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ATENÇÃO:
A publicação de qualquer imagem ou informação referentes ao nazismo, fascismo ou quaisquer outros regimes totalitários deve ser entendida como reprodução do rigor histórico e não como apologia a estes regimes, líderes ou símbolos.

Little Willie prototype - case report

Landship sailors!!

    Ladies and Gentlemen, this is a historic occasion: today's theme will be about the "First of Many", the Pathfinder of a new concept in terms of War... the prototype of the first tank built, and that has survived to this day. Today we'll talk about the great "Little Willie"!!


The prototype "Little Willie" resting in his habitat, after many trials:
the muddy testing ground at Cricklewood, north-west London, 1919.
font: Imperial War Museum
History:
    The "Little Willie" was a prototype in the development of the British Mark I tank. Constructed in the autumn of 1915 at the behest of the Landship Committee, it was the first completed tank prototype in history.
British Mark I "male" tank (early) named C-15
near Thiepval, Battle of Somme, France  - 25 September 1916
    Little Willie is the oldest surviving individual tank, and is preserved as one of the most famous pieces in the collection of The Tank Museum in Bovington.
"Little Willie" at the Tank Museum, Bovington - England
on a revolving pedestal - 3/4 front right view

Development of a new weapon:
   The works that would culminate in the "Little Willie's" was started in the beginning of 1915 by the Landship Committee to meet UK requirements in World War I for an armoured fighting vehicle that could fire a high explosive shell, capable of crossing a standard German trench of 2,40m x 1,20m. Various designs were tried ranging from vehicles that "walked", tractors with triple tracks to gigantic powered wheels. The trials with the Killen-Strait tractor were the most promising of all the designs tested. This farm tractor was produced in America since 1910. A unique feature was the presence of three sets of tracks. The front track was for steering, and the two rear ones for propulsion. The track links were also unusual: they were composed of hardwood and held together with chains. In order to reduce the amount of wear and increase resistance, the working surface of the tracks was covered in metal sheets.
Killen-Strait Tractor during trials...
The vehicle seemed to be very agile...
Wormwood Scrubbs, London - 30 June 1915
font: Imperial War Museum
    The Killen-Strait tractors possessed respectable maneuverability and good off-road performance. The detail of the design of the tilted rear tracks allowed the tractor to back up over obstacles impassable for other vehicles that were considered as a base for tanks.
Another view of the Killen-Strait Tractor during trials...
We can say that the tractor looks like a wild horse...
Wormwood Scrubbs, London - 30 June 1915
font: Imperial War Museum

...but the Lads from 20th Squadron of  R. N. A. S. are having a true good time!
Killen-Strait Tractor in avaliation in Wormwood Scrubbs
London, England - 30 June 1915
font: Imperial War Museum
    After successful first trials and a public demonstration on 30 June 1915, a contract was placed the following month for an armoured version, with a Delaunay-Belleville armoured body. 
Killen-Strait Armoured Tractor roaring in trials, with R. N. A. S. in control.
The first tracked, armoured vehicle that was actually built and tested
London, England - July 1915
    But as the testing program intensified, it became evident that the tractor was not the best option to be used as a development base for a viable prototype of a combat vehicle. It was too light and fragile to pass through the barbed wire alone, without infantry assistance, and that was practically a prerequisite for the battle conditions of the time. Aside from that, the armoured body of the Delaunay-Belleville on its chassis made the profile of the vehicle too tall, and an easy target for enemy gunners. Despite the fact that the vehicle was not approved for military produced, it remains in history as the world’s first tracked, armoured vehicle that was actually built and tested.
    By 23 June 1915 the Landships Committee was in possession of a Killen-Strait tractor, two Diplock experimental 1-ton wagons and two Bullock "Creeper Grip" tractors purchased from the Bullock Tractor Company in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Prototype Diplock Pedrail troop transport developed
as an offshoot of the Landship Committee

Image from a sales brochure for Bullock Tractor Co. of Chicago, USA.
"Creeping Grip" tractor
United States - 1914.

