This month we welcomed John Glanfield, his talk was entitled The Devils Chariot. John had written a book by the same name which gives the history of WW1 tank.
The talk was very informative and interesting.
The original tank was designed from agricultural equipment at the time, The Generals were reluctant to change after all the Cavalry was King but with the war at stalemate with no progress being made and horrendous losses, something had to change,
H had to become HP mechanized!!
The leading light of a mechanized armored vehicle was Lt Col Ernest Swinton and with the support of Winston Churchill, the General Staff finally agreed. Their specification for vehicle included top speed 4mph with the ability to climb a 5 ft parapet.
Finally, Mark 1 arrived although unreliable changed the outcome of the war. For the crew inside the Devils Chariot, it was not a pleasant experience for many, they never recovered, but it was said, it was better than being in a trench and at the sound of a whistle scrambled out and mown down by well placed German machine guns.
Oh oh oh What a lovely War…….I don’t think so.!!!!!
Fred J Knopp Speaker Secretary