Landships II

Hello Robert

   Thank you, I think tho it may be the one I have in Landships, is this correct? page 28, #32
All the best

Tim R

That's the shot. Hopefully, someone else has another shot somewhere.

Tim R wrote:

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Hello Robert    Thank you, I think tho it may be the one I have in Landships, is this correct? page 28, #32All the best Tim R

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Mark Hansen wrote:

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Doggowitz wrote: Interesting! Note the missing rails on top? I have a question though... Were that many Tanks used in Gaza? It looks like there are 8 tanks in the photo (hard to tell further away from the camera) and there were 8 tanks sent so that is probably every tank right there in that shot! This wouldn't have been the original complement however, as they were all Mk. I's. The first 3 tanks on the train closest to the photographer are Mk. I's and the rest...... could be anything; my eyes aren't THAT good!!

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I have a query as I have found the name of a ninth tank reported to have been at Gaza! HMLS Snapper. The photo below (from a collection taken by an RFC guy in Egypt at the time) is reputedly this tanks remains. Its name is visible but my eyes aren't good enough to make it out. I've seen a number of other references to Snapper

Now did Snapper exist in addition to those listed below? Was there a ninth tank (rather like the 5th Beatle)?

1. Sir Archibald (Male)
   
   
2. Pincher (Male)
   
   
3. Otazel (Male)
   
   
4. Ole-Luk-Oie (Male)
   
   
5. Nutty (Female)
   
   
6. Kia-Ora (Female)
   
   
7. War Baby (Female)
   
   
8. Tiger (Female)

and more

1. Sir Archibald (Male)
   
   
   
2. Pincher (Male)
   
   
   
3. Otazel (Male)
   
   
   
4. Ole-Luk-Oie (Male)
   

Roger Todd wrote:

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I think out of those, it looks more like 'HMLS Pincher' than any other.

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Which adds a new mystry as Pincher only shed a track (on the beach) at the end of 3rd Gaza and wasn't totalled like the tank in the photo. Pincher was in reserve during 2nd Gaza and wasn't committed to action. It was used at 3rd Gaza and penetrated further than any other tank before loosing its track. All the tanks used at 3rd Gaza were recovered. On that basis it shouldn't be Pincher.

Its a puzzle as only three of the tanks used in 2nd Gaza had to be replaced - these being Nutty, War Baby and Sir Archibald and only Sir Archibald was male. On that basis it should be Sir Archibald but I just can't make the lettering conform to that name. Given that the photo is part of a collection (availble on the web) of photos taken by a RFC man in Egypt and the other photos can be easily identified as being in that theatre (including a shot of another Mk I male) I guess we have to accept that it has to be one of the Gaza tanks.

Mark Hansen wrote:

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I don't think that it has been knocked out. It looks more like it's being either scrapped or disassembled for other reasons. There is no other damage that's visible, which you would expect for a knocked out tank. It may be having a track repaired after shedding and have the rest of the tank covered to prevent sand getting in. The tank name certainly does appear to be "Pincher".

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Given that the entire front hull and the drivers cab appear to be missing its difficult to say definitely that there was no battle damage. If thats what they do to repair a track I aint taking my car there for servicing.

Dismanteling is possible but one would have expected them to take out the guns first (as being reusable) and removed the sponsons. Does anyone know what happened to the tanks after 3rd Gaza - I know that the crews were shipped home but were the tanks scrapped or shipped home?

Mark Hansen wrote:

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Centurion wrote: Given that the entire front hull and the drivers cab appear to be missing its difficult to say definitely that there was no battle damage. If thats what they do to repair a track I aint taking my car there for servicing. Dismanteling is possible but one would have expected them to take out the guns first (as being reusable) and removed the sponsons. Does anyone know what happened to the tanks after 3rd Gaza - I know that the crews were shipped home but were the tanks scrapped or shipped home? The front hull and cab are there under the sheeting/canvas/whatever. Look straight up from the track adjuster and you can see the hinge for the commander's vision flap. P.S.: And on further examination, the track on the other side is missing. The sheeting/canvas/whatever is bowed inward across the idler, meaning no track to support it.-- Edited by Mark Hansen at 07:04, 2006-03-06

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It may be an optical illusion thats fooling me but all I can see is a yawning gap between the horns with the sheet hanging down the inside of the far horn and the rucks in the sheet (where it indeed crosses the untracked frame) extending backwards along the inside of the frame.

I've tried blowing up the portion with the name and playing with the contrast etc to eliminate some of the half tones. The results are still indecisive but do not look like a Pin**** however it doesn't look like an S or an O either! Most like an M or an N !

Mark Hansen wrote:

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I've outlined the area where the cab is visible and extended the lines across the sheeting/canvas/whatever. I've also outlined in red the commanders vision flap hinge.

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you may also find some shots on the AWM site. here's some wrecks i found

http://cas.awm.gov.au/pls/PRD/cst.acct_master?surl=284326607ZZZWLPDHYKCKB17736&stype=3&simplesearch=&v_umo=&v_product_id=&screen_name=cas_search_pkg.pr_search_by_link&screen_parms=acid~ps_query=SELECT+~query_id,+u.umo_id,+u.attribute1,+u.attribute2,+u.attribute3,+u.umo_id+FROM+umo+u,+umo_attribute+ua1+WHERE+ua1.value='Imperial+Camel+Corps'+AND+instr(u.attribute5,'First+World+War,+1914-1918')>0+and+u.umo_id+=+ua1.umo_id+AND+ua1.attribute_id+IN+(1667)~ps_query_text=Browse+Related+unit:+Imperial+Camel+Corps&screen_type=BOTTOM&bvers=4&bplatform=Microsoft%20Internet%20Explorer&bos=Win32

but there are others