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Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart


36804 Posts
Posted -  22/03/2004  :  21:45
THE LETCLIFFE TANK

Anyone who has followed my articles will know that there are certain items of Barlick lore that crop up every now and again as I pursue them through my reading and the archives. One of them is the Letcliffe Tank. For anyone who doesn’t know about this, round about the end of the First World War, the government presented Barlick with one of the first Tanks and it was brought in by rail and driven up to Letcliffe Park where it stood on a plinth for many years. I haven’t yet got to the bottom of this story but recently I found out more about it.

We need a bit of explanation here for the younger readers. Everyone nowadays knows about tanks, they have seen them in films and newsreels. Who can forget the image of the student in Tienamin Square defying a tank during the riots? Many people don’t realise that they were a British invention designed to break the dreadful stalemate on the Western Front in the First World War. Caterpillar tracks were well known before the war, the Holt Company in California were building large agricultural tractors equipped with them and the American Army was looking at using them for towing large field guns long before they entered the war.

It was decided to build armoured pill boxes and mount them on caterpillar tracks so they could move, a sort of mobile strongpoint. William Foster and Company at Lincoln who built steam traction engines were given an order and because it was secret they described them as ‘tanks’ and this is how they got their name. They built two versions, the ‘male’ one had three small six-pounder field guns, the ‘female’ had machine guns. Most historians agree that the War Office completely missed out on the fact that a new weapon made possible a new kind of warfare and they used them in dribs and drabs as a ‘mobile trench’.

On the 15th September 1916 tanks went into action for the first time on the Somme. Many officers thought a great chance had been wasted and several papers were written which advocated using tanks in great numbers to break the line and create a ‘mobile war’. It is almost certain that after the war these opinions were known in Germany and perhaps played a part in the development of the tactics of ‘Blitzkrieg’ (‘Lightning War’) which was so successful in the Second World War.

Apart from the death and destruction involved, wars cost money and one of the government’s tasks was to raise as much money as it could from the public. One of the ways this was done in both World Wars was by War Savings. Ordinary people invested money in savings which would be used to pay for the war and would be repaid after the war was over. The government realised that the tanks had captured the public’s imagination and sent tanks round the country as ‘Tank Banks’. A tank would arrive in a city, park in the main square and accept contributions towards War Savings. At the end of 1916 with the National Debt approaching £6billion this was essential war service.

At the end of the war, the Army Council had 265 battered tanks on its hands which had been brought home from France. They gave these hulks to the National War Savings Committee for presentation to towns of over 10,000 inhabitants who had made conspicuous contributions to War Savings. Barlick must have been one of these towns and it was part of this gesture that resulted in the tank on Letcliffe.

However, for a historian, there is a sting in the tail. When the tanks were finally installed in their final resting place, the mechanics who had brought them were instructed to remove ‘a portion of the mechanism by which the tanks are driven and also the wedges of the guns’. Why bother? Did they think someone might use them?

Incredible though it may seem, the answer to these questions is yes! 1919 was the year of the Russian Revolution and the ‘Red Menace’ was seen as a real threat. In January 1919, two tanks were sent to Glasgow to help celebrate Victory Week. At the same time there was a report in the Glasgow Herald that Councillor Emmanuel Shinwell, later to be a Cabinet Minister in the Second World War, had addressed a meeting of the Glasgow Trades and Labour Council and called for a general strike to take place on the 27th January to support their claim for a forty hour week. On the 29th there was a mass procession in the city and ‘Red Clydeside’ on the march was perceived as a threat.

By the 3rd of February troops had been moved in, Shinwell and his fellow ‘conspirators’ were under arrest and on the 4th, a squadron of tanks was moved into the cattle market on Gallowgate ready for use against the workers if needed. They were used again during the National Strike in 1926. Shades of Tienamin Square! As far as I can see, we were the first to see tanks as a means of controlling civil unrest. Would the lads in Barlick have used the Letcliffe Tank against the millowners? I doubt it somehow but when you look at what was happening at the time you can understand why the government thought it a wise precaution to disable Barlick’s tank!

If you want to learn more about this subject I can recommend Patrick Wright’s wonderful book called ‘TANK’ which is where I gained my latest clues about the Letcliffe Tank. Thanks for reading the articles, if you have any comments or questions I am back home now and a call to 813527 will find me.


SCG/12 August 2002
964 words.


One pic attached. Caption reads:

30 ton World War One tank like the one that was in Letcliffe Park.
(Imperial War Museum post card)



Stanley Challenger Graham




Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk
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Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart


36804 Posts
Posted - 23/01/2005 : 08:52
LETCLIFFE TANK
There has always been a bit of mystery about the tank that stood in Letcliffe Park. I have seen a picture of it being cut up in the Craven Herald of 7/10/1932


and yet Winnie ? who lives on Wellhouse Street told me that she was born in 1936 and could remember climbing on it. I was told yesterday (22/01/2005) by Eric Parker that it was still there just before WW2. It seems that some sheeting was stripped off it but the job was never completed in 1932 and the skeleton of the tank remained. Done for safety purposes? Has anyone got a better date?

I was triggered off into this by finding this picture when I was looking through ‘The Cotton Mills of Oldham’ by Duncan Gurr and Julian Hunt [Published by Oldham Leisure Services, 1989]



If you look carefully, just to the right of the bottom of the right hand chimney there is a WW1 tank parked in the playground like the one that was on Letcliffe Park.



