Landships II

Hello Centurion,

This is "GRIT" which resides at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra.
Mike Cecil did an article on it in the AWM magazine. I will try and find it for the rego numbers.

Richard Simmie

A quote from the AWM online collection:
"The British Mark IV Female Tank Serial 4643 was sent to Australia to assist in raising War Loans, it's first stop was Adelaide in September and after a public naming competition the name 'Grit' was bestowed on the tank by Lady Galway, the wife of the South Australian Governor. The tank then moved onto Melbourne and was exhibited at the Royal Agricultural Show where it was just as popular as it was in Adelaide. In October the tank was railed to Sydney for display. An admission charge of eleven shillings was made for adults and three pence for children. For the sum of ten pound ten shillings a ride around a specially constructed circuit could be purchased and for five pound five shillings the tank could be inspected at close hand. The tank was used in few displays during 1919 and was placed in storage in the Army engineering depot in South Melbourne and later transferred to the Australian War Museum. Eventually Grit was moved to Canberra and is now on display in ANZAC Hall at the Australian War Memorial. The tank was commanded by Captain NL Brown."

As a little bit of extra info, a Mk IV was sent to Australia on the SS Dongarra, according to records at The National Archives, Kew, London. I presume this was 4643, though the records don't actually say so.

I can also say that according to the records, 4642 (which was exported to the USA) was built by the Coventry Ordnance Works, Glasgow. So it seems safe to say that 4643 was also built by COW. I have been told that it carries a maker's plate inside giving this information. However, I've never seen a photo of this maker's plate or had confirmation of its existence. Anyone got any info on this alleged plate?

Centurion wrote:

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Thanks for this. Interesting that the photos I found were from Brisbane which is not mentioned, it would certainly make sense that it visited all the states. Was the Austrlian pound equal in value in thise days to sterling? Those prices are astronomical for 1918. Certainly in Britain at the time ten guineas was much more than a week's wage for a great many people and a war bond was about 15 shillings (75 P in today's money).

BTW I wonder why the fund raising tanks sent to Australia, Canada and the US were female when male tanks were used for the same purpose in the UK.

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These photos may have been taken in 1919 during one of the "few displays".

At the time of the rides, the £A was equal in value to the £GB. Prior to 1910, Australia used UK coinage. From 1910 onward, we had our own design but UK currency could be used just as freely. In 1931 the £A was devalued, so post-1931 you would have to convert to get an accurate figure.

Britannia would not have been part of that batch as she was touring before it was ordered much less despatched. There appear to have been at least two fund raising tanks touring in the USA, one in the East and one in the West. There is also a possibility that there was a third tank doing its stuff partly in Canada and partly in the US. It could have been Britannia 'doubling up' but I don't think the transport facilities of the day would have allowed this given the timings. All the US/Canadian touring tanks were female.

Gwyn Evans wrote:

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Yes, that's right.  After I'd posted the 4642 note I realised that Britannia was in the US in April 1918, well before the batch I referred to was despatched.  Unfortunately I've been away for a few days otherwise I'd have corrected the post myself.  I also note I can't spell Britannia!  I'd be interested in more info on the 2 or 3 US tourers Centurion mentioned, if anyone is able to provide any.  Also, can anyone id the Mk IV Female at APG?

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In fact there are references to demos by 'Britannia' as early as mid 1917. I'm trying to put an essay together on this but let me share my initial findings

1. It would seem that 'Britannia' became a generic title applied to ANY British tank demonstrated in the US and Canada. (This allowed such corny slogans as "the tank that rules the trenches" ouch). I've found photos of at least two (and possibly three) different tanks all called (at least in the publicity material) Britannia. One actually has Britannia written on it but the other(s) do(es) not.

2. Looking at the dates attached to both references and photos it's clear that unless Britannia had the amazing capability of being in two places at the same time there had to be at least two tanks and three would seem more practical.

3. Tank demos took place in New York, Long Island, Boston, Missouri, New Jersey, California, Hamilton (Ontario) and Quebec and various army camps that I still have to fix locations for. A favourite was to get the tank to flatten something including brick walls, wooden buildings, a Ford T and numerous trees. On one occasion in Dec 1917 it seems that one tank managed to end up upside down after atempting to clinb an ice bank.

4. In some of the earlier references there is confusion over the name with Britannic being used interchangeably with Britannia. There is also a reference to the tank having been used in action and being shipped directly from the front. This leads me to some wild unsubstantiated speculations. If a tank from the battle front was in the US as early as mid 1917 might this first tank have been a Mk II? Possibly a sister land ship to Lusitania (after all both the Lusitania and the Britannic were large ships, the latter I think a sister ship to the Titanic). Unfortunately whilst there are text references to tanks in demos as early as mid 1917 (the first reference being to a parde in Missouri whuch would suggest the possibility if earlier appearances on the East Coast). the earliest photos I have are of Nov and Dec 1917 (Hamilton and Long Island) and definitely of Mk IVs

I have seen photos of other Mk IVs with roof hatches but I think that it was a lateish introduction - which supports the postulation of there being several tanks named Britannia as the roof hatch probably wouldn't have been on earlier Mk IVs and given some of the dates where 'Britannia' was said to have been present some of these would have to be earlier Mk IVs

Re Britannic I remember seeing an obituary, not that long ago ( say ten years) of a lady who survived the sinking of both the Titanic and the Britannic. I wonder if she ever tempted fate by travelling on the Olympic.

BTW There is some speculation that in fact the Titanic was the Britannic and vice versa. It would seem that the Titanic fitting out was behind schedule and so as not to miss the much trumpeted maiden voyage the name was shifted to the Britannic that was ahead of schedule. Sailors claim that this is a terribly unlucky thing to do. Well its a good story and some claim its true.

Mark Hansen wrote:

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Gwyn Evans wrote:

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...I have been told that it carries a maker's plate inside giving this information. However, I've never seen a photo of this maker's plate or had confirmation of its existence. Anyone got any info on this alleged plate?

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The AWM says that 4643 was a COW-built tank. When I visited the AWM I tried to get as complete an interior coverage as I could manage through various pistol ports and other openings. I saw no makers plate but that doesn't mean that it isn't there....

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A late confirmation of the existence of the makers plates. They do exist, still in place, beside the driver and commanders positions. Having rechecked the photos I took in 2006, I found I had caught at least one of them in a shot. Picture attached.

Gwyn Evans wrote:

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...Incidentally, I know that 4642 was COW built because the Americans asked for the names of the manufacturers of each of tanks supplied.  The correspondence has survived, and all the tanks with 46xx serials - eleven of the twelve - were built by COW. More than that, the one tank that didn't have a 46xx serial wasn't built by COW.  

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Do you know what happened to the tanks, particularly the COW builds, and whether there were any photos of them?