Bullock Tractor Company sales Brochure - 1914
"Creeping Grip" agricultural tractor
Chicago, Illinois - United States.
     The tests between the machines were prepared, with the trials and evaluations taking place at Burton-upon-Trent and Ministry of Munitions Experimental Ground at Wembley. The 20th R. N. A. S. was invited to help with the assessments because, at that time, the army was unable (or unwilling...) to provide support. 
Two "Creeping Grip" Tractors, coupled together to form an articulated machine.
 Trials at Burton on Trent, June 1915
font: Imperial War Museum

Bullock "Creeper Grip" tractor
maneuvering with difficulty over rough terrain...
Trials at Burton on Trent, June 1915
font: Imperial War Museum
    Two "Landships" were under construction, one based on the Diplock Pedrail concept and the other using the "Creepin-grip" tracks and suspension (modified) from the Bullock Tractor Company

Lincoln Number 1 Machine
    On 22 July 1915, William Ashbee Tritton, director of the agricultural machinery company William Foster & Company of Lincoln, who had a lot of experience in the manufacture of wheeled tractors for artillery, was given the contract to develop the "Tritton Machine", a machine that had the ability to climb a 1,5m bank, cross a 1,5m gap, be proof of armor-piercing bullets, carry a rapid-fire weapon and machine guns, and have a speed of about of  6,5 km/h.
Sir William Ashbee Tritton
born: 19 June 1875
died: 24 September 1946
    This vehicle would have two tracks, using elongated tracks (2,75m) and suspension elements (8 wheels instead of 4) from the Bullock Creeping Grip Tractor (see pics below).
The Bullock "Creeper Grip" tractor tracked suspension in close up vision (left)
Notice the idler wheel (left), 4 suspension wheels and drive sprocket (right).
Trials at Burton on Trent, June 1915
font: Imperial War Museum

Tritton Machine suspension (elongated Bullock type) close up photo (right)
Notice the idler wheel (right), 8 suspension wheels and drive sprocket (left).
font: Imperial War Museum
      
  The Chairman of the Landship Committee, Sir Eustace Tennyson d’Eyncourt, gave the order for the experimental vehicle on 29 July 1915. 
Sir Eustace Henry William Tennyson d'Eyncourt
born: 1 April 1868
died: 1 February 1951
      On 11 August 1915,construction of a real test vehicle began at the William Foster & Company. This first vehicle had a circular turret on top of the upper deck, as specified by the Landship Committee.
Tritton Machine under construction at William Foster & Company factory.
Notice the large cylindrical tower and the absence of driver and co-driver
front hatches, which would be cut later.
Also note the large pivot axis of the suspension, on the lower side of the chassis
    On 16 August Sir William Ashbee Tritton decided to fit a wheeled tail to assist in steering. On 9 September the Lincoln Number 1 Machine, as the prototype Tritton Machine was then known, made its first test run in the yard of the William Foster & Company - Wellington Foundry, in New Boultham, London. 
Lincoln Number 1 Machine with rear steering wheel
 
Lincoln Number 1 Machine with elongated Bullock type tracks and suspension
The vehicle was covered in canvas (with the Foster Lincoln logo)
to disguise the profile. But the presence of the turret is fully perceptible...
 Wellington Foundry - New Boultham, London - 19 September 1915.
font: Imperial War Museum

Lincoln Number 1 Machine with elongated Bullock type tracks and suspension
panting to climb a slight slope
 Wellington Foundry - New Boultham, London - 19 September 1915.
font: Imperial War Museum

Detail of the rear steering wheel on Lincoln Number 1 Machine
trials at
 New Boultham, London - 19 September 1915.
font: Imperial War Museum
   It soon became clear that the track profiles were so flat that ground resistance during a turn was excessive. To solve this, the suspension was changed so that the bottom profile was more curved. Then the next problem showed up: when crossing a trench the track sagged and then would not fit the wheels again and jammed. The tracks were also not up to carrying the weight of the vehicle (about 16 tons). Tritton and Lieutenant Walter Gordon Wilson tried several types of alternative tracks design.
Lieutenant Walter Gordon Wilson
born: 21 April 1874
died: 1 July 1957
    Tritton, on 22 September, devised a heavier, robust but outwardly crude system using pressed steel plates riveted to cast links and incorporated guides to engage on the inside of the track frame. The track frames as a whole were connected to the main body by large spindles. This system was unsprung, as the tracks were held firmly in place, able to move in only one plane. This was a successful design and was used on all First World War British tanks up to the Mark VIII, although it limited speed.
British Mark VIII tank - 1918
font: Imperial War Museum
Lincoln Number 1 Machine description:
    The vehicle's 13 litre 105 bhp (78 kW) Daimler-Knight engine, gravity fed by two petrol tanks, was at the back, leaving just enough room beneath the turret. The prototype was fitted with a non-rotatable dummy turret mounting a machine gun; a Vickers Maxim 2-pounder (40 mm) gun ("Pom-pom") was to have been fitted, with as many as six Madsen machine guns to supplement it.
Vickers Maxim 2pdr. 40mm Mk II automatic gun
guarding a train against air attack - Mesopotamia, 1918

