gjbarclay Posted 13 December , 2018 Share Posted 13 December , 2018 The recent Netflix documentary 'Age of Tanks' included a still image near the end of episode 1 of two tanks on a street. Although the context implied these were two of the tanks sent to Glasgow after the riot of 31 January 1919, they are clearly of a different type. As far as I can determine, the Whippet 'Julian's baby' was used for fund-raising (named after the Mk IV No. 113 'Julian' which toured extensively in 1918). The ?Mk IV behind has the number (or partly visible number) 906. Does anyone know more about '906' or the event shown in this still image? Many thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Davies Posted 13 December , 2018 Share Posted 13 December , 2018 (edited) The different sized visors on the rearmost tank are a classic identification of the Mk V tank. As for identification I will have a dig. The tour is mentioned in the Osprey book on Whippets. Edited 13 December , 2018 by Gareth Davies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Davies Posted 13 December , 2018 Share Posted 13 December , 2018 Julian's Baby is ser no A217. There is a good photo of it here: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205091042 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjbarclay Posted 13 December , 2018 Author Share Posted 13 December , 2018 Thanks very much for this! I've put together a Twitter thread on the way this image and some cine film have been passed off as of Glasgow in 1919, when they're not! I've done some checking and the tour was reported in the press in January/February/March 1919. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heid the Ba Posted 14 December , 2018 Share Posted 14 December , 2018 The buildings could be Glasgow, but I don't remember lampposts like that. I can't see anything in the photo to suggest a location. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjbarclay Posted 14 December , 2018 Author Share Posted 14 December , 2018 There seem to have been two or even three tanks in the group at various stages in the tour, and 'Julian's baby' seems to have gone to Aberdeenshire on its own. I'm certain it's a fund-raising parade anyway, which rather undermines its use in the documentary, in which the camera pans in towards the image, with ominous music, apparently to increase the sense of menace. That sense is, of course, undermined if anyone looks at the pose of the soldier on the front tank, and the way the people are behaving. But people don't look, do they? They see what they led to expect to see I suppose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heid the Ba Posted 14 December , 2018 Share Posted 14 December , 2018 I don't know, those three or four wee laddies between the tanks look like bad yins . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidearm Posted 2 January , 2019 Share Posted 2 January , 2019 But tanks were deployed to Glasgow due to strike action, just not these tanks. Those that were were Medium C tanks. Gwyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjbarclay Posted 2 January , 2019 Author Share Posted 2 January , 2019 The issue is that the reality of the military deployment to Glasgow has been overwhelmed by the mythology. I have been trying to replace mythology with evidence-based history, and the film and stills I've been looking at here are just the next thing I wanted to examine. The creation and political use of the mythology is interesting, or rather, I find it interesting. I've written about the deployment, and about the mythology, here: https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/abs/10.3366/jshs.2018.0248 and here: https://www.academia.edu/37649385/_Churchill_rolled_the_tanks_into_the_crowd_mythology_and_reality_in_the_military_deployment_to_Glasgow_1919 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now