Guest Posted 30 April , 2018 Share Posted 30 April , 2018 (edited) Had lunch with an old friend yesterday- he being c.70. He grew up not far from Knebworth Park and has fond memories as a kid of playing on a Great War tank that was in the grounds for many years (I presume it was Great War-he described it as a "trapezoid thingy"). Would any GWF member know what became of it-indeed, where it came from in the first place and the circumstances as to how it ended up in Knebworth? (This primarily means you GD, if you would be so kind. ) Edited 30 April , 2018 by Guest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Davies Posted 1 May , 2018 Share Posted 1 May , 2018 I have never heard of a presentation tank at Knebworth (but I am not in any way an expert on the presentation tanks). Probably the best bet is to contact the Herts At War team, they have managed to piece together info on a number of the presentation tanks in Herts (I put some info their way late last year/early this year). I did a quick search of my extensive library and couldn't find anything. http://www.hertsatwar.co.uk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 1 May , 2018 Share Posted 1 May , 2018 GD- Thank you very much for pointing me in the right direction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidearm Posted 3 May , 2018 Share Posted 3 May , 2018 I am also not aware of one at Knebworth. Gwyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 3 May , 2018 Share Posted 3 May , 2018 2 minutes ago, Sidearm said: I am also not aware of one at Knebworth. Gwyn I will chase this up with my old friend. He has clear memories of it from the 1950s-he lived not far away in Brookmans Park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxi Posted 3 May , 2018 Share Posted 3 May , 2018 (edited) I believe there was such a tank on display at the park of Hatfield House a mere 8 miles or so from Knebworth, Could be the one possibly? After the war, in 1919, in recognition of the use of his grounds (and presumably also his hospitality), Winston Churchill presented an example of a tank to the 4th Marquess of Salisbury. It was on display in the grounds of Hatfield House for many years, and many older residents recall playing in it during their childhood. Eventually, exposed to the elements and vandalism, the tank fell into a state of disrepair. Corrosion led to one of the gun sponsons (essentially, a side-mounted gun turret) falling off. The tank is the only known example of Mark I (Male). Part of a batch of 150 (75 Male and 75 Female – sex being determined by the weapons mounted on the tank); 23 built by William Foster & Company, and the rest by the Metropolitan Carriage Company. It has since been carefully restored and is now on display at the Tank Museum, Bovington. Edited 3 May , 2018 by maxi Further information Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 3 May , 2018 Share Posted 3 May , 2018 (edited) 58 minutes ago, maxi said: I believe there was such a tank on display at the park of Hatfield House a mere 8 miles or so from Knebworth, Could be the one possibly? I have chased my old friend and asked him to attach jump-leads to the side of his head. Under duress and after many hours of close questioning, he has admitted that he meant Hatfield. I have advised him to avoid the Wine and Spriits counter at Lidl and Aldi for the foreseeable future. Thank you for the responses- and thence onto the correct and interesting story of tanks at Hatfield. Edited 3 May , 2018 by Guest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxi Posted 3 May , 2018 Share Posted 3 May , 2018 I have chased my old friend and asked him to attach jump-leads to the side of his head. Under duress and after many hours of close questioning, he has admitted that he meant Hatfield. I have advised him to avoid the Wine and Spriits counter at Lidl and Aldi for the foreseeable future. Thank you for the responses- and thence onto the correct and interesting story of tanks at Hatfield. I was just editing my previous post as you replied. I have included some further information above and in defence of your learned friend, Knebworth Park and Hatfield House are quite close to each other. I live near Hatfield House and have only visited it once but have been to Knebworth loads of times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidearm Posted 4 May , 2018 Share Posted 4 May , 2018 Please tell your friend that the tank is now at the Tank Museum, Bovington. It is the only surviving Tank Mark I. Gwyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 4 May , 2018 Share Posted 4 May , 2018 16 minutes ago, Sidearm said: Please tell your friend that the tank is now at the Tank Museum, Bovington. It is the only surviving Tank Mark I. Gwyn I shall do. Tanks at Hatfield proved quite an interesting tale-albeit the wrong place to start with. What I want to know (and if anyone in this Solar System knows,it will be GD)- just how many pre-decimal pennies can you get in a tank? Ilford-not far from me-had Julian- and there were 2 main questions when the photographs of the beast came up during t a recent talk- 1) How much did it hold? 2) How did they get it out again? