Australia. Australian Army. Light Car Patrol 1st - Pioneers of Australian armour: in the Great War

PIONEERS

OF AUSTRALIAN

ARMOUR

In the Great War

Copyright David A Finlayson & Michael K Cecil

First published 2015

Copyright remains the property of the Commonwealth and apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission.

All inquiries should be made to the publishers.

Big Sky Publishing Pty Ltd

PO Box 303, Newport, NSW 2106, Australia

Cover design and typesetting: Think Productions

National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry (pbk.)

Other Creators/Contributors: Cecil, Michael K.

Dewey Number: 940.541294

PIONEERS

OF AUSTRALIAN

ARMOUR

In the Great War

David A Finlayson & Michael K Cecil

THE AUSTRALIAN ARMY HISTORY COLLECTION

Winning with Intelligence

Judy Thomas

Duntroon

Darren Moore

The Warrior Poets

Robert Morrison

The History of the Royal Australian Corps of Transport 19732000

Albert Palazzo

Defenders of Australia

Albert Palazzo

The Fight Leaders

D. Butler, A. Argent and J. Shelton

Operation Orders

Pat Beale

Little by Little

Michael Tyquin

Red Coats to Cams

Ian Kuring

Bowler of Gallipoli

Frank Glen

Vets at War

Ian M. Parsonson

Only One River to Cross

A.M. Harris

The Fragile Forts

Peter Oppenheim

Hassett: Australian Leader

John Essex-Clark

Persian Expedition

Alan Stewart

The Chiefs of the Australian Army

James Wood

Never Late

Gordon Dickens

To Villers-Bretonneux

Peter Edgar

Madness and the Military

Michael Tyquin

The Battle of Anzac Ridge 25 April 1915

Peter D. Williams

Doves Over the Pacific

Reuben R.E. Bowd

The Lionheart

David Coombes

Battlefield Korea

Maurie Pears

Chemical Warfare in Australia

Geoff Plunkett

A Most Unusual Regiment

M.J. Ryan

Between Victor and Vanquished

Arthur Page

Country Victorias Own

Neil Leckie

Surgeon and General

Ian Howie-Willis

Willingly into the Fray

Catherine McCullagh

Beyond Adversity

William Park

Crumps and Camouflets

Damien Finlayson

More than Bombs and Bandages

Kirsty Harris

The Last Knight

Robert Lowry

Forgotten Men

Michael Tyquin

Battle Scarred

Craig Deayton

Crossing the Wire

David Coombes

Do Unto Others

Alan H Smith

Fallen Sentinel

Peter Beale

Sir William Glasgow

Peter Edger

Training The Bodes

Terry Smith

Bully Beef and Balderdash

Graham Wilson

Fire Support Bases Vietnam

Bruce Picken

Toowoomba to Torokina

Bob Doneley

A Medical Emergency

Ian Howie-Willis

Dust, Donkeys and Delusions

Graham Wilson

The Backroom Boys

Graeme Sligo

Captains of the Soul

Michael Gladwin

For the pioneers of Australian armour during the Great War: the members of the 1st Australian Armoured Section, 1st Australian Light Car Patrol and the Special Tank Crew.

CONTENTS

List of illustrations and maps

Part 1

Part 2

List of diagrams

List of Maps

The Australian understanding of the Great War reflects the experiences of the infantry and light horse at Anzac and in the Middle East, France and Flanders, with the endeavours of small units sometimes lost within the big picture. Furthermore, our knowledge of armoured cars and tanks in this time period is based on the way British units operated them with our forces. As such it is understandable that the genuinely Australian experience of armour has been largely overlooked.

This uniquely Australian experience of armour can be found, however, in the stories of two little-known units: the Australian Armoured Car Section, later the 1st Australian Light Car Patrol, which operated from 1915 to 1919, and the Special Tank Section, AIF, formed in 1918. Both units embraced the power of the internal combustion engine, the firepower of machine-guns, and the protection of armour to demonstrate a new form of mechanised warfare on both wheels and tracks.

Lieutenant Ernest James and a small group of Edwardian motor enthusiasts designed, funded and constructed two armoured cars in Melbourne during 191516. Despite the potential challenges, particularly that of the hostile desert terrain, the Australian Armoured Car Section took these vehicles to the Middle East in 1916. Later re-equipped with Model T Fords and a change of title to the 1st Australian Light Car Patrol, the unit would demonstrate the value of speed, firepower and manoeuvre on wheels during the 191718 campaigns and the period immediately following the armistice with Turkey.

The story of Grit, Australias first tank, began in 1917 when the Australian government requested its British counterpart to provide a tank for fundraising and recruiting purposes. Australian Army Service Corps drivers and artificers were trained at Bovington in the United Kingdom and then formed into the Special Tank Section, AIF, before travelling to Australia to await their vehicle. Grit, a Mk. IV (Female) tank, arrived in Port Melbourne in 1918. Over the next few years Grit and her successive crews demonstrated the capability of tanks to an awestruck public as they toured eastern Australia. Grit would eventually find a place of honour in the National Collection at the Australian War Memorial.

Pioneers of Australian Armour seeks to recognise the work of the members of these two small Australian units operating armoured fighting vehicles during the Great War. Their pioneering efforts laid the foundations for mechanised warfare and armour within the Australian Army.

In 2005, when this project was first considered, it seemed relatively straightforward. Captain James unpublished manuscript The Motor Patrol, a little-known but complete text, was held at the Australian War Memorial and there was a small quantity of images available to support the text. Mike Cecil had documented Grits history and that of the Special Tank Section over many years. The task was limited and appeared simple. However, by 2012, the situation had changed markedly: the internet and the current process of digitisation had produced a harvest of primary documents that could not have been accessed just a few years previously. The National Archives of Australia and the National Library website Trove also uncovered a quantity of material that has provided vivid images of the period and the individuals concerned. In addition, the burgeoning interest in family history has produced on-line resources that document a persons life and allow contact between researchers. These contacts have enabled the descendants of members of the two units to participate in the documentation process. Their generous responses have expanded the project dramatically.