Madsen machine gun
   The main gun would have had a large ammunition store with 800 rounds, but in the event the turret idea was abandoned and the aperture in the hull plated over. In the front of the vehicle two men sat on a narrow bench; one controlling the steering wheel, the clutch, the primary gear box and the throttle; the other holding the brakes. Overall length of the final version with the lengthened tracks and rear steering wheels in place was 8.08m. The length of the main unit without the rear steering wheels installed is 5.87m.
    Most mechanical components, including the radiator, had been adapted from those of the Foster-Daimler heavy artillery tractor.
Foster-Daimler hauling a wagon during the Battle of the Somme
Amiens-Albert road, France - September 1916
    As at least four men would have been required to operate the armament, the crew could not have been smaller than six. The maximum speed was indicated by Tritton as being no more than 3,2 kilometers per hour. The vehicle used no real armour steel, just boiler plate; it was intended to use 10mm plating for production.

Little Willie
    As we saw earlier, the big problem detected in the field tests with Lincoln Number 1 Machine, was the low reliability of the "american" tracks, although it demonstrated the ability to cross a small trenches. The prototype vehicle was rebuilt with an extended new designed tracks and new suspension. 
    About the new suspension, the detail is: the tank had no spring and all the tracks run around the frames on rollers but there was absolutely no springing or damping. So, whatever kind of ground that tank went over was going to be rough and bumpy and this was felt right through the vehicle. 
    We can see in this type of arrangement the beginning of the concept of rhomboidal tracks, characteristic of the first British tanks.
Comparison of profiles between Tritton machines,
with American tracks and suspension (above)
and the modified English ones (below).
     With this configuration, the reconstructed prototype was named "Little Willie", presented a much better maneuverable and reliability in rough terrain than the Lincoln Number 1 Machine.
The Lincoln Number 1 Machine modified
with new suspensions and tracks: Little Willie.
Notice the absence of the turret in the upper deck.
font: Imperial War Museum

Right side view of Little Willie, still with the
rear steering wheel and without the turret, for testing purposes.
font: Imperial War Museum

3/4 rear right side view of Little Willie
font: Imperial War Museum
    Though it never saw combat, Little Willie was a major step forward in military technology, being the first tank prototype to be finished. During the remainder of World War I, some tank crews continued to informally refer to their vehicles as "Willies" or "Buses".
Little Willie testing the new tracks and suspensions,
huffing and puffing on hard ground at Burton Park, near Lincoln.
Notice the ballast weights, installed in the void spaces of the suspension,
to simulate the full combat weight - December, 1915.
font: Imperial War Museum
    The origin of the name Little Willie seems to be a touch of the typical British humor. The military adopted the name that was used by the British yellow press to mock the German Imperial Crown Prince Wilhelm; The Little Willie's successor vehicle was for a time known as Big Willie, in reference to Wilhelm's father, Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany. In those times, cartoonist  William Kerridge Haselden had made a popular anti-German propaganda cartoons with these characters.
Reproduction of cover and content of cartoons
with Big and Little Willie by William Kerridge Haselden
font: Daily Mirror
    
William Kerridge Haselden
born: 3 December 1872
dead: 25 December 1953
    The trials with Little Willie continued until December, 1915, but Lieutenant Walter Gordon Wilson was unhappy with the basic concept of the Tritton Machine, even with the great improvement in performance resulting from the replacement of the suspension by the new model and the heavy type tracks.
Little Willie testing its maneuverability, passing through a flooded trench, 
in the trials at Burton Park, near Lincoln.
Notice the ballast weights, installed in the void spaces of the suspension,
to simulate the full combat weight - December, 03- 1915.
font: Imperial War Museum

Same sequence of photos from the tests on December 3, 1915.
Little Willie going up a steep slope,
in the hills of Burton Park, near Lincoln - Great Britain.
font: Imperial War Museum

