WW1 Military Motors - 1916 set x 50 cards

[GRANVILLE]

David,

I am not sure who would have found this situation more unusual, the DAP troops stacking corn in a field around the village of Bethune, or the Royal Garrison Artillery gunners manning their 6 inch howitzer just a few feet away ?

This photograph was taken on 15th August 1918, just 3 months before the Armistice, yet still with time for many thousands of men to die during WW1.

LF

IWM9800 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.

Fascinating images. Looking at this photo I'm wondering if the men tending the corn are part of the gun-crew and are just clearing an arc in front of the gun to help minimize the risk of starting a fire from the gun discharge etc?

David

[Lancashire Fusilier]

LF, great pics partcularly the two with the AIF, thanks for posting.

Rod,

Here is another photograph of Australian troops attached to the DAP., assisting with the harvest in fields around Corbie in the Somme region during August of 1918.

LF

AWM 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]

Group photograph of Brigadier General Jacob Pleydell-Bouverie, 6th Earl of Radnor, the Director of Agricultural Production and his staff. Le Touquet, 17 August 1918.

LF

IWM9776 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]

My final photographs relating to the Directorate of Agricultural Production show the stark differences between the peaceful scenes of DAP troops loading the harvest onto haystacks in the Amiens area of Northern France during August 1918, which is a typical scene of harvesters, their wagons and their horses as would be seen on any British farm during haymaking in the Summer of 1918, and other parts of the Western Front, where WW1 would continue raging for another 3 months, as is evidenced by the photograph of British and Australian dead being laid out for burial on the Western Front on 3rd October 1918.

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]

3rd October, 1918.

Note the stacked stretchers, used for collecting the dead for burial. Presumably, the stretchers were stacked that way to allow them to air and dry out.

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 very interesting and scarce pair of photographs published by the Thornycroft Company and taken at their factory at Basingstoke, showing both the prototype of their Thornycroft J-Type 3-ton Lorry mounted with a 13 pdr Anti-Aircraft Gun, and also the first production version of the Thornycroft J-Type 3-ton 4-cylinder 44.5 bhp. Lorry mounted with a 13 pdr Anti-Aircraft Gun, of which some 5000 were supplied to the War Department during WW1.

LF

The first photograph shows the prototype.

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]

Photographed at Thornycroft's factory at Basingstoke, the first production version of the Thornycroft J-Type 3-ton 4-cylinder 44.5 bhp. Lorry mounted with a 13 pdr Anti-Aircraft Gun, of which some 5000 were supplied to the War Department during WW1.

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.

[MikeyH]

LF,

Thanks for your seemingly never ending supply of fascinating photographs. Re #2454, which I find really moving, so sad to see a medical orderly amongst the dead, probably next to the casualty he was attending to at the time.

Mike.

[Lancashire Fusilier]

Thanks for your seemingly never ending supply of fascinating photographs. Re #2454, which I find really moving, so sad to see a medical orderly amongst the dead, probably next to the casualty he was attending to at the time.

Mike.

Mike,

Many thanks, and nice to know you are finding the photographs interesting. What struck me about the photographs in # 2453 and 2454, was how the luck or good fortune of a posting on the Western Front could literally mean life or death.

Regards,

LF

[Lancashire Fusilier]

The name of ' Thornycroft ' is closely associated with the Thornycroft J-Type lorry used during WW1, however, John Isaac Thornycroft (1843–1928) started in business as a boat builder, with his first business, founded in 1864 being the Thornycroft shipbuilding company John I. Thornycroft and Co., and in 1896 he subsequently also founded the Thornycroft vehicle company. Born in Rome, Italy, he was the son of Mary Thornycroft, the sculptress.

John Thornycroft Studied at Glasgow University, and worked under John Elder, the marine engineer.

He established a shipbuilding yard on the River Thames at Chiswick in 1864, and built his first steam launch when he was 19 years old. In 1877, his first vessel built for the Royal Navy was a motor torpedo boat HMS Lightning. Thornycroft worked on the means of aiding hull lubrication by air which also led him to design a hydrofoil, and later his stepped chine hulls which he used for 55 ft Coastal Motor Boats during WW1, which gave them speeds of up to 40 knots.

