Another fascinating lecture over at the University of Hertfordshire organised by the Herts At War Project (HAWP).
This months free lecture was about the advent of the tank on the battlefields from its conception up to the Battle of Cambrai in 1917 were tanks were first used in significant numbers.
It was given by a former officer of the Royal Tank Regiment Gareth Davies. He is a great lecturer and delivered this particular lecture in a very interesting ,informative and light hearted (in parts) way. One of the first power point slides he showed wasn't anything to do with tanks per say but a list of the casualties from the combatants for that days date (15th November) and is pictured here:
The whole idea of some kind of tracked vehicle was not in it's self a new one. A few ideas had been tried without much success and didn't get as far as the battlefield. Infact the army weren't too interested initially. Winston Churchill was one of the drivers of the idea and as First Lord of the Admiralty at the time the Royal Navy looked at the concept calling them His Majesties Land Ships.
The army did become interested but the tank was kept under wraps and was top secret. The Heavy Section of the Machine Gun Corps were the first troops allotted to this new invention later becoming the Tank Corps, in 1923 the Royal Tank Corps and in 1939 the Royal Tank Regiment.
Very cramped conditions for the eight crew, this lecture was a fascinating insight to their world. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Please follow this link to the HAWP site to find out more about it and dats for future lectures :http://www.hertsatwar.co.uk/
This months free lecture was about the advent of the tank on the battlefields from its conception up to the Battle of Cambrai in 1917 were tanks were first used in significant numbers.
It was given by a former officer of the Royal Tank Regiment Gareth Davies. He is a great lecturer and delivered this particular lecture in a very interesting ,informative and light hearted (in parts) way. One of the first power point slides he showed wasn't anything to do with tanks per say but a list of the casualties from the combatants for that days date (15th November) and is pictured here:
The army did become interested but the tank was kept under wraps and was top secret. The Heavy Section of the Machine Gun Corps were the first troops allotted to this new invention later becoming the Tank Corps, in 1923 the Royal Tank Corps and in 1939 the Royal Tank Regiment.
Very cramped conditions for the eight crew, this lecture was a fascinating insight to their world. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Please follow this link to the HAWP site to find out more about it and dats for future lectures :http://www.hertsatwar.co.uk/
No comments:
Post a Comment