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CHESTERFIELD WFA NEWSLETTER
July 2016 issue 17
Welcome to the seventeenth newsletter of Chesterfield WFA. We have pleasure in presenting the third for 2016 of the Branch Newsletter. It was extremely gratifying to your committee to see excellent attendances at all of meetings of this year, and we hope this trend continues. As you are aware we have had to change our schedule somewhat due to one speaker pulling out through illness and another through his work circumstances. As I write this introduction we see the start of the build up to the 100th Anniversary of the 1st July 1916 and the start of the Battle of the Somme. More elsewhere in this Newsletter.
Our next Chesterfield Branch Meeting will be held on Tuesday 5th July 2016.
The guest speaker and first time visitor to our Branch will be Dr. Nigel Hunt “The Forgotten: Shellshock after the First World War” After considering the symptoms experienced and the treatments on offer during the war the talk will focus on those people who remained shellshocked (in the terminology of the day) long after the war ended.
The Branch meets at the Labour Club, Unity House, Saltergate, Chesterfield S40 1NF on the first Tuesday of each month. There is plenty of parking available on site and in the adjacent road. Access to the car park is in Tennyson Road, however, which is one way and cannot be accessed directly from Saltergate. Grant Cullen – Branch Secretary
Patron – vacant due to bereavement
President Professor Peter Simkins MBE FRHistS
Vice-Presidents Andre Colliot Professor John Bourne BA PhD FRHistS The Burgomaster of Ypres The Mayor of Albert Lt-Col Graham Parker OBE Professor Gary Sheffield BA MA PhD FRHistS Christopher Pugsley FRHistS Lord Richard Dannat GCB CBE MC DL Roger Lee PhD jssc
www.westernfrontassociation.com
Branch contacts
Tony Bolton (Chairman ) [email protected] Mark Macartney (Deputy Chairman) [email protected] Pam Ackroyd (Treasurer) Grant Cullen (Secretary) [email protected]
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/groups/157662657604082/ http://www.wfachesterfield.com/
A Personal Note from the Chair - Number Ten
I understand Grant is trying to get a newsletter out before July 1 and therefore I am
writing these notes in mid-June. As many of you know, a series of unfortunate late
cancellations due to work commitments and ill health meant that those of you who made
the last meeting were subjected to my presentation on the Sheffield City Battalion and its
action at Serre on 1 July. As I mentioned previously this talk had been prepared for an
external group but was pressed into service to plug the gap mentioned above. Having
already prepared the slides I thought it would be fairly easy to be ready for the June rather
than the August meeting, unfortunately I somehow managed to save a blank PowerPoint
over my slides meaning that I lost the lot including the back up on my stick and my laptop
so much for backing up. Still a few midnight oils never did anyone any harm – or so they
say.
As Branch Chairman I have been invited to represent you all the Somme vigil service at
Westminster Abbey on 30 June in the presence of Her Majesty the Queen and Prince Philip,
then up to Manchester Cathedral for the National Commemoration of the Centenary of the
Battle of the Somme at 3pm on 1 July where I will also represent the branch. Mark in his
capacity as the WFA Commodities Officer will also be attending both events. This will
mean that I will not be able to attend the Chesterfield ‘whistle for the Somme’ at 7.30am
on 1 July. I am very grateful to Grant who has volunteered to stand in and represent the
Chesterfield Branch and I would encourage you to support him in commemorating this
important centenary.
Because of the July 1 commitments I have also been obliged to turn down an invitation to
take part in a discussion on Radio Sheffield who are broadcasting a Somme Centenary
programme from Weston Park Museum between 10am and 1pm on Friday 1st July. I am
not sure who the participants will be but you that may wish to tune in.
