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The Tank Factory

British Military Vehicle Development and the Chobham Establishment

The History Press

THE BIRTH OF THE TANK

The first attempt at setting up a government organisation in Britain for the procurement of military transport was in 1645 when Oliver Cromwell appointed a comissionary to hire or requisition coaches, wagons and carts for the troops in the New Model Army. Then in 1664 the Royal Carriage Works was set up at Woolwich to build wagons and gun carriages for the army, the design and build of gun carriages being a skilled activity if a robust and stable firing platform was to be provided. The comissionary was answerable to the Treasury, not the army, and this remained the situation until 24 January 1855 when a warrant was signed for the formation of the Land Transport Corps. This was set up primarily to support the Crimean campaign and had its headquarters at Horfield Barracks in Bristol.

Mechanisation in the British Army came slowly. In 1769 a French military engineer, N.J. Cugnot, built a steam-powered wheeled vehicle for towing guns, but it was much later in Britain, in 1845, that the Inspector General of Fortifications suggested that steam-powered engines could be used for military purposes. Therefore in 1855 trials of a Boydell traction engine were undertaken at Woolwich Arsenal where it towed a 68pdr gun weighing 8 tons. There are some suggestions that Boydell traction engines were deployed during the Crimean War (1853–56) to haul heavy guns into position. In 1855 James Govan suggested that a Boydell Tractor could be fitted with a cannon and an armoured cover. This was one of the first practical proposals for an armoured fighting vehicle, but the idea was rejected by Lord Palmerston as being 'uncivilised', particularly as the design included rotating scythes fitted to the wheels. In 1857 the Superintendent of Machinery at Woolwich Royal Carriage Department undertook a trial in which a Boydell Traction Engine was driven from Thetford to Woolwich. The 15-ton traction engine towed a load of 29 tons, the 991/2-mile journey taking thirty-two hours and consuming 91cwt of coal. Having demonstrated their utility, military traction engines, including armoured Fowler engines, were deployed by the British Army in South Africa in 1885 where their uses included towing road trains.

In 1900, following some trials of petrol-driven cars and lorries for the army, a 'Mechanical Transport Committee' was set up. This consisted of interested branches, the Royal Artillery (RA), Royal Engineers (RE) and the Army Service Corps (ASC), who co-ordinated requirements and conducted trials. Requirements included vehicles for mobile searchlights and to tow guns.

Key to the ultimate success of tanks was the development of tracks. The first known patent of a track-like system dates from 1713. It was filed by a Mr d'Herman at the Royal Academy of Sciences and had a system of interconnected rollers. British Patent 953/1770 of 15 February 1770, which was filed by Richard Lovell Edgeworth, proposed the use of 'portable railways' in which 'several pieces of wood are connected to the carriage which moves on in regular succession in such a manner that a sufficient length of railway is constantly at rest for the wheels to roll on'. In 1826 Sir George Cayley patented a scheme for a continuous track. An 'endless railway wheel' was patented by a British Engineer James Boydell in 1846 and this was used on the traction engine that took part in the Woolwich trials. An Australian, Mr J.B. Hughs, reported back to his government some observations of those trials, noting that when working in the rain the wheels of the engine, which weighed 12 tons, did not sink into the ground, but those of wagons weighing 2 tons did sink. The Boydell system, sometimes called 'Boydell's Girdle', consisted of a number of plates attached to the wheels. Similar schemes of plates or feet attached to wheels included the 'Tippings Plates' system used for launching lifeboats across soft beaches and the Diplock Pedrail system. A Pedrail traction engine was tested at Aldershot in 1905 and the 'Boydell's Girdle' system was used on some heavy First World War artillery pieces to improve mobility when being towed. In the USA, Alvin Lombard was granted a patent for a tracked log hauler and in 1901 built the first of eighty-three machines. In 1903 Benjamin Holt bought the patent rights from Lombard and in 1906 started to build the world's first commercially successful vehicle to use tracks – the Holt Tractor.

Meanwhile, in Britain in 1899 F.R. Simms fitted a Maxim machine gun with armoured shield to the handle bars of a Beeston Quadricycle powered by a 1.5hp de Dion engine. This he called a 'Motor Scout' and he demonstrated it at Richmond in Surrey. He went on to develop concepts for armoured cars and was asked by Vickers to design a 'war car', which they then built. Although such armoured cars had also been proposed by others, for example by the American E.J. Pennington in 1896, Simms was the first to turn his ideas into a fully functional prototype vehicle. It had a 16hp engine giving a speed of 9mph, was armed with two machine guns and a 1pdr gun, and had 6mm armour. It was displayed at Crystal Palace in April 1902 and offered for sale to the British and European governments without success.

In 1903 The Strand Magazine published a story by H.G. Wells, called 'The Land Ironclads', in which he described the battlefield of the future dominated by steam-propelled, iron-clad vehicles running on large Pedrails. During the war he was taken to visit a factory in Birmingham where tanks were being built to see how his vision of future warfare was becoming reality.

