Landships II

I think you're right. First impression was the Rolls Royce but seeing these side flaps and mud guards I think its a Seabrook too


-- Edited by kieffer on Monday 23rd of August 2010 06:19:54 AM

-- Edited by kieffer on Monday 23rd of August 2010 07:17:34 AM

-- Edited by kieffer on Monday 23rd of August 2010 10:59:53 AM

Heres the book in question...

http://www.archive.org/details/captainanthonywi00myeriala

AT THE FRONT pg267

But on the night of March 31 the Duke
and Anthony were out on an armoured
lorry, " loosing off about 50 rounds of
high explosives at the enemy's parapets."
They partially demolished at 500 yards
range several small cottages in which, as
Anthony put it, " several Germans and
machine-guns were supposed to be sleep-
ing. Our firing occupied about seven
minutes and then off we ran for home.
Bullets whizzed round us all night long,
but didn't hurt us a bit a big gun, of course,
is our undoer, or an accident to the car."

Early in April, reinforced with men and
munitions, the squadron extended its opera-
tions. On April 12 we hear of Anthony
and his junior officer, Lieutenant H. C.
Woodward, R.N.V.R., going down to the
firing-line, about thirty miles away, with
two wagons, each a 25-h.p. Seabrook,
weighing about eight tons. They also
had a powerful Mercedes the car be-
longing to his American friend, Craig
Biddle. Anthony was delighted at the
prospect of independent action. To his
mother he wrote :

" Have got a little command of my own.
I have thirty men, one junior officer, and
three 3-pounder guns, one Rolls-Royce
armoured car, and three machine-guns.
Westminster is not here ; he is still my
commander, of course. He is such a
splendid man, and has got his brigade going
really well they are so pleased with him
that his squadron has now been brought
up to twenty-four cars."

A bit more from here...

http://www.bef-battles.org.uk/page.php?id=43

"Their experimentation continued despite the onset of trench warfare. The successful gunnery action at Westroosebeke, 2 miles north of Passchendaele, by a three-pounder mounted on a former B Type bus chassis lead to American Standard five-ton chassis, marketed in Britain as Seabrooks, being fitted with three-pounder guns and armour. At Neuve Chapelle in April 1915, after the end of the March battle, three Seabrook 'self-propelled guns' were used at night to drive up to and reverse into prepared gun positions, fire their shells, and then drive away before counter-battery firing began"

"The infantry on the ground were not too pleased, a reaction later felt about the mortar units who withdrew to safety after completing their firing! However one was caught by the counter barrage and Anthony Wilding, the Wimbledon tennis champion, was killed. Despite this tragedy, the British Commander-in-Chief, Sir John French, was sufficiently impressed and a further twelve Seabrooks were shipped to France to continue exploiting their nuisance value."

note: Wilding was killed in a dugout next to his gun position according to his biog see above....


Cheers





-- Edited by Ironsides on Monday 23rd of August 2010 10:39:11 AM

thank you guys for the quick reply