Landships II

MK1 Nut · Hero

MK1 Tank model build off!

Paul Bonnett · Hero

You are a genius so I will have to start my Airfix Male now to try and do justice to all your hard work.
Thanks Helen

Paul x

Nailcreek · Captain

Wow ... very nicely done! I'll look forward to seeing your drawings of the sponsons and wheels!

MK1 Nut · Hero

Well it's not a model, but I've been playing. :)

Just needed a break from the tail wheel assembly!� confuse

Helen x

davem · Private

hi Ive just joined teh site and am looking for some information on mk1 tanks as i am starting to build a scale radio controlled model .

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i was looking at 1/16 th scale and am looking to see where i can get a plan layout of the tank from and detailed pictures so i can be as accurate as possible

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i would be grateful for any assisatnce

�

thank you

TinCanTadpole · Legend

Hi davem, welcome aboard. If you click on the link above, in the original post, you'll find the thread in which MK1 Nut posted her excellent Mk1 plans, with instructions on how to scale them to the size you want. As you may have gathered from the posts above, the tail wheel assembly is still pending, but I'm sure you'll be impressed by Helen's plans.

TinCanTadpole · Legend

Well I'm sure I've heard of a Gaza tank called Otazel, and I know virtually zilch about Gaza tanks. Actually I wouldn't mind knowing where the nutty (pun intended) names came from? What on earth is Ole-Luk-Oie (if that's how it's spelled)? Bizarre name for a tank, at first thought.

-- Edited by TinCanTadpole on Friday 30th of March 2012 11:28:44 PM

Rob · Legend

I've never heard of Otazell before, I thought it was the name of a late war armoured car. Is it a Palestine Mk 1?

MK1 Nut · Hero

Rob wrote:
I've never heard of Otazell before, I thought it was the name of a late war armoured car. Is it a Palestine Mk 1?

�Ummm.... errr.... I know this makes me seem bad... but I can't remember! confuse

Although I only did it for a bit of fun, I'm sure it was right and did exist.

I'm sure it would have been off of this site, but not sure now. If I find it I will post a link.

Helen x

LincolnTanker · Commander in Chief

Here is a photo of the Otazell AC, interestingly the've put HMLS on as well!�

I wonder if there is a story behind this?

�

Just noticed HMLS Union AC behind.

-- Edited by LincolnTanker on Saturday 31st of March 2012 08:42:02 AM

TinCanTadpole · Legend

It's just occurred to me, since I was wondering about the strange names of Gaza tanks, that Otazel probably means "hot as hell". Would seem appropriate, given the climate as well as the onboard temperatures.

Update: an old thread confirms that there was a tank named Otazel, and has a photo believed to be said tank disabled on a beach.

�

Otazel

-- Edited by TinCanTadpole on Saturday 31st of March 2012 01:21:54 PM

Rhomboid · Field Marshal

"Nutty" is a play on the name of the commander of the EEF tank detachment, Maj. Norman Nutt. "Ole-Luk-Oie" was the pen-name of Ernest Swinton, and derives from a Scandinavian folk tale.

TinCanTadpole · Legend

Thanks Rhomboid. Do you know if my hunch is correct about Otazel, or where Kia-Ora came from? That one always makes me think of the juice drink that was popular when I was a kid.

Rhomboid · Field Marshal

I'm not certain about the origin of "Otazel", but your suggestion seems to be probable. The origin of "Kia-Ora" came up in a thread on the Great War Forum a few years ago. I seem to recall that it is a Maori phrase which has become a drinking toast in NZ.

The photo below, labelled "OTAZEL"�also turned up on the GWF. I've wondered if this might have been the tanks crew,�photographed during training in�the UK. One of the cap badges looks like it may�be a MGC badge to my eye, but this was disputed by badge experts on the Forum.

CharlieC · Legend

�

"Kia Ora" is a greeting in Maori equivalent to "Hi".

Another possibility is KiaOra sauce - I think they may still have KiaOra tomato sauce in New Zealand but I have a recollection that there were hot sauces similar to Worchester sauce marketed as well under that brand. So KiaOra may�be "hot stuff" to those that knew the sauce.

Regards,

Charlie

-- Edited by CharlieC on Sunday 1st of April 2012 01:44:27 PM

-- Edited by CharlieC on Sunday 1st of April 2012 01:44:57 PM

Rob · Legend

The suggestion of otazel meaning hot as hell certain has credence bearing in mind other Tank names - 'Gofasta' (Go faster) 'Golikell' (Go like 'ell/hell)

TinCanTadpole · Legend

Rob wrote:
The suggestion of otazel meaning hot as hell certain has credence bearing in mind other Tank names - 'Gofasta' (Go faster) 'Golikell' (Go like 'ell/hell)

�Yes, I had those Whippets, Golikell at least, in mind.

�

Kia Ora hot sauce? Possible, definitely; I suppose it depends exactly where the stuff was sold (if outside NZ) and where the crew members came from - or had lived.

TinCanTadpole · Legend

Rob wrote:
I've never heard of Otazell before, I thought it was the name of a late war armoured car. Is it a Palestine Mk 1?

�It occurs that perhaps there might be a connection between the two - an idea that would need some scrutiny to evaluate.

I don't yet know enough about the Gaza tank exploits to know how many crews survived, but since some tank crews, at least in France, were transferred to ACs late in the war, is it possible that at least some of the crew of tank Otazel (one 'l') became AC crewmen around 1918, naming their car Otazell (two 'l's)?

LincolnTanker · Commander in Chief

Tincantadpole, �here is a link to a Palastine topic :-

http://landships.activeboard.com/t35474066/e-companypalestine-1917/?page=1&sort=oldestFirst

Put Gaza in the search box and quite a few turn up

TinCanTadpole · Legend

That's great Lincoln T, thanks. I must look at that "on the beach" thread again to see if the hole in otazel's track frame corresponds with what looks like a mine explosion which blew the right track off on a beach somewhere.

The 2nd Lt Carr referred to died on 19 April '17 - that was the date of the second battle of Gaza, wasn't it?

Rhomboid · Field Marshal

Maj. Nutt, in an appendix to the E Co. war diary for Nov. 1917, made the following comment regarding a damaged tank, presumably Otazel:

"The 8th which had to be abandoned behind SHEIKH HASSAN, had an explosive charge fired under one track by the enemy. The forward armoured plates are badly shattered and distorted. The crank case is smashed and the crank shaft bent & the vibration damper broken. The Tank is being dismantled and we will attempt to tow her home, where in default of armoured plates she might be repaired sufficiently to be utilized as a supply or instruction Tank."

Lt. Carr died of burns sustained when HMLS Nutty was hit by a shell and caught fire at Tank Redoubt during the the 2nd Battle of Gaza. He was captured when the redoubt was retaken, and died shortly thereafter in a Turkish military hospital.