Landships II

Ivan · Field Marshal

Armoured Model T.

Pzkpfw-e · Commander in Chief

"Armored chassis Ford-T of armored detachment of British Admiralty, acting in the Russian Imperial Army in 1916-1917. Only teetotalers were recruited in the squad - who gave an oath not to drink alcohol during their stay in Russia."

Another great photo from The Armour Journal.

James H · Legend

Here's a bigger photo of the outfit.

I was rather sceptical about the Ford belonging to "the Admiralty". It turns out to be a joint effort, RNAS and Russians. Will have to do a bit more digging to establish that it's actually Romania. Don't remember seeing anything about that.

What interests me particularly is the gent wearing the Adrian. I think there are others, in the background. At first I thought they might be Belgians, but he's got Russian shoulder-boards. Can't make out what the badge is, but it looks as if these are some of the Adrians we discussed a while ago - allegedly purchased by Russia but rarely seen.

BTW, I think the photo in the link is a real colour photo, not a hand-painted one.

James H · Legend

Thanks, Ivan. I found this rather excellent site: http://warchron.com/index.htm which says the following: "On 30 November (1916), on the Romanian Front, all three sections of the British RNAS Armored Car Squadron were supporting Russian General Sirelius' 4th Siberian Army Corps in attacks on the German and Bulgarian positions around the Cernavoda bridge and Hirsova, losing at least two cars to enemy fire in fighting that lasted through 14 December. The Russians also lost two armored cars in these actions."

Does that make sense?

The question of the Russian Adrians is fascinating. Do you have any more information. We had a long discussion about them http://landships.activeboard.com/t17762480/the-russian-adrian-a-possible-sighting/

Ivan · Field Marshal

Yes, that's right. Englishmen lost two Lanchester (stuck in the mud), but at night they could tow Lanchester. Russians lost two later Austin "Skobelev" (captured by Bulgarians - only loot was in service in Bulgaria until 1930) and "Suvorov" (totally shot to pieces).