Stanley Challenger Graham




Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk Go to Top of Page
Cathy
Senior Member


4249 Posts
Posted - 23/01/2005 : 11:51
Did Barnoldswick get bombed in WW2? Is this when the towns name was changed, because the ememy recognised it as a German name?


All thru the fields and meadows gay  ....  Enjoy   
Take Care...Cathy Go to Top of Page
Another
Traycle Mine Overseer


6250 Posts
Posted - 23/01/2005 : 13:49
Cazza, have you been on the black stuff?? Nolic


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Cathy
Senior Member


4249 Posts
Posted - 24/01/2005 : 04:28
No..I'm serious. Here's my opportunity to ask those in the know. I remember as a child, there were what looked like bombed buildings at or near the town end of Colne Rd - it was near where they had Pantomimes. My Mother has told us both yes and no over the years. We have no-one else to ask.
I think it must be yes. And Bernulfeswic looks German to me. (Maybe they had an old map - ha ha) And I imagine that the RR factory would have been 'quite a target', and that the mills etc were used for the war effort.
I'll have to go back and read some of Stanleys articles. Part of the reason I am on this site is to learn about my hometown/county, remember I was only 7 when we left. I remember the first time I ever saw Barnoldswick in an Atlas, I was in High School. I don't have that atlas any more, but I still have that particular page. No-one had ever heard of it! I was taught mainly Australian history.

Edited by - Cathy on 24 Jan 2005 04:47:33

Edited by - Cathy on 24 Jan 2005 05:11:42


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Take Care...Cathy Go to Top of Page
Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart


36804 Posts
Posted - 24/01/2005 : 06:11
There was no bombbing in Barlick during the war, the Germans never found out that we had the aero engine factories. Before the war the Hindengurg, the German zeppelin that ran a transarlantic service until it exploded at New Jersey, used to 'get lost' frequently on its trips over Britain, in reality it was taking photographs for the German High Command but they never realised that the old mills had been taken over.

Any buildings that looked bbombed at the bottom of Colne Road or anywhere in that area would be property bbought by the council for demolition. The reason was always given as road widening but it's worth remembering they had a new council house estate to fill at Coates. A lot of property was demolished but the demolition orders were lifted on the others. They are now 'attrective town houses'. Clubb Row and all of Townhead near the road was under threat.


Stanley Challenger Graham




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stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk Go to Top of Page
Cathy
Senior Member


4249 Posts
Posted - 24/01/2005 : 06:17
Thanks Stanley. It fills in another part of the jigsaw.


All thru the fields and meadows gay  ....  Enjoy   
Take Care...Cathy Go to Top of Page
Another
Traycle Mine Overseer


6250 Posts
Posted - 24/01/2005 : 08:15
Stanley, I remember my dad talking about the Hindenburg or other zepplins frequently appearing over Barlick in the 30's. From what I recall him saying it was a fairly common occurence.
I also remeber him talking about playing in the tank. Was it also at the top of Butts for a while or am I confusing it with the drinking fountain that was at Butts, moved to Letcliffe and is now in Town Square.Colin


" I'm a self made man who worships his creator" Go to Top of Page
Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart


36804 Posts
Posted - 24/01/2005 : 08:48
No, top of Butts was the Jubilee drinking fountain, moved to Letcliffe and now back in Town Square.

The Hindenburg is interesting, Chris Aspin noted some of this activity but I can't find the reference. The Nelson Leader of 29/05/1936 carried a report of the Hindenberg flying over Padiham in the evening and children being froghtened of bbeing bombed. In 16/10/1936 there was another report of the Hindenberg flying over Blacko and Nelson. There was speculation that it was making an aerial reconaissance of the district and there is a description of powerful lights shining on the ground.

I have no record of it flying directly over Barlick but it may well have done and perhaps this is what you have heard about.


Stanley Challenger Graham




Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk Go to Top of Page
handlamp
Senior Member


1100 Posts
Posted - 24/01/2005 : 11:01
I remember the a German airship (?Hindenburg) over Earby around 36/37


TedGo to Top of Page
Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart


36804 Posts
Posted - 24/01/2005 : 12:22
Thanks for that Ted, a new sighting....


Stanley Challenger Graham




Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk Go to Top of Page
Christian
Regular Member


349 Posts
Posted - 25/01/2005 : 00:25
I wish they would have left it there or moved it to Victory Park it would have been a better place..


"Victory is not about first place, we are victorious when we learn from the experience and improve ourselves for the next challenge."

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Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart


36804 Posts
Posted - 25/01/2005 : 04:20
Christian. Victory Park would have been terrible! It would have been vandalised. Town Square is good, everyone can see it, it's near the original site and it's lit all night so fairly safe.


Stanley Challenger Graham




Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk Go to Top of Page
Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart


36804 Posts
Posted - 09/11/2007 : 18:20
I brought this back up to go with Rosie's dad's essay about Egbert the tank bank.


Stanley Challenger Graham




Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk Go to Top of Page
Rossie
Regular Member


847 Posts
Posted - 09/11/2007 : 22:57
Thank you Stanley, interesting to read about something I knew nothing about.

Ros


Kalh mera oi filoi mou
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Stanley
Local Historian & Old Fart


36804 Posts
Posted - 10/11/2007 : 06:02
Rosie, that's what the site is all about, chasing up the obscure bits of history that escaped the net of the main stream historians.


Stanley Challenger Graham




Barlick View
stanley at barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk Go to Top of Page
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