British WW1 track plate

[SG500]

I was lucky to view one of these recently, as used on the British Mk IV tank, so took some measurements (please excuse the mix of metric and imperial).

Length 20.5 inches
Width 8.75 inches
Thickness 10mm
Rivet holes 18mm

The track plate would be riveted to the links.

There's some excellent information in "Great War Tank Mark IV" published by Haynes.

Dave.

 

[RichardB]

Wow, that's great, thank you for showing, I do already have a small collection of track links and a WWI link is right up there.
really nice to see, as they're hard to find pictures of ....I'll keep my eyes and ears peeled (whatever that means)

Thanks Rich

 

[SG500]

Wow, that's great, thank you for showing, I do already have a small collection of track links and a WWI link is right up there.
really nice to see, as they're hard to find pictures of ....I'll keep my eyes and ears peeled (whatever that means)

Thanks Rich

Thanks Rich.
What sort of tank track links do you have?
Any pics ?
Dave.

 

[RichardB]

It's not so easy to take pictures at the mo, but I will, and the list is from memory.

I tend to get 2 links as some are in pairs any way (eg T-34 and Tiger II) and I like to see the hinging motion..
For interest, I'll list the some of the vehicles they could have been from.

Ferdinand, Elefant (which I know is from the latter)
Tiger I or SturmTiger
Panther, Jadgpanther or BergePanther etc
Panzer IV and Panzer III (also Jagdpanzer IV, Nashorn, Brummbar, SturmGeschutz III, and IV..... V long list)
Panzer II and Panzer I

JS-2, JS-1
KV-1
T-34/76 (early model)
T-34/76 and 85
BT-7

Valentine, Archer, Bishop
Sherman (Grizzly straight tread)

I'm still working on the variant of tracks in the JS and KV series as there are differences
...and similarly for the Panzer IV / III Series I'm sure there are lots of variants.

id like to find some more British and US track links, eg Churchill, Sherman, Tortoise
please post if anyone else has strayed into this areas
Rich

 

[tankbarrell]

I have a few.
LVT3
M3 light tank T16
M4 Medium T47, T51, T62, T54E1, CDP, T80 HVSS
Early Churchill
Covenanter
Crusader
Cromwell 14"
Cromwell 15.5"
Comet
Centurion steel
Centurion rubber
Chieftain
Tiger 1 battle track

I think that's it!

 

[SG500]

WOW that's quite a list both Rich and tankbarrell. Would love to see photos if you have time.
I have a Tiger 1 track and that's about it.
Dave.

 

[RichardB]

Thanks for the photo Dave, ill taken some of mine when I can...and my Tiger related books and pamphlets.

I'm also really impressed with TankBarrell's collection, I've found it hard to find UK items, so I'm very jealous. Comprehensive indeed.
Ill try to take some pictures at the weekend, but ill be at TankFest for most of it
(Tickets sold out now, so don't just turn up)

 

[doppz92]

That's luck really, these are pretty hard to find, actually, any track plate from WW1 is hard to find.

Since this thread was started and although this is not directly ordnance related, I have this piece to identify, may be someone has the knowledge? It was found in France on an 1918 battlefield (neat Villers Cotterets, or thats' what I was told) about 20 years ago... That's all I know. I tried to identify the tank it belongs to, without any success, so I thought may be it was for a cannon or its propelling machine, but there again, no joy.

 

[RichardB]

Sorry it took a while, here are my two Tiger links and some other Tiger bits in my collection

The link in the foreground is from the Tiger VK 45.01 (P) or Tiger P, the loser in Hitlers tender for a heavy tank. The P stands for Porsche, Dr Ferdinand Porsche, and the unexpected winner (to Dr Ferdinand Porsche that is) was the Tiger (H) Henschel (Henschel und Sohn) Who received the order to build the Tiger I -- Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger Sd. Kfz. 181. As Mr Porsche was so confident he'd win, he built 88 of these Tiger (P)'s and rather than let them go to waste, they were converted, like alot of redundnt chassis into (schwerer) Panzerjäger, Heavy tank Hunter, and thus was created the Ferdinand renamed Elefant after Kursk (Jul'43) when bow machine gun and other bits were added. This particular link comes from the Kielce area of Poland and likely belonged to a vehicle from one of 4 vehicles from Schweren Panzerjäger-Kompanie 614 lost on 12th Janaury 1945. The company was subsequently replaced with Jagdtigers.

The link in the background is from the "more common" Tiger I (Henschel) Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger Sd. Kfz. 181.. it was also found in Poland, but I know nothing more about it.
Finally the books include a genuine manual for the chassis and turret of a Tiger I, 2x genuine Tigerfibels and 4x various different versions of the Tigerfibel translated....including one from the Bovington Tank Museuem

If anyone else has any other Track Links or related items, it woud be nice to share.





Edit -- Ooops forgot to add the books !!

Rich

 

[pointblank0]

That's luck really, these are pretty hard to find, actually, any track plate from WW1 is hard to find.

Since this thread was started and although this is not directly ordnance related, I have this piece to identify, may be someone has the knowledge? It was found in France on an 1918 battlefield (neat Villers Cotterets, or thats' what I was told) about 20 years ago... That's all I know. I tried to identify the tank it belongs to, without any success, so I thought may be it was for a cannon or its propelling machine, but there again, no joy.

View attachment 123111View attachment 123112View attachment 123113View attachment 123114View attachment 123115View attachment 123116

Not sure, but maybe a start. looks similar to the tracks of these artillery tractors -

 

[SG500]

100 years today tanks were first used on the Somme.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/video_and_audio/headlines/37367605
Dave.

 

[RichardB]

There is a fabulous event at the Tank Museum Bovington on Saturday coming (17th), I any one can make it, I would suggest you do, it'll be a great event

http://www.tankmuseum.org/whats-on/events/bovevt53512