. I'll see if I can add anything worthwhile.

David

[Lancashire Fusilier]

A possible connection between the Ford 3-ton Model 1918 Tank and Carden Loyd ?

Once the Ford 3-ton Model 1918 Tank contract with the American War Department was cancelled following the end of WW1, it would have been easy to have thought that the concept of an ultra-light very small tank could have been completely abandoned and forgotten. However, it was soon resurrected on the other side of the Atlantic by Britain's Carden Loyd Tractor Company Ltd., based in Chertsey.

The founders of Carden Loyd, John Carden and Vivian Loyd, were both former WW1 British Army officers. John Carden having been a Captain in the Army Service Corps., and with his pre-war background of having owned and operated a vehicle manufacturing company, it is quite likely that Carden was attached to an ASC Motor Transport Depot on the Western Front, and during that time, it was possible that he saw or had the opportunity to examine one of the Ford 3-ton Model 1918 Tanks which had been sent to the Western Front at the end of 1918 for field testing.

It seems no small coincidence that one of the first projects John Carden and his new business partner Vivian Loyd undertook, was to design and build an ultra-light small tank powered by a Ford Model T engine, which looked remarkably similar to the Ford 3-ton Model 1918.

John Valentine Carden ( 6 February 1892 – 10 December 1935 ) was born in London, a self-taught engineer who prior to WW1 ran the Carden Engineering Company, manufacturing light passenger-cars under the brand name ' Carden '. The company's first model, was a cyclecar.

His business partner Vivian Graham Loyd ( 1895-1972 ) was educated at Wellington College, and during WWI he also served with the British Army in Mesopotamia, also rising to the rank of Captain.

By the mid-1920s the first Carden-Loyd One-Man ultra-light ' Tankette ' was designed, followed by the designs for the Marks I, II and III, and later, a two-man Tankette models Mark IV and Mark V. All were built in small numbers but were very promising, and, as a result, Carden-Loyd was bought by Vickers-Armstrong in March 1928.

John Carden was retained by Vickers as their technical director, and Carden and Loyd continued developing their ' Tankette ' model, eventually creating their best-known design, the Carden Loyd Mark VI. It became the first successful design for that vehicle type in the world, with several hundred being produced and exported to 16 countries.

Carden and Loyd also designed light tanks, such as the well-known Vickers-Armstrong's Light Tank series and the British Army's Light Tanks, including the Light Tank Mk VI (one of Carden's last designs). Their other projects included the world's first amphibious tank, the Vickers-Carden-Loyd Amphibian Tank, and they played a role in the development of the Vickers E tank model. Aside from tanks, Carden and Loyd also developed several light artillery tractors and carriers, including the VA D50 model, which was a prototype for the Carden Loyd Bren Carrier.

John Carden was killed in an air crash near Tatsfield, Surrey on 10 December 1935, while flying on a Sabena airliner.

In 1935 Soon after the death of Carden, Loyd left Vickers Armstrong and set up his own company Vivian Loyd Ltd., which produced the Loyd Carrier which saw extensive service in WWII.

Seriously ill in his later years, Vivian Loyd died in 1972.

The first photograph shows Carden Loyd's ultra-light ' Tankette ', which with its visibly larger 2 front wheels and 2 smaller back wheels, and being powered by a Ford Model T engine, all make it remarkably similar to the Ford 3-ton Model 1918.

LF

IWM This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

[Lancashire Fusilier]

The Carden Loyd ' Tankette ' Mk I, with an armoured driver's compartment and gun port.

LF

IWM This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

[Lancashire Fusilier]

The Carden Loyd ' Tankette ' Mk IV.

LF

IWM This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

[Lancashire Fusilier]

The Carden Loyd Mk VI as a machine gun carrier.

LF

IWM These images are reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

2

[Lancashire Fusilier]

The Carden Loyd Mk VI as a Mortar Carrier.

LF

IWM These images are reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

[Lancashire Fusilier]

Prior to WW1, John Carden ran the Carden Engineering Company, manufacturing light passenger-cars under the brand name ' Carden '. The company's first model, was a cyclecar.

LF

This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

[GRANVILLE]

Excellent series of photos and if nothing else, from them you can clearly see how in the wake of the First World War, it was already being recognized that mobility and speed of was the key.

David

[Lancashire Fusilier]

Excellent series of photos and if nothing else, from them you can clearly see how in the wake of the First World War, it was already being recognized that mobility and speed of was the key.

David

David,

It all resulted in the WW2 Carden Loyd Bren Gun Carrier.

Regards,

LF

[Lancashire Fusilier]

Returning briefly to the FWD Model B 4-wheel drive truck, I found a nice example of the FWD being used as an RFC Observation Balloon Winch Truck, the only such example I have seen as yet.

The photograph was taken during a visit by the Maharaja of Patiala to the location at Chocques, 2+ miles N.W. of Bethune in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of Northern France on 31st July, 1918.