In 1907 the War Office offered a prize for a cross-country vehicle that could tow a howitzer for 40 miles without refuelling. The prize was won by a tracked petrol-driven tractor designed by David Roberts and built by R. Hornsby and Sons, who had been working on tracked tractor designs since 1905. Although it had fragile tracks with wooden shoes, a Major Donoghue suggested that it could mount a gun surrounded by an armoured shield. Another suggestion submitted to the War Office came from Australian engineer L. de Mole in 1912, who proposed an advanced tracked, armoured machine with suspension and steering through the use of bowed tracks.

Although these ideas for armoured vehicles were not taken forward, mechanisation (or Mechanicalisation as it was then called) was underway in the British Army. In 1903 it had been agreed that the Army Service Corps would take over responsibility of mechanical transport from the Royal Engineers. In 1905 the ASC set up a Motor Transport Repair Depot at Hurley, near Henley-on-Thames, to support manoeuvres to test the suitability of mechanical motor transport and by 1906 a training establishment had been set up in Aldershot.

In 1914 the Admiralty purchased 100 Rolls-Royce cars for use by the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) for base protection. Some of these were subsequently provided with armour protection. The RNAS also carried out trials of the Killen-Strait tractor. This had tracked running gear in a tricycle arrangement and after successful trials and a demonstration on 30 June 1915 a contract was placed the following month for an armoured version with a Delaunay-Belleville armoured body. This is claimed to be the world's first tracked, armoured vehicle that was actually built and tested.

In September 1914 Lieutenant Colonel E.D. Swinton RE (Assistant Secretary of the Committee of Imperial Defence) suggested that the US Holt Agricultural tracked tractor, then in use to tow 8in guns, could be used as the basis for an armoured vehicle. This suggestion was turned down as it was assumed that such a vehicle would be too vulnerable to artillery fire. Swinton did, however, discuss his ideas with Lieutenant Colonel M. Hankey, who was the secretary of the Committee of Imperial Defence. As a result, in February 1915, a demonstration was made to that committee of a Holt tractor towing an armoured trailer. The demonstration was considered unconvincing by the army, but Winston Churchill, as First Lord of the Admiralty, passed Swinton's ideas on to the Admiralty Landships Committee. When Swinton met with Albert Stern, the secretary of the Landships Committee, he was said to remark, 'Lieut. Stern, this is the most extraordinary thing that I have ever seen. The Director of Naval Construction appears to be making land battleships for the army who have never asked for them, and are doing nothing to help. You have nothing but naval ratings doing all your work.' Swinton went on to play a key role in generating interest in tanks in the army.

The Landships Committee had only just been formed, with support from Winston Churchill, and on 24 February 1915 Mr Eustace Tennyson d'Eyncourt, a naval architect, had been appointed as Chairman. Winston Churchill had already written to Mr Herbert Asquith, the Prime Minister, complaining about the lack of efforts on behalf of the army to address the problems associated with trench warfare and modern firepower. He suggested:

It would be quite easy in a short time to fit up a number of steam tractors with small armoured shelters, in which men and machine guns could be placed, which would be bullet-proof. Used at night, they would not be affected by artillery fire to any extent. The caterpillar system would enable trenches to be crossed quite easily, and the weight of the machine would destroy all wire entanglements.

Originally the Landships Committee was housed in offices over Admiralty Arch. It is interesting to note that some members of that team had a long association with tank development. Mr N.C. Tervet worked as a draughtsman on early tank designs and at the time of his death in 1952 was working in the running-gear branch at Chertsey. The Landships Committee looked at a range of ideas for armoured vehicles suitable for crossing rough terrain. One was the Bramah Diplock 'Pedrail', which had evolved from a system of large pads around a wheel into a continuous track solution. In 1913 Pedrail Transport Ltd of Fulham had displayed a 10-ton petrol-driven truck that demonstrated the principle of the 'Diplock Patent Anti-friction Self-contained Railway'. This was used as the basis for an articulated vehicle with two pairs of tracks on each side, which was assessed by the Landships Committee. The design was driven by a requirement to carry a trench-storming party of forty men stood side by side in two rows, but it was soon realised that the long length of the vehicle would cause problems.

Another vehicle was the Tritton Trencher. This had wheels on a long chassis extension to reach across a gap so that planks could then be emplaced for the rest of the vehicle to cross; this design was dropped after trials in June 1915 as it proved too cumbersome.

Even less practical were concepts that used very large wheels to cross rough terrain. A concept for a device with 40ft wheels and powered by an 800hp submarine engine was developed and a design contract placed with Messrs Foster and Company of Lincoln. The contract was soon stopped when full-size mock-ups were being built as it was realised that such a large vehicle would provide an easy target for enemy artillery.

