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Post Info TOPIC: British Tanks in Upper Silesia
vollketten


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British Tanks in Upper Silesia
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 I can't post it on this old thread from 2005 http://www.landships.net/t5209882/british-tank-operations-in-germany-192122/ 

but this site criticalpast.com series of videos many of which cover WW1.

 

This particular video http://www.criticalpast.com/video/65675065689_soldiers_tanks-loaded_officers-look-at-equipment_seated-on-field has footage dated 1921 of the black Watch in Upper silesia and on the train behind the officers looking at a rather vicious sping club are two tanks E17 and E18

At least one other tank is visible but I cant ID it, logically it could be E16? - Perhaps knowing these numbers it will help.

IN21hWz.jpg 

 

Desccriptive of video

"British Colonel Archibald Percival Wavell and 2nd Battalion, Black Watch in Oppeln,Upper Silesia Colonel Archibald Percival Wavell (Rt. Hon. Archibald Percival Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell) Commander of the 2nd Battalion, Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) is seen conversing with a Colonel of local German forces in Oppeln,Upper Silesia. (This is during the period when elements of the British Durham Light Infantry, the Black Watch and the 2nd Battalion, Royal Canadian Leinsters, were serving, under the auspices of the Inter-Allied Commission of Government and plebiscite, as "peace keepers" to stop conflict between the Germans and Polish insurgents, in Upper Silesia.) Colonel Wavell is showing his counterpart a flexible spring mace, which the latter manipulates and examines. Behind them on a railroad siding are flat cars carrying Mark V tanks of Company B, 5th Battalion, British Tank Corps. Numbers: E18 and E17 appear on two tanks, respectively. Scene shifts to a checkpoint supported by soldiers of the Black Watch. A German officer checks credentials of a civilian leading a goat. He is permitted to pass and walks along smoking a pipe. A German lights the cigarette of a Black Watch soldier. German soldiers relax at edge of woods where they fly the Imperial flag of black, White, and red. A wagon load of German irregulars is pulled by a horse. They display the German flag. A team of horses pulls two caissons with irregulars riding on them. "



-- Edited by vollketten on Wednesday 18th of February 2015 04:36:58 PM

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vollketten


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Another one from the same site
Dated 1921 but location is just 'Germany'
Male Tank number '24'

oFBQL21.jpg

Video: http://www.criticalpast.com/video/65675039999_Allied-troops_horse-drawn-carriages-arrive_crowd-lined-up-outside-a-building_tank 



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vollketten


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Several more British tanks here is 'Dusseldorf Germany' Dated 1921

Numbers I can see are 'E21' and 'E22' respectively

MQtga0E.jpg

C0H5i16.jpg

video: http://www.criticalpast.com/video/65675026152_reparation-refusal_Cavalry-patrols_British-tanks_Baron-Von-Lersner 



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James H


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I stumbled on this a little while back. http://landships.activeboard.com/t50276015/mk-vs-in/

The original commentary was very sketchy and didn't seem at all right. I put forward a few suggestions, and then Criticalpast came up with this amazingly detailed version. Someone must have done some brilliant research. 



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vollketten


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ah excellent.
I didn't see that in the search function sorry.
So we have:


E16?
E17
E18
E19?
E20?
E21
E22

23?

24


and maybe more?



-- Edited by vollketten on Wednesday 18th of February 2015 05:30:15 PM



-- Edited by vollketten on Wednesday 18th of February 2015 05:30:40 PM

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Gwyn Evans


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The lowest crew number I have for a Mark V with 5th Battalion in Germany is E13. This is seen in Tank Museum photo 1557/D/1 (I don't have a copy). The highest is E24. E25 belonged to C Company and we also know from the Short History of the Tank Corps that only B Company of 5th Battalion was stationed in Germany. It left Bovington on 5 April 1920 to take up station there. Also the tanks in Upper Silesia comprised just one section of B Company 5th Battalion. The tanks in Upper Silesia returned to Cologne in July 1922.

Logically then, 5th Battalion at this time comprised three companies each of 12 tanks. E1 - E12 in A Company, E25 - E36 in C Company, and the B Company tanks in Germany and Upper Silesia which were E13 - E24.

Note that we can tell from the tank's serial numbers that 5th Battalion simply took over tanks already in Germany that were previously used by 12th Battalion. E24 was formerly L7.

Gwyn

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Duffer


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Inscribed on back "What do you think of my motor car? Tank No E19 Molly 'O' Morgan.



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Gwyn Evans


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Welcome to the Forum and thanks for posting this interesting photo.

Unfortunately my home laptop has just died so I don't have access to any useful information to help interpret this picture, but my initial impression is that I don't think it was taken in either Germany or Silesia. This is simply on the basis that the font used for the letter E is a serif font, but in the pictures already posted on this thread the font is sans serif. The name "Molly O Morgan" is odd too - not a 5th Battalion name.

Gwyn

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Gwyn Evans


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Now my laptop is back in the land of the living I'm going to revise my initial thoughts. I have a couple of (slightly fuzzy) photos of E18 on its arrival in Silesia. On one side the font looks sans serif, but on the other it seems to be a serif font. So, yes, I think this photo of E19 could well have been taken in Upper Silesia or Cologne.

Gwyn

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Gwyn Evans


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... and I've just come across two photos of E20 in which the E is in a serif font on both sides of the hull.

Gwyn

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