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Post Info TOPIC: Rhomboid repairs


Legend

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Rhomboid repairs
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A quick general question here: When a Mk. I - V type tank threw a track, other than in battle conditions, were the crew able to effect repairs themselves or did this stop a tank until a repair crew could get to it? I know of the case of the crew of "Lusitania" obtaining a replacement magneto, only to find their tank the victim of an "own goal".

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Legend

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Whereas WW2 tanks sometimes carried spare track plates and links (often these doubling as applique armour) I've never seen any account of a WW1 tank doing the same. I've seen no pictures of  spare track plates and links carried outside and I guess that (with the exception of the Mk V*) there wouldn't be much room for stowage inside. Having said this doubtless seven people will now point out photos showing tanks laden with spare track components!

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aka Robert Robinson Always mistrust captions


Legend

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Actually...... I have seen track plates on the front of a Mk. I being used as applique armour, along with part of a palm tree. However, this was on a Gaza-based tank. There is a shot of the tank in "British Mark I tank 1916". But there is a big difference between being able to carry spare plates as armour and being able to use them to repair a broken track.


Does anyone know how much work was involved in repairing a broken pin between track links, rather than replacing a whole plate or short section of track?



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Legend

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Mark Hansen wrote:


Actually...... I have seen track plates on the front of a Mk. I being used as applique armour, along with part of a palm tree. However, this was on a Gaza-based tank. There is a shot of the tank in "British Mark I tank 1916". But there is a big difference between being able to carry spare plates as armour and being able to use them to repair a broken track. Does anyone know how much work was involved in repairing a broken pin between track links, rather than replacing a whole plate or short section of track?


I think the point I was trying to make was that if you don't carry spares then you certainly won't be able to effect repairs. I do know that it was necessary to use a sledge hammer to drive a new pin into place.


Tanks sent to Egypt appear to have been particularly prone to track shedding. Ths has been blamed on  the lubricant used on the tracks mixing with sand to form a highly abrasive paste that ground away the pins.



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aka Robert Robinson Always mistrust captions
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