WW1 Military Motors - 1916 set x 50 cards

[Lancashire Fusilier]

A excellent pre-WW1 photograph showing the 1886 proofing/test-firing sleigh, which is currently on display in the Royal Armouries Museum at Fort Nelson, in use at the Royal Artillery Range at Shoeburyness, Essex.

In this particular photograph, the sleigh is mounted with a 9.2 inch Gun, and we can also see excellent details of the sleigh's hydraulics.

 

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]

In a continuing effort to trace the movements of the 18 inch BL Howitzer Mk. I and now also the 1886 proofing/test-firing sleigh, we know that both were at Shoeburyness, Essex after WW2 ended.

It had also been reported, that both left Shoeburyness sometime in 1959, and may have been taken to Larkhill or Woolwich and placed in storage.

 

I have found a photograph, copy attached, which is captioned as being dated 1959, and shows an 18 inch BL Howizter Mk. I mounted on the 1886 sleigh leaving Shoeburyness, hauled by a steam locomotive. Unfortunately, the pair's destination is not specified.

 

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]

After leaving Shoeburyness, the 18 inch BL Howitzer Mk. I mounted on the 1886 sleigh, next appear in June 1991, when the pair are put on display at the Royal Artillery Museum's Woolwich Rontunda ( see attached photograph ). 

 

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]

Following the closure of the Woolwich Rotunda in 2001, the 18 inch BL Howizter Mk. I and the 1886 sleigh were moved to the car park at the Royal School of Artillery at Larkhill, Wiltshire ( photograph attached ), where they remained until their complete refurbishment and subsequent move to their current home at Fort Nelson.

 

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]

This photograph documents the completed journey of the 18 inch BL Howizter Mk. I manufactured by the Elswick Ordnance Company in 1918, and the proofing/test-firing sleigh on which it is mounted, manufactured at Woolwich in 1886, and shows the fully restored and refurbished pair after their arrival in September 2013 at the Royal Armouries Museum at Fort Nelson, Portsdown Hill, Hampshire, where they are currently on display.

 

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

[SiegeGunner]

Before it went to Fort Nelson, the 18" railway howitzer was sent on loan to the Dutch national railway museum.  Its outbound journey from Larkhill was filmed for Channel 5's 'Monster Moves' series ... https://www.my5.tv/monster-moves/season-6/gigantic-gun-monster-moves

[Lancashire Fusilier]

20 hours ago, SiegeGunner said:

Before it went to Fort Nelson, the 18" railway howitzer was sent on loan to the Dutch national railway museum.  Its outbound journey from Larkhill was filmed for Channel 5's 'Monster Moves' series ... https://www.my5.tv/monster-moves/season-6/gigantic-gun-monster-moves

 

SG,

 

Many thanks for the interesting link, and I had omitted any reference to the gun's trip to Holland solely as it was outside of G.B.

 

Regards,

LF 

[Lancashire Fusilier]

Before moving on to a new topic, my final post relating to the 18 inch BL Howitzer Mk. I, leaves us with a bit of a mystery.

Unfortunately, the history of the 1918 manufactured 18 inch BL Howitzer Mk. I of which 5 of which produced by the Elswick Ordnance Company, and their 3 known sleighs, Nos. 12, 19 and the 1886 sleigh, are not particularly well documented.

 

Relying on the old addage that " the camera doesn't lie/never lies ", we know that the photographs attached to posts #5581/88 and particularly post #5589, which were probably taken at the Elswick Ordnance Company in 1918, show one of the 18 inch BL Howitzer Mk. Is being loaded onto a sleigh which is clearly marked No. 19. Another feature of the Gun is that it has a ' Vickers ' type breech fitted.

These photographs do not tell us the Gun and sleigh's destination, which was assumed to be Shoeburyness.

 

It has been reported that following the end of WW2, the sole remaining 18 inch BL Howitzer that had been fitted to ' Boche Buster ' during WW2, was once again returned to Shoeburyness, and several photographs clearly dating from 1945 to the present day, show an 18 inch BL Howitzer fitted to the 1886 sleigh.

 

It had also been reported that the 18 inch Howitzer and the 1886 sleigh left Shoeburyness sometime in 1959, and started a journey taking both via, Woolwich, Larkhill, with a short period in Holland before finally arriving at their current destination, Fort Nelson.

 

In September 2013, Nicholas Hall, Keeper of Artillery at Fort Nelson, wrote that in 1989 he visited Shoeburyness to view the last surviving 18 inch Howitzer, he also confirms that the 18 inch Howizter was subsequently moved to Woolwich, Larkhill, Holland and finally Fort Nelson.

