Tank ID requested

[Gerald Moore]

538 (D16 - Dracula) was destroyed during an attack at Eaucourt l'Abbaye on 1/10/16. Hardy, if you look at the camouflage pattern on the upper part of the starboard sponson where it is most intact on the wreck, I think you can see the differences which Mark noted, suggesting that it is not the same tank as seen in his photo.

Mark, I wonder if the photo which you posted is actually 598, a tank belonging to 12 Co., D Bn. Along with the rest of 12 Co. it became bogged during the attack at Vimy on 9/4/17. It was destroyed at 2nd Bullecourt on 3/5/17.

[delta]

Gerald - you're amazing

Where did you find that photo?

Stephen

[Paratus23]

I agree - you are amazing Gerald! What a great photo of 598, its made my night.

[Mark Hansen]

Gerald,

It is entirely possible that the tank number is 598. The number is pretty badly covered with mud.

That is a great shot of 598. The same photo appears in "Tanks and Trenches" but miscaptioned as 599. There is another shot of the same tank in the same book also miscaptioned as 599. Makes it hard to keep up with them. Thanks for posting that.

[Simon Jones]

Here are enlargements from the photo in post #9. The original is rather faint unfortunately.

[Simon Jones]

These are all photos that have been offered on ebay over the past few years - I didn't buy any of them...

This has the vendors annotation.

[Simon Jones]

[centurion]

Here's another one of that flag/marker, is it the same tank?

[Mark Hansen]

Here's another one of that flag/marker, is it the same tank?

That's the same tank. The port horn damage is the same. The flag seems to get moved around a bit between some shots.

[Gerald Moore]

Many thanks gentlemen, for posting these very helpful photos. Stephen, the photo of 598 is, I think, from the Canadian War Museum site. It may be a photo composite; the photo below certainly is - the same casualty appears in a completely different photo of the assault on Vimy Ridge.

586 seems to have been a popular subject for snapshots, probably due to its proximity to the trench. In one of the photos in Simon's post the Germans appear to be pushing Bangalore torpedos under the wreck. Demolishing the wreck would probably make sense - it would have been a beacon for artillery fire while it remained intact.

[delta]

Gerald - thanks for the guidance - i believed that the tank in your last post was at Vimy (becuase a number of official web-sites said so); I didn't anticipate that it would have been a mock up even though I also understood that the D Company tanks played very little part in the assault.

Does this picture suufer from the same problem?

Stephen

[delta]

And another one

This one is listed as "New Zealanders gunners pass a broken down tank" and is linked to their action at Flers - hwoever i think it might be a Mark IV

Any starters for 10

[Mark Hansen]

"And another one

This one is listed as "New Zealanders gunners pass a broken down tank" and is linked to their action at Flers - hwoever i think it might be a Mark IV

Any starters for 10"

It's a Mk V - the main identifying features are the rear cupola with vertical rear face and the rear MG position above the fuel tank.

[delta]

Thanx Mark