Landships II

JamesH · Major

Another Tank Cartoon

Mark Hansen · Legend

Impressive! If it doesn't squash them or shoot them with either the cannon or machine guns, it can just grab the enemy and terrify them!

It almost looks like an armoured halftrack. There is a small wheel, or wheels, at the front. I wonder where the driver was supposed to get a forward view from. Every available port has a machine gun stuck through it!!

Roger Todd · Legend

Maybe the artist saw a picture of the Holt G9 and embellished* it...

http://mailer.fsu.edu/~akirk/tanks/UnitedStates/mediumtanks/usmt-HoltG9-a.jpg

Being based on the Holt 75 tractors, it had a wheel for steering at the front.

From http://mailer.fsu.edu/~akirk/tanks/UnitedStates/mediumtanks/MediumTanks.html

*i.e. mainly made it up!

JamesH · Major

Roger Todd wrote:

Maybe the artist saw a picture of the Holt G9 and embellished it...

Good spot. I haven't got any info on the picture's provenance, as they say, but there's a definite resemblance.

Centurion · Legend

There are similarities with both Holt and Best designs. Given the date (just post Flers) on the cartoon and the fact that the troops following it up are clearly British its almost certainly an early 'tank euphoria' product. I've a feeling that official photos of the tanks had not yet been released at the time so that the poor old cartoonist was probably given a brief and had to scrabble around to find anything on tracks to model his drawing on.

JamesH · Major

The first pictures of a Mk I for public consumption appeared in the Daily Mirror on November 22nd, 1916. The paper is said to have paid �1,000 for them, although to whom the money was paid is not clear.

Of course, rumour of the Tanks was widespread immediately and sketches soon appeared on both sides of the lines. Is it possible that the cartoon is the work of an American who heard the reports (including the fact that British troops were involved) but had only his knowledge of the Holt to draw upon? It's much more like the Holt than the Best.

Centurion · Legend

JamesH wrote:

The first pictures of a Mk I for public consumption appeared in the Daily Mirror on November 22nd, 1916. The paper is said to have paid �1,000 for them, although to whom the money was paid is not clear. Of course, rumour of the Tanks was widespread immediately and sketches soon appeared on both sides of the lines. Is it possible that the cartoon is the work of an American who heard the reports (including the fact that British troops were involved) but had only his knowledge of the Holt to draw upon? It's much more like the Holt than the Best.

I believe that an accurate picture did appear in a US paper slightly earlier (and its authenticity was denied by British authorities - nothing changes).

Which Best and which Holt? There were a number of designs based on each tractor. In fact one of the Best designs has the stepped front shape and the curved buffer of the 'tank' in the cartoon