His yard also built a steam powered lorry, which led Thornycroft into the vehicle manufacturing business. In 1896 John Thornycroft opened a large and well-equipped factory at Basingstoke, where he started manufacturing heavy-load steam vehicles, and steam passenger cars, and in 1901 Thornycroft entered several of his vehicles in the War Department trials with his vehicles being awarded first prize, this ultimately led to the introduction in 1913 of the Thornycroft J-Type Lorry with 5000 J-Types being supplied to the WD during WW1.

In 1904, Thornycroft transferred his shipbuilding activities to Woolston, Southampton, where Thornycroft's first vessels were six Thames paddle steamers built in 1905. Thornycroft's first ship built at Southampton for the Royal Navy was the Tribal class destroyer HMS Tartar, followed by a series of seventeen torpedo boats.

In 1908 he also set up the Hampton Launch Works on Platts Eyot, an island on the River Thames at Hampton, Middlesex. This boat-building works concentrated on cabin cruisers and speedboats, but also produced small naval craft.Thornycroft closed their boat-building operation on Platt's Eyot, when in the mid-1960s they were taken over by Vospers.

During WWI Thornycroft's output included small gunboats, patrol boats, ferries, tugs, launches, and barges. 24 destroyers, as well as boom defence vessels, three submarines, a decoy ship, naval tugs and other smaller specialist craft were also made.

John Thornycroft was the brother of Hamo Thornycroft, the British sculptor, and uncle of the war poet Siegfried Sassoon. His son Isaac Thomas Thornycroft skippered the motorboat Gyrinus II to two gold medals at 1908 Olympic Games.

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.

[BSM]

#2451 .... another interesting AIF pic LF. I trust we shall see a number of previously unpublished "Logistics" content images during the next four years etc. Rod

[GRANVILLE]

That torpedo boat Destroyer looks very much like the class of ship featured in the film 'In which we serve' which coincidentally I watched yesterday on the BBC i-player. I noticed that once the ship had been commissioned, it was officially handed over to the navy with due ceremony and there is a brief scene where a civilian flag is lowered and the Royal Ensign raised. The flag had something like T something & son(s) on it and having previously read this post, I wondered if this might be referring to Thornycroft?

David

[Lancashire Fusilier]

That torpedo boat Destroyer looks very much like the class of ship featured in the film 'In which we serve' which coincidentally I watched yesterday on the BBC i-player. I noticed that once the ship had been commissioned, it was officially handed over to the navy with due ceremony and there is a brief scene where a civilian flag is lowered and the Royal Ensign raised. The flag had something like T something & son(s) on it and having previously read this post, I wondered if this might be referring to Thornycroft?

David

David,

That could well have been the ' Thornycroft ' shipping flag, very interesting.

Regards,

LF

[Lancashire Fusilier]

An interesting ' Thornycroft ' ship :-

The British Hospital Ship ' Nabha ' was designed to the order of the British Red Cross by John I Thornycroft & Co Ltd, London, Basingstoke & Southampton, and was paid for by the Indian Maharaja of Nabha.

The ship arrived in Basrah in May 1917, having been sent out in sections to Bombay from England, where she was re-erected. During the first two months, she travelled 2000 miles between Basrah and Baghdad, and in the following two months evacuated sick from Baghdad to Amarah and thence to base.

On the upward journeys, she took Red Cross stores for Amarah and Bagdad and returned with full complements of patients. From October 1917 until March 1st 1919, she was employed on the Baghdad section of the river, either evacuating from field ambulances and casualty clearing stations above Baghdad, or from medical units below Baghdad. She travelled 12,338 miles in Mesopotamia and carried 27,233 sick and wounded. Among her distribution of stores were 10,740 blocks of ice, each weighing 30 lbs.

At the end of WW1, the Maharaja of Nabha repurchased the Nabha and the proceeds were used to set up the Star and Garter Home (in Richmond, Surrey).

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 British Hospital Ship ' Nabha ' moored on the River Tigris.

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]

T something & son(s) on it and having previously read this post, I wondered if this might be referring to Thornycroft?

David

David,

Here is a small badge depicting the ' Thornycroft ' shipping flag, which is probably similar to that shown in the film.

