Historical research: shackles, & the provenance of Flirt II

[Chris Hall]

Dear All,

I honestly hadn't thought about shackles until Sunday night, but that's been another interesting avenue to go down. So, for those of you who haven't reached this stage in your build yet (and perhaps those of you who have !), I hope the following will be of interest ........

I've been looking through all the original pictures I've got of Mk. IV's. Old postcards and grainy photos aren't the clearest things, even with a magnifying glass, and many shots chop off the back of the tank as it's the least interesting part. Also, many don't show a shackle at all - it would have been pretty nickable, and doubtless used for many other things. But I'm pretty convinced that the shackles were bow-shaped rather than D-shaped, even though this conflicts with Flirt II at Lincoln (see below) and possibly Excellent at Bovington (my recent photos didn't concentrate on that bit !).

The most variable factor, though, is the shackle mount (part EK0326 in our case). On the outside (there are relatively few shots between the rear horns) I've got pictures showing the shackle pin hole towards the front OR the rear of the tank, and the shackle mount on either of the rear positions, even the one over the end of the drive shaft (which one would have thought would have put unnecessary strain on the drive).

Conclusion ? Unless you've got a clear picture of the actual tank you're modelling, anything goes and no-one can gainsay you ! Obviously the various companies building tanks in 1917 didn't work to a common standard (as with my earlier musings on radiator louvres). It demonstrates again, though, the flexibility of Marks' excellent design within the general theme.

Steve Stuart mentioned that he’d seen a D shackle on Flirt II, so I dug out my old photos and there it is, on the right hand side inside the rear horns. There isn’t one on the other side and, interestingly, no shackle mounts at all on the outside of the tank. Which got me thinking .....

Firstly, Flirt II at Lincoln isn’t actually Flirt II at all ! There’s an interesting article in Issue 90 (Winter 2015) of Tracklink (the magazine for the Friends of Bovington Tank Museum) which identifies the Lincoln tank as 2743 ‘Daphne’, originally used and damaged at Third Ypres and then used as a training tank. After the War it was presented to Gloucester as a memorial, managing to survive WW2 (probably as a pillbox at a nearby airfield) before ending up at the Tank Museum in 1947. It was restored by apprentices at Lincoln in the mid-1980’s before going on display as Flirt II.

The real Flirt II was (from Philippe Gorczynski’s “Following the tanks”) lost at Bourlon Wood, Cambrai on 27 November 1917, due to light battle damage but, most importantly, a broken gearbox. Philippe states that she was captured by the Germans and taken to Charleroi, but then returned to England in 1919, ending up in Lincoln (as above). This is clearly incorrect, in the light of the new research. It is much more likely that Flirt II was cannibalised (a broken gearbox not being worth repairing) by the Germans to get other Beutepanzers in running order, and whatever remained went into the smelter.

Secondly, one needs to recognise that both Flirt II and Excellent have been subject to extensive rebuilds, back in the days when historical research was not as detailed as it is now – think of the restoration of Tiger 131.

Thanks for sticking with me on my ramblings – I hope it’s of interest. Any comments gratefully received.

All the best,

Chris