As I have discussed previously, I am building a model of the MkIV male tank "Eclipse II" in which my great-uncle was killed.
The basic information came from that great book on Cambrai "Following the tanks", but it seemed from the photo of the derelict tank in the book that the tank did not possess any markings, and this brought about the assumption that the tank had been rushed up to the front for the battle without having had time to have all the markings put on.
To my surprise and delight, I came across the same photo of the derelict tank on Flikr posted by philthydirtyanimal. This one was not over exposed like the version in the book and shows the name painted on the side.
This means that I can finish the tank markings correctly on this very special model of a tribute to my great-uncle Andrew Murray.
It just shows that you have to keep looking for the right photos and that reproduction in books can hide important info.
Thanks to all the members for their untiring efforts to find and record all the WWI Landships stuff.
I couldn't agree more, without this site I could never have got as far as I have with my MK1 plans and modelling. It's not just what the individual members know, but their willingness to look again at information that has been taken for granted in the past. Not just repeat facts, but check them out and go looking for new answers.
It's were a Forum will always win over the likes of Wikipedia. :)
As for photos, once a month I go for trawl of the internet for photos of MK1 Tanks, not just looking for new ones, but better versions of ones I already have. Just recently I found a version of a photo I have only ever seen badly restored, I now have a photo that shows at least some of the Mk1s were camouflaged at the rear and on the tailwheel assembly. something I struggled to prove before. So the secret is always keep looking.
As for your model, Have you thought about maybe putting a photo of your Great-Uncle on the baseboard, with just few basic facts about him. It would make it a more personal family thing.
Remember to post some photos of the finished model.
Perhaps of Interest: http://landships.activeboard.com/t53289717/eclipse-2/ another relative of a crew member whats the chances of that... also has a good pic, I think there are quite a few pictures showing Eclipse distantly behind Eileen and/or Eve...
Thanks to the brilliance of digital photography, I have a picture of him and his brother (killed in 1914) on my desk.
Andrew's details are on the Cambrai site: http://www.tankmenofcambrai.com/e-bn.
A few years ago I came across the sale of the driver's MM - a distant relative of a vicar we knew here in SA!!
Both sets of medals are in the hands of my cousin, who, being a Murray has more entitlement to them than I, although he had never looked at them and didn't know what they were! Andrew had the MM and was Mentioned in Dispatches, while brother Thomas had the Mons Star. I got all excited at seeing them while my cousin looked on in puzzlement. Just shows a terrible lack of education in the history of the UK and the sacrifices made for us. When I grew up, we had wonderful set-work books on heroism - the AMC The Jervis Bay, the Ohio, HMS Glowworm, HMS Amethyst, Faith, Hope, and Charity, the Dambusters, Douglas Bader,etc, etc. Our generation had real heroes to look up to - now all the kids have got is soccer players as "heroes". Should make it compulsory for all citations of significant medal awards to be read out at schools to give them an awareness.
