WW1 Military Motors - 1916 set x 50 cards

[Lancashire Fusilier]

I'd love to see an aerial photo of something like this to gauge its effectiveness.

Keith

Keith,

There may be aerial photographs showing such camouflage, and with the German reconnaissance aircraft such as the Albatros C.I. which had a maximum speed of 87 mph., and a service ceiling of 9,843 feet, that type of gun emplacement camouflage was probably very effective when seen from the air.

Regards,

LF

[Lancashire Fusilier]

I can imagine that from several hundred feet up, it would have been pretty hard to tell, but I do have to say this is the first time I've ever seen such a photograh - well done for sourcing.

David

David,

As the war progressed and German reconnaissance and aerial photography became more sophisticated, so to did the need for the British to become more innovative, creative and deceptive with their camouflage patterns and methods used to conceal their gun emplacements from German reconnaissance aircraft.

Regards,

LF

[Rockdoc]

A regular supply of clean water was critical to the British Army, and in the attached 2 photographs we see Royal Engineers using a mobile steam powered drilling rig to sink an Artesian Well to supply water to a local Army Camp in Salonika.

I suspect that water was a perennial problem in Salonika. The uplands are limestone with the usual thin soils so any rain would run off very rapidly until it met the plains, when it would form shallow lakes and bogs and did wonders for the mosquito population. I read in The Mosquito of the early fifties (I'm doing some transcription work for the SCS) that some streams, like the Manifold in Derbyshire and other UK rivers over limestone, developed sink holes and the water went underground when the flows reached a certain level, emerging some distance downstream.

After WW2, the Salonika Reunion Association adopted a school (3rd Gymnasium for Boys in Salonika) and the village of Mavroplagia and sent out all kinds of aid to both over a number of years. One of the items sent in great bulk to the village was hundreds of yards of water-pipe to bring in a regular supply of potable water.

Keith

[Lancashire Fusilier]

With reference to post # 2120, attached are some further examples of the use of painted canvas to create camouflage.

The first photograph, shows the use of painted canvas and wood to create a dummy light railway line to camouflage an area.

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]

Another example of cleverly painted canvas used to simulate chalk parapet, in this case being used to camouflage an 18-pdr gun.

LF

IWM17706 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 newly constructed emplacement for an 18 pounder field gun complete with sandbagging and a camouflage painted hessian canvas screen, this emplacement was one of those built on the Somme during the summer of 1915 by men of 120th Battery, Royal Field Artillery.

LF

IWM108142 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.

[Cpl Coleman]

Here's an interesting shot of the DC National Guard motor pool at Camp Simms in Washington, DC in 1916. Can anyone id the type of armored car in the foreground?

• Title: NATIONAL GUARD OF D.C. IN CAMP
• Creator(s): Harris & Ewing, photographer
• Date Created/Published: 1916.
• Medium: 1 negative : glass ; 5 x 7 in. or smaller
• Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-hec-06405 (digital file from original negative)
• Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on publication.
• Call Number: LC-H261- 5797 [P&P]
• Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print

[Cpl Coleman]

Found it! It's a 1915 Davidson-Cadillac. According to the Landships II site: "The 1915 Davidson-Cadillac Armoured Car - which had the distinction of being the first fully armoured motor vehicle to be built in the U.S.A. - was similar in layout to some of the early Royal Navy Air Service armoured cars built in October 1914. Armoured all round with controllable radiator doors, the rear part had an open top, where the Colt machine-gun with an armoured shield was mounted just behind armoured head cover for the driver. The Cadillac was a much better designed vehicle than the R.N.A.S. cars, however, (there was, of course, less urgency involved) with a lower centre of gravity and although only, like them, a conventional passenger car chassis with drive to the rear wheels, had a better cross-country performance." ... Couldn't find any evidence of the car being used in Europe.

[Lancashire Fusilier]

Here's an interesting shot of the DC National Guard motor pool at Camp Simms in Washington, DC in 1916. Can anyone id the type of armored car in the foreground?

Cpl Coleman,

Many thanks for posting that interesting photograph, the armoured vehicle in the foreground is the ' Davidson Armoured Machine Gun Car ' designed and built by Major Royal P. Davidson of the Northwestern Military Academy at Lake Geneva.

For his ' Armoured Machine Gun Car ', Major Davidson utilized the chassis from a 1915 Cadillac Open Touring Car.

Attached is a photograph of Major Davidson's armoured vehicle, I also have several others which I shall also be posting.

Major Royal P. Davidson was the son of the Founder of the Northwestern Military Academy, Colonel Harlan Page Davidson, who opened the Northwestern Military Academy in the former Highland Hall property on September 19, 1888.