Charles Beresford our local guru on clergy as front line fighting officers, will have his new
book published next month or so they tell him. Grant has already got him pencilled in for
next year’s speakers list. Interestingly next month’s speaker was suggested by Charles and it
brings to mind that the Committee are always pleased to receive suggestions for speakers
from any member or indeed volunteers to do a talk to the branch. Many members are very
knowledgeable about their particular interest and even if you don’t feel you could do an
entire evening we could pair you up with someone, so don’t be shy you probably know more
about your subject than most of us.
Tony Bolton – Branch Chairman
Secretary`s Scribbles…………
Welcome to latest edition of the WFA Chesterfield Branch Newsletter. It seems like an age since the last newsletter, indeed three monthly Branch Meetings have come and gone. The second quarter of 2016 has followed on from the first with extremely good attendances for the meetings, something for which your committee is grateful and appreciative of. We endeavour to make it worthwhile to turn out on a summer evening when, if the weather is good, there are so many other activities which may prove a distraction.
As Tony says in his notes, regrettably we have had to make changes to our programme of speakers. This has been unavoidable and we fully understand the issues which have resulted in speakers calling off, at least we did receive good warning thus allowing us to make alternative arrangements. Also planning for the 2017 programme has now begun and I would invite suggestions from members as to what topics or speakers they would like to see included.
We are always looking for contributions to this Newsletter. Please send anything for inclusion to [email protected]. If you would rather speak with me before sending I am happy to do so – call 07824628638.
Because of the plethora of meetings and events over the past few months, we have reports of WFA and associated organisations coming thick and fast, giving us another `bumper` newsletter, indeed, I have had to hold stuff back until the next issue – don`t want complaints that we clogging up folks inboxes !
As regular readers of this Newsletter know, many of our members attend other WFA Branch Meetings, national and regional events and conferences run by the WFA and other organisations like the Great War Forum. To keep our readers informed, educated and entertained, I encourage members, committee or otherwise, to write a brief (or in some cases not so brief) report, hopefully supported by photographs for inclusion in future editions of the newsletter. These reports are now a regular feature. However, we have received a complaint about the professionalism of one of the speakers (and the organisation he was representing) at a Conference at which branch member(s) attended, and who subsequently submitted a brief report which was included in a past issue of the newsletter. The writer claims she was passed on a copy of our e-newsletter by someone who is a direct recipient. No problem with that I am pleased that it gets a wider circulation than the 200 or so who receive it directly. Unfortunately the lady did not include any contact details, address, e mail, phone number etc. Therefore we cannot respond to the comments she makes in the letter. I am always happy to receive correspondence regarding our meetings be the comments good, bad or indifferent and if appropriate include in future editions of the newsletter. As I
said before I am open to constructive criticism (and praise – of course) which is always welcome – that way we get better. However as this letter refers to an activity not organised by WFA Chesterfield Branch it has been decided not to publish it. Should anyone attend another Branch, Conference etc., and have a criticism about any aspect of what they saw, heard, or participated in (i.e. ….the soup was cold….) then please raise this with the organisers of event, or if the point is about the content of a speaker`s presentation, then contact the speaker direct, if you feel so strongly about it. Please do not make the complaint to the Chesterfield Branch of the WFA. Thank you for your kind cooperation. I would draw your attention to the various events and coming up over the next weeks, generally connected with the Somme Anniversary. These deserve our support, hopefully the media will take an enlightened approach to their reporting of events and avoid the sensationalist and erroneous comments which tend to come out when the 1st of July 1916 is mentioned.
Best regards,
Grant Cullen Branch Secretary
‘The views and opinions expressed in this members` newsletter do not necessarily reflect the opinion or views of the Western Front Association or the Chesterfield Branch Committee.’
Western Front Association Chesterfield Branch – Meetings 2016
Meetings start at 7.30pm and take place at the Labour Club, Unity House, Saltergate, Chesterfield S40 1NF
January 5th AGM Tony Bolton- "1916 – an Overview of the Year”.
