This is a picture from Military Modeling Vol. 10 No. 6 June 1980. The article it is from is titled "Armoured Engagements - Tanks At Gaza 1917" by Bryan Perrett. The article describes the use of tanks at Gaza but what is really interesting is this photo of what I believe is Ole-Luk-Oye and it appears to have been equipped with track spuds. I have a photo of Kia Ora with spuds but I have not seen a Mk I male with them. If I am wrong about the name maybe someone can shed some light on it. I am not sure how this photo will look on the site but I hope you can help with any further information on the tank, especially the kind of load it was carrying.
-- Edited by plastic fan on Saturday 21st of January 2012 04:35:49 AM
-- Edited by plastic fan on Saturday 21st of January 2012 04:37:03 AM
Thanks for the information on the silencer and exhaust pipe Rhomboid. I was unaware of that detail. I am building the Mk I in the photo and I am wondering if the pipe extended as far back as the one on the Mk IV or not. This is the most interesting photo of these tanks I have seen yet. I thought that the photo may have been taken around Second Gaza since it is hauling supplies for trenches and you confirmed this. Thanks! I thought I was done with the build of Ole-Luk- Oye but the spuds will need to to be built and the old exhaust removed and the kit supplied one installed. My wife and I looked at the photo and she agreed it looked like Ole-Luk-Oye so she will be happy to know she was correct.
-- Edited by plastic fan on Sunday 22nd of January 2012 12:28:29 AM
Thanks for posting this interesting photo - it had me rushing back to review my photo collection! It's the only one that I have seen showing a MkI towing its sponson trolley. I would agree with your identification of HMLS Ole-Luk-Oie. The photo must have been taken at some time after the Second Battle of Gaza, when the surviving MkI's were retro-fitted with silencers and exhaust pipes, otherwise the arrangement of stowage seen in this photo would not have been possible. The photo of HMLS Kia Ora showing the extender plates (taken, I suspect, on the beach at the Third Battle of Gaza, and seen in David Fletcher's Osprey book on the MkI) show that this tank has also been retro-fitted with roof stowage supports and front horn sand deflectors. Photos of HMLS Otazel taken after the Third Battle of Gaza do not show the extender plates, so fitting the plates seems not to have been a uniform practice, at least by Nov. 1917. The detachment was disbanded in April 1918.
I think that this photo (which obviously dates from a time following the arrival of the replacement MkIV tanks) shows the arrangement of the retrofitted exhaust pipe on a MkI, as seen from the rear.
Thanks Rhomboid, that answers my question. I wondered how they would have kept all those timbers from catching fire with the shielded exhaust only. I will add this to the Mk I.
Interesting to note the exhaust on the MkIV here - it's long, nearly as long as the one on HMLS Excellent at Bovington; that particular criticism seems unfounded.
