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Post Info TOPIC: Looking for Operational information on the Mk II ? LUSITANIA
Tim R


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Looking for Operational information on the Mk II ? LUSITANIA
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Hello Guys


   I am looking for pictures and operational/crew  information on the Mk II LUSITANIA used at ARRAS in 1917


Any help would be greatly appreciated


All The Best


Tim R.



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"The life given us by nature is short; but the memory of a well-spent life is eternal"
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Centurion


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Try this


 



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lusitania.jpg (120.8 kb)
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Tim R


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Thank you, I have not seen that photo of the LUSITANIA before.


All the Best


Tim R



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eugene


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the famous photo of a MkII on a bridge is that the lusitania? I believe there is a photo of the tank on a bridge


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Mark Hansen


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Tim,


Is it possible to get a better scan of the area around the tank name? It looks like the number is either 788 or 798.



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Tim R


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Sorry Mark


  Thats the best I can get it, I can not see a number, where would it be??


All the Best


Tim R



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Mark Hansen


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The 8 is just below, and partly overpainted by, the first "I" in Lusitania, the 8 or 9 is obscured by the end of the gun barrel and the "S", and the bottom of the 7 is just barely visible to the left of the 8 or 9 under the "U" .


P.S.: I've attached a bmp showing highlighting the numbers.



-- Edited by Mark Hansen at 02:51, 2006-02-09

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Tim R


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Ok I see it now, I will look at the original, and I will let you know tomorrow.


Thanks


All the Best


Tim R



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Rhomboid


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Frank Mitchell, MC, (of the first tank vs. tank battle fame) wrote an account of Lusitania's action on April 9, 1917, in his book "Tank Warfare" (1933, Nelson, London). The first attachment contains this excerpt. The map is a detail from Purnell's "History of the First World War" p. 2090 (1971), showing Lusitania's route. Briefly, after attacking the Railway Triangle and Feuchy Redoubt (despite mechanical problems), it was abandonned due to magneto failure in front of the British positions on the evening of the 9th. It was destroyed by the British barrage on the 10th, before the crew was able to return with a replacement. Lt. Weber was awarded the MC, and Sgt. Latham the MM.



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Lusitania 1.rtf (10.4 kb)
Lusitania map.jpg (309.4 kb)
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Rhomboid


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"C" Battalion's war history, quoted by David Fletcher in " Tanks and Trenches", lists Lusitania as C.47, belonging to 9 Co.

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Tim R


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Thank You Rhomboid


  I appreciate your help, and kindness.


All the Best


Tim R



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Rhomboid


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Glad to help, Tim. "D" Battalion's war diary lists tank 798 as D.21, involoved in the Bullecourt attack on April 11. The attachment shows No. 11 Co.'s after action report, courtesy of the Tank Museum library.

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Mark Hansen


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That should mean that the number on "Lusitania" is 788.


P.S.: Am I reading that chart correctly: Did only 1 tank make it back intact? 



-- Edited by Mark Hansen at 02:27, 2006-02-10

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Rhomboid


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   Apologies for omitting the reference key to the chart; it is included in the first attachment. The second attachment is a map from p.314 of the Australian official history (C.E.W. Bean, The A.I.F. in France, Vol IV) showing wrecked tank positions at the end of the battle. Of the eleven tanks engaged, one was hit and disabled prior to starting, another soon after. Five were disabled in no-man's-land or the German trench system. Four tanks returned to the Australian front line, of which, two were disabled there and the other two disabled some distance to the rear. 


   Bean conducted extensive interviews and a review of German records after the war, and established that no tank reached the objectives of Riencourt and Hendrecourt; none had advanced past the second trench in the Hindenburg Line. Maj. W.H.L. Watson, of D. Co., wrote an account in his book "A Company of Tanks".


   The 27th (Wurttemberg) Division had standing orders to concentrate their fire on tanks, and had been supplied with AP machine gun ammunition. The volume of fire which the tanks drew can be judged from participants' recollections of their shapes outlined in the darkness by sparks from bullet strikes. 


   As an aside, I suspect that tank 799, seen being inspected by Germans in a previous thread, is wreck "3", as it lay in the only portion of front not in British hands at battle's end. Due to a navigational error, it single-handedly attacked Balcony Trench near Queant, and was disabled behind the front line trench. 



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chrisweber


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Lusitania was commanded by my Grandfather, at the time temporary Second Lieutenant Weber. The picture shown above is available from the Tank Museum at Bovingtnon ( http://www.tankmuseum.org/shop/photo.php?photo_id=9 ) As stated he received the MC for his actions at Railway Triangle. (and in fact later added an MBE )

I still have his sword, which I recently had refurbished to Horse Guards standard.

Chris Weber.


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Francisco


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I seems my previous answer is still waiting for moderation, therefore I'll give it another try.

First of all, I'm glad you liked my project, since I really enjoyed researching and building it ( Lusitania, the roman province that gave place to my beautiful country, charismatic name to a charismatic tank).

As I found the photos online, I'm not able to give credit to it's owners. However, I can point you to versions with better resolution:

http://www.armorama.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=1695

http://fbminisworkbench.blogspot.com/search/label/Airfix%20Mk%20II%20Male%20Lusitania%20-%20Arras%201917

If you need anything else, don't hesitate to contact me through fbminis@gmail.com

Best regards,

Francisco

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GreenTankie


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There is a very interesting section of C & A Williams-Ellis, 1919, The Tank Corps, New York page 99 to 103 describing the action carried out by Lt Webber and Sgt Latham of Lusitania at Arras in early April 1917.

The book can be accessed free online here: https://archive.org/stream/tankcorps00willgoog#page/n10/mode/2up

By the way, the Tank Corps didn't become 'Royal' until 18 October 1923.  Good job on restoring his sword to Horse Guards standard, although I suspect he'd be turning in his grave at the thought of that.  After all, he was a Tankie :)

 



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chrisweber


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Thanks for the link to Williams-Ellis book. I didn't know about that one.
LOL at the thought of a Tankie objecting to a shiny sword :)

Photo, info and chit chat on my grandfather and the Lusitania on the sister forum at
landships.activeboard.com/forum.spark

 

FYI I found a (free) Kindle version of the book at https://archive.org/details/tankcorps00willgoog

 



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GreenTankie


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Therfe are a number of books online that I have come across, you may have seen them but if not they are here:

Tanks in the Great War 1914-1918. by Brevet-Colonel J.F.C.FULLER,D.S.O. http://archive.org/download/cu31924027835168/cu31924027835168.pdf

Tanks 1914-1918; The Log Book of a Pioneer by Lt. Col. Sir A G Stern http://archive.org/stream/tankslogbookapi00stergoog

The Tank in Action by Capt. D G Browne http://archive.org/download/tankinaction00browrich/tankinaction00browrich.pdf

Eyewitness, being personal reminiscences of certain phases of the Great War, including the genesis of the tank by Maj. Gen. Sir E D Swinton http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000442267



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