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At the Conference a number of people were kinf enough to as what progress I have achieved on the touring tank in the USA. - well there are a couple of pieces of the jigsaw to fond but I have post of the picture know so I thought I'd post a synopsis.
Britannia arrived in the USA on the 18th October 1917
She appears to have originally been a supply tank intended to tow sledges up to the leading edge of an attack, such tanks appear to have had female sponsons, a hatch in the cab roof and special towing gear
In North America she was under the command of Captain Richard Haig, a professional soldier (pre war Sandhurst) who had commanded a section of tanks at Arras
Her seven man crew consisted of two sergeants, one corporal and four privates. By the end of tour this number had been increased by eleven to eighteen. probably acting as 'roadies' mechanics, front of house men and administrators.
All of the original crew (including Captain Haig) had previously been seriously wounded and were probably unfit for active service
In the course of a year Britannia made at least 35 visits to army bases, towns and cities in the United States and Canada.
During her stay she crossed the United States from the East Coast to the West and back again
She visited Washington DC and at least a dozen American states and three Canadian provinces
She was a star of the succesful Broadway musical 'Coming Together' written by Ian Hay with input from P.G Wodehouse. (She turned up for the premier and was represented on stage by a full size replica with a rolling backdrop). The musical also played in Boston, Albany and Syracuse (in all of which she also turned up for the opening).
She was directly involved in rallies that succeeded in recruiting tens of thousand of men to the Canadian and British forces.
The tank was used in demonstrations to numerous recent recruits to the American Army (one of whom was Sergeant Irving Berlin)
She helped raise considerable sums of money (millions) in Liberty and Victory bonds for both the American and Canadian war effort.
Britannia was also used to raise money for a wide range of war time charities
The tank was used by many American and Canadian politicians at town, state or province and federal level to boost their own personal standing and re-electability. One of these was Sir Thomas White, the Canadian Finance Minister living with the odium of being the man who introduced income tax to Canada (by comparison a Pastie Tax pales into insignificance).
She was involved with one ex US president, a sitting president (who ended up in hospital as a result) and two future presidents of the United States of America. One of these was Dwight D Eisenhower
Many A list US celebrities of the day regarded it as fashionable to be photoed on top of or at least in front of Britannia. Some donated to WW1 charities to ride in or on the tank
As well as all of this perhaps the chief achievement of the tour was that of an ironclad ambassador. She helped persuade the American public that their country had entered the war on what was going to be the winning side and this was therefore a cause worth supporting. Richard Haig was asked to give evidnce in front of the Senate (they treated him with considerably more common courtesy than they did the BP guy) I was startled to find one paper reporting his evidence as " Haig tells Senate one more heave" thinking I'd come across an historic scoop but different Haig - same line.
What happened to Britannia is so far unknown. She was transferred to the US Army in Oct 1918 and reported in S Carolina awaiting shipment to Camp Colt in Jan 1919 and that's it - the tank at Aberdeen that they claim is Britannia is most defieitly not as it lacks the physical featires that so many photos of Brtitannia show.
Now where do i go from here? The story of Britannia is so diverse and covers a great deal. There is certainly a talk there if anyone's interested. I'm trying to put a book together, again if there is any interest, but on the other side there is an great deal of work possible on the social and politcal ramifications. Suggestions (reasonable polite please always welcome.
Remembered Today:
