Tank Medium Mark A
(Whippet)
Witold J. Lawrynowicz
Col. Ernest D. Swinton was the man who ought to be regarded
as the father of armored forces. On February 2, 1916 Col. Swinton organized a presentation
of the first fully tracked armored vehicle, called "Little Willie", before the
minister of armament, David Lloyd George and the commander in chief, Lord Horatio H.
Kitchener. Shortly afterwards the production of the first British tanks was commenced.
Following the first action of the British Mark I tanks, on the Somme on September 23,
1916, the Tank Supply Department turned its attention to future tank designs. During the
meeting on October 3, 1916, William Tritton, the man who designed the Mark I tank,
proposed a cavalry-type tank which could exploit the breach in the front achieved by heavy
tanks, such as performing the role of cavalry. To perform these duties, the new tank would
have to be faster and more maneuverable than previous types. William Tritton proposed
using two engines, one for each tank track, with steering achieved by increasing or
decreasing speed of one of the engines. Separate power units required separate gear boxes
which put additional stress on the driver and caused a large number of mechanical
failures. Each engine had 4 forward and reverse gear boxes controlling half of a divided
shaft. The drive was transferred by chains to the rear sprocket. During movement in a
straight line, half shafts were locked together. For turning they were separated.
The idea of a cavalry type tank was presented and accepted by the senior staff officers,
including Col. Hugh Elles, commanding officer of the Tank Corps. William Tritton was asked
to prepare a detailed design and build a prototype. The first tank was officially called
"Tritton No. 2 Light Machine" or "Tritton Chaser", although William
Tritton devised his own name for the new tank, which he called it "Whippet".
Manufacturing of the tank was done at by Fosters & Co in Lincoln, England. Work was
completed in February 1917 and the tank performed its first field runs on February 3,
1917. On March 3, 1917, at the Oldbury training ground Mechanical Warfare Supply
Department, (which replaced the Tank Supply Department) organized a demonstration of the
Whippet tank for members of the British and French General Staffs. Whippet made a deep
impression on officers by achieving speed of 11.5 km/h, when Mark I traveled with speed of
5 km/h. The next day after demonstration, during the meeting in the War Office, a
representative of marshal Haig, sir Lawrence Kiggell, requested the production of 200
Whippets and first delivery by July 31, 1917.
Production Whippet was developed from the "Tritton No. 2 Light Machine", but
with several significant simplifications. The rotating turret was changed for a box-like
superstructure armed with 4 Hotchkiss machine guns with 5400 rounds of ammunition.. The
large number of machine guns, placed on each side of the fighting compartment, was
expected to balance the lack of full traverse turret removed for economical reasons. The
fuel tank was moved from the rear of the vehicle to the front, and placed between the
horns which required additional armor.
Whippet had a crew of three: a commander, a driver and gunner; sometimes a second gunner
was taken in order to better utilize 4 machine guns. The Whippet weighed 14 tons, had
riveted armor of 5 to 14 mm, and had a speed of 13 km/h with an actual radius of 130 km.
Two 45 hp 4 cylinders gasoline engines powering the tank, were directly taken from London
buses. Whippet could cross 2 m wide trenches, wade through 1 m of water, climb slopes up
to 40 degrees, and pass over 0.7 m high walls. Due to the double engine setup, the vehicle
was difficult to drive. The tank had a poor ventilation system, and conditions of travel
or fighting reminded one of the officers of "The Turkish Steam Bath".
The production of the Whippet tanks began in the fall of 1917, and the first vehicles were
delivered to the Tank Corps in March of 1918. The 3 and 6 Tank Battalions were armed with
48 Whippets each.
The 3 Tank Battalion received tanks in Bray-sur-Somme on March 21, just at the beginning
of the operation Michael. Two days later the battalion was forced to withdraw west
destroying some of it's new fighting vehicles which could not be evacuated due to
mechanical failures. But on March 26 the Whippets of the 3 Tank Battalion took revenge at
Colincamps dispersing German infantry battalion and taking prisoners.