The only substantial difference being that his report places the 18 inch Howitzer and presumably the 1886 sleigh still at Shoeburyness in 1989, rather than their having been moved from Shoeburyness in 1959.

 

Back to the photographs, I turned up the attached very interesting photograph, which is now the source of the mystery, this photograph which was taken at Shoeburyness in 1965, clearly shows an 18 inch BL Howitzer Mk. I fitted to sleigh No.19 shown in post #5589.

Here is the question, is the 18 inch BL Howitzer shown fitted to sleigh No.19 in the 1965 photograph the sole remaining 1918 Howitzer that was subsequently fitted to the 1886 sleigh, and which are now on display at Fort Nelson ?

 

Much has been documented regarding the 1886 sleigh, it's history and current location, whereas the massive sleigh No.19, shown in 1918 at the Elswick factory, and again photographed at Shoeburyness in 1965, appears not to have been heard of since 1965 ?

 

We know the 1886 sleigh weighs 95 tons, so sleigh No.19 probably had a similar weight.

Does anyone know what happened to sleigh No.19 after 1965 ? Was it scrapped after 1965, or is it still tucked away ( hopefully ) somewhere at Shoeburyness ?

 

Attached are both the 1965 and 1918 photographs of sleigh No.19, the first photograph is dated 1965.

 

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]

An 18 inch BL Howitzer Mk. I fitted on sleigh No.19, photographed at the Elswick factory in 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 Tritton Machine and Little Willie

 

On 29th July 1915, the Landship Committee, which had been charged with developing an armoured combat vehicle capable of crossing a 5 foot enemy trench, gave instructions to Mr. William Tritton of William Foster & Co. Ltd. of Lincoln, and Lieutenant W. G. Wilson of the Royal Naval Air Service ( RNAS ), to prepare designs for a small armoured ' Landship '.

 

This new armoured landship, which initially was known as the ' Tritton Machine ' consisted of a rectangular armoured box which formed the landship's hull, which was armoured using standard boiler plate rather than armour plating, with the hull being carried on tracks which were of a shorter length than the hull.

 

The tracks to be used, were the ' Creeping Grip ' tracks produced by the American Bullock Tractor Company of Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A., who had successfully used their ' Creeping Grip ' tracks on a range of agricultural vehicles, however, the tracks to be used on the ' Tritton Machine ' were longer than the standard ' Bullock '  tracks, and consisted of 8 small road wheels and 5 guide wheels.

 

The landship's hull was surmounted by a turret, and the original design projected that the turret would be armed with a 2-pounder gun, with supplementary armament consisting several machine-guns.

 

The ' Tritton Machine ' was to be powered by a 105 hp Daimler 6-cylinder engine, being the type of engine Fosters typically used to power their agricultural tractors.

A pair of tail-wheels were also fitted to the rear of the land ship to aid steering, and improve the landship's balance.

The ' Tritton Machine ' which was first true ' Tank ' constructed during WW1, and testing began near Lincoln in September 1915.

 

Unfortunately, initial testing of the ' Tritton Machine ' found problems with the tracks, which were too short, and were unable to traverse a 5 foot trench as was required by the War Office.

 

The ' Tritton Machine ' was rebuilt in December 1915 utilizing the original armoured hull, with this second version of the landship, which was named ' Little Willie ', being fitted with improved longer tracks, which gave ' Little Willie ' an overall length of 26 feet 6 inches. 

' Little Willie ' also retained the Daimler 105 hp 6-cylinder engine which was mounted at the rear, which gave the 16.5 ton landship a speed of 3.5 miles per hour.

 

The landships's name ' Little Willie ' was derived from a derogatory term in use at the time to mock the German Crown Prince Wilhelm, and in 1922, the Royal Tank Regiment adopted the tune ' My Boy Willie ' as their regimental march.

 

Neither prototype ' The Tritton Machine ' or ' Little Willie ' saw service, however, their initial designs were to form the basis of future ' Tank ' design and construction.

 

Fortunately ' Little Willie ' was preserved, and is currently on display at the Tank Museum at Bovington.

 

The first photograph shows Foster's original landship prototype, which was heavily tarpaulined to conceal it's design, being tested near Lincoln in September 1915.

 

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

Edited 20 November , 2016 by Lancashire Fusilier

[Lancashire Fusilier]

A nice side-view of Tritton and Wilson's original armoured landship prototype built by William Foster & Co. Ltd. of Lincoln, showing the landship's additional pair of tail-wheels, this photograph shows the prototype undergoing trails in the Lincoln area during September 1915.