Little Willie climbing a ravine, with maximum power...
 Test field of Burton Park, near Lincoln - Great Britain.
December, 03 - 1915.
font: Imperial War Museum

Little Willie in a more comfortable situation,
down a hill at Burton Park, near Lincoln - Great Britain.
December, 03 - 1915.
font: Imperial War Museum
    On 17 August,  Lieutenant Walter Gordon Wilson suggested to Tritton the idea of using the new heavy tracks that ran all around the vehicle, in what would be known conceptually as the Rhomboidal Tank. With d'Eyncourt's approval, the construction of a prototype (Big Willie) began on 17 September. 
    For this prototype (also known as "Wilson Machine", "HMLS [His Majesty's Land Ship] Centipede", "Big Willie" and, later still, "Mother"), a rhomboid track frame was fitted, taking the tracks up and over the top of the vehicle. The rear steering wheels were retained in an improved form, but the idea of a turret was abandoned and the main armament placed in side sponsons. But that's another story...
A simplified cutaway drawing of the prototype
of the british rhomboidal tank
    As the concept of the larger Big Willie proved more promising than its smaller brother, the tests with  Little Willie were not so extensive and when they ended, it was moved to Cricklewood, at north-west London, where it was stored.
The prototype "Little Willie" resting in his habitat, after many trials:
the muddy testing ground at Cricklewood, north-west London, 1919.
Notice the rear hull of the experimental amphibious converted Mark IX Tank
with your floats, in the background. The Mk IX's air intake pipes and exhaust
are visible in the background, over the Little Willie's profile.
font: Imperial War Museum

Just to illustrate the pictures above and below:
The experimental amphibious Mark IX Tank "The Duck"  heads
into Brent (Welsh Harp) Reservoir, for buoyancy and displacement
trials in the water. Albeit slow, it did have some success.
11 November 1918
font: Imperial War Museum

Left view of "Little Willie" in the misty Cricklewood, north-west London, 1919.
The Mk IX's air intake pipes and exhaust are visible
in the background, over the Little Willie's silhouette.
font: Imperial War Museum

Right view of "Little Willie" at Cricklewood, north-west London, 1919.
The Mk IX's right rear portion of tracks are visible in
foreground, on the left side of the photo.
font: Imperial War Museum

3/4 front right view of "Little Willie"
Cricklewood, north-west London, 1919.
font: Imperial War Museum

Front view of "Little Willie"
Cricklewood, north-west London, 1919.
font: Imperial War Museum
   The term "Tank" was used for the vehicles at this time as part of secrecy measures. The requirement for a suitable name had been recognised as the term "Landship" was thought to be too descriptive. Mr d’Eyncourt suggested the term "Water Carrier" as the cover name, but as government departments tended to be referred to by their initials this idea was (obviously...) rejected and the name "Tank" adopted; hence the Landships Committee became the Tank Supply, or TS Committee.
    In 1922 the Royal Tank Regiment adopted a folk song called "My Boy Willie" as its regimental march.

Present day:
    Little Willie was preserved for posterity after the Great War, having been saved from being scrapped in 1940. That rumor would be that, Little Willie was spared the scrapping because it would be transported to Gloucestershire and placed on an airfield to act as a local defense in case of attack by German paratroopers.
    But this is highly unlikely, because as already mentioned, the vehicle was not armored: any projectile or bullet would pass right through it. And since it never carried weapons, his contribution to combat would be practically nil. And, most importantly, after all these years of storage, from the end of WWI to the beginning of WWII, the vehicle had practically all its automotive components removed, being, at the time, without engine or transmission.
    But unfortunately, many other important prototypes were not so lucky. In this roster, we can include the "Mother", who possibly were discarded during the invasion scare.
 "Big Willie" or "Mother" on field trials
at Burton Park, Lincoln - England - January 1916.
right view
font: Imperial War Museum

"Big Willie" or "Mother" on field trials
at Burton Park, Lincoln - England - January 1916.
3/4 front right view
font: Imperial War Museum

 "Big Willie" or "Mother" going down a hill on field tests
at Burton Park, Lincoln - England - January 1916.
font: Imperial War Museum

"Big Willie" or "Mother" crossing a ditch.
The heavy-duty tracks are working great!!
at Burton Park, Lincoln - England - January 1916.
font: Imperial War Museum

    Today, "Little Willie" is proudly displayed at The Tank Museum in Bovington, England, with the deserved prominence of being one of the most important prototypes in the Tank History lineage. It is essentially an empty hull, with no engine or transmission, but still with some internal fittings.
"Little Willie" at the Tank Museum, Bovington - England
on a revolving pedestal - 3/4 front left view

"Little Willie" at the Tank Museum, Bovington - England
on a revolving pedestal - 3/4 rear right view

Drawing with mechanical parts of "Little Willie"

Digital reconstruction of the mechanical
parts of the "Little Willie"

Interior of the "Little Willie" - rear to front view
Notice the right hand sterring wheel.

