Description
The
tanks were actually Marmon Herrington Type CTLS-4TAC or 4TA. The US Army
designation for this vehicle was T16, but as far as can be ascertained
this designation was never used in Australia. The vehicles were built by
the Marmon Herrington Company of Indiana. The tank was of conventional
design , having the engine, a Hercules 6 cylinder petrol engine, at the
rear and a fighting compartment with octagonal turret which mounted a
.30 inch Colt machine gun. The weapons were described in an Army Report
late in 1942 as “Browning type .30 MG manufactured commercially by Colt
and known as MG 38 BT Tank Model “.
The
turret was offset to either the right or left side of the vehicle. The
driver’s compartment was located alongside the turret. A mount in the
driver's compartment could also be fitted with a machine gun. The hull
and turret were of bolted construction with the maximum armour thickness
being 12 mm. The turret had a restricted traverse of 270 degrees. The
vehicles were designed to operate in pairs, hence the turret offset.
|
Front view of a Marmon Herrington
Light Tank with right hand turret. A version with left hand turret can
be seen in the background. Spare track links are mounted on the lower
glacis plate. (Australian Official Photo) |
The
front driving sprocket was high mounted, as was the rear idler. Two
bogie units, each of the vertical volute spring design and mounting two
bogie wheels were mounted on each side of the hull. Each bogie unit
mounted a track skid on the top and a single return roller was mounted
between the bogie units on the hull. A single exhaust muffler was
mounted on the trackguard on the left rear of the vehicle and pioneer
tools were stowed in a rack on the rear hull plate. Provision for
mounting spare track links was made on both the front and rear lower
hull plates.
Technical details of the vehicles are as follows:
Length 11 ft 10 ins
Engine Hercules 6 cylinder Petrol developing 118 bhp at 3500
rpm
Width
6 ft 11 1/2 ins
Height 6 ft 11 ins
Weight 8 1/2 tons
Speed
30 mph
Crew
2
Issues to the Australian Army
On 20
April 1942 Headquarters 1st Australian Armoured Division
reported that each of the three regiments of its 2nd Armoured
Brigade, then located at Puckapunyal, had been issued with eight Two Man
Tanks and requested that as 24 tanks had arrived in Sydney that the same
allocation of tanks be made to the three armoured regiments of the 1st
Armoured Brigade. On 24 April the division was advised that 20 tanks
were to be issued, with the 5th and 7th Armoured
Regiments receiving eight tanks and the 6th Armoured Regiment
receiving four only. It was advised at the time that these tanks were
“NOT part of the normal regimental equipment but purely for driving
practice.
|
A tank of B Squadron 2nd Australian
Army Tank Battalion climbing a hill in the Singleton area. Under the
pioneer tools, spare track and tow chain can be seen the vehicle
registered number, the squadron and troop sign, the unit sign 16 and the
formation sign of the Horse’s Head. (Lt Col E.S. Selby Photo) |
The
overall Australian position was noted in the Tank Progress Report dated
25 April 1942 , which said "that 102 2 Man Tanks were received, being
diverted from Java". The Tank Progress Report dated 7 May 1942 noted a
"further 47 Tanks had been received, ex- refugee ships". The total of
149 remained constant until 21 May 1942, when 8 tanks which had been
damaged by salt water whilst in transit were stripped and used as spare
parts. The subject of spares was raised in Australian circles on a
regular basis, but it appears that with the second shipment of tanks
there was an amount of spares which could be used for immediate needs.
Some 279 Machine Guns for the tanks also were available, with only 36
being issued .
Initially the distribution within the Australian Army was:
Use in Australia
In
June 1942 successful tests of Laryngaphones for two-way communication in
the Marmon Herrington Tanks were carried out at the Directorate of AFV
Production located at Fishermans Bend near Melbourne. These
inter-communication devices were obtained from the Royal Australian Air
Force. It is not known if the tanks were subsequently fitted with these
items.
Late
in August 1942, tentative arrangements were made to send 18 Marmon-Herrington
2- Man Tanks north to provide aerodrome protection in Cape York
Peninsula. Some at least arrived in the north as they were listed in the
strength returns of several units, including Torres Force. The 2nd
Australian Tank Battalion were equipped with these vehicles for a time
from mid-1942, and used them for training around the Greta -Singleton
area of New South Wales.
Early
in October 1942 orders were given for three Two-Man Tanks to be
cannibalised to provide spare parts, thus reducing the total number of
tanks available for use to 138.
|
Inside 2/4th Australian Base
Workshop. Behind the Matilda tank in the foreground can be seen several
Marmon Herrington tanks, all apparently with their engines removed.
(Australian Official Photo) |
It
would appear that all vehicles were withdrawn from issue in the first
half of 1943 and concentrated in Ordnance Vehicle Parks. In November
1943, the vehicles were declared obsolete for use in Australian service
and were handed over to the Ford Motor Company of Geelong, Victoria, in
December where they were dismantled. The armour plate was used in
Australian-made landing craft, and the engines would also be used in
water craft.
From
available reports and recollections of people associated with the
vehicles, the quality of workmanship of the vehicles was considered to
be high and the engine was good, however the fighting value of the
vehicles was thought to be poor.
The
tanks in service were usually painted only one colour, with white
registered numbers often appearing on the hull sides or rear. Numbers
were generally in the 10000 series with 10030,10074, 10075, 10077,
10100, 10160, 10170 and 10178 being identified. A tare (weight) of 81/2
tons also appeared on the hull sides. Some photographed in training
carried unit and formation signs.
A Mystery
An
interesting discovery which helps to cloud the story of the Marmon
Herrington Tanks in Australia is the appearance in a photo, taken inside
the workshop of the Directorate of AFV Production in 1942, of a Marmon-Herrington
TBS series Tractor. This is a small tracked tractor, open topped, used
for towing trailers or artillery pieces. The vehicle is not mentioned in
any Australian documentation of the period, and appears only in that one
photo.
Was
this vehicle the only one of its type to arrive in Australia? Was a
quantity of these tractors brought to Australia, and if so were they in
addition to the Marmon-Herrington Tanks or were they included in the
total?
One
has to remember that in the period February to July 1942, it was likely
that Japanese attacks on the Australian mainland would increase, and the
possibility of invasion was considered real, so the situation was far
from stable. This probably contributes to the paucity of records
relating to the Marmon -Herrington series, and the fact that ships with
"refugee" cargo were docking at Australian ports all the time, and their
unknown cargoes discharged into an already overloaded supply system.
Conclusion
The
Australian use of the Marmon Herrington Tanks was very limited, and only
then due to severe shortages of armoured vehicles in the country.
However should a Japanese invasion of the Australian mainland been made,
anything capable of being used to fight the invader would have been
needed.
Acknowledgements
The
basis of this article first appeared in Museum Ordnance dated
November 1994. This article has been updated as additional information
became available.
Thanks are extended to Laurie Wright, Hanno Spoelstra, Jacques Jost and
Don Chew for their assistance during my original research into this
subject.
Marmon Herrington Tanks in
Australia Photo Album
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