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"The first workable (tanks), built by British manufacture in 1916, were
referred to as 'water tanks for Mesopotamia' - partly because of their
appearance, partly to keep their true nature secret."
So how does construction equipment titan Caterpillar speak authoritatively
on World War I tanks? Caterpillar predecessor Holt Tractor Company was
instrumental in helping the British develop the tank. Holt was consulted
because of the outstanding reputation their crawler tractors had already
earned for their ability to go anywhere and "climb like hell," as British
Lt. Colonel Ernest Swinton, a key figure in the development of the tank,
put it. The tanks were built in Britain, but the Holt crawlers provided the
inspiration.
Best wishes,
Thomas Berry, Archivist
Historical Construction Equipment Association
16623 Liberty Hi Road
Bowling Green, Ohio 43402
Phone 419-352-5616
Fax 419-352-6086
tberry@wcnet.org
http://www.hcea.net <http://www.hcea.net>
Jackson, Bill wrote:
This is trivial, but if it's true, we are rather fascinated by it.....
We have a copy of an illustration and a caption from Motorcycling and
Bicycling (periodical, 1/15/17 issue), which claims that the World War I era
British tanks were so named because they were shaped almost exactly like the
gas tanks found on many motorcycle brands of the period.
It is entirely true that the two shapes are incredibly simliar, but does
anyone know if there is truth to this? If it were not in a 1917 magazine,
I'd be tempted to think it an urban legend......
Bill Jackson
Senior Archivist
Harley-Davidson Motor Company
Milwaukee, WI
Confidential e-mail for addressee only. Access to this e-mail by anyone
else is unauthorized.
If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender
immediately by reply e-mail
and destroy the original communication.
_____
This is trivial, but if it's true, we are rather fascinated by it.....We
have a copy of an illustration and a caption from Motorcycling and Bicycling
(periodical, 1/15/17 issue), which claims that the World War I era British
tanks were so named because they were shaped almost exactly like the gas
tanks found on many motorcycle brands of the period.It is entirely true that
the two shapes are incredibly simliar, but does anyone know if there is
truth to this? If it were not in a 1917 magazine, I'd be tempted to think
it an urban legend...... Bill Jackson
Senior Archivist
Harley-Davidson Motor Company
Milwaukee, WI
Confidential e-mail for addressee only. Access to this e-mail by anyone else is unauthorized.
If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately by reply e-mail
and destroy the original communication.
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<DIV><SPAN class=900461321-15022001><FONT color=#0000ff face="Times New Roman"
size=3>The motorcycle gas tank version is unsubstantiated at this
point.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=900461321-15022001><FONT color=#0000ff face="Times New Roman"
size=3></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=900461321-15022001><FONT color=#0000ff face="Times New Roman"
size=3>All we know is that it originated in an issue of the British periodical
"Motorcycling." Now that I think of it, it could easily be an
urban legend for its own period.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> Tom Anderson
[mailto:tanderson@AMSE.ORG]<BR><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, February 15, 2001 3:14
PM<BR><B>To:</B> ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU<BR><B>Subject:</B> Re: Origin
of the word "tank" (military)<BR><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>So, does this mean the Motorcycle story from 1917 was
perhaps an advertising ploy used by the industry? Was it completely
fabricated or is there a competing story out there? </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Just wondering,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2>Tom Anderson; Collections<BR>American Museum
of Science and Energy<BR>300 S. Tulane<BR>Oak Ridge, TN 37830<BR>(865)
576-3228 (Voice), (865) 576-6024 (Fax)<BR></FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="BORDER-LEFT: #000000 solid 2px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><B>-----Original
Message-----</B><BR><B>From: </B>Tom Berry <<A
href="mailto:tberry@WCNET.ORG">tberry@WCNET.ORG</A>><BR><B>To: </B><A
href="mailto:ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU">ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU</A>
<<A
href="mailto:ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU">ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU</A>><BR><B>Date:
</B>Thursday, February 15, 2001 4:13 PM<BR><B>Subject: </B>Re:
[ARCHIVES] Origin of the word "tank"
(military)<BR><BR></DIV></FONT>From <I>The Caterpillar Story</I>, a
company history published by Caterpillar, Inc. in 1984 and reprinted in
1990:
<P>"The first workable (tanks), built by British manufacture in
1916, were referred to as 'water tanks for Mesopotamia' - partly because
of their appearance, partly to keep their true nature secret."
