Howard Posted 31 December , 2023 Share Posted 31 December , 2023 Whilst going through aerial photos to georeference in TrenchMapper, this one came up. It is marked "Tank park behind the French Front" on the reverse but no other clue. No date. The vehicles look like tanks and the tracks imply much manoeuvring, perhaps training. There are a lot of them so a significant place. The road layout is quite distinctive, so should provide a good fix. Like all aerial photos it is probably not North Up, however, the sun is casting shadows from the East which might imply that it is, even approximately. I count at least 90 tanks. If they were all in one depot, what does that imply about the unit stationed there, how many would a tank battalion have? Is this a Corps level depot? Rather a lot for a maintenance unit. The buildings top right may be a rail head but the shadows are very strong, there are what look like a few tanks parked right next to the long black shadow and a lot of tracks. Is this where they disembarked from trains? Anyone have any ideas where it is? Howard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnC Posted 31 December , 2023 Share Posted 31 December , 2023 It doesn’t answer your question, but for context I recommend a look at Transportation on the Western Front by Henniker. A copy can be downloaded at no charge from Internet Archive. Chapter XVIII deals with the transport of tanks by rail. It is absolutely fascinating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johntaylor Posted 31 December , 2023 Share Posted 31 December , 2023 This is a great photo, but I wonder if they could be French tanks? It's very hard to make out, but they look as if they might have longer, thinner hulls and pointed fronts like the Schneider CA1 or Saint-Chamond. I must admit the caption behind the French Front put this into my head, but they don't look like British tanks with the distinctive side sponsons. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howard Posted 31 December , 2023 Author Share Posted 31 December , 2023 Here is a 400% upscale in photoshop of the central area. Howard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johntaylor Posted 31 December , 2023 Share Posted 31 December , 2023 Thanks Howard - this confirms my suspicion as British tanks would have side sponsons which are very distinctive on aerial photos. The sponsons could be removed for transport, but there are none at all visible on this photo. I’d lay my money on French tanks, though I’m not sure which. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirty Harry Posted 31 December , 2023 Share Posted 31 December , 2023 Look to be possible Schneider tanks, hence French Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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