As the model maker for the Pompey pals project, I would like some information please. I am doing the Takom Mk1 female to commemorate the 15th Bn., Pompey pals going over the top on the 15th of September. These men supported the tanks at the Battle of Flers–Courcelette and I was wondering what the colour of the tanks would be. Were they painted in camouflage colours or a standard colour. Any help would be much appreciated, the diorama will be unveiled at the 100th commemoration the Pompey palsproject are holding in Portsmouth on the 10th of September in front of the worlds press. So obviously, I want it to be as accurate as possible. Many thanks in advance.
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Remembering the men of the Portsmouth Own battalions, the 14th and 15th battalion of the Hampshire regiment. THE POMPEY PALS.
I believe that the 15th Hampshires attacked at Flers on 15/9/16, supported by tanks of D Coy., HSMGC.
Lacking any original colour photos, the colours with which the tanks were painted are somewhat conjectural. To my knowledge, no official documentation on the matter remains, if it, indeed, ever existed. The painting, by an Australian war artist, shows a wrecked tank from D Coy. in the vicinity of Flers. See the linked article (under the Camouflage and Markings tab) for a bit more info.
It's a subject that's started many an online flame war! http://www.landships.info/landships/tank_articles.html?load=tank_articles/Solomon_Camouflage.html
-- Edited by Pzkpfw-e on Sunday 17th of July 2016 09:47:50 PM
After purchasing a good copy of the only presently know colour photo of a MK1 Male Tank wrecked, these are the nearest I think it is we are ever going to get.
The camouflage had variation in the amount of black lining they painted around the colours, with female tanks hardly bothering with it at all. Sometimes it looks like even adding extra colours.
