pookie46 Posted 5 March , 2019 Share Posted 5 March , 2019 My father-in-law CHARLES AMOS BOWLER (C.A BOWLER) 311922 served in the Tank Corps from early 1918 (born 1899) and was in the Tank Corps. We have always thought he was a gunner in the Mark 1 Tank but not sure this was the correct tank used at this time. Service papers not easy to interpret and do not specify which tank! Can anyone help please!! Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Woodland Posted 5 March , 2019 Share Posted 5 March , 2019 IT wouldn't have been a Mark 1 as they were never used in anger as far as I am aware. Almost certainly Mark 4 or 5 but as to what job he did within the unit, I can only wish you luck. I have been trying for a long while to do just this with my own grandfather but despite having his service record there appears to be no official list of individuals roles. It is worth bearing in mind that a Tank Battalion would have as many men involved in all sorts of roles other than crewing the Tanks and our relatives may have been employed in these ways. If he was a gunner then he may have been using a machine gun in a female tank or a 6 pounder in a male tank. Good Luck. Keith Woodland Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Davies Posted 5 March , 2019 Share Posted 5 March , 2019 His service record is indeed quite hard to interpret - I can't work out which Bn (if any) he served with. He initially joined the 5th Reserve Cavalry Regt in 1916 before transferring to the tanks in May 1918. But I am not sure he served with a fighting Bn (apologies to him if I am wrong). In Sep 18 he was posted to the Depot. When he was demobbed in 1919 he was serving at the Gunnery School. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pookie46 Posted 6 March , 2019 Author Share Posted 6 March , 2019 Thank you for your replies!! At least you agree with what I found! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOE HILL Posted 6 March , 2019 Share Posted 6 March , 2019 My father, Private Joseph Hill, was a driver of a Mark V tank on the 8 August 1918 in the attack from Amiens. He was wounded but brought the tank back to the marshalling point and was awarded the Military Medal. The actin took place at Mallards Wood I believe. Foes anyone have details of the action or can refer me to sources? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOE HILL Posted 6 March , 2019 Share Posted 6 March , 2019 Re-reading Keith Woodlands' comments, it may be of interest that he grew up in Castleford and had a Fish and Chip shop in Cutsyke,,, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 6 March , 2019 Share Posted 6 March , 2019 (edited) HI Joe, Try here.... https://sites.google.com/site/landships/home My Grandfather was a Tank Commander in the 5th Brigade 2nd Battalion C Company Section 9 and went over the top in the first wave with the 2nd & 5th Australian Divisions at Villers-Bretonneux, Amiens 08 August 1918...................same time as your Dad! Edited 6 March , 2019 by Guest typo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johntaylor Posted 6 March , 2019 Share Posted 6 March , 2019 Sorry I don't have any more on Charles Bowler, but the Tank Corps Book of Honour (which lists almost all medal citations) shows Joseph Hill was in 10th Battalion - see entry below. The Landships site (see address in previous email) gives information on their actions on August 8, and says the Battle History Sheets for each tank are available in the National Archives at Kew. The Battle History Sheets don't often survive so this is really fortunate. They don't normally list the full crew, but may well name someone who won a gallantry award, so if you're lucky you may be able to find out a lot more by going through them. Good hunting! John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johntaylor Posted 6 March , 2019 Share Posted 6 March , 2019 Following my last message, I see the reference on the Landships website is to the 10th Battalion War Diary, which is available to download from the National Archives website. Unfortunately there are three separate files and it's not clear from the index which one covers August 1918, but if you download all three it comes to just over a tenner. The three sections of the War Diary are shown below - however I should add a slight disclaimer as this all depends on the indexing and other information being correct! John http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/f9ef05ec19d64741a829f0336c1885de http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/a1b5d1c7f04b4120a9db833868213f3c http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/92a37d6ba7634ffb82d4e8745d72d4fc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johntaylor Posted 6 March , 2019 Share Posted 6 March , 2019 One final message and then I'll shut up. The medal register for Joseph Hill is slightly contradictory as it shows he was previously in 9th Bn King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, and was then in 2nd Bn Tank Corps. The Tank Corps Book of Honour shows he was in 10th Bn on August 8, and this is generally (though not always) accurate, so there are a couple of possibilities. He may have belonged to 2nd Bn but been attached to 10th Bn during the battle (which seems rather unlikely), or else he may have gone into 2nd Bn after he was wounded. Unfortunately I couldn't find his service record which would shed more light on this. I'm afraid it does mean that downloading the 10th Bn War Diaries as I suggested previously may be a bit of a gamble. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjwmacro Posted 6 March , 2019 Share Posted 6 March , 2019 On 05/03/2019 at 13:51, Keith Woodland said: IT wouldn't have been a Mark 1 as they were never used in anger as far as I am aware. Almost certainly Mark 4 or 5 Keith You are correct it would have been a Mk IV or V - but because of the 1918 date, by which stage Mk I's were no longer in service. The Mk 1 however was used in anger at Flers-Courcellette. 15 September 1916 (first use of tanks in action) and in the subsequent early tank battles on the Somme into Nov 1916. Potentially Charles Bowler could also have served on a Whippet tank in 1918 - but that would be dependent on which batalion he was with. 3rd and 6th Battalions became Lt Tank Battalions in that year. Regards, Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Davies Posted 6 March , 2019 Share Posted 6 March , 2019 I am pretty certain that he wasn't with a Bn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOE HILL Posted 6 March , 2019 Share Posted 6 March , 2019 He joined up in his County Regiment, K.O.Y.L.I, but then became a dispatch rider (presumably with KOYLI) and then became a tank driver in the Tank Corps. I am not sure about any details since he, like many others, wouldn't talk about the war but I have somewhere a copy of the entry in the Tank Corps Book of Honours quoted above Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedCoat Posted 6 March , 2019 Share Posted 6 March , 2019 Bowler transferred to the BEF on the 25th October 1918, disembarking at Boulogne on the 28th October. He was posted to the Depot in France the same day and on the 23rd Jan 1919 returned to the UK from the Depot. Bowler did not join an operational Tank battalion - Kind regards, Daniel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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