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Tank Corps   16 Books
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BAKER-CARR (Brig.-Gen. C.D., CMG, DSO) From Chauffeur to Brigadier. 1st Ed., 323pp., portrait frontis., 30 photos. VG in worn dw. Benn. 1930  #65548
[HLMainPic] Comm. RB 1898, 2nd Bn. in Sudan & Boer War. This memoir concerns WW1 when he founded the Machine Gun school at Camiers, later joined the Heavy Branch MGC & commanded 1st Tank Brigade. Orig. green cloth, titled in black, VG in worn dw. Scarce in any form, especially in dw. See illustration on our website.   £120
FULLER (Bt.-Col. J.F.C., DSO) Tanks in the Great War 1914-1918. 1st Ed., xxiv+331pp., 8 plates, 16 diagrams, 10 maps (one fldg.). Murray. 1920  #63695
[HLMainPic] From 1916-1918 Fuller was Chief General Staff Officer of the Tank Corps & a leading planner of the Battle of Cambrai. As one of Britain's foremost military thinkers & authors he was a constant & vocal advocate of the mechanised arm. "Colonel Fuller's book on tanks in the War differs from the others on this subject. Like them it gives a short history of the early struggles, developments, & set-backs; but the author, a well-known writer on strategy & tactics, is always more concerned with the future of armoured & catterpillar-propelled vehicles in warfare - whether for offence or transport - than in their actual achievements between 1914 & 1918. The work was written before the 'mechanization' of the Army had advanced very far, but it does not suffer from this fact, so long as that is borne in mind. It is, indeed, ahead of its time." - Falls (awarding a coveted star). Important & extremely scarce work, fairly recent (perhaps 1960s) attractive half red morocco, gilt to sp. with raised bands & black leather lettering label, with Tank Corps motif from original cloth binding laid down to front, VG thus & good value copy of the 1st Edition. See illustrations on our website.   £175
FULLER (Bt.-Col. J.F.C., DSO) Tanks in the Great War 1914-1918. 1st Ed., xxiv+331pp., 8 plates, 16 diagrams, 10 maps (one fldg.). Murray. 1920  #66278
[HLMainPic] From 1916-1918 Fuller was Chief General Staff Officer of the Tank Corps & a leading planner of the Battle of Cambrai. As one of Britain's foremost military thinkers & authors he was a constant & vocal advocate of the mechanised arm. "Colonel Fuller's book on tanks in the War differs from the others on this subject. Like them it gives a short history of the early struggles, developments, & set-backs; but the author, a well-known writer on strategy & tactics, is always more concerned with the future of armoured & catterpillar-propelled vehicles in warfare - whether for offence or transport - than in their actual achievements between 1914 & 1918. The work was written before the 'mechanization' of the Army had advanced very far, but it does not suffer from this fact, so long as that is borne in mind. It is, indeed, ahead of its time." - Falls (awarding a coveted star). Important & scarce work, orig. red cloth, gilt, sp. sunned & a little chipped, overall wear but generally sound & inexpensive copy. See illustrations on our website.   £145
HAIGH (Capt. Richard, MC, Tank Corps) Life in a Tank. 1st Ed., [vii]+141pp., 8 plates. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. 1918  #66075
[HLMainPic] Author, a regular officer of the Berkshire Regt., was attached to Heavy Banch MGC towards the end of 1916, trained on tanks in France & participated in several assaults on the Hindenburg Line in 1917 (Bullecourt &c.): these experiences are described in novelised form here. Haigh later toured the US, demonstrating the tank's capabilities, in a publicity/fundraising exercise of which this book was doubtless a spin-off. Attractive orig. grey pictorial cloth, VG. See illustration on our website.   £125
HICKEY (Capt. D.E.) Rolling Into Action: Memoirs of a Tank Corps Section Commander. With a Preface by Maj.-Gen. J.F.C. Fuller, CB, CBE, DSO. 2nd Ed., 288pp., 10 plates, 5 maps. Hutchinson. nd (c.1938)  #67790
[HLMainPic] Classic & informative personal account of commander of No. 7 Section, with 8th (or 'H') Tank Bn. inc. Passchendaele, Cambrai, March Retreat & Battle of Amiens. Orig. red cloth, gilt, ex-IWM with customary stamps (including withdrawn stamp) but cloth unmarked, VG thus & rare. See illustrations on our website.   £145
LIDDELL HART (Capt. B.H.) The Tanks: The History of the Royal Tank Regiment & its predecessors, Heavy Branch Machine Gun Corps, Tank Corps & Royal Tank Corps 1914-1945. 1st Ed., 2 Vols., xix+462pp. & xiv+555pp., 101 photos., 5 maps. VG in dws. Cassell. 1959  #67181
[HLMainPic] Excellent & detailed standard history. Vol. I covers WW1 & the inter-war years of development; Vol. II covers WW2. Orig. black cloth, silver gilt, VG in dws. See illustration on our website.   £75
MARTEL ((Lt.-Gen. Sir Gifford LeQ., KCB, KBE, DSO, MC) In the Wake of the Tank: The First Fifteen Years of Mechanisation in the British Army. 1st Ed., xii+259pp., 26 plates, fldg. chart of tank specs. & capabilities. VG in dw. Sifton Praed. 1931  #65508
[HLMainPic] Brigade Major of Heavy Branch MGC & at Tank Corps HQ in France in 1917-18 as a GSO II. Contains much on experimental work in the 1920s. Excellent study written with an engineer's eye for mechanical detail. Orig. brown cloth, blocked black (as always), VG in dw with photo. of a Vickers Tank, Mk. II, to front (dw. neatly renovated & VG thus). Rare in dw. See illustrations on our website.   £165
MURRAY WILSON (G.) Ed. Fighting Tanks: An Account of the Tank Corps in Action 1914-1919. 1st Ed., 250pp., 24 photos. Seeley. 1929  #63700
[HLMainPic] Collaborative account edited by the former Senior Chaplain to the Royal Tank Corps, including contributions by Maj.-Gen. Sir Hugh Elles, J.F.C. Fuller, Cdr. Locker-Lampson, Lt.-Col. Elliott Hotblack, DSO, MC, & many other officers & NCOs of the regiment, including the Battles of the Somme, Passchendaele, Cambrai, Amiens & other 1918 battles, & more. Orig. blue cloth, gilt, little worn, VG. See illustration on our website.   £50
PIDGEON (T.) The Tanks at Flers: An Account of the First Use of Tanks in War at the Battle of Flers-Courcelette, The Somme, 15th September 1916. 1st Ed., 247pp., 4to, approx. 40 col. & 100 b/w photos., 12 lge. fldg. maps in separate portfolio. Cobham: Fairmile Books [the author]. 1995  #68038
[HLMainPic] Absolutely superb detailed account of the early tank men & their first engagement, following the experience of each tank. Excellent illus. & trench maps. Orig. dec. boards, VG, now rarely seen on the market. See illustration on our website.   £95
SOMERS (Lt.-Col. Lord, DSO, MC) The War History of the Sixth Tank Battalion. 1st Ed., vi+247pp., 8 plates. Privately printed. 1919  #67204
[HLMainPic] Engaged in 27 actions from Jan. 1917 to the armistice (inc. 3rd Ypres & Cambrai, Amiens & Hindenburg Line) with Mark IV & Medium Mark "A" tanks. Nominal roll of all ranks & roll of awards. Orig. red cloth, VG. See illustration on our website.   £60

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