auchonvillerssomme Posted 16 July , 2014 Share Posted 16 July , 2014 I feel I should know this, but can anyone please tell me where was this picture taken please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
centurion Posted 16 July , 2014 Share Posted 16 July , 2014 As it's a MK I male it would be the Somme or Arras campaigns Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
centurion Posted 16 July , 2014 Share Posted 16 July , 2014 And the lack of rear steering wheels would suggest a Mk I at Arras (the track adjuster cut outs are curved rather than square which says Mk I but the steering wheels were removed from Mk Is at Arras.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auchonvillerssomme Posted 16 July , 2014 Author Share Posted 16 July , 2014 Thanks for that, I've just found the book it was taken from, 'The Truth About Our Tanks', by Ivor Halstead, and the title of the pic is Somme 1916. A tank temporarily disabled, but I am sure I have seen it before with a different title and as you mention a later date. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Davies Posted 16 July , 2014 Share Posted 16 July , 2014 The photograph is on the front cover of George Forty's Pictorial History of the RTR but I don't have a copy to hand to find out where he thinks the location is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidearm Posted 16 July , 2014 Share Posted 16 July , 2014 The photo dates from the battle of Arras in April 1917. I'm none too sure of the exact location but there's something at the back of my mind telling me the photographer was standing on a viaduct or something similar?? Gwyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auchonvillerssomme Posted 16 July , 2014 Author Share Posted 16 July , 2014 Thanks Gareth and Glyn, I have been going through some other books and still can't place it. The location of the photographer is certainly interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auchonvillerssomme Posted 16 July , 2014 Author Share Posted 16 July , 2014 I think this might be the same one - title BATTLE ARRAS 1917 (Q 6427) A British tank ditched in a captured German gun pit during the Battle of Arras. British cavalry can be seen massed in the background. Ps please correct me if I'm wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikB Posted 16 July , 2014 Share Posted 16 July , 2014 There are trees missing to the left as compared to the top picture, the RH track grousers are a few inches further forward, and the clutter on top doesn't quite look the same? Regards, MikB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave1418 Posted 16 July , 2014 Share Posted 16 July , 2014 Sorry, its not the same picture. The first is in what appears to be a ditch running along side a road, the second picture is within a section of trench. regards Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
centurion Posted 16 July , 2014 Share Posted 16 July , 2014 Sorry, its not the same picture. The first is in what appears to be a ditch running along side a road, the second picture is within a section of trench. regards Dave And its also a Mk II whereas the one in the OP is a Mk I Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delta Posted 16 July , 2014 Share Posted 16 July , 2014 I am fairly sure it is tank no 752 which was commanded by 2lT Tarbet; it ditched on the Fampoux Road. Tarbet was killed as he tried to recce the route ahead after it was ditched. But I could be wrong Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auchonvillerssomme Posted 17 July , 2014 Author Share Posted 17 July , 2014 Well I've never said I'm a tank expert, that goes to prove it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
centurion Posted 17 July , 2014 Share Posted 17 July , 2014 The photo is in here http://4and7royaltankregiment.com/1916-1918.html and is indeed identified as at Fampoux Road at the Beginning of Arras 1917 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auchonvillerssomme Posted 21 July , 2014 Author Share Posted 21 July , 2014 It certainly is, thanks for the link. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 21 July , 2014 Share Posted 21 July , 2014 I am fairly sure it is tank no 752 which was commanded by 2lT Tarbet; it ditched on the Fampoux Road. Tarbet was killed as he tried to recce the route ahead after it was ditched. But I could be wrong Nice one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
centurion Posted 21 July , 2014 Share Posted 21 July , 2014 I was struck by the high elevation of this photograph - might it have been taken from the railway bridge at 50°18'16.12"N 2°49'28.08"E? Trench map 51b NW3 H14 a13? see post 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBrockway Posted 21 July , 2014 Share Posted 21 July , 2014 Here's the original source photo taken on 09 Apr 1917 with a wider field of view and crisper detail. It's in the IWM Collection: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205215545 THE BATTLE OF ARRAS, APRIL-MAY 1917. © IWM (Q 6434)IWM Non Commercial Licence Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBrockway Posted 21 July , 2014 Share Posted 21 July , 2014 The land to the left of the road behind the tank is dropping away, while the road itself seems to contour away before swinging downhill after the left turn in the middle distance. Looking at the contours around the bridge on this March 1917 trench map, the view westwards would fit the photo better. To the east, the road would be going downhill across the slope immediately. Also it would make more sense for a tank moving left to right in the photo to be heading northwards uphill towards the German ESK TRENCH. Furthermore ESK TRENCH is also on the downhill, southern edge of the road. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerald Moore Posted 24 July , 2014 Share Posted 24 July , 2014 I think that the railway viaduct from which the photo was taken can be seen in this portion of a panorama of the St. Laurent - Blagny area. The photo is from the IWM collection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auchonvillerssomme Posted 24 July , 2014 Author Share Posted 24 July , 2014 On the first picture, a bit more difficult to see in the later one is a building or buildings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBrockway Posted 24 July , 2014 Share Posted 24 July , 2014 I think that the railway viaduct from which the photo was taken can be seen in this portion of a panorama of the St. Laurent - Blagny area. The photo is from the IWM collection.St Laurent Blagny panorama.jpg I agree, though I would describe it as a bridge and embankment rather than a viaduct - this picture was taken from Ref 51B.G.12.d.1.3 about 600m due N of the centre of St.Laurent-Blangy in what is now an industrial estate just N of the D950. It's the northernmost tile in a nine tile panorama whose key map is ... The view is looking approx ESE roughly along the axis of the Rue d'Athies, which is hidden by the slightly higher ground in the foreground, which also obscures the current location of Mindel Trench Cemetery. The bridge is on the left about one fifth of the way across. Modern day Hervin Farm Cemetery lies behind the embankment to the right of the bridge arch. Good spot Gerald! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidearm Posted 24 July , 2014 Share Posted 24 July , 2014 I'm grateful to all (MrSwan especially) for the precise location and for confirming I hadn't, quite, lost my marbles. Gwyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auchonvillerssomme Posted 25 July , 2014 Author Share Posted 25 July , 2014 A lot of work has gone into answering this question, thank you all very much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerald Moore Posted 25 July , 2014 Share Posted 25 July , 2014 Here is a photo of the same tank, probably taken after it broke down with a twisted secondary gear shaft in Athies on 23/4/17. (Photo courtesy of Mark Hansen) In higher resolution scans, a portion of a name which looks like HMLS Clan Ruthven II, can be made out on the bow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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