Showing off the Mk VIII

[John Wagenseil]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJ5Kw4fVoBw

[Don Boose]

Excellent footage, John! Great find.

Earlier this week , we showed Pentagon Wars as part of the U.S. Army War College Strategic Film Series. I had not seen it before. While the credits roll at the beginning there is a series of clips of various tanks from 1917 to 1940 being tested. I could recognize most of them from having seen them in this forum or in Charlie's Landships II site.

Don

[CharlieC]

Great film clip of the Mark VIII - it seems to have been one of the early ones built on acceptance testing - seems to be raw metal without any markings.

Pentagon Wars is available on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDYpRhoZqBY. Definitely recommended.

Regards,

Charlie

[Paperwarrior]

That is a great film clip. It is interesting to see the difference in the way the Mark VIII maneuvers and clips showing the very early 'versions' of the British land ships. ....great advances during the war in mechanical reliability.

Jeff

[CharlieC]

I think you're comparing the steering mechanisms of the Mark VIII vs. the early tanks. The Mark VIII (and Mark V) used Wilson's epicyclic steering gearboxes which allowed one man to control the tank. The earlier tanks (Marks I to IV) had manually operated steering gearboxes so manouvering the tanks required coordination between the driver and the gearsmen - this wasn't easy to do in an early tank. The steering gearboxes were notoriously clunky and difficult to operate so you quite often see in videos of the early tanks, the tanks jerking when turning.

Regards,

Charlie