by John Taylor
‘L.I.’, ‘Some Reminiscences of a War-time Soldier III. – A Tank to the Rescue’, Royal Tank Corps Journal (April 1926).
——, ‘Cambrai, 1917 – The Impressions of an Infantryman’, Royal Tank Corps Journal (December 1927).
Liddell Hart, B. H., The Real War 1914-1918, London, 1930.
——, The Tanks – The History of the Royal Tank Regiment and its Predecessors … Volume One 1914-1939, London, 1959.
Macintosh, J. C., ‘The Tanks at Cambrai’ in John Buchan (ed.), The Long Road to Victory, London, 1920.
——, Men and Tanks, London, 1921.
Mackenzie, Captain D., The Sixth Gordons in France and Flanders (with the 7th and 51st Divisions), Aberdeen, 1921.
McTaggart, M. F., ‘The Great Battle of Cambrai’, The Nineteenth Century and After (July 1920).
Martel, Lieutenant-Colonel G. Le Q., In the Wake of the Tank – The First Fifteen Years of Mechanization in the British Army, London, 1935.
Maurice, Major R. F. G., The Tank Corps Book of Honour, Ballantyne, 1919.
Maurois, André, The Silence of Colonel Bramble, translated from the French, London & New York, 1919.
Mitchell, F., Tank Warfare – The Story of the Tanks in the Great War, London, 1933.
Moody, Colonel R. S. H., Historical Records of the Buffs East Kent Regiment … 1914-1919, London, 1922.
Nicholson, Colonel W. N., Behind the Lines – An Account of Administrative Staffwork in the British Army 1914-18, London, 1939.
Peel, Captain R. T. and Macdonald, Captain A. H., Campaign Reminiscences: 6th Seaforth Highlanders, Elgin, 1923.
Pidgeon, Trevor, The Tanks at Flers, Cobham, 1995.
Priestley, R. E., The Signal Service in the European War of 1914 to 1918 (France), Chatham, 1921.
Riddell, Brigadier-General E., and Clayton, Colonel M. C., The Cambridgeshires 1914 to 1919, Cambridge, 1934.
Rockstroh, Oberleutnant, and Zindler, Leutnant, Regimentsgeschichte des Feldartillerieregiments No. 108, Hamburg, 1919.
Rorie, Colonel David, A Medico’s Luck in the War – Being Reminiscences of R.A.M.C. Work with the 51st (Highland) Division, Aberdeen, 1929.
Steuben, Oberstleutnant Arndt von, Harro Soltau, das Lebensbild eines Frontoffiziers, Hamburg, 1936.
Strutz, Hauptm. a. D. Dr. Georg, Schlachten des Weltkrieges … im Auftrage des Reichsarchivs, Band 31 Die Tankschlacht bei Cambrai 20.-29. November 1917, Oldenburg, 1929.
Stühmke, General, Das Infanterie-Regiment ‘Kaiser Friedrich, König von Preußen’ (7. Württ.) Nr. 125 im Weltkrieg 1914-1918, Stuttgart, 1923.
Swinton, Major-General Sir Ernest D., Eyewitness – Being Personal Reminiscences of Certain Phases of the Great War, Including the Genesis of the Tank, London, 1932.
Vaughan, Edwin Campion, Some Desperate Glory – The Diary of a Young Officer, 1917, London, 1981.
Watson, Major W. H. L., Adventures of a Despatch Rider, Edinburgh & London, 1915.
——, A Company of Tanks, Edinburgh & London, 1920.
Wedel, Oberstleutnant V., Das Feldartillerie-Regiment 213 (Aus Deutschlands Großer Zeit 14. Band), Zeulenroda-Thür, undated c.1930.
Williams-Ellis, Major Clough, and Williams-Ellis, A., The Tank Corps, London, 1919.
Zindler, Erwin, Auf Biegen und Brechen, Leipzig, 1929.
——, Und Abermals Soldat, Leipzig, 1943.
Deborah in German hands in April 1918. Photograph from Jean Luc Caudron
Two Germans and their dog inspect the wreckage of Deborah some time between March and September 1918. Photograph from Philippe Gorczynski
Willie Anthony and his friends visit Flesquières on 16 March 1919, with Deborah visible in the street behind. Photograph from the Anthony family
The same view today.