February 2nd David Tattersfield "The Courts Martial of Willie Stone and the DLI Six" – this needs about a dozen 'volunteers' to deliver the lines from a script provided. No acting is required or wanted: this is verbatim transcript of two original courts martial. The first is the famous case of Willie Stones (who claimed he blocked the trench with his rifle to stop pursuing Germans) and the second is a "mass" court martial of six men from the DLI.
March 1st Paul Cobb. "The Easter Rising – a Distraction from the Western Front" – a talk looking at the events in Dublin at Easter 1916 when rebels challenged British rule in Ireland. Events which still affect the politics of Ireland, North and South today
April 5th Richard Pullen. 'The First Tanks - A Wasted Opportunity or a Prelude to Victory?' This talk centres on how the first use of the tanks were basically unsuccessful but ultimately served as part of the greater learning curve
May 3rd Peter Hart "Somme Success: the RFC and the Battle of the Somme, 1916" Peter will discuss the contribution of the Royal Flying Corps to the Battle of the Somme
June 7th Tony Bolton. The Somme - Ist July 1916 - Serre – The Sheffield City Battalion. “Two Years in the Making – ten minutes in the destroying. “
July
5th
Dr. Nigel Hunt “The Forgotten: Shellshock after the First World War” After considering the symptoms experienced and the treatments on offer during the war the talk will focus on those people who remained shellshocked (in the terminology of the day) long after the war ended.
August 2nd Bill MacCormick - "The Long Road to the Somme: Planning the Big Push" – The
failures of tactical and technical development which led to the British disaster of 1st
July 1916 and the lessons learned by the French which led to their success. Includes
the impact of Verdun on the eventual plan as well as the effects of Russian and
Italian campaigns.
September 6th John Beech “Zeppelins over Nottinghamshire” John has (and continues to do) conducted meticulous research into these raids. He will present some of his work.
October 4th Prof. Stephen Badsey. "Could the Battle of the Somme Have Been Won?" - An analysis of alternative courses of action for the BEF in the Battle of the Somme 1916.
November 1st John Chester. “The Unknown Warrior” The story of the Unknown Warrior, buried in Westminster Abbey on Armistice Day 1920.
December 6th Nick Paul. “Barbed Wire Disease” Nick will present some of his researches into the experiences of British soldiers who became captives of the enemy
Somme Commemorative Events
Somme Centenary Event – Waterstones, Orchard Square Sheffield – 30th June This will be taking place at 6pm on Thursday 30th June in Waterstones bookshop, Orchard Square, Sheffield and will run for the duration of an hour. The name of the event will be 'Sheffield and the Somme: at War and at Home'. There will be three speakers: Peter Warr (on the home front and Sheffield's role in the war industry), Malcolm Leary (on the treatment and rehabilitation of the wounded), and WFA member and Chesterfield Branch regular, Tim Lynch who will speak on the military dimension, particularly on the role of the local battalions in the battle. After the speakers have wrapped up, there will be a fifteen minute discussion/Q&A. Waterstones will be ordering up on each of the authors' books (including of course Tim`s book on 'Yorkshire's War'). +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Chesterfield commemorates the start of the Battle of the Somme
Chesterfield residents are invited to take part in an event organised by Chesterfield Borough
Council to mark the centenary of the start of the Battle of the Somme. The event takes place
at the war memorial on Rose Hill, opposite the Town Hall on Friday 1 July. People are asked
to be in place for 7.10am.
Chesterfield’s mayor Councillor Steve Brunt will blow a whistle at 7.30am to signal the exact
time that the whistles were blown at the Somme to signify the beginning of the battle.
The event will also include a march with standards, a rendition of the Last Post and a two
minutes silence followed by a wreath laying ceremony.
Councillor Sharon Blank, Chesterfield Borough Council’s cabinet member for governance,
said: “The Battle of the Somme was a terrible event in which thousands of servicemen were
killed within hours of the battle starting.”
“We are proud to be participating in this national commemoration and I hope people will
come along to take part.”