 

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

 

Edited 18 November , 2016 by Lancashire Fusilier

[Lancashire Fusilier]

Close up of the steering tail mounted behind the first landship prototype, consisting of a pair of wheels 4 feet 6 inch in diameter, which the driver hand operated using wire cables.

 

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]

A contemporary WW1 carton lampooning the Kaiser and his son Crown Prince Wilhelm, who was known by the derogatory term of ' Little Willie ' which was used by the British to mock Wilhelm, and in turn, lead to the name being used for the British prototype landship also named ' Little Willie '.

In the cartoon, ' Little Wilie ' is exclaiming to his father The Kaiser, " FASTER PAPA FASTER ! I CAN STILL SEE THE " CONTEMPTIBLE LITTLE ARMY ", a direct reference to the term used by the Kaiser to describe the British Expeditionary Force ( BEF ), which the Kaiser referred to as " That Contemptible Little Army ".

 

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]

1 hour ago, Lancashire Fusilier said:

Close up of the steering tail mounted behind the first landship prototype, consisting of a pair of wheels 4 feet 6 inch in diameter, which the driver hand operated using wire cables.

 

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

 

Does the framework of the trailing wheels appear to have become twisted in this second photo? Maybe a reason for taking the photo?

David 

[Lancashire Fusilier]

1 hour ago, GRANVILLE said:

Does the framework of the trailing wheels appear to have become twisted in this second photo? Maybe a reason for taking the photo?

David 

 

David,

 

Yes, well spotted, the frame connecting to the rear of the hull is definitely buckled, and as you say, was probably the reason for taking that close up photo.

 

Regards,

LF 

[Lancashire Fusilier]

The decision taken in the late Summer of 1915 to use the American ' Bullock Creeping Grip ' tracks on Tritton and Wilson's first prototype landship, was based on experiments which had been carried out by the War Office earlier that year in June 1915.

 

The June 1915 W.O. experiments were held on land close to the the factory of Messrs. McEwan, Pratt & Co. Ltd. of Burton on Trent, who on instructions from the W.O., constructed an articulated tracked machine which was formed by coupling together two highly modified American ' Bullock Creeping Grip ' Tractors.

 

Whist the coupling of the two tractors was not a success, the ' Bullock Creeping Grip ' tracks performed exceptionally well over uneven and muddy terrain during the Burton-on-Trent trials, and as a result of those successful trials, the Bullock Creeping Grip tracks were selected to be used on the first armoured landship prototype built by William Foster & Co. Ltd. at Lincoln, and first tested in Lincoln in September 1915.

 

The attached series of interesting photographs were taken at the W.O. trials held in Burton-on-Trent during June 1915, and show the articulated machine built by McEwan, Pratt & Co., Ltd., using a pair of  Bullock Creeping Grip tractors coupled together.

 

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

 

Edited 21 November , 2016 by Lancashire Fusilier

[Lancashire Fusilier]

Some further photographs of the War Office trials held at Burton-on-Trent in June 1915, which experimented with a pair of American made Bullock Creeping Grip Tractors coupled together.

The Bullock tracks used for the trials were standard commercial tracks consisting of 3 guide wheels positioned above 4 small road wheels, whereas the tracks later adopted for Tritton and Wilson's first landship prototype were much longer having 5 guide wheels and 8 small road wheels.

 

During the Burton-on-Trent trials, the tracks were evaluated over open ground simulating battle ground terrain, including trenches.

 

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

[GRANVILLE]

2 hours ago, Lancashire Fusilier said:

Some further photographs of the War Office trials held at Burton-on-Trent in June 1915, which experimented with a pair of American made Bullock Creeping Grip Tractors coupled together.

The Bullock tracks used for the trials were standard commercial tracks consisting of 3 guide wheels positioned above 4 small road wheels, whereas the tracks later adopted for Tritton and Wilson's first landship prototype were much longer having 5 guide wheels and 8 small road wheels.

 

During the Burton-on-Trent trials, the tracks were evaluated over open ground simulating battle ground terrain, including trenches.

 

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

With family connections in BoT I found these postings very interesting and never having heard or read of these very early tracked experiments in BoT I have taken a bit more of a look at this. It appears the company concerned had its origins in the manufacture of very early motor vehicles and also locomotives. More can be read here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_E._Baguley 

[Lancashire Fusilier]

1 hour ago, GRANVILLE said:

With family connections in BoT I found these postings very interesting and never having heard or read of these very early tracked experiments in BoT I have taken a bit more of a look at this. It appears the company concerned had its origins in the manufacture of very early motor vehicles and also locomotives. More can be read here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_E._Baguley 

 

David,

 

It is interesting that the tracked trials and experiments using the Bullock Creeping Grip tracks held at Burton-on-Trent, pre-date the trials held at Lincoln by several months, and there is also an interesting military connection, with E. Baguley having a senior rank in the T.A., many thanks for the link.