"Little Willie"´s driver and co-driver stations in close-up

Interior of the "Little Willie" - front to rear view
    The rear steering wheels are not fitted and there is a damage to the hull plating around the right-hand vision slit, possibly caused by an attempt to tow the vehicle by passing a steel cable through this hatch. This would have ripped the tank's comparatively thin steel casing. When this was done is not known for certain, but thankfully the damage was not greater.
The front hull of "Little Willie"
showing off your scars...
 Tank Museum, Bovington - England
Specs:
Blueprint of Little Willie
with ballast weights, installed in the
void spaces of the suspension, in the right view

"Little Willie" prototype
TypePrototype tank
Place of origin         United Kingdom
Service history
In serviceN/A
Production history
DesignedJuly 1915
ManufacturerFosters of Lincoln
ProducedAugust–September 1915
No. built1
Specifications
Mass16.2 tons (full operational)
Length5.87m
8.08m with steering wheels
Width2.87 m
Height2.51 m to top of hull
3.10 m to top of turret
Crew(Projected) 6

Main armament
Projected: Vickers 2-pdr. 40mm gun
Sec. armament
Projected: Maxim, Hotchkiss
Lewis or Madsen mg.
EngineFoster Daimler Knight 
sleeve valve petrol
105 hp (78 kW)
Power/weight
Armour
6 hp/tonne (4.5 kW/tonne)
from 10 to 15 mm
Transmission2-speed forwards, 1 reverse
final drive by Renolds chains
SuspensionUnsprung
Max. speed3.2 km/h

The kit:
    For this commission project, I will use the excellent resin kit from Accurate Armour "Little Willie"(#K016).
Accurate Armour "Little Willie" kit
    As usual, we started our work with a visual inspection, observing details of the kit... Hmm... a lot of parts, which makes Kojak itchy hands... even more so when the kit is made of resin... The thing promises! !!
Accurate kit...always, a good choice in resin kits...

But, like every resin kit, some shit happens!!!
I love link-by-lenghttracks, but hate fractures...
Kojak will need surgery around here...

Here, too...

Man... looks like the packer was drunk on this kit....

Again...and again...

And again. Here, was easy...Kojak found the fragment in the plastic bag...

Starting by the sponsons, accessories wheels and the sprockets...
The sponsons are in dry-run, to test the fittings...

Although Accurate says in the instructions that the steps will be hidden
by the tracks, I decided to level the surface of the tracks of the tracks,
to avoid positioning accidents...
I love my dental tools in my Dremel...

After everything is lined up, let's glue the two halves of the sponsons...
    When I went to fit the sprockets on the sponsons, I had a bad surprise: the inner face of the left sponson is longer, at its end that supports the sprocket... I must have been drawn with a defective shape, because the two faces of the sponson left coincide in all but the front portion. See the photo below...
A very sickening deformity!!!

Notice in the yellow arrows the discrepancy in dimensions:
misaligned anterior portion and correct sponson (whew) as it is perfectly aligned,
as we can see in the perpendicular yellow arrow. The "treatment" consists of a vertical cut,
on the inner face of the sponson, to shorten this portion (green arrow)

Surgery performed: vertical cut and posterior bonding with super-glue
of the anterior portion. The thickness of the cut (0.4mm) performed
by the cutting disk was enough for the piece to realign itself again...

Sponson and sprocked lined up...
The inner portion retreated 0.4mm (red arrow)...
Really, the guys can celebrate!!
Hurrah!!

And this rough line will be hidden, because it is the inner face of the sponson!!
Kojak is a true plastic surgeon!!

The two sponsons, side by side...

Willie's main body came with a waist, maybe resin contraction (red arrows)...
Although I'm a Marilyn fan, at this point a waist is not something
to be desired... Let's make some supports with Plastruct and resin pieces. ..
Green forces against red forces....