Chesterfield Mayor, Councillor Steve Brunt (a WFA member ) will be doing a presentation
about the Somme Battle (roughly 30 minutes) in Committee room One following the event
for those who are interested.
Chesterfield WFA Branch will be represented at this Commemoration event to which
members and friends are cordially invited to attend.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++
Received this message from member Stuart Wilson
Hi Grant, My wife is a teacher at The Trinity School, Aspley, Nottingham and she sent me details of a Somme talk (poster attached) being given at the school on the evening of Friday 1 July (see school website). Do you think it worth sending out an email to the Chesterfield WFA list to let everyone know of the event? I know that the two teachers hosting the evening visit the battlefields every year, so they have a genuine interest rather than just history teachers giving a general ‘pity of war/mud & blood’ talk.
Somme Commemoration Event – Trinity Catholic School, Nottingham
The event will be held at the Upper School, Kingsbury Drive, Aspley, Nottingham NG8 3EP
Somme Centenary
The national branch is running a ‘speaker bank’ service for local broadcast media to support their coverage of the Somme Centenary over the 141 days. We currently have a bank of around 200 ‘experts’ across the country on whom we may call if we get any requests from TV or radio stations. Tom Thorpe, WFA PR Officer, is co-ordinating this and may contact you if he gets a request in your area. Tom is also collating reportage and photographs of any events or conferences WFA branches run over the centenary for the website and the Bulletin. If you have any images of events please do send them to Tom ([email protected]) with some background information (numbers attending, where, when) as we are keen to catch a flavour of what branches are doing over the next few weeks. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Other News. From Colin Wagstaff - 11 November The WFA organises its own ceremony at the Cenotaph on 11th November which falls on Friday this year. All members are welcome and have a ringside seat at what has become a major event. The Ceremony is followed by a service at the Guards Chapel and an optional lunch. From Tom Thorpe: WFA PhD Scholarship Programme
Following this year’s successful scheme (2015/6) the WFA is requesting another round of applications. The purpose of the scheme is to financially support post-graduate research students who are undertaking MPhils or PhDs into aspects of the Great War. If you know of a student who is currently a doctoral student investigating the First World War please direct them to the website. The Programme makes grants of between £500 to £1,000 for students enrolled on any officially recognized PhD/MPhil research programme in the UK or Republic of Ireland. Students can be studying any aspects of the Great War in any discipline. The closing date for the 2016/7 academic year (starting in September) is 1 November 2016. Further information is on the website.
From David Tattersfield
Dear Branch Chairman/Secretary,
Hopefully everyone has by now received the latest Stand To! (The "Somme Special"). Inside the front cover of this was a block of three adverts for roles on the WFA's 'Executive committee'. Whilst I've had several expressions of interest for the Branch Co-ordinator role, the other two have not yet resulted in any enquiries. The two roles are both "financial" but in different ways. One is for a fund raising appointee (who would be asked to identify sources of grants and other "pots" of money that the WFA could potentially apply for). The other is the frankly pivotal role of WFA Treasurer. It is critical for the future of the association that this role is filled. Perhaps I can ask that you circulate to WFA members in your area the fact that we are needing this position to be filled. As mentioned in the advert in Stand To! A role description will be made available to anyone expressing an interest.
Best wishes, David
Expressions of interest may be sent to David at [email protected]
Mark Macartney – Branded Goods Appointee advises -
It is with great pleasure that "bookmarks" have now been added to the Branded Goods list of available items, they should be available on the E-Shop within the next few days hopefully at £1 each (plus postage): Glossy 2 Sided little Bookmark (dims 38x177mm) One side has WFA Contact details with Battlefield in background, the other has the John McCrae Flanders Fields poem with poppies in background. UV High Gloss long lasting coating for exquisite shine. This rich UV High Gloss Coating has the highest quality and provides protection against stains and damage.
