First Tank Crewmen

First Tank Crewmen The First Tank Crewmen fought in Mark I tanks from Sep - Nov 1916 in France. - the first time tanks were used in warfare. We Remember Them Still!

They were members of the Heavy Section Machine Gun Corps who first trained at Bisley and then at Elveden. Educational research centre

On Mon 14 Feb 1916, a conference at the War Office recommended that the ratings of 20 Sqn RNAS be given opportunity to j...
09/03/2026

On Mon 14 Feb 1916, a conference at the War Office recommended that the ratings of 20 Sqn RNAS be given opportunity to join the newly formed Tank Section of the MMGS at Army pay rates.

On 9 Mar 1916, Col Ernest Swinton visited the Sqn at the RNAS Depot accompanied by Capt Frank Summers DSO, a former RNAS officer who would command D Coy HS MGC.-The ratings, who were formed up on parade, were addressed by Swinton, who gave a broad description of the MMGS but not the role of the Tanks. He then ordered all who wished to volunteer to step forward – no one moved!

Swinton again addressed the ratings and encouraged them to volunteer but again none stepped forward. He then left the Depot accompanied by Summers who was sympathetic but was also trying to hide a wry smile.

What Summers knew, but had not been revealed to Swinton, was that the ratings were paid three times the daily rate of the MMGS gunners. Individuals from the RNAS, mainly mechanics, did volunteer for service, most being commissioned into the HS MGC.

20 Sqn RNAS continued to exist and played a key role in accepting newly built tanks into Army service and forwarding them to France for use from 1917 onwards.

Below - Capt Frank Summers wearing the uniform of the Royal Marine Light Infantry

24 -27 Feb 1916Recruiting of the officers and men to crew the newly ordered tanks was rapid Advertising for the MMGS r...
25/02/2026

24 -27 Feb 1916
Recruiting of the officers and men to crew the newly ordered tanks was rapid Advertising for the MMGS restarted in the Motor Cycle newspaper on 24 Feb (see below). Applicants were to confirm that they were fit and able to ride, maintain and repair their machines as well as their trade and employer. The response was immediate.
Swinton and Bradley also visited the recently formed officer cadet battalions in Cambridge and Oxford. Those interviewed were not told what their role would be – they would be informed of the decision at the end of their training. Most of those selected had been trained as machine gunners or were able to ride or drive .

Thu 17 Feb 1916Brig Gen Wilkinson Bird (Director of Staff Duties at the WO) informed Swinton that the Army Council has s...
17/02/2026

Thu 17 Feb 1916
Brig Gen Wilkinson Bird (Director of Staff Duties at the WO) informed Swinton that the Army Council has selected him to raise and command the Tank Detachment of the MMGS. This was confirmed by telegram on 28 Feb and Swinton was appointed acting colonel.
Swinton recorded "I was to be in charge of it at home whilst, in France, it was to be under the local commanders." This would create difficulties which were revealed over the next seven months as Swinton was both a commander and a principal staff officer. His immediate tasks were to recruit junior officers to command the tanks and to finalise proposals for the tactical employment of tank units for approval by GHQ BEF.

Wed 16 Feb 1916Swinton started work at Bisley but remained based in London, with a clerk and orderly room sergeant. Swin...
16/02/2026

Wed 16 Feb 1916
Swinton started work at Bisley but remained based in London, with a clerk and orderly room sergeant. Swinton secured an office and half a stenographer from Stern in order to access the WO, Ministry of Munitions, and other bodies with whom he was dealing. He delegated the crewmen training task to Bradley and the MMG Training Centre at Bisley.
Swinton also attended the first meeting of the TSC at which it was proposed developing a tank capable of surviving direct fire from field guns - the WO being requested to provide the requirement .

Tue 15 Feb 1916The Tank Supply Committee [TSC] occupied offices in the requisitioned Metropole Hotel at the junction of ...
15/02/2026

Tue 15 Feb 1916
The Tank Supply Committee [TSC] occupied offices in the requisitioned Metropole Hotel at the junction of Whitehall and Northumberland Ave in London.
Contracts for tank construction by Fosters and the Metropolitan Carriage Waggon and Finance Co were agreed at Birmingham by Lt Bertie Stern RNAS who provided copies of plans etc. Orders for armour plate were given to three companies which had stocks ready for transit and machining.
Pictured below Bertie Stern wearing Army uniform in 1917. He was appointed a major in the MGC on 6 Mar 1916 and was, according to Stern’s memoir, the first officer given a commission by Swinton in the new corps. “Tanks 1914-1918 - Logbook of a Pioneer” p73 .

Mon 14 Feb 1916. The Tank Supply Committee [TSC] was formed under the chairmanship of Lt AG Stern RNAS who was attached...
14/02/2026

Mon 14 Feb 1916.
The Tank Supply Committee [TSC] was formed under the chairmanship of Lt AG Stern RNAS who was attached to the Ministry of Munitions.
The same day, a conference was held at the War Office chaired by Brig-Gen FRC Carleton CB Director of Ordnance. Those present included Lt-Col ED Swinton DSO, Lt-Col RW Bradley DSO commanding the MMGS and Lt AG Stern The conference recommended that.
1. The “Tank Detachment” should form part of the MMGS of the MGC
2. Personnel were to be found from men of the MMGS at Bisley and surplus to requirement.
3. Rates of pay at Field Artillery rates, as for MMGS.
4. Existing personnel of 20 Sqdn RNAS to be given opportunity to leave the Navy and join MMGS at Army pay rates (lower than Naval pay rates). If they prefer to stay put the Admiralty would discharge them anyway.

