Pioneers of Australian armour : in the Great War / David A Finlayson & Michael K Cecil.

Collection type	Library
Author	Finlayson, David A., author.; Cecil, Michael K., author.;
Call Number	940.41294 F512p
Document type	Monograph
Year	2015.
Pagination	xii, 376 pages : illustrations, maps, portraits, facsimilies ; 24 cm.
Publisher	Big Sky Publishing Pty, Limited ; Woodslane Pty Limited [Distributor]
Note	Scheduled to be published August 2015. Includes bibliographical references (pages 352-366) and index. Pioneers of Australian Armour tells the story of the only Australian mechanised units of the Great War. The 1st Australian Armoured Car Section, later the1st Australian Light Car Patrol, and the Special Tank Section were among the trailblazers of mechanisation and represented the cutting edge of technology on the Great War battlefield. The 1st Armoured Car Section was raised in Melbourne in 1916, the brainchild of a group of enthusiasts who financed, designed and then built two armoured cars. Having persu aded the Australian Army of the vehicles' utility in the desert campaign, the Armoured Car Section, later re-equipped with Model T Fords and retitled the 1st Australian Light Car Patrol, provided valuable service until well after the Armistice. The First World War also saw the emergence of the tank which, despite unpromising beginnings, was to realise its potential in the crucial 1918 battles of Hamel and Amiens. A British Mark IV tank which toured Australia in 1918 demonstrated the power of this new weap on to an awestruck Australian public. Much of the story of the armoured cars is told in the voices of the original members of the section and in newspaper articles of the time which highlight the novelty of these vehicles. Painstaking research has produce d a remarkable collection of images to accompany the narrative, many never previously published. Biographies of the members of these extraordinary units are also a feature of this book, their stories told from the cradle to the grave. Appendixes provide a wealth of supporting biographical and technical information that enriches the text and adds factual detail.
Place made	Newport : Mona Vale :

Abstract

Pt. 1 --Timeline --Introduction --The First Australian Armoured Car Section --The Libyan Desert -- Sinai -- The Battle of Beersheba ? Palestine -- The Dead Sea -- The Battle of Megiddo -- The Motor Dash on Aleppo -- After the Armistice -- The Battle wit h the Kurdish Bandits -- Dramatis Personae of the Motor Patrol -- The men of the original Armoured Car Section -- The reinforcements -- Old soldiers fading away ? Pt. 2 -- Timeline ? Introduction -- Reality- the first experiences of tank support -- Perce ption - the Australian public's view -- A real tank for Australia -- Dramatis Personae -- Home Services and Permanent Military Forces -- Old Soldiers -- Appendix A Honours and Decorations -- Appendix B Australian Imperial Force Nominal Roll -- Appendix C Nominal Roll: lst Australian Armoured Car Section, Battery and 1st Australian Light Car Patrol 1916-1919 -- Appendix D Other Military Service: 1st Australian Armoured Car Section/Battery and 1st Australian Light Car Patrol 1916-1919 -- Appendix E Nominal Roll: United Kingdom Personnel, attached 1st Australian Armoured Car Battery and 1st Australian Light Car Patrol 1916-1919. (Incomplete) -- Appendix F Vehicles and Vehicle Records of 1st Australian Armoured Car Section/Batteryand 1st Australian Light Car Patrol 1916-1919 -- Appendix G Notes on the establishment of a Light Car Patrol, 1941 -- Appendix H 5th Cavalry Division Narrative of Operations (19th September to 3lst October 1918) -- Appendix I Nominal Roll: Tank Personnel 1918 -- Appendix J Mk. IV ( Female) Tank Technical Details -- Appendix K Notes on Tank Driving -- Appendix L Crewing a Mk. IV Tank: Martin Pegler's Account.