Military Historian and author Richard Pullen, whose grandfather worked on the world’s first tanks in Lincoln in WW1, leads viewers on a tour of sites associated with William Foster and Co. Along the way, Richard explains how this engineering company with a heritage in farm machinery became the unlikely inventors of the tank.
Birth of the Tanks is sponsored by World of Tanks web site. The programme has been commended by the Curator and staff of the Bovington Tank Museum.
The 40 minute documentary - part of a 95 minute wholly WW1 DVD – explains that, early in 1915 with the opposing armies already entrenched, military minds dreamed of a machine that could break the deadlock. The Admiralty’s newly-formed Landships Committee found practical and innovative help in Lincoln.
Richard explains how Fosters and their energetic MD William Tritton evolved from making farm machinery to creating tanks - and how Major Walter Wilson, seconded by the Landships Committee, played an essential role as co-inventor. At a later stage munitionettes augmented the male workforce and played a vital role too.
The documentary draws on film and stills from the period, treasured local collections and family memories. It includes film of the Lincoln tanks in 1918 discovered in the late 1970s by Filmmaker Andrew Blow who investigated material originally passed to his late uncle, Ron Blow, in the 1950s.
Support documentary: “My Old Man Flew Harry Tates (RE8s)”. The remarkable story of soldier, pilot and flying instructor Dennis “Jimmy” Glover, who went from the trenches to the skies above. Told by his son Rob, an ex-RAF pilot, who has kindly allowed access to his father’s collection of WW1 images.
PRICE INCLUDES P and P For details of Andrew Blow and Richard Pullen's Tank Tour Lecture and Film Show call 01522 754901 See also Birth of the Tanks Facebook page.