Description
Object description
British officer served with Heavy Branch, Machine Gun Corps in GB, 1916-1917; served with No 2 Coy, D Bn Tank Corps, 1st Tank Bde on Western Front, 1917; served with Tank Corps in GB, 1918-1924; served with 1st Armoured Car Coy, Royal Tank Corps in India, 1924-1926; served as staff officer at Staff College, Quetta in India, 1927-1928; served with 6th Armoured Car Coy, Royal Tank Corps in India, 1929-1930; served as staff officer with Royal Tank Corps in GB, 1931-1934; served with 1st Light Bn Royal Tank Corps in GB, 1934; served as staff officer at War Office, London, GB, 1934-1937
Content description
REEL 1 Background in London, GB, 1897-1915: family; education; reasons for enlistment with London Rifle Bde. Recollections of training as officer with Heavy Branch, Machine Gun Corps in GB, 1916-1917: question of how experiences as NCO with 1/5th (City of London) Bn (London Rifle Bde), 169th Bde, 56th (London) Div during Battle of the Somme, 1916 effected his views on warfare; selection for tank training; machine gun training at Pirbright Camp; driving and maintenance course at Bovington Camp; gunnery course at Lulworth Camp; first experience of driving tank; use of pigeons; opinion of training.
REEL 2 Continues: description of training establishment at Bovington Camp including courses and instructors; driving and gunnery training; firing on the move and from stationary positions. Recollections of operations as officer with 2 Coy, D Bn, Tank Corps, 1st Tank Bde on Western Front, 1917: joining unit; use of Mark II Tank; organisation of battalion; duties of tank commander and crew; preference for 'male' tanks; lack of tactical role for tanks; question of motivation; degree of mechanical knowledge amongst tank crews; attack on Saint-Julien, Belgium; problems with Lewis Machine Gun and tank reliability.
REEL 3 Continues: limited visibility through observation flaps and periscopes; danger of splash caused by penetration fire through gaps in tank hull; description of ancillary equipment; salvage procedure for abandoned tanks; attack on Poelkapelle, Belgium, 17/10/1917; unit morale; preparations for action at Cambrai, France including preparation of fascines, briefing and security; move to start line.
REEL 4 Continues: preparations for attack at Cambrai, France, 1917; move up to start line; attack at Cambrai, France; casualties amongst crew and damage to tank during Battle of Cambrai; unit morale after Battle of Cambrai; opinion of Major General J F C Fuller. Recollections of period as officer with Tank Corps in GB, 1918-1924: decision to remain with Tank Corps after 1918; training White Russians at Bovington Camp, 1919; post-war uncertainty about future of Tank Corps and role of tanks; unit establishment at Bovington Camp, 1919; memories of Lieutenant General Sir Hugh Elles and commandants at Royal Tank Corps Depot at Bovington.
REEL 5 Continues: flag signaling procedure; driver and maintenance organisation; friction between armoured car and tank staff; organisation of driver and maintenance and gunnery training; driving instructor duties; relative merits of firing on the move or from stationary position; reaction to permanent establishment of Tank Corps; reasons for promotion blockage; quality of officers; NCOs and other rank recruits.
REEL 6 Continues: Lieutenant Colonel George Lindsay's revitalisation of training programme; stabilising effect of permanent establishment; attitude of Royal Tank Corps to mechanisation of cavalry. Recollections of period as officer with 1st Armoured Car Coy, Royal Tank Corps in India, 1924-1929: posting to unit at Quetta, 1924; duties; attitude of Indian Army officers towards Royal Tank Corps; garrison life and duties; obtaining place at Staff College, Quetta, 1927.
REEL 7 Continues: meeting with Colonel Percy Hobart; posting to 6th Armoured Car Coy, Royal Tank Corps, 1929-1930. Recollections of period as staff officer with Royal Tank Corps in GB, 1930-1934: initial posting to 2nd Bn Royal Tank Corps, 1930; staff appointment to Western Command, 1931; question of army's indifference to mechanised warfare; duties during summer manoeuvres; John Burnett-Stuart's attitude towards tanks; effectiveness of tanks; question of Basil Liddell Hart's interest in tanks. Aspects of period as officer with 1st Light Bn Royal Tank Corps in GB, 1934: background to posting to unit; attending Mobile Force exercise, 1934; Colonel Percy Hobart's tactical ideas, 1934.
REEL 8 Continues: gunnery techniques; Mobile Force exercises. Recollections of period as staff officer with War Office in London, GB, 1934-1937: staff duties; problems in tank design; officer selection procedure; formation of Royal Armoured Corps; opinion of Inspector of the Tank Corps Lieutenant General Sir Hugh Elles; Percy Hobart's personality and his ideas on mechanised warfare; question of hostility of War Office towards mechanisation. Aspects of period as tank instructor at Staff College, Quetta, India, 1937-1939: posting to Staff College, Quetta, 1937; question of hostility of Indian Army to mechanisation.
REEL 9 Continues: appointment to General Percy Hobart's Mobile Force (Egypt) in Egypt; story of General Percy Hobart's dismissal from his command.