By 23 June 1915 the Landships Committee was in possession of a Killen-Strait tractor, two Diplock experimental 1-ton wagons and two Giant Creeper Grip tractors purchased from the USA. A test site had been acquired at Burton-upon-Trent and the Ministry of Munitions Experimental Ground at Wembley was also used for trials. Appointed to provide support to the committee was 20 Squadron of the Royal Naval Armoured Car Division because at that time the army was unable, or unwilling, to provide support. Two 'Land Battleships' were under construction, one based on the Pedrail solution and the other using the 'creeper grip' tracks from the USA. A more practical solution was based on armouring a US Bullock-tracked tractor and an RNAS team commanded by Lt Walter G. Wilson conducted trials of this machine at Burton-upon-Trent. The development work on the Bullock tractor had been carried out by Fosters of Lincoln who made wheeled tractors for the artillery and had already been involved in the big-wheel concepts.

D'Eyncourt asked Fosters to design a machine that had 'strong armour, powerful guns and the ability to cross trenches and other obstacles'. On 15 June 1915 Swinton issued a specification for such a machine, which included the ability to climb a 5ft bank, cross a 5ft gap, be proof against armour-piercing bullets, carry a quick-firing gun and machine guns, and have a speed of around 4mph. A number of complex and ingenious solutions were considered, but in the end it was recognised that a simple robust solution was needed. Finally in response to the requirement they built Lincoln No. 1 – the world's first true tank. Designed by William Tritton, and so also called the 'Tritton Machine', it used a pair of 9ft Bullock tracks. The actual contract for the vehicle was placed on 29 July 1915 and it ran on 6 September 1915 with trench crossing trials first carried out on 19 September. The vehicle was constructed using available parts including the Bullock tracks and the engine and transmission used in heavy howitzer tractors. It was built of boiler plate of the correct weight and had a dummy turret also of the correct weight. Although it demonstrated the ability to cross a small trench, the tracks were inadequate.

Design of a second vehicle had started before the first was completed, and a wooden mock-up was viewed by members of the Landships Committee on 26 August. Key to improvements with the second vehicle was the development of a new track based on pressed-steel plates designed by Tritton and Lt W.G. Wilson. This vehicle, called Little Willie, retained the same hull but had longer tracks of the new design and was completed in December 1915. The September trials had highlighted mobility limitations and so, with the input of Swinton's ideas, Fosters had immediately started work on concepts that evolved into a new design. This was variously called the Wilson Machine, Centipede, Big Willie and finally Mother. The term 'Tank' was used for the vehicles at this time as part of secrecy measures. The requirement for a suitable name had been recognised as the term 'Landship' was thought to be too descriptive. Mr d'Eyncourt suggested the term 'Water Carrier' as the cover name, but as government departments tended to be referred to by their initials this idea was rejected and the name 'Tank' adopted; hence the Landships Committee became the Tank Supply, or TS, Committee.

Although the design of Little Willie was obsolete before the vehicle was completed it actually formed part of the UK defences in the Second World War, initially as a static strongpoint north of Bovington camp before moving to enhance the defences of a Gloucestershire airfield. Such uses of this and other vehicles in the Bovington museum collection prevented them from being melted down for much needed scrap metal.

'Mother' introduced the classic rhomboid shape of First World War heavy tanks, which was driven by the requirement to climb over high walls and parapets. A full-size mock-up was quickly completed and displayed at Wembley on 29 September, and despite reservations from some army officers instructions were given to Tritton to build a prototype as soon as possible. 'Mother' was ready for its first run at Lincoln on 3 December 1915. There was concern about the impact of firing the main weapon on the sponsons in which they were mounted, and on the crew, and therefore soon after it was ready Mother was taken to a nearby field for a test firing of one of the QF 6pdr guns. The first shot was a misfire and when the crew were still examining the breach the round went off. As the direction the shot went in was not known there was initial concern for the safety of Lincoln Cathedral, which was only a mile away, but after searching for two hours the shot was eventually found and no damage had been done. Mother left Lincoln on 26 January and was taken by train to Hatfield Station where it was unloaded at night and driven to Hatfield Park.

Instructions had been given by Lord Kitchener on 29 December 1915 for a trial of the sample machine being built, stating that, 'the first thing ... would be to test its practical utility under field conditions; without such a test we may be wasting material and men uselessly.' Hatfield Park had been lent by Lord Salisbury for the trials following an arrangement made with Mr d'Eyncourt in the previous October as Wembley was considered inadequate for full testing and demonstration. A working party consisting of men of the 3rd (Mid Herts) Battalion Herts Volunteer Regiment and a company of engineers, lent by the War Office, began to construct trenches and obstacles early in January 1916. The machine successfully negotiated the resulting course on 29 January and the following day Mr d'Eyncourt informed Lord Kitchener that the 'Centipede' could be demonstrated on 2 February.

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Excerpted from The Tank Factory by William Suttie. Copyright © 2015 William Suttie. Excerpted by permission of The History Press.
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