Sat 12 Feb 1917 Lloyd George approve the formation of the Tank Supply Committee [TSC] working under the Ministry of Mun...
12/02/2026

Sat 12 Feb 1917

Lloyd George approve the formation of the Tank Supply Committee [TSC] working under the Ministry of Munitions. It was chaired by Lt Bertie Stern RNAS and its members included Swinton; Lt Walter Wilson RNAS the motor engineer and Lt Kevin Symes RNAS who was the focus for provision of armour plate in the Admiralty.

Orders for the first 100 tanks were sent to Fosters of Lincoln (25) and the Metropolitan Carriage Co of Birmingham (75) - the-split reflecting the capacity of the factories to deliver the required output.

11/02/2026

On Fri 11 Feb 1916, the War Office received a request for 80 tanks from GHQ BEF. This was passed to an interdepartmental government committee whose secretariat included Lt Col Ernest Swinton. He recommended that the number be increased to 100 vehicles, which was endorsed by David Lloyd George, the minister for munitions.

Mother’s light machine gunsThis close-up of Mother’s flank reveals that, whilst her sponsons were fitted with 6 pdr guns...
09/02/2026

Mother’s light machine guns

This close-up of Mother’s flank reveals that, whilst her sponsons were fitted with 6 pdr guns as main armament, there are no fittings for her light machine guns.

The original plan was for a Dutch-made Madsen gun to be fitted in each sponson to the rear of each 6 pdr gun. A British made Hotchkiss machine gun was to be mounted in the cab between the skipper and the driver’s front vision hatches.

The Madsen was a magazine fed weapon, each magazine holding 40 rounds, with a rate of fire of 300 rounds per minute. The Madsen was however prone to jamming due to the curved shape of magazine and the gravity feed. Madsen’s were never fitted to Mark I owing to difficulties in sourcing the Dutch manufactured weapons identified at the end of February 1916.

Hotchkiss machine guns were already issued to British cavalry regiments. These had a slower cyclical rate of fire {250 rounds per minute} and the ammunition was provided in 20 round strips. Hotchkiss machine guns also had the advantage that training plans were already available and the MMGS instructors at Bisley would quickly become familiar with the British built weapons

The Mark I tank prototype, now known as Mother, was built by Fosters of Lincoln in January 1916. She was trialled at Bur...
07/02/2026

The Mark I tank prototype, now known as Mother, was built by Fosters of Lincoln in January 1916. She was trialled at Burton Park, north of the city, over a series of obstacles and fired its main armament using solid shot. Mother was then taken by train to Hatfield where she was trialled on 29 January over another series of obstacles, observed by War Office [WO], Admiralty and Ministry of Munitions staffs.

On 2 February, the trial was repeated with an additional trench nine feet wide as required by War Secretary Lord Kitchener. This time, Mother was observed by senior cabinet ministers, several generals and representatives of GHQ BEF - the prototype again negotiating every obstacle without difficulty. Reaction was extremely positive although Kitchener described Mother as “a pretty mechanical toy”. He only wanted three more tanks to be built but GHQ BEF staff officers requested 80 be provided .

On 8 February, King George V visited Hatfield, accompanied by Lt Col Ernest Swinton, and having seen the demonstration and ridden in Mother, expressed his satisfaction. The King continued to support the tanks’ development and became the first colonel in chief of the Tank Corps.

06/02/2026

Tanks were designed to undertake three specific tasks. Advancing ahead of the infantry, the crews were to destroy German machine gun emplacements with their 6-pdr guns, next crush the barbed wire protecting enemy trenches with their tracks and finally suppress the German defenders using the tanks’ machine guns.
Each tank required a crew of eight men plus two spares. The gunners were provided by the Motor Machine Gun Service [MMGS], the “skipper” was a MMGS officer, a volunteer from the infantry or a newly commissioned subaltern who had served as an infantry NCO. As most gunners were motor cyclists and a number were car drivers, it was planned that the tank drivers would also come from the MMGS. This proved impossible and, as a result, tank drivers were found from Army Service Corps [ASC] tractor units or experienced lorry drivers from the British Expeditionary Force.
As only 700 “spare” machine gunners available at the training centre at Bisley, MMGS recruiting recommenced. This was undertaken through the Motor Cycle newspaper in Coventry working under the auspices of the Editor Geoffrey Smith. The Motor Cycle had a wide circulation and its staff had developed a very slick system for screening volunteers. Recruiting was rapid and all vacancies were filled by the end of June. Manufacturing the tanks however took a little longer

05/02/2026

110 years ago, the first tank crewmen started to assemble at Bisley Ranges in Surrey. They would man Mark I tanks which were being secretly manufactured at Lincoln and Birmingham
Seven months later, the first two tank companies would be sent into action on the Somme battlefield. Despite insufficient training and poor mechanical condition, the tanks assisted in capturing three villages and reduced casualties amongst the attacking infantry. They had proved that field defences could be penetrated and that Allied forces could defeat the German formations sheltering behind them
I will be telling the story of the conception, birth and baptism of fire of those tank crews, for the next nine months, Please feel free to comment and join in

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