WW1 British Tanks in 1940 France

Discussion in '1940' started by morrisc8, Jun 25, 2012.

  1. morrisc8

    morrisc8 Under the Bed

    Just bought this photo of British WW1 tanks in France in 1940, 6 tanks in a line with the gun ports bordered up, 2nd tank has a large metal plate on top, first tank has number 10927 ? hard too see on the side. Looks like they were used as a wall / barrier of some kind. There is a road to the left and some large buildings on the other side of the road. Boxs in front of two of the tanks. Bit of a mystery.:confused: photo printed on French photo paper and came from a German album ww2.
    Keith
     

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    Jonathan Ball and von Poop like this.
  2. Jonathan Ball

    Jonathan Ball It's a way of life.

    That's a fascinating photo. Thanks for sharing. It would be interesting to discover exactly where it was taken?
     
  3. idler

    idler GeneralList

    The boxes could be flimsies?

    The country looks too open for them to be an obstacle. Maybe they had some training role, though I will stop short of suggesting that the vertical plate is a target...

    The unusual 'unditching beam rails' stick out a bit, in the most literal sense.
     
  4. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    I was thinking surplus to requirement on a range.
     
  5. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    First instinct is that it might have been part of the postwar breaking by Mr Roper & co, but that doesn't seem to fit the blanked off sponsons and paper/album thing does it (excepting unusual travels of some negatives, and lord knows what happened to the sponsons between 1918 & the 20s).

    Hmmm - good stuff, Keith.
    Wonder if someone will know what's going on, or if the blessed Fletcher might be worth sending them to.
    I'll certainly be perusing what I have on leftover stock. Seem to recall something in Forty's Bov history about static usage.
     
  6. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    Looking at length of them I'd say they were Mark V*.
    wiki says we gave the French some in 1918.
    Mark V tank - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    Shortly before the end of the War, Britain supplied France with 90 Mk V*. They were not used in action, but remained in French service throughout the 1920s and 30s.
    I know it doesnt help but they might be some of those given to the French.

    also.
    About French Mark V* - Landships WW1 Forum

    Memo to Major Earle, DMRS from Statistical Section MWD dated 28.2.19
    Re: Mk V* handed to French Army
    100 Mk V* have been handed to the French Army (87 Male and 13 Female)
     
  7. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    Not sure if they are French though - Don't they still have the British Army white markings on the front?
     
  8. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    Not sure if they are French though - Don't they still have the British Army white markings on the front?
    It'd be moot as to whether they'd have done any re-marking, or indeed anything at all with 'em.
    Britain was awash with surplus tanks immediately post WW1, and the French had their own somewhat distinct local ideas on design future.

    I think Owen might be onto something - they do look like V*s don't they.
    (Though I've been looking at some postwar shots of Bovington Camp's 'Tank Park' and the buildings might be in a similar style - not that that proves a thing.)

    Can we make out what this is?
    [​IMG]

    Looks like another largish vehicle, but not a WW1 rhomboid?
    Could be at least a small clue to date if we can work out what it is.
     
  9. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    Are those sheds deliberately painted with tank corps stripes or similar?
    I thought it was just decorative, but it looks somehow more deliberate.
     
  10. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    If it is old Tank Corps Depot in France that'll be Bermicourt wont it?
     
  11. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    If it is Bermicourt, I would think Rommel's 7 Panzer Div went through that area on the way to the coast
     
  12. Warlord

    Warlord Veteran wannabe

    Does the warehouse-looking building in the left background of pic 1 give a clue? Looks to me like a scrapyard.
     
  13. morrisc8

    morrisc8 Under the Bed

    hope this is better, looks like some one is walking past.
    Keith
     

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  14. Warlord

    Warlord Veteran wannabe

    The stripes on the roof, are they paint, or just patches of new tin roofing, replacing old, rusty sheets?

    You see a lot of those repairs down here in Third World countries.
     
  15. morrisc8

    morrisc8 Under the Bed

    The roof and a gate on the right.
    Keith
     

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  16. Jonathan Ball

    Jonathan Ball It's a way of life.

    If it is old Tank Corps Depot in France that'll be Bermicourt wont it?

    It could well be. Been taking a look and found this interesting piece as part of a longer article on the WFA website.

    4. The Tank Corps Salvage or Field Companies.

    The necessity for the salvage of tanks, and tank material, was recognised by those in charge of design and production long before the first machines went overseas. It was not until December 1916, that a small party of men was formed for this work. As the Corps grew, a 4-section company was organised in February 1917, and later a second company was added together with a Special Salvage Detachment, in order to cope with the extreme difficulties met during the third battle of Ypres. In this battle alone, stores to the then value of £1,300,000 were recovered. During the 4 weeks between the 8th August and the 8th September 1918, the following figures give some idea of the work carried out by the Salvage Companies.

    1 544 tanks handed over to salvage;
    2 269 tanks saved;
    3 96 tanks entrained for the Central Workshops and
    4 42 tanks at the railhead ready for entrainment.

    The salvage of spares was carried out as follows:
    Every company going into action detailed a special tank equipment salvage party to work under the direction of the company equipment officer. This party, which was provided with horses and wagons, began its work immediately the attack was launched. When a tank was reported out of action and unable to return to its rallying point, the party proceeded to the machine and removed all such parts as were not necessary for the actual salvage of the tank. By dealing expeditiously with this work, losses from the following causes were minimised:
    1 shell fire once the enemy has obtained the range of the tank;
    2 capture by the enemy if a successful hostile counter-attack was made and
    3 Purloining by our own troops


    Organisation and Administration of The Tank Corps
     
  17. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    rarely have I stared so hard at so many WW1 Tank images, while concentrating on the buildings in the background rather than the tanks themselves.
    To little avail. (Though I find myself half-intrigued by references to using lined up rhomboids in bridging experiments.)
     
  18. phylo_roadking

    phylo_roadking Very Senior Member

    I'm staring at that pic....and I have to say that the large dark hole on our left (the tank's right) makes it look for all the world like a turretless Lee/Grant hull...! Some alterations to it though - were there any Lee/grant CDL versions???
     
  19. morrisc8

    morrisc8 Under the Bed

    Close up of the first tank.
    Keith
     

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  20. Bodston

    Bodston Little Willy

    hope this is better, looks like some one is walking past.
    Keith

    It's a whippet isn't it?
     

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