LF

IWM This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

[Lancashire Fusilier]

In the background of this photograph, again taken at Chocques, we can see the FWD Model B 4-wheel Drive Observation Balloon Winch Truck.

The photograph shows Lieutenant Colonel Audain, of the War Office, about to ascend in an Observation Balloon. He is wearing a parachute harness attached to the emergency parachute containers hanging from the side of the Observation Balloon's basket.

Also of note, is the nice clear image of the Service Clasp Knife being worn by the Airman on the right.

LF

IWM This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

[BSM]

LF specialist vehicles are always nice to see as there are not a lot of generally available reference images in the public domain. The good colonel is a tad overdressed for what he is about to do however the fellow behind him in the basket is interesting. That appears to be an early example of a ear and microphone combination for ground/ air 2way comms. Good thing there are 2 chutes! Attached is a poor quality image from an early Repatriation journal however the content is interesting. I believe it was taken at a British Naval training school somewhere in Cornwall if memory serves me correctly. Apparently an AIF group spent some training time there. Rod

[Wigwhammer]

The tankette makes more sense to me in the 2-man version rather than just for 1 man - but either way, if you were on the receiving end it would look like a Dalek attack!

Cheers

Colin

[Lancashire Fusilier]

The photograph caption does not tell us why this British Army Holt 75 Tractor took such a dramatic turn off the road in Salonika, and ended up in a roadside ditch, river bed or shell hole. It could have possibly been caused by enemy shelling, driver error or a mechanical malfunction.

The photograph is dated 26th March, 1917.

LF

IWM This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

[Lancashire Fusilier]

Looking at this second photograph of the same incident, we can see the road in Salonika actually sits atop a concrete reinforced embankment which runs alongside a riverbank. An officer has now arrived on the scene to supervise, with his Vauxhall Staff Car seen parked in the top right side of the photograph.

LF

IWM This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

[Andrew Upton]

The photograph caption does not tell us why this British Army Holt 75 Tractor took such a dramatic turn off the road in Salonika, and ended up in a roadside ditch, river bed or shell hole. It could have possibly been caused by enemy shelling, driver error or a mechanical malfunction.

Probably a combination of the last two - skewing round a Whippet by accidentally stalling one of the two engines was fairly common, it seems the same effect can be achieved by declutching a Holt's tracks:

http://www.historicroadways.co.uk/holt-caterpillar.html

"Holt continued to develop the Hornsby design and followed the Hornsby lead by replacing steam power with 4-cylinder petrol power in 1906. Although the tracks were kept very similar to the Hornsby, a major change was the addition of a wide, single wheel attached to a subframe at the front of the tractor. This was to aid stability and turning, which was achieved by declutching the tracks independently, allowing the tractor to skew round."

[Lancashire Fusilier]

Probably a combination of the last two - skewing round a Whippet by accidentally stalling one of the two engines was fairly common, it seems the same effect can be achieved by declutching a Holt's tracks:

Andrew,

Thanks for the information, and we have seen other instances of the Holt 75 leaving the road unexpectedly.

Regards,

LF

[Lancashire Fusilier]

That appears to be an early example of a ear and microphone combination for ground/ air 2way comms.

Rod,

That particular Observer's microphone headset cable is attached to its own telephone cable winch, operated by a RFC Airman on the ground, and in the attached photograph we also catch a rare look at the specialized small 2-wheeled trailer used to carry the radio telephone cable winch, which is on a circular base designed to rotate 360 degrees.

Some other Observation Balloon Winch Vehicles incorporated a winch for the radio telephone cable, rather than it being carried on a separate small telephone cable winch trailer.

Regards,

LF

IWM This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

[BSM]

LF, again a very nice image and quite rare as you state in your comments. Another one for the specialist MT items etc. A working image as opposed to "posed" I would think as the phone cable is extended and the Indian fellow appears quite relaxed! Rod

[Lancashire Fusilier]

With reference to the photograph in post #2914 of the Leyland A-Type Lorry mounted with an Observation Balloon Winch, here is a re-posting of a close up photograph of a Leyland Balloon Winch Vehicle. This Leyland A-Type drop-sided Lorry variation carried the motorized Observation Balloon Winch, which is being operated by the airman seated on the right, and also the winch for the radio telephone cable linked to the Observer's microphone headset, which is shown separately at the back of the Lorry, being operated by the airman standing at the rear of the Lorry. The airman standing on the right, behind the seated winch operator, is using a radio telephone to communicate with the Balloon's Observer.

This photograph, also shows us the number of airman needed to operate the Observation Balloon Winch Vehicle.

LF

This image is reproduced strictly for non-commercial research and private study purposes as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised.

[Lancashire Fusilier]

It was 3 years ago today that I started this Thread, and now 3 years on, 117 pages, 2,922 posts and 61,938 views later, I wanted to thank everyone who continues to show an interest in this Thread, which hopefully, is found to be interesting, informative and enjoyable to read.

Regards,

LF

[patrick Eggs]

Well done LF. and many thanks.

Crimson Rambler.