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidearm Posted 4 May , 2018 Share Posted 4 May , 2018 I don't know where to start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IPT Posted 4 May , 2018 Share Posted 4 May , 2018 2 hours ago, Sidearm said: I don't know where to start. Start with a sponson and work your way up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Davies Posted 5 May , 2018 Share Posted 5 May , 2018 I shall do. Tanks at Hatfield proved quite an interesting tale-albeit the wrong place to start with. What I want to know (and if anyone in this Solar System knows,it will be GD)- just how many pre-decimal pennies can you get in a tank? Ilford-not far from me-had Julian- and there were 2 main questions when the photographs of the beast came up during t a recent talk- 1) How much did it hold? 2) How did they get it out again? I should take up the challenge. Working out the volume isn't too difficult (a few assumptions on the space that the internals took up would be needed) but a ROM figure shouldn't be too difficult. And then simply divide that by the volume of a penny. Okay, I know it is not as simple as that (void space between the pennies what with them being round and so on) but it will give you a decent start point. But sadly I am going to decline and I have to swot up on 1940 for a tour next week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 5 May , 2018 Share Posted 5 May , 2018 49 minutes ago, Gareth Davies said: I should take up the challenge. Working out the volume isn't too difficult (a few assumptions on the space that the internals took up would be needed) but a ROM figure shouldn't be too difficult. And then simply divide that by the volume of a penny. Okay, I know it is not as simple as that (void space between the pennies what with them being round and so on) but it will give you a decent start point. But sadly I am going to decline and I have to swot up on 1940 for a tour next week. Thank you GD- For many years over my way, there have been talks about the Great War and the production/reproduction of local photographs. A favourite has been the savings drive with Julian the Tank. And how the idea was to raise enough cash to fill the thing. Of course, it was-I suppose-inevitable that a small voice was going to ask how many pennies that was....Out of the mouths of babes......... (In my childhood, it was the big red seamines of the Second World War that were on every seafront- the one I remember was close to the Mayflower Steps in Plymouth-wonder what happened to them all?) The number of pennies will have to go down as one of the great unanswered questions of the Great War. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidearm Posted 9 May , 2018 Share Posted 9 May , 2018 Gareth's method only works if you melt the pennies, in which case they're no longer pennies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle George Posted 9 May , 2018 Share Posted 9 May , 2018 GUEST - Here's a photograph for us and any other Janners on the Forum. It is to be found on the 'Erald website. The concrete platform is still there: https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/plymouth-news/prison-opposite-plymouth-pavilions-you-621015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 9 May , 2018 Share Posted 9 May , 2018 On 09/05/2018 at 21:06, Uncle George said: Here's a photograph for us and any other Janners on the Forum. It is to be found on the 'Erald website. The concrete platform is still there: https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/plymouth-news/prison-opposite-plymouth-pavilions-you-621015 Splendid-it was obviously put there to suppress trouble at the Duke of Cornwall Hotel!!. What became of it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Black Posted 10 May , 2018 Share Posted 10 May , 2018 Splendid-it was obviously put there to suppress trouble at the Duke of Cornwall Hotel!!. What became of it? Probably the same as many of the sea mine collection boxes previously mentioned, they rusted away and were scrapped in time. Derek. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle George Posted 10 May , 2018 Share Posted 10 May , 2018 Splendid-it was obviously put there to suppress trouble at the Duke of Cornwall Hotel!!. What became of it? I assume it was melted down for Beaverbrook's 'pots and pans for Spitfires' drive during the Second war. Though how the 'Doris' Gun survived this exercise isn't clear. As you no doubt know, this Boer War memorial was erected in Devonport Park by the crew of HMS Doris in 1904, and is still there: http://www.olddevonport.uk/HMS Doris Gun.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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