ROYAL BRITISH LEGION REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY SERVICE 13 NOVEMBER 2016 Once again, the Royal British Legion has invited the WFA to apply for tickets for the Remembrance Sunday Cenotaph service/march past. If previous years are anything to go by, we are likely to be limited to 12 tickets only and so they will be allocated on a ‘first come first served’ basis. Would you please let me know by no later than close of play Friday 19th August
if you or any of your colleagues wish to attend, in order that I can apply within the RBL deadline. Additionally would David Tattersfield please forward this email attachment asap to Branch Chairmen so they can consult their branch members to find out if they wish to attend. I need email addresses of anyone wishing to attend (of course I have all the
Executive Committee ones). There is additional security this year and anyone attending will need to bring photographic ID (eg Passport or photo driving licence) with them, in addition to
the ticket I shall send them. The form I shall complete for the RBL will need personal information inserted. I shall need the applicant’s title (Mr, Mrs or Ms), the full name (as in the photographic ID), date of birth and place of birth, full postal address. The WFA contingent normally comprises WFA members (and perhaps their partners) although this is not strictly required, providing any non-members are well known by a member who can vouch for them. Priority is of course given to WFA members. The RBL emphasise that all applications must go through the national organisation and so I do need to be informed of those wishing to attend. The RBL also ask the WFA to tell those wishing to attend that they must be able to stand for at least one hour prior to the march and then be able to march for 1.5 miles, possibly in bad weather. We normally get the allocation we seek (at or below 12) but it is quite normal that we do not get confirmation and receive the tickets until a few weeks before the Service, so anyone applying and within the maximum of twelve (which I will confirm) should anticipate acceptance. Regards Steve Oram Honorary Secretary WFA
35th WFA Annual General Meeting and Conference Mark Macartney (Branch Vice Chair and WFA Appointee) attended the WFA AGM and Conference 2016 at the Fleet Air Arm Museum, Yeovilton, Somerset, on 7th May 2016 This well organised event was Introduced by our President Peter Simkins MBE, Three speakers preceded the AGM, talks and speakers were as follows: 'Jutland and the meaning of Victory' by Andrew Lambert; 'Crucible of innovation: Salisbury Plain during the Great War' by Simon Jones and 'Unseen photos and writings from the Somme' by Richard Van Emden Biographies and bullet points from the talks of the three speakers are covered roughly under, Andrew Lambert : 'Jutland and the meaning of Victory'
Andrew Lambert is a Laughton Professor of Naval History in the Department of War Studies at King's College. After completing his research in the Department he taught at Bristol Polytechnic, (now the University of West of England), the Royal Naval Staff College, Greenwich, and the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and also Director of the Laughton Naval History Unit housed in the Department. Bullet points mentioned, 1914-Germany make strike for the Western Front, Britain intervened (Belgium was created by Britain), Germany used Belgium coast for a Naval Base,
if Britain commands the control of the sea they will win the war, Explosion, Queen Mary blows up, over 1200 men died. HMS Invincible and HMS indefatigable met the same fate. HMS Tiger participated in the Battle of Jutland in 1916, where she was only lightly damaged despite suffering many hits by German shells. Andrew went on to say that Germany could have lost the war in an afternoon, but Britain could not have won it, In conclusion Andrew stated that Germany should have at least been treated as equal.
