Landships II

Tying up Mk IV serial numbers and manufacturers is something that I'm trying to do, but without conclusive results (except for some series).  The 8000 - 8200 series is not one that I know for sure who the manufacturer was - there's no simple piece of paper I've found yet to say - but the circumstantial evidence so far is that it is a Metropolitan CWF series.  One complicating factor is the possibility of sub-contractors building tanks for the main contractors, and that's a very murky area indeed.

Would you be able to post any further information you have on this tank from the Battle History Sheet?

Cheers! 

John Glanfield has the manufacturer for at least some of the serial blocks in his book, that was how I located where the AWM tank was built. I'm at work at the moment, but I'll have a look this evening.

David

Gents,

The Battle History Sheet (BHS) says the the crew was from tank B2, yet the tank itself was B19.  I know from his papers that my Great Uncle was in No.1 Section of B Battalion and that this is consistent with the crew number (B2), although I didn't know which crew he was with until I got the BHS.  I think the number B19 refers to the tank's position within the battalion on 20/11/17.  The BHS says that the tank attacked the village of Fontaine and that it was one of the five that rallied.  However, it did seize up on the way back.  The battalion war diary says that the tank was salvaged on 24/11/17 from a position in front of Fontaine.

Over the last couple of years I've been really lucky in finding quite alot of first hand information relating to this tank, the action at Fontaine on 23/11/17 and B Battalion in general.  In fact I've now got over 100 pages of A4, all either letters and memoirs written by people who were there, or accounts from war diaries and official papers.  I think it would make a good book and I intend to have a crack at writing one this year.  However, I'm abit concerned that I'd be the only person interested in reading it!  I would appreciate a bit of constructive feedback on the matter. 

On the plus side I've discovered that 8 men from the same pioneer battalion all transferred to B Battalion, Tank Corps, at the same time and were given consecutive service numbers.  5 went on to attack Fontaine in 5 different tanks.  One was killed. one was taken prisoner and the other 3 won the MM, all on 23/11/17.   I've also got some accounts from officers who were there, one describing how he was captured (at the same time as the man above). 

On the down side, I don't want to write yet another history of the battle of Cambrai.  I'd rather do something a bit different.  My preference would be to follow the personal story of the men, maybe in the form of semi-fiction: use the known facts and weave in some simpathetic dialog.  However, I feel sure that sticking purely to the factual would be easier and more acceptable.  I know that there's not much chance of getting a book published but it would be good to get the whole thing down on paper, if only for my own amusement.  Anybody got any thoughts on how to approach the subjet?

Regards,

Ian.