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Remembered Today:

Guy Martin and JCB building a MkIV tank


slick63

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I find the chaps other programmes rather interesting, this time he`s knocking up a MkIV with the help of JCB and a few experts.... LINK

On CH4, Sunday 19th November at 8pm. Unfortunately he was refused permission to drive it in the Remembrance parade at Lincoln due to health and safety worries....  LINK

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I also think Guy Martin makes some interesting programmes.  Link to another thread discussing this tank.

 

Mandy

 

 

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I was one of the consultants on the programme and am lucky enough to have already seen a recent edit.  I've no doubt there'll be criticism, but I think it manages to be both entertaining and educational.  Hope you enjoy it.

 

Gwyn

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Absolutely brilliant programme to watch, I’m glad it was 2 hours long.  

 

It had everything history, remembrance and educational.  

 

The only thing I thought they could have done in my opinion, is to show the graves or the names on the memorial of the Deborah’s Crew.  However they may have done that but it ended up on the cutting room floor

 

 

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Excellent project and program I thought ! Shame on Lincoln though especially when it was welcomed in Euroland and its alledged  strictures.

We are a sad country in such respects........

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10 minutes ago, thetrenchrat22 said:

Absolutely brilliant programme to watch, I’m glad it was 2 hours long.  

 

It had everything history, remembrance and educational.  

 

 

 

Agree with everything you have said, well done to Channel 4 for showing it as a 2 hour programme.  I admit to a tear in my eye at the end.

I think the tank museum in Norfolk, will be very busy next year.

 

Mandy

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Watching this on a commercial TV channel was painful, there were so many adverts and I would guess the actual programme was edited down to something like 1hr 20 mins. What could it have been if they had the full 2hrs?

 

It was worth viewing on various levels, yes it was entertaining but was rather Great War lite. Inspired by the story of Deborah (D51), but not really about that tank and its crew. A homage to those who fought at Cambrai, but light in substance.

 

For all JCB’s engineering skill, it was surprising to learn how they got the design of their main track chain drive bearing wrong. We may grumble how the police put the kibosh on the replica tank driving down Lincoln’s main street on 11th November (a busy Saturday), but perhaps they were right. Just imagine what might have happened if that breakdown took place then and if the multi-ton tank slewed to one side.  Accidents happened in times of less officialdom, in the tank tours of March 1918 two children were reportedly injured by the swerving tank that came to Wandsworth in South London.

 

One of the most telling sequences for me was when eight people crammed into the Mk IV at the Bovingdon Tank Museum, it made all I’ve read about crew conditions a little more real.  I don’t think anyone who has followed the story of the Tank Corps in the Great War, of individuals who fought and died in Tanks, could watch the final sequences without a pang of emotion.  In the end, the Lincoln constabulary had done us all a favour.  The simple ceremony that took place around the lone replica tank surrounded by a small knot of people on the open vista near Flesquieres as the bugle played was a poignant and fitting finale.

 

To add a bit of trivia, I think the voice over was done by Shuan Dooley, who also appeared as a member of the tank crew in BBC TV's dramatisation of the Battle of Amiens. 

Edited by Chris_B
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12 hours ago, Garwood said:

Excellent project and program I thought ! Shame on Lincoln though especially when it was welcomed in Euroland and its alledged  strictures.

We are a sad country in such respects........

As the instigator of the other thread about the tank, I became swayed by subsequent observations that questioned whether "a war machine had any place at all on a Remembrance Day parade" and that pointed out that "there was no need to remember the tools used to kill and maim" on such an occasion. The tank's presence would have smacked of entertainment. What next: re-enactors joining in, or mounting a display after the service - which I doubt would enter their minds to do?

 

Moonraker

 

Edited by Moonraker
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49 minutes ago, Chris_B said:

In the end, the Lincoln constabulary had done us all a favour.  The simple ceremony that took place around the lone replica tank surrounded by a small knot of people on the open vista near Flesquieres as the bugle played was a poignant and fitting finale.

 

I couldn`t agree more, after reflection the tank would not have fitted in at Lincoln.

I found the whole programme superb, especially the engineering side of things. I`m glad the bearing failure happened, as it illustrated how complex the construction must have been a 100 years ago, even with the heavy engineering expertise around at the time. 

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I also watched the programme and thoroughly enjoyed it. Perhaps I had some advantage, since about fifteen years ago Philippe allowed a small group of us the privilege of seeing, and actually going inside, the original Deborah not long after she had been discovered.

 

One point which was slightly glossed over was that if any of the crew bumped into the engine while they were on the move, they would probably have been badly burned.

 

Ron

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35 minutes ago, Ron Clifton said:

I also watched the programme and thoroughly enjoyed it. Perhaps I had some advantage, since about fifteen years ago Philippe allowed a small group of us the privilege of seeing, and actually going inside, the original Deborah not long after she had been discovered.

 

One point which was slightly glossed over was that if any of the crew bumped into the engine while they were on the move, they would probably have been badly burned.

 

Ron

I thought that with the engine - presumably it was also uncovered in the original ?

Craig

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1 minute ago, mebu said:

And here's one that was made earlier, parked on the driveway......

 

Peter

IMG_1529.JPG


The garage certainly wasn't built for a tank.

Craig

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On ‎20‎/‎11‎/‎2017 at 14:25, ss002d6252 said:

I thought that with the engine - presumably it was also uncovered in the original ?

Craig

No, there was an engine cover. 

 

Gwyn

AWM_MkIV_08.jpg

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On ‎20‎/‎11‎/‎2017 at 14:25, mebu said:

And here's one that was made earlier, parked on the driveway......

 

Peter

IMG_1529.JPG

This one was apparently made for a production (by Kenneth Branagh?) of Mozart's Magic Flute, which has really messed with my understanding of history.

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2 hours ago, Sidearm said:

This one was apparently made for a production (by Kenneth Branagh?) of Mozart's Magic Flute, which has really messed with my understanding of history.

 

That's the one - had to be made within certain reduced size and weight limits to allow it to be used on a stage, so whilst it doesn't look too bad from an angle it looks decidedly odd when viewed from the side. I worked with it on Finding the Fallen back in 2008, and got a few shots then:

 

https://postimg.org/image/gy7scfkwr/

 

FTF_DCLI_Cornwall_2008_003.jpg

 

 

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