Simon Jones 'Crucible of innovation: Salisbury Plain during the Great War'
A Freelance Historian and battlefield tour guide Simon was formally Assistant Curator and Exhibition Officer of the Royal Engineers Museum at Cheltenham and then Curator of the Kings Regimental Collection at the Museum of Liverpool Life. He teaches courses on the First World War for the Centre Continuing Education of Liverpool and Lancaster Universities and is developing courses with Manchester University. Simon’s main First World War research interests are in military engineering, especially mining and chemical warfare and the Kings (Liverpool) Regiment especially the 8th Liverpool Irish Battalion. He is currently working on a book proposal on the development of protection against poison gas during the First World War; He is a member of the British Commission for Military History. Bullet points mentioned part of Salisbury Plain purchased by the Government for training (also Bulford, Tidworth and Larkhill). Ammunition was in short supply, after the use of blanks, only Officers and Warrant Officers could decide how much to use. Each Camp had its own firing range. New Zealand Officers and Warrant Officers would be demoted if they lacked expectations. Within Larkhill Camp there were two schools, they were the “Centre of Excellence”
Richard Van Emden 'Unseen photos and writings from the Somme'
Richard van Emden trained as a journalist and worked in London for two years before going to Cologne university and writing his first book, “Tickled to Death to go” the biography of Ben Clouting in 1994, Richard began work for Testimony Films, acting as associate producer on the award winning Roses of No Man’s Land and Veterans. Subsequently, he has made documentaries for BBC1, BBC2, BBC4 and Channel 4. Richard interviewed 270 of the veterans of the Great War down the years and has written many books, including Britain’s Last Tommies, Boy Soldiers of the Great War, all Quiet on the Home Front and Prisoners of the Kaiser: he co-authored The Last Fighting Tommy, with Harry Patch. His latest book, The Quiet and the Dead, is about the children of those who served and died in the Great War. Bullet points covered It was highly illegal to take unofficial photographs in the trenches, or anywhere else on the Western Front come to that, also filming was prohibited,(notices were issued) on these points, all this was restricted only to the Western Front, Soldiers on training in the United Kingdom were not restricted. In 1912 small Kodak cameras were produced, (Kodak Vest pocket camera was produced as they were small enough to conceal in soldiers kit) Kodak said they were perfect for the Western Front. At one point £600 was offered for best photo. Some soldiers moving south to the Somme were fascinated with the countryside, albeit as winter came on and trenches full of mud and water. By 1918 soldiers wanted to record images (from 1916 the taking of photographs on the Western Front was accepted). A productive AGM followed, a few points were covered but will be published later, main points being, required recruitment of a stand in for Head Office Administrator when on leave, replacement for Treasurer (reason given for treasurers resignation) Replacement required for Branch coordinator (reason given for resignation) . Below see picture of Trustees and Appointees.
Also During the course of the day Mark Macartney, assisted by his partner and WFA member Jean Walker manned the Branded Goods stand.
Photos by courtesy of Roy Backhouse
April Meeting Once again, we had a healthy attendance, this time for our guest speaker, Richard Pullen, making his first visit to the Chesterfield branch, having been recommended by our friends and colleagues in Lincoln.
Richard has been a professional field archaeologist for more than ten years, with a particular interest in industrial archaeology. However, having lived in Lincoln for most of his life and having strong links with the creation of the tank in Lincoln, his grandfather having worked on tank production during the First World War and his great uncle, Tom, was a welder specialising on the turrets of Matilda tanks in the Second World War. His late father took a particular interest in the restoration of the Cambrai veteran Mark IV female `Flirt` II that is now on display at the Museum of Lincolnshire Life. Richard himself spent several months as a volunteer at the museum showing visitors around the restored tank and was one of the founder members of – and indeed is now Chairman of – The Friends of the Lincoln Tank, a newly formed group promoting Lincoln`s ties with the first tanks. The title of Richard`s talk was ‘The First Tanks – A Wasted Opportunity or a Prelude to Victory?' and would centre on how the first use of tanks was basically unsuccessful, but ultimately served as part of the greater learning curve. Tanks did not go into battle and become an immediate success, nor did they enter battle fully formed and Richard commenced by showing pictures of prototype AFVs - `The Big Wheel`, the `Pedrail`, the Tritton Trench Crosser` , designs that were going nowhere. Then came the Lincoln No1 manufactured by William Foster and company Ltd - `Little Willie` development of which was described by Richard and how, by a fortuitous chain of events has survived to this day and can be seen at the Tank Museum in Bovington. With the basic design proven, the next step in the Lincoln designs was HMLS `Centipede` which was known to all in the Lincoln factories as `Mother`, with the classic iconic rhomboid shape so illustrative of all British Great War tanks. This tank had great climbing abilities, indeed these have never been surpassed even today with the state of the art main Battle Tanks. Testing of Mother began in January 1916 and production commenced after successful trials at Hatfield House (see picture below), indeed so successful were the trails that an order was placed for 3000 machines…son to be reduced to 150. The Lincoln factories could not produce such quantities in a reasonable timescale, so production was started in Birmingham. Here we see differences in design between Lincoln and
Birmingham– Lincoln tanks were equipped with 6pdr naval cannons in side mounted sponsons, those from Birmingham having machine guns only and these differences gave rise to calling the Lincoln tanks `Males`, the machine gun armed versions `Females`. This machine was not as fortunate as Little Willie and was eventually scrapped. Richard`s pictures showed clearly the absence of any exhaust system, the tank evolving clouds of smoke, and that together with the noise from the 150hp Daimler engine meant that observers could see and hear a Mark 1 (as developments of Mother became known) tank from a long way off. Richard then explained how the name `tank` came about – a cover story that these machines were water carriers being sent to Russia or as water supply vehicles for the troops in Mesopotamia – water `tanks`. Even the name was invented in Lincoln! The Mark 1 tanks were characterised by the chain operated steering gear – a pair of large spoked wheels at the rear of the vehicle, there being a fear that by turning a tank using the right/left tracks would lead to the tracks coming adrift or the gears being shredded and hence immobilising the tank. In practice, however, this was found not to be the case as it was found that a tank could be turned, left or right by stopping the track on once side whilst running the opposite side.
An ongoing highlight of the presentation was the copious amount of photographs which Richard used to good effect throughout. Early forms of camouflage were illustrated (soon abandoned as the tanks became liberally covered in battleground mud) and `grenade deflectors` - wood and chicken wire creations sitting on top of the tank which were supposed to deflected hand grenades but instead in most cases the grenade did not bounce off and exploded on the tank roof.
Richard then described the training work done in Norfolk, where an area of land was set aside and a network of trenches built to represent the Western Front conditions. Unfortunately, the soil in Norfolk is very sandy and did not present any problems for tanks passing over shell hole pitted ground. However, in northern France much of the top soil is a heavy clay and many tanks became immobilised, their tracks rotating without gripping when the tank `bellied`` on lumps of heavy clay. To a large extent the training in Norfolk was quite useless with respect to preparations for combat conditions. Tanks went into combat almost 100 years ago on 15th September 1916 at the Battle of Flers and Richard told the tale of Male Tank `Dinnaken` which penetrated through the village of Flers, followed by British soldiers. The exploits were observed by an RFC spotter plane whose report found its way into the press who reported that a `tank was walking down Flers high street followed by the British army, cheering`. Dinnaken later suffered mechanical breakdown later that day and had to be abandoned although it was subsequently used as an observation post until broken up by German POWs in 1918. Only 48 tanks were available for the battle but for various reasons, breakdowns mainly, only 18 actually took part on the day. It is still argued that Haig should have held off introducing tanks into the battlefield until many more were available but he was under pressure from the War Office to act as there were fears that the Germans knew what was coming, fears exacerbated by Zeppelin raids over Norfolk where much of the training of tank crews was being undertaken. All the combatants in 1916 were to looking to technology to break the stalemate – aircraft, Zeppelins, submarines, Dreadnoughts and on the battlefields of Northern France, tanks. The home population desperate to hear of new `wonder weapons` realised that there were these new `landships` and whilst these were still top secret magazines and newspaper pictures speculated as to what these would look like and Richard showed a series of pictures which appeared in the press of the time .
