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Hello,

here is an email I got today, it is a serious request :

"Hi there,

I came across your document on the web detailing the surviving WW1 tanks. I am developing a new military history documentary series, would really appreciate your advice - hope this is okay.

The idea for the series would be to each week take a different iconic military vehicle, and recreate one of their key journeys with a modern-day team.

I have been looking into the possibility of recreating the journey of a Mark IV tank during the first use of tanks in the First World War at the Battle of Flers-Courcelette. Do you know if there are any full-size (or near full size) replica tanks that we might be able to use?

Ideally we want the recreate the whole journey of the advancement of a Mark IV tank into Flers - as realistically as possible. The idea is the follow the exact route with a modern day crew, in a Mark IV tank - so we can bring the journey to life - that they can experience first hand how horrific the conditions were driving along inside, how cramped it is, how strong the fumes were etc. I contacted "Tanks for Hire" who have a replica, however it is much lighter than the original, and inside it is not at all the same - so the experience of driving it wouldn't compare.

I wondered whether you knew if there were any other working replicas (as I'm guessing the originals will now be too precious to actually run) that we might use? I was told that the Peter Jackson one is now in New Zealand, but there might be one in France?

Any contacts, thoughts or recommendations would be very much appreciated.

Just to let you know more about us, Windfall Films is an independent television documentary company based in London. Windfall is an award winning company with extensive experience of making military history programmes documentaries. Please see our website www.windfallfilms.com for further information.

I hope you can help - and shall look forward to hearing back from you.

Best wishes,

Leesa"

Pierre-Olivier

I'm not aware of a suitable vehicle. Perhaps they could use the replica mentioned, plus film part of the programme using the Tank Museum's Mark IV or Mark V to show the interior conditions while driving (they are pretty delicate, though, so I don't imagine they could travel very far):

tankmuseum.org/ixbin/i..._=Vehicles


Almost by definition, if it's a replica then it won't be the same inside, it will be based on a modern chassis, so I don't think any replica can satisfy what they want.

Trevor,

thanks for your answer.

Pierre-Olivier

The only one I know of is a replica created for the TV Series Anzac which I believe is now preserved at the RAAC Museum, Puckapunyal, Australia.

Tim,

'Anzac' was an excellent series!! I caught a few of the shows on PBS. I always wanted to get a copy of the series.

It was the tanks that really caught my attention, and that was many years ago.

Regards
Don

As Trevor already mentioned A replica won't be the same.
But Adrian can do magic with a centurion, see his Conversion to WWI tank

Michel

There is also the non-running Mark IV mock-up that being built by the Poelcapelle 1917 Association as a memorial tank to replace the town's long lost moment tank.

p1917a.blogspot.com/

They have been working on this mock-up for at least two years, but the blog has stopped posting progress photos since last spring so the maybe the project is on hold.