‘Uriah’s bus’: the photograph of Deborah showing damage inflicted later in the war, taken on 3 March 1919 and given to Frank Heap, which enabled her to be identified decades later. Photograph from the Heap family
‘Burying of a tank’: Deborah goes into the ground in 1919, from the album of Lieutenant-Colonel Theodore Wenger. Photograph from Tank Museum
The first commander of D51, Second Lieutenant George Macdonald (top right), with brother officers during the Battle of Passchendaele. These are (clockwise from George): James Clark, David Lewis (captured on 22 August) and Harold Dobinson. Photograph from Catherine Piper
‘An abomination of desolation’: a group of abandoned tanks, including that used by George Macdonald and the crew of D51, beside the road out of St Julien following the attack on 22 August. Photographs © Royal Museum of the Army and of Military History (Nr Inv KLM-MRA 201530003 & 20608-sint-juliaan)
Second Lieutenant Frank Heap in his new Tank Corps officer’s uniform. Photograph from the Heap family
Boy soldiers: Frank Heap (2nd from left) in camp with the Officers’ Training Corps of The Leys School, Cambridge. Photograph from the Heap family
Gunner George Foot from Deborah’s crew, before he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for bravery. Photograph from Charles Foot
Gunner Fred Tipping, one of Deborah’s crewmen, in his Royal Artillery uniform. Photograph from Mike Tipping
Gunner William Galway, one of Deborah’s crewmen, in the uniform of the Royal Irish Rifles. Photograph from the Galway family
‘Bit of a knave’: Gunner Joseph Cheverton, one of Deborah’s crewmen. Photograph from the Summers family
Joseph Cheverton’s fiancée Florrie Coote with rosemary plant – apparently wearing his Tank Corps badge on a necklace. Photograph from Derek Leland
Lance-Corporal David ‘Bert’ Marsden, a possible member of Deborah’s crew, in Tank Corps uniform with the light blue shoulder straps of D Battalion. Photograph from David Melliar-Smith
Colonel Christopher Baker-Carr (left), later in command of 1st Tank Brigade, with instructors at the Machine Gun School in St Omer, 1915. Photograph from Sue Peck
The future commander of D Battalion, Lieutenant-Colonel William Kyngdon (top left), with NCO and porters in East Africa, 1911. Photograph from Pemba, The Spice Island of Zanzibar, by Captain John Craster
‘The Bull’: Deborah’s company commander Major R.O.C. Ward with fellow officers of 6th Bn The Buffs in May 1915 before leaving England. Photograph from Simon Ward
Deborah’s section commander Captain Graeme Nixon (left) and Lieutenant Alfred Enoch in August 1917. Photograph from Russell Enoch
Spoils of war: this may look like a German soldier, but in fact it is Lieutenant Enoch of D Battalion with trophies found in a captured dugout, probably after Cambrai – including a cigar, bottle of wine, and what looks like a sausage or cucumber. Photograph from Russell Enoch
Officers from No. 12 Company holding rabbits, no doubt destined for the pot. Seated in the middle row are Alfred Enoch (far left) and Edward Glanville Smith (far right). Seated on the ground are John McNiven (left) and Frank Heap (centre). Photograph from Russell Enoch
James Macintosh, author of Men and Tanks, back home in South Africa around 1930. Photograph from John Macintosh
Major William Watson, author of A Company of Tanks, in his previous role as an officer in the Army Cyclist Corps. Photograph from William Watson
Official photograph of Major Watson’s officers at La Lovie on 26 September 1917. They include Richard Cooper (4th from left, standing with dog); Gerald Edwards (seated with terrier); David Morris (seated at far end of card table, with dark hair) and Horace Birks (second from right, partly hidden by foliage). Photograph from Imperial War Museum (Q 2898)
Aerial photo of Flesquières issued to British troops before the attack on 20 November. The direction of advance was from the bottom left-hand corner towards the top right. Photograph from National Archives
Four of the men from 1st Bn Royal Irish Fusiliers who were taken prisoner in a raid on 18 November, with their German captors (behind).
Trains carrying tanks from D Battalion (left) and C Battalion (right) preparing to leave the Plateau railhead a few day
s before Cambrai. The D Battalion train is headed by D46 Dragon III followed by D47 Demon II, with D51 Deborah somewhere behind. Photograph from Imperial War Museum (detail from Q 46940)
A tank from D Battalion moves forward, in one of the long-hidden paintings by Sergeant Claude Rowberry. Photograph from Royal Tank Regiment
A German soldier’s view of the fighting at Flesquières, from the history of 27th Reserve Infantry Regiment.
The legendary lone gunner becomes a nationalist icon: this postcard marks the dedication of the artillery memorial in Cologne in 1936.
A German artist’s impression of the desperate battle between tanks and artillery at Flesquières.
Deborah emerges from the ground in November 1998, as Philippe Gorczynski describes events to a TV crew (front left). Photograph from Philippe Gorczynski
Descendants of Deborah’s crew meet for the first time in 2009. Photograph from Press Association ©PA
Deborah today. Photograph from Nord Tourisme ©Nord Tourisme