Regards,

LF

[Lancashire Fusilier]

Major R.P. Davidson's ' Armoured Machine Gun Car ' built on a 1915 Cadillac Open Touring Car chassis.

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.

[Cpl Coleman]

Thanks, LF

The photo you posted above looks like it's a companion to the Library of Congress one I posted of the DCNG at Camp Simms in 1916... The wrapping is coming off the spare tire and the scrapes on the body and rear wheel disc are in the same places! Do you know the source of your photo?

Regards

Paul

[Lancashire Fusilier]

In June 1915, Colonel Royal P. Davidson ( October 9 1870 - January 16 1943 ), of the Northwestern Military Academy, commanded a convoy of eight of his specially designed military vehicles to travel the 2,500 plus miles from Chicago, Illinois to the Panama Pacific Exposition being held in San Francisco, California, U.S.A.

The objective of Davidson's convoy, was to road test his vehicles and have their performance and suitability as military vehicles evaluated by the American War Department.

The convoy travelled down the then newly completed Lincoln Highway for the majority of the journey, and Davidson also demonstrated the vehicles ' off-road ' capabilities through the rugged Yosemite National Park.

These eight military vehicles, which included Davidson's ' Armoured Machine Gun Car ' along with seven other support vehicles, were built by the Cadillac Motor Company, and were Davidson's attempt to convince the War Department that a mechanized highly mobile army was the military technology of the future. For this 34 day journey, Colonel Davidson was accompanied by 30 of his cadets from the Northwestern Military Academy in Highland Park, Illinois. War Department personnel representing the government, went with the convoy to give reports on the performance of the vehicles.

The Davidson-Cadillac ' Armoured Machine Gun Car ' was powered by an 8 cylinder petrol engine based on the Cadillac Type-51 engine, which gave the vehicle a top speed of 70 mph., road conditions permitting, and it was America's first fully armoured military vehicle.

The Armoured Machine Gun Car's main armament was a .30 calibre Colt-Browning machine gun. Also set into the vehicle's armour plating were various armoured firing ports for defensive or offensive small arms or rifle fire.

The convoy also included a reconnaissance scout vehicle with instruments for observation, two wireless radio communications vehicles, a field cooking vehicle complete with fireless cookers, a hospital vehicle with operating tables and an X-ray machine, an armed balloon destroyer vehicle, and a Quartermaster's car.

Some of these vehicles were also armed with .30 calibre Colt-Browning machine-guns and searchlights. Five of the vehicles had eight-cylinder Cadillac engines.

The reconnaissance scout vehicle was equipped with military rifles, map tables, instruments for making maps on the spot, a dictating machine, observation instruments, altitude indicators, and range and elevation finders.

The radio wireless communication vehicles had telescopic radio masts mounted on the running board, and were equipped with generators to provide the needed 110 volts current to operate the equipment. One of these radio vehicles was also armed with a .30 calibre Colt-Browning machine gun, and it also had a powerful electric searchlight with a signalling heliograph shutter.

Both the vehicles with the field kitchen, and hospital, were mounted on an eight-cylinder Cadillac chassis with a 145 inch wheelbase. Cooking was done using an electric cooker that did not produce any visible fire.

The Balloon Destroyer vehicle, was armed with a .30 calibre Colt-Browning high-angle Anti-Aircraft machine gun.

When the Exposition was over, the eight military vehicles were shipped back to the Northwestern Military Academy in Highland Park by train, instead of being driven back, since Davidson had achieved his goal of demonstrating to the United States Army and the government that a mechanized army was indeed the technology of the future.

Although Davidson's Armoured Machine Gun Car was considered a success, it was never adopted by the American War Department, and never saw service with the American military, and as a consequence only one Davidson-Cadillac Armoured Machine Gun Car was ever manufactured.

LF

Complied from various sources.

The attached photo shows part of Colonel R. P. Davidson's convoy led by the Quartermaster's car on route from Chicago to San Francisco.

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]

Davidson's ' Armoured Machine Gun Car ', built by Cadillac, attracts much attention during a stop on the convoy's journey from Chicago to San Francisco.

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]

The attached photograph shows the Cadillac Ambulance/Mobile Hospital vehicle in Davidson's convoy, in front of the Armoured Machine Gun Car.

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]

The photo you posted above looks like it's a companion to the Library of Congress one I posted of the DCNG at Camp Simms in 1916... The wrapping is coming off the spare tire and the scrapes on the body and rear wheel disc are in the same places! Do you know the source of your photo

Paul,

I agree, both photographs show DC National Guard, and were probably taken around the same time. Also, the other vehicles shown in your post # 2131 look to be from the 1915 Davidson convoy.

I shall check the photo source for you.