Company X, detached from the 3 Tank Battalion, gained total victory over a German infantry
on April 24 at Amiens. The Company, which had only 7 Whippets, was called to attack German
forces close to the town. Capt. T. R. Price ordered his troops to charge in a line
formation, cavalry, style through the enemy stop, and charge back again towards friendly
positions. The attack was executed in perfect order causing heavy losses to the enemy -
400 dead were later counted on the battlefield. One tank was lost knocked out by
artillery.
The 3 and 6 Tank Battalions took part in a great allied offensive at Amiens on August 8,
1918. Both battalions at full strength were under the command of two cavalry divisions and
were expected to pave way for cavalry. Unfortunately, the cooperation of tanks and cavalry
broke down almost immediately. While advancing Whippets could not keep up with cavalry,
but as soon as they came under fire, the cavalry could not stay with the armored Whippets.
Nevertheless, a mixed charge of cavalry and tanks at German infantry and supply wagons
took place at Harbonnieres with devastating results. Tanks of the 6 battalion gathered at
Marcelcave in the evening of the first day of battle. 40 of original 48 tanks were in
running conditions. While accounting for losses it was noticed that tank number 344 named
"Musical Box" was missing.
The epic story of "Musical Box" was the greatest single tank action of the I
World War. Whippet number 344 of the 6 Tank Battalion with the crew of three: Lt. C. B.
Arnold - commander, W. J. Carney - driver, and C. Ribbans - gunner, performed a real
cavalry style raid behind German lines. They moved at zero hour on the 8 of August with
the rest of the troops across the country, passing the railway at Villers - Bretonneux
after which they became detached from the main body of their battalion. Arnold noticed
some Mark V tanks and Australian infantry of the 60 Brigade under fire of the German
artillery battery. He attacked without hesitation passing in front of guns and next behind
them. A machine gun fire from "Musical Box" killed 30 soldiers and allowed
infantry to move forward. Arnold and his crew for the next 9 hours attacked the German
rear installation, infantry, and wagons, on many occasions coming to the rescue of the
British cavalry. They dispersed a whole battalion of infantry in a camp in a small valley
encountered between Bayonvillers and Harbonnieres. They attacked a transport column of
German 225 Division inflicting heavy casualties. Conditions inside the tank after many
hours of uninterrupted action become so difficult that the crew used mouthpieces of their
standard gas mask for breathing. At that time German guns entered the fight and
"Musical Box" was soon ablaze. The crew baled out and started rolling on the
ground to extinguish their burning uniforms. Approaching Germans shot driver Carney and
took Lt. Arnold and Ribbans prisoner. The burned out wreck of the Whippet tank was later
found by advancing British troops. The action by Lt. Arnold proved that great results
could have been obtained by aggressively led tanks, unfortunately tying Whippets to
cavalry proved to be a wrong method of employment for the formidable weapon.
Two officers of the Whippet tank battalions were posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross -
the highest British decoration for valor on the battlefield. Lt. C. H. Sewell of the 3
Tank Battalion on August 29 was leading an attack east of Favreuil when tank number A233
slipped into the deep shell crater and overturned catching fire. Lt. Sewell got out of his
tank and came to the rescue. He dug an entrance to the rear door of the tank which were
embedded in the side of the shell hole and enabled the crew to leave the burning vehicle.
Lt. Sewell was shot while attempting to return to his tank.
The commander of the 6 Tank Battalion, Lt. Col. R. A. West on September 1, 1918, decided
on an early reconnaissance on horseback. He arrived at the front line near Lagincourt when
the enemy was in the process of delivering a strong counterattack. The British infantry
suffered heavy casualties and was on the brink of panic. West rode on his horse in front
of infantry line under extremely heavy machine-gun fire and rallied the troops. He was
shot and died on the battlefield. His last words were "For God's sake put up a good
fight". Lt. Col. West was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.
After the war most Whippet tanks were scraped. Some were used in police actions in Ireland
and few more were sold to Japan where they created the first armored unit.
~ Witold J. Lawrynowicz is also
the author of the website Renault
FT Tank ~
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