I found this among some family photos. No date or location on it, but probably taken by my grandfather. Does anyone know where this tank was located, and what happened to it?
Also, how much significance does the Home Service Number of 200 have, as it's the first in the range allocated to Females and the lowest I've seen mentioned so far. Were Home Service (or presentation) tanks allocated these numbers at random?
Thank you for sharing this photo. I am afraid that the location of this particular tank is unknown to me.
As you already seem to know, these Home Service or training numbers were allocated in blocks. One and two digit numbers were used on the earliest types of tanks (Marks I to III). Three digit numbers starting with 1 are all Mark IV Males. Three digit numbers starting 2 are all Mark IV Females. No instances of three digit Home Service numbers starting with a 3 are known. Three digit numbers starting with a 4 are Mark IV Tenders, and so on.
So this appears to be the first Mark IV Female to have one of these numbers. Exactly how they were allocated to tanks we do not know, though I have a theory that they were allocated at Wool as tanks arrived there. Nor do we know whether the numbers were unique (it is assumed so), or whether they ever changed (it is assumed not).
The number doesn't really have much significance. It tells us it's a Mark IV Female, which we can tell just by looking at the tank.
