Looking for details on this tank.

[chris.wight]

There was an interesting photo of a tank on an auction which ended today on Ebay. The tank is shown crossing a German trench at Vimy and appears to have the number 593 painted on its side. I was curious if anyone could provide any details.

The photo can be seen here.

[orcgeneral]

I know for sure that it is a British tank.

By the tanks looks I am assuming that it is a Mark VI or V "male" tank.

[Robert Dunlop]

According to Fletcher (Tanks and Trenches), this is tank no 599. She is a female version. You can see the two machine gun 'turrets' in the sponson. The sponson is from a Mk I probably, painted in the early Solomon's camoflague pattern. Mk IV and later sponsons did not extend so far down the tank body, allowing for escape hatches to be added to the body just under the sponson. The body of the tank is Mk II - you can tell this from the shape of the track tensioner near the front of the tank body. This combination definitely puts the tank in the Battle of Arras. There were 20 Mk II females used in this battle.

The rear Lewis gun has been removed from its mount. There is a photograph of 599 going into action followed by infantry. Both Lewis guns are present. This suggests that the photograph referred to above was taken when 599 became stuck/stopped. It was common for crews to remove the guns, provided they were able, and to continue supporting the infantry with them.

Robert

[chris.wight]

Thank-you both for your replies.

Robert, then the original caption was in error. I was unaware tank crews would take out a Lewis gun when they became bogged down.

Men in these early tanks must have been a rather brave lot.