Regards,

LF

[Cpl Coleman]

LF

Thank you for all the excellent material you've presented on Davidson's Armored Machine Gun Car. I looked around the photos in the Harris & Ewing collection at the Library of Congress and found a couple of pictures of American armored cars that seem to be on exhibition in Washington, DC in 1916. I'm guessing the Davidson convoy might have been in the Capital for the same demonstration, perhaps vying for government contracts just prior to the US entry into WW1.

Regards

Paul

• Title: ARMY, U.S. ARMORED CAR
• Creator(s): Harris & Ewing, photographer
• Date Created/Published: 1916.
• Medium: 1 negative : glass ; 5 x 7 in. or smaller
• Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-hec-07149 (digital file from original negative)
• Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on publication.
• Call Number: LC-H261- 6492 [P&P]
• Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
• Notes:
  • Title from unverified caption data received with the Harris & Ewing Collection.
  • Gift; Harris & Ewing, Inc. 1955.

[Cpl Coleman]

... And another

• Title: [Armored car]
• Creator(s): Harris & Ewing, photographer
• Date Created/Published: [between 1916 and 1918]
• Medium: 1 negative : glass ; 5 x 7 in. or smaller
• Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-hec-09689 (digital file from original negative)
• Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on publication.
• Call Number: LC-H261- 9531 [P&P]
• Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
• Notes:
  • Title devised by Library staff; possibly a 1917 White Armored Car.
  • Date based on date of negatives in same range.
  • Gift; Harris & Ewing, Inc. 1955.

[Lancashire Fusilier]

... And another

Paul,

The Armoured Car shown in your post # 2141 is a ' White ' Armoured Car produced by the White Motor Company of Clevelend, Ohio, for the U.S. Military. White's made 2 or 3 versions of the Armoured Car during the WW1 period from 1915 to 1918.

The version shown in the previous post was the 3 ton model with a 4-cylinder petrol engine, which gave the Armoured Car a maximum speed of 65 mph.

Attached is another photograph of the ' White ' Armoured Car.

Regards,

LF

[Lancashire Fusilier]

Here is another version of the American ' White ' Armoured Car.

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]

Thank you for all the excellent material you've presented on Davidson's Armored Machine Gun Car. I looked around the photos in the Harris & Ewing collection at the Library of Congress and found a couple of pictures of American armored cars that seem to be on exhibition in Washington, DC in 1916. I'm guessing the Davidson convoy might have been in the Capital for the same demonstration, perhaps vying for government contracts just prior to the US entry into WW1.

Paul,

The Armoured Car in your post # 2140 is the 1916 ' REO ' Armoured Car built by Mr. Ransom Eli Olds, who in 1899 founded the Olds Motor Company, makers of ' Oldsmobile ' cars.

In 1904 R.E. Olds sold his ' Oldsmobile ' motor company, and because of restrictions on his using his ' Olds ' name commercially, he formed a new motor car company named the ' REO Motor Company ' using his initials.

In 1916 the REO Motor Company produced a REO Armoured Car using the REO Model F chassis and the REO 35 hp 4-cylinder engine.

The REO Armoured Car with its distinctive twin arched barbed wire cutters, was used by the Michigan National Guard for training, fund raising events and military demonstrations.

REO subsequently produced a 2nd Model Armoured Car with a different armoured body design, a single central barbed wire cutter and artillery wheels.

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]

The 2nd Model ' REO ' Armoured Car.

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]

American armored cars that seem to be on exhibition in Washington, DC in 1916.

Paul,

With reference to your post # 2140, the ' N.E. B ST ' street sign attached to the lamp post, confirms that the photograph of the ' REO Armoured Car ' was indeed taken in Washington D.C., as N.E. B Street was the old street name for what is now Constitution Avenue in Washington D.C.

The old ' B Street ' was changed to Constitution Avenue on February 26, 1931.

Regards,

LF

[Lancashire Fusilier]

An American Army ' White ' Armoured Car and crew member.

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 addition to making Armoured Cars, the White Motor Company of Clevelend, Ohio also produced excellent motorcars, attached is a photograph of the superb ' White Model M ' American Presidential Motorcar made for American President William Taft.

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.

[Cpl Coleman]

LF

With reference to your post # 2140, the ' N.E. B ST ' street sign attached to the lamp post, confirms that the photograph of the ' REO Armoured Car ' was indeed taken in Washington D.C., as N.E. B Street was the old street name for what is now Constitution Avenue in Washington D.C.

The old ' B Street ' was changed to Constitution Avenue on February 26, 1931.

Good eye! In the background of the REO armored car in post # 2140 is the Russell Senate Office Building at 2 Constitution Ave NE (B St NE in 1916) Washington DC. Thanks again for all the great photos and information on American WW1 era armored cars.

Regards

Paul