The front portion also features a waistband, but this will easily be
corrected when the front armor plate is installed...
The rear has the same detail...

Little Willie's Body fully corrected. Notice that the rear
armor corrected the contraction...

And speaking about corrections, let's fix the broken links:
plasticard with a thickness of 0.5mm will be enough...
First, we cut the plastic, glued it with super glue and then cut the excess...

Something like this...

The same surgery developing...
    With the sponsons ready, let's glue these structures to the tank's chassis. As the holes allow a certain movement, we are going to use a template to glue the sponsos at the same height, on both sides... I used a Plastruct round rod with 6,4mm in diameter for this... without the possibility of error!!!
Plastruct 6.4mm in diameter as a template... no chance of error!!!
Right side...

The same template for the left side!!  Piece of cake!!

Adding some photo-etched parts (red) and
a little detail in plastic (yellow arrow)

Metal in the left sponson...

...and in the right sponson, too!

Soooo cute this Little Willie!!!

This boy will go far...when he grows up, he will become a Battle Tank!!

Starting the remnants of steering wheels device, in the rear.
The vertical "blades" are extremely thin and fragile...

Hydraulic and mechanical parts of the apparatus...

Everything installed and well aligned...

I decided to make the tail light of the tank...
I thought it looked really cool and, unfortunately, the kit doesn't reproduce it.
A little scratch is always good....
   I was attacked by the Carpet Monster! One of the damn headlights just disappeared from my tweezers and the adjacencies... I could build the girl without the headlights, as it's in many pictures, but we'll spend two headlights from Elf Production of Model Accessories
The disease... and the cure!!!
Damn carpet-monster...

Phew!! I liked the end result...
left side

Right side

The little tank is getting really cool...

Practically ready for painting...

Yes...very cute!!!

The splash-bullet blades in the top...
Next step: PAINT!!!

Two old gals, side by side:
Little Willie and renault FT17 75BS prototype SPG

Little Willie, after primer and color base (greenish gray)
left side

Greenish gray with tones...

A little added volume, with the tonal variations...

Rear view

Starting the wash...left view

Crude wash - right view

Wash in the beginning... rear view

Wash in the blending phase...

Things are getting better...

Rear view

Weathering "old-school"

As they say in Brazil:
"Old pot is what makes good food!!"

Almost there....

Applying dust and wet earth effects with the airbrush...
left side

Right side

Rear view

   And Little Willie was ready. My option was to characterize the vehicle as fresh from the proving ground of Burton Park, in December, 1915 but without the rear-wheel-steering apparatus. Our tank also does not have the Fulton factory plate, which is seen in the factory yard photos and in the Bovington Tank Museum, as well as the markings painted (decals) on the sides.
The option is for the absence of the Fulton's plate (red arrows)
trying to represent the "operational" version (green arrow)
Our Little Willie also doesn't show the horseshoe of good luck (blue arrow),
from the beginning of the works...
    In the photos of the "operational" vehicle (in tests...), this plate is not visible... And that's how I decided to portray our girl!!
Little Willie - "Triton Machine modified"
 Test field of Burton Park, near Lincoln - Great Britain.
December - 1915.

Little Willie - "Triton Machine modified"
front top view

Little Willie - "Triton Machine modified"
left side view

Little Willie - "Triton Machine modified"
left side view

Little Willie - "Triton Machine modified"
left rear view - The rear light was a nice touch....

Little Willie - "Triton Machine modified"
right rear view
The rear light was a nice touch....

Little Willie - "Triton Machine modified"
top right rear view

Little Willie - "Triton Machine modified"
right side view

Little Willie - "Triton Machine modified"
3/4 right front view

Little Willie - "Triton Machine modified"
 right front view

Little Willie - "Triton Machine modified"
with Kojak and Rover, the dog.

Two early AFV girls: Little Willie - "Triton Machine modified"
with Renault FT 17 75BS prototype tank

Separated by time: Little Willie - "Triton Machine modified"
with Sherman II direct vision


Little Willie - "Triton Machine modified"
 Test field of Burton Park, near Lincoln - Great Britain.
December - 1915.

"Little Willie" - Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany
Painted plywood caricature figure (flatback).
Lord Roberts Memorial Workshops for 
Disabled Soldiers and Sailors (Fulham, London)
Post-WWI era
font:Imperial War Museum

                        See you soon, Lads!