<P>So how does construction equipment titan Caterpillar speak
authoritatively on World War I tanks? Caterpillar predecessor Holt
Tractor Company was instrumental in helping the British develop the
tank. Holt was consulted because of the outstanding reputation their
crawler tractors had already earned for their ability to go anywhere and
"climb like hell," as British Lt. Colonel Ernest
Swinton, a key figure in the development of the tank, put it. The tanks
were built in Britain, but the Holt crawlers provided the inspiration.
<BR>
<P>Best wishes,
<P>Thomas Berry, Archivist <BR>Historical Construction Equipment
Association <BR>16623 Liberty Hi Road <BR>Bowling Green, Ohio 43402
<BR>Phone 419-352-5616 <BR>Fax 419-352-6086 <BR>tberry@wcnet.org <BR><A
href="http://www.hcea.net">http://www.hcea.net</A> <BR> <BR>
<BR> <BR>
<P>Jackson, Bill wrote:
<BLOCKQUOTE TYPE = CITE><PRE WRAP>This is trivial, but if it's true, we are rather fascinated by it.....
We have a copy of an illustration and a caption from Motorcycling and
Bicycling (periodical, 1/15/17 issue), which claims that the World War I era
British tanks were so named because they were shaped almost exactly like the
gas tanks found on many motorcycle brands of the period.
It is entirely true that the two shapes are incredibly simliar, but does
anyone know if there is truth to this? If it were not in a 1917 magazine,
I'd be tempted to think it an urban legend......
Bill Jackson
Senior Archivist
Harley-Davidson Motor Company
Milwaukee, WI
Confidential e-mail for addressee only. Access to this e-mail by anyone else is unauthorized.
If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately by reply e-mail
and destroy the original communication.</PRE>
<HR SIZE=4 width=90%>
<SPAN class=460115718-15022001><FONT face="Times New Roman"><FONT
color=#000000><FONT size=+0>This is trivial, but if it's true, we
are rather fascinated by it.....</FONT></FONT></FONT></SPAN><SPAN
class=460115718-15022001></SPAN><SPAN class=460115718-15022001><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><FONT color=#000000><FONT size=+0>We have a
copy of an illustration and a caption from <I>Motorcycling and
Bicycling </I>(periodical, 1/15/17 issue), which claims that the
World War I era British tanks were so named because they were shaped
almost exactly like the gas tanks found on many motorcycle brands of
the period.</FONT></FONT></FONT></SPAN><SPAN
class=460115718-15022001></SPAN><SPAN class=460115718-15022001><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><FONT color=#000000><FONT size=+0>It <B>is
</B>entirely true that the two shapes are incredibly simliar, but
does anyone know if there is truth to this? If it were not in
a 1917 magazine, I'd be tempted to think it an urban
legend......</FONT></FONT></FONT></SPAN> <I><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><FONT color=#000000><B>Bill
Jackson</B></FONT></FONT></I> <BR><I><FONT color=#000000><FONT
face="">Senior Archivist</FONT><FONT
face="Times New Roman"></FONT></FONT></I> <BR><I><FONT
color=#000000><FONT face="">Harley-Davidson Motor
Company</FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman"></FONT></FONT></I>
<BR><I><FONT color=#000000><FONT face="">Milwaukee, WI</FONT><FONT
face="Times New Roman"></FONT></FONT></I> </BLOCKQUOTE>
</BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>
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