From the debut of the Mark 1 tank, the Mark 11 evolved, basically as a training machine, the principle difference being that they were constructed of boiler plate – they were not at all armoured and when some Mark 11s were used in action everything, even small arms fire went straight through the plating. Two Mark 11s were captured by the Germans who could not believe that these unarmoured machines had been sent into action, indeed they were lulled into a false sense of security. The Germans rushed to produce instruction manuals about how to deal with tanks (based upon their experience of knocking out Mark 11s )– where to shoot, most vulnerable locations etc. and when these began to reach the front lines it was almost coincident with the British introducing what was the most numerous and, in Richard`s opinion, the best combat tank of the war – the Mark IV – which
of course was fully armoured and a massive development from the Mark 1s, indeed the Mark IV was, in reality the first battle-ready tank. The Mark 1s had, in effect been mis-used in their early applications and, following on from their withdrawal from operations on the Western Front, a number were sent to Gaza, in the Middle East campaign – a fact that is not altogether well known. The tanks did not do too badly, but the Turks and their German officers knew what was coming and could deal with them accordingly although most of the losses were due to breakdowns and mechanical failures – issues exacerbated by the desert conditions. Losses of Mark 1s were such that today there is only one complete example and that is, of course, at Bovington, in the Tank Museum. During the war a competition was held to `win a tank` whereby towns and communities sought to outdo each to see who could raise the most in buying War Bonds. The winning town was West Hartlepool who raised an amazing £37 per head of population – equivalent to £1500 per head in today`s money! West Hartlepool was duly presented with `its` tank
However, a number of other towns complained that they had raised almost the same amount and amazingly a total of 264 worn out machines were presented by the War Office – a cheaper option than dismantling for scrap although a team was employed at Bovington to break up tanks for scrap, a task that did not end until 1937! All but one of these presentation tanks were sold off or scrapped up to and during the Second World War, only that presented to Ashford remains today and it only survived as it had an electrical substation located inside it which would have cost too much to relocate.
Despite Lincoln being the birthplace of the tank, and being presented with one of the 264 `silver bullet` tanks (as those presented for fundraising success were called) no photographs of this tank have been located to date. Richard then began his concluding comments. The story starts in 1915 with Little Willie, developing into the mark 1 which was tested in the wrong terrain and introduced to the battlefield in 1916 in numbers insufficient to make a great impact. 1917 saw introduction of the training tank Mark 11 which only briefly saw combat. But evolution was quick and by late 1917 the Mark IV had been introduced being radically different from the pioneer tank with only the rhomboidal shape being virtually the only thing in common. The Battle of Cambrai in November 1917 showed what tanks could do given reasonable terrain and conditions i.e. unbroken ground. What was now called for was a fast(er) light(er) tank and once again it was back to Lincoln with the Medium`A` or `Whippet `design being accepted . The `Whippet` had a top speed twice that of the Mark IV and to overcome the complex gearing issues with the Heavy tanks the designers used two engines each driving its own respective track. That of course brought its own complications with having two engines it had to have two of everything else and driving it was like driving two cars at the same time. Whippets were introduced successfully in the later battles of 1918 and rapidly became known as the `New` cavalry. Here seen with infantry of the New Zealand Division at Maily-Mallet.
Development of the Heavy tank still continued and reached a pinnacle in the Mark V which made their battlefield appearance in the closing stages of the war. Probably the only similarity with `Mother` was the rhomboid shape.
In winding up Richard stated that the tanks started out in fairly shaky territory. His question at the outset had the first use of tanks been a `Wasted Opportunity` - in his opinion, probably not, it was a learning curve, despite the loss of many tanks and many men. Lessons were learned and by 1917 and 1918 these lessons are being adopted into tank use. The introduction of tanks developed from the primitive Mark 1s, like the Whippet, Mark V and Medium `C` saw the armoured fighting vehicle play an important role in the all arms victory of the last 100 days. As always the evening concluded with our speaker responding to a number of questions posed by our attendees, followed by a Vote of Thanks by Branch Chair, Tony Bolton
