Did the Crane/Salvage Tank variant of the Gun Carrier Mk 1 take any part in the Battle of Cambrai in 1917? I know that at least one was moved up before the attack but I can't recall seeing any reference to it being used.
Also I assume its purpose was to recover broken-down or damaged tanks but, again, I can't recall having seen this explicitly stated anywhere. Can anyone comment?
Finally, did the variant have an official designation and, if so, what?
I'm no expert, but since the initial success of the tanks was repulsed after the first day by German counter attacks and vehicles broke down or were damaged/destroyed too often to maintain their usefulness, I would have thought that if anyone was salvaging tanks it was the Germans. At a guess, there may have been no opportunity for the British to recover lost tanks.
You may well be right though, given (1) the large proportion of tanks which broke down or got stuck and (2) the depth of the initial British advance, I'd have thought that a fair number could have been retrieved in relative safety. But that's just speculation.
As nobody seems to have any hard information, I suppose we'll just have to wonder. In the meantime, here's the only picture I know of the Gun Carrier ARV (if that is what it was), entrained for Cambrai. This picture is a bigger and somewhat clearer version than that normally seen so I trust it will be of some interest.
That's a nice pic, thanks for posting it. I've noticed that one of the salvage machines had a cupola built at the front right of the rear body, presumably as a new driving position, but this one lacks that - I wonder where the driver(s) sat?
I'm also wondering if anyone has any suggestions what the funny looking bulge atop the MkIV is, under the rear tarp? (the front one is obviously a fascine).
Apparently, on the Gun Carrier prototype the drivers' seats were much further back than on the production version, on which, for reasons I can't discover at the mo, the armoured cabs were introduced. The crane version seems to have retained the original position (top left of 2nd pic) on one of the vehicles. Haven't found any info on the other.
-- Edited by James H on Wednesday 25th of April 2012 08:56:39 PM
"Sometimes things that are not true are included in Wikipedia. While at first glance that may appear like a very great problem for Wikipedia, in reality is it not. In fact, it's a good thing." - Wikipedia.
Apparently, on the Gun Carrier prototype the drivers' seats were much further back than on the production version, on which, for reasons I can't discover at the mo, the armoured cabs were introduced.
Maybe they thought the drivers should be closer to the front of the vehicle for a better view, and decided it would be safer to give some protection from shell fragments - I understand some men, including some higher-ranking officers, were killed by random shells when a reasonable distance from the front line and not in obvious danger.
Yes, one assumes the siting of the cab was to give a better forward view. They couldn't be there on the crane version, because they'd limit the rotation.
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"Sometimes things that are not true are included in Wikipedia. While at first glance that may appear like a very great problem for Wikipedia, in reality is it not. In fact, it's a good thing." - Wikipedia.
I note from the basic plan you posted, James, that the steering wheel is on the left - yet the driver sat on the right in tanks. Perhaps this is linked to the powertrain being turned back-to-front; it may have been easier to get the relevant control linkages in place if the driver was on the same side relative to the gearbox etc as he was in a Mk I-IV.
