The Tank Museum Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 Our OBJECT OF THE WEEK was a bullet-stopping notebook belonging to Charles Albert Ironmonger, who took part in the first tank attack in tank D7. This remarkable PIC OF THE WEEK shows D7, his Mark I tank, ditched in the shell hole where it was abandoned. D7 was commanded by Lt. A.J Enoch and had a wholly frustrating experience on its wartime debut. Due to the number of breakdowns that occurred before the attack began, battle formations had to be reorganised and this resulted in D7 reaching its start line late. When it did get going in its attack to the West of the village of Fleurs, it found the going too hard. Moving slowly, it slid into a shell hole and ditched. As the crew tried to manoeuvre it free, the engine was damaged. There was nothing for it but to abandon the vehicle for recovery by the Army Service Corps. In the image you can see infantry resting with three members of the crew (we can’t say for certain if one of these is men Ironmonger) wearing the distinctive leather helmets. Here too you can one of the reasons why they were so unpopular, in their apparent similarity to German Pickelhaubes. The red flag in the centre is a signal indicating that the tank is out of action. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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