Here are some questions I'm sure someone can probably set me straight on...
i/ Were Mk.I Supply tanks used in Gaza?
ii/ Is there any evidence of Mk.I Supply Tanks fitted with the Gaza jib modifications?
iii/ What stowage arrangements were there for blocks & tackle when not jib mounted? [never seen any evidence of hull top storage like the later 'grouser bin', and it seems unlikely that they'd be left dangling or that crews would want more clutter inside]
Thanks in advance.
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"You there on the port!". "S'gin actually, but thanks for noticing [hic]".
ii/ The "Gaza Jib Modification" was not a Gaza thing; every MkI and MkII tank would have used a gib at some time to remove and mount the sponsons. The alternative would be a hoist mounted on another tank or "recovery" vehicle. If a MkI or MkII Supply tank needed to be carried by train, they would have had to remove the sponsons.
iii/ I suspect the gib, block and tackle and other equipment was carried in the support vehicles, not the tanks. I've not read any mention of the equipment being stowed inside the tank.
So the whole Gaza-centric 'thing', re these jibs, is another one of these misconceptions that has been perpetuated long enough to become accepted 'fact'..?
This does allow for the quite excellent possibility of modelling a Mk.I Supply Tank with grousers and jib...
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"You there on the port!". "S'gin actually, but thanks for noticing [hic]".
The misconception of the 'Jib' being some kind of Gaza field adaptation is probably down to the lack of photos in the public domain as regards the transport of MK1 Tanks. There must be photos and the transport of the First Tanks could be a good little book for someone to research and publish.
The storyline for the Gaza Tanks is that they were taken from those spare training tanks in Europe. I guess the mechanical setup of the MK1s was soon different enough from the later marks that their believed use as training vehicles was diminished enough to make them available for what must of seen as a very unpopular mission.
My best guess for the stowage of the Jibs is probably on the Sponson Trolleys, just to keep it all in one place. The other possibility is there may not of been one jib for each tank, it could be one in every group of three.
This is the only view I have of a Sponson Jib in Europe. As the tanks in question are training tanks it could be that some of these are Gaza Tanks.
This photo was taken at Rollencourt, France on 20 June 1917. 528 is to the far right, and there's a well known photo of that with lots of early production Mark IVs behind it taken at the same time.