Regards,

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]

It's not the flag featuring in the film - which can be viewed at 4:14 into the film. It looks like a circle with TS & Sons within it - possibly nothing to do with Thornycroft, but it caught my eye having read your posting on the ship which looks similar to that in the film. Great views of the ship almost soon as the film gets underway. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0074sgt/in-which-we-serve

David

[Lancashire Fusilier]

A fine scale model from the Imperial War Museum's model collection of the British Hospital Ship ' Nabha '.

This ship was constructed at the J. Thornycroft shipyard at Southampton, and shipped in sections to Bombay, India where it was re-assembled before being sent to Basrah in May 1917.

LF

IWM MOD41 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]

With reference to the Ambulance Launches shown in post # 2463, these show another area of ' Thornycroft's ' expertise, launch building, which was carried out at Thornycroft's Hampton Launch Works on Platts Eyot, and island on the River Thames at Hampton in Middlesex.

On 19th September 1915, a cable was received by the British Red Cross Society from General Sir John Dixon in Mesopotamia, stating that he would be very grateful for any Motor Launches that could be sent, together with the necessary staff.

The first three boats designed to meet this request were constructed by Messrs. John I. Thornycroft & Co Ltd, and were named the ' Mid-Bucks ', the ' South Bucks ', and the ' Wycombe Swan ', respectively, the funds for their construction having been provided by the Buckinghamshire Branch of the British Red Cross Society.

They were constructed of teak to withstand the excessive heat, and were fitted with a 22 horse-power four-cylinder Thornycroft petrol engine, which gave the boat a speed of about 8 1/2 knots, the cost pricefor each launch being £750.

Their overall length was 40 feet, extreme breadth 9 feet and the maximum draught 2 feet 4 inches when fully loaded.

The engine was installed in a small cabin right forward in which also two berths were provided for the men in charge. The rest of the boat was left entirely open and divided into three compartments by two transverse bulkheads.

These compartments were of approximately equal length, and seats were provided round them so that stretchers might be placed either lengthways or thwartships; 12 to 14 stretchers could be accommodated, or about 40 sitting cases, or a combination of six stretchers and 20 sitting cases. A double awning and side curtains afforded ample protection to the patients against rain or sun.

The three boats were completed in March 1916, shipment being delayed until the following month owing to the difficulty of obtaining space in vessels proceeding to Mesopotamia.

Eighteen launches of this class, but differing in details, were built by Messrs. Thornycroft, and 18 by other builders. Before the end of 1916 there were 33 Red Cross Motor Launches in Mesopotamia and the maximum number of 84 actually in commission was reached in June 1918.

Generally speaking there were three distinct types of launches in use:- 1) 40 feet by 9 feet Carvel built launch with a draught of 2 feet 6 inches and 28 to 40 horse-power petrol engine. 2) 50 feet by 9 feet cabin launch with a draught of 2 feet 6 inches and 40 to 60 horse-power petrol engine, especially suitable for evacuation over long distances. 3) 26 feet to 40 feet open launch with a 2 feet draught and 10 to 16 horse-power engine, used principally for medical administration work and carrying of Red Cross stores in emergency.

During the period from 1st August 1916, until demobilization of the unit on 1st March 1919, the fleet of 94 Red Cross Motor Launches carried 414,017 passengers and travelled 683,175 miles. The ' Mid-Bucks ' was employed by the Medical Reserve at Amarah.

LF

A fine scale model of the Ambulance Launch ' Mid-Bucks ' from the Imperial War Museum's model collection.

IWM MOD36 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 Hospital Ship's Ambulance Launch.

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.

[phil@basildon]

I wonder if any survived? I should imagine many would have been snapped up for conversion to cruisers or yachts.

[Lancashire Fusilier]

I wonder if any survived? I should imagine many would have been snapped up for conversion to cruisers or yachts.

Phil,

As Thornycroft were experts in motor launch construction, and these Ambulance Launches were built of teak, hopefully, some will have survived.

Regards,

LF

[Lancashire Fusilier]

Here are a series of ' Thorrnycroft ' advertisements which illustrate the vast array of ships, boats, vehicles and machinery produced by Thornycroft.

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]

2

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]

3

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.