 

Regards,

LF

 

 

[Lancashire Fusilier]

Another photograph taken during the War Office trials held at Burton-on-Trent in June 1915, giving some nice details of the American ' Bullock ' Tractor's early cylinder radiator and also the standard commercial Bullock ' Creeping Grip ' tracks consisting of 3 guide wheels positioned above 4 small road wheels, whereas the tracks used for Tritton and Wilson's first landship prototype were specially made much longer tracks, having 5 guide wheels and 8 small road wheels.

 

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]

A commercial Bullock ' Creeping Grip ' Agricultural Tractor manufactured by the Bullock Tractor Company of Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A., the type used for the W.O. Burton-on-Trent trials held during June 1915.

 

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]

This pair must have been a nightmare to control. I assume the wires going up to the pulleys were in some way controlling the steering of the front and rear wheel together? Can't think what else they would have been for.

David

[Lancashire Fusilier]

20 hours ago, GRANVILLE said:

This pair must have been a nightmare to control. I assume the wires going up to the pulleys were in some way controlling the steering of the front and rear wheel together? Can't think what else they would have been for.

David

 

David,

 

Yes, they certainly look to be steering cables.

It appears that the ultimate problem which lead to the dual-machine project being abandoned, was the inability to coordinate the forward and reverse gears on both vehicles.

 

Regards,

LF

[Lancashire Fusilier]

This next photograph, which again was taken during the W.O. Burton-on Trent June 1915 ' Bullock Creeping Grip ' tracks trails, is very important, in that it clearly shows uniformed Royal Naval Air Service ( RNAS ) servicemen from the RNAS Armoured Car Division's 20th Squadron, actively conducting those trials.

 

The connection between the RNAS Armoured Car Division and the W.O. Burton-on-Trent trials, was Lt. ( later Major ) Walter Gordon Wilson, who originally joined the Royal Navy as a Cadet, and at the outbreak of WW1, he re-joined the Royal Navy transferring to the RNAS Armoured Car Division, where utilizing his pre-WW1 training as a skilled motor-mechanic and engineer, Lt. Wilson soon gained a reputation for the successful design and construction of armoured cars used by the RNAS Armoured Car Division, including the RNAS ' Seabrook ' Armoured Car.

 

It was this deserved reputation which brought Lt. Wilson to the attention of the Admiralty, when they looked for someone with suitable knowledge of armoured vehicles to work with the Landships Committee on the design and construction of an armoured fighting vehicle ( a Landship ) able to cope with the extremely difficult terrain being encountered on the Western Front.

 

With the Admiralty ( rather than the Army ) in charge of the ' Landship ' project, Lt. Wilson along with officers and men from RNAS Armoured Car Divison were deployed to Burton-on-Trent to conduct the June 1915 Bullock Creeping Grip track trials, and with Lt. Wilson being suitably impressed with the performance of the Bullock Creeping Grip tracks, this no doubt lead to their being selected as the preferred tracks for the new Landship, which was jointly designed by Lt. Wilson and William Tritton and manufactured by W. Foster & Co. Ltd., which made it's debut in September 1915 at Lincoln.

 

Lt. W. G. Wilson remained actively involved with WW1 Tank design and construction, and in 1916 was promoted to a Major in the newly formed Heavy Branch of the Machine Gun Corps, which subsequently became the Tank Corps.

 

After WW1, W. G. Wilson continued to design and construct numerous civilian and military vehicles, including post-WW1 Tanks.

 

The attached photograph not only shows an excellent front-view of the Bullock Creeping Grip Tractor, but also shows the dual-Tractors being driven by an RNAS serviceman, while several other RNAS Armoured Car Division servicemen wearing their distinctive dark uniform jackets with their RNAS Armoured Car Division lapel badges, and RNAS peak caps, are looking on.

 

The background to this photograph is an excellent view of the Burton-on-Trent 1915 industrial skyline, and shown on the right, is the Worthington Brewery with it's large hoarding advertising Worthington's ' Pale Ale & Lager '.

 

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

[GRANVILLE]

The machine was clearly designed to be steered in a conventional way via the steering wheel and column which can be clearly seen in this photo. I suspect the wires and pulleys are connected to the front and rear axle so that as the steering is used up front and for instance turns right, the cables will pull on the rear steering and produce an opposite effect thus creating a very early form of assisted, rear wheel steering which I imagine was quite advanced for its day.

David