KC You wrote: "Ernest Swinton had been a pioneer in the initial development of a self-propelled armoured fighting vehicle on caterpillar tracks--which he 'christened' the 'tank' to conceal its nature and purpose-as a solution for the trench deadlock that developed early in World War I, and he was also among the earliest to visualize its application to a less static kind of warfare". How did he come to get such a citation? Sir B L-H Soon after the outbreak of war in 1914, Swinton was sent to France as official war correspondent, under the pen-name of 'Eyewitness'--as Press representatives were still banned from the battle zone on grounds of secrecy. Swinton's opportunity for close observation with relative detachment helped him to be quicker at grasping that the war of manoeuvre was changing into the character of a vast siege. Swinton pointed out the transition in successive articles on September 21 and 25, 1914. Like many others, but more fruitfully, his mind turned to possible remedies for the state of creeping paralysis. Swinton's account relates that on October 20, 1914, during a brief visit to London, he went to see his chief, Lt-Col Maurice Hankey, described the stalemate on the Western front, reminded him of the Holt Caterpillar Tractor (which he had seen before the war) and suggested that some of these tractors might be converted into fighting machines. In sketches made by Swinton in 1911 we can see an ambitious plan to link tractors together, enabling them to carry six 12- pounder guns, 12 machine guns, and too men, under armoured cover. When I was preparing the regimental history, The Tanks, in 1948, I asked Lord Hankey if he could throw any further light on the initial moves of October, 1914. Eventually, Lord Harkey found in his files a letter which Swinton had written to him on November it, 1914 from SHQ in France. This letter provides the first documentary evidence on the evolution of the tank idea, and it is a striking coincidence that its date was exactly four years ahead of the day of ultimate victory. Of course, Swinton's memorandum was passed around between many officers and committees and he did a great deal of hard work before the first contract was placed with Foster of Lincoln on July 24, 1915. The construction of the new machine began on August 11 and work proceeded rapidly, as the machine was mainly composed of parts available on the spot. The accelerated technical power that was developed from the brains of the officers at the factory was backed by a greater impetus in Whitehall. A significant contribution to this was made by Swinton, who in mid-July had. been summoned to London to act as secretary of what was called the Dardanelles Committee. Having obtained an idea of the prevailing situation Swinton obtained the Prime Minister's approval for assembling an inter- departmental conference which clarified the position and established the basis of future procedure. The effect of Swinton's arrival on the home front is best described in Stern's words: "With his keen sense of burnout, his understanding of the value of propaganda, his intimate knowledge of the War Office and all its mysterious ways, and with his exceptional position as Deputy Secretary to the Committee of Imperial Defence, he was able to push forward our schemes and to cut short all sorts of red tape for us". KC It is known that General Swinton was the person who laid down the early tactics, and who developed them so rapidly that it was impossible for anyone to catch us up, tactically, in the First World War. How did Swinton go about his task of formulating those tactics? Sir B L-H The problem of providing personnel to man the tanks had been considered when the machines were first ordered and a start was made by appointing Swinton as the Commander. In April, 1915, he made a round of visits to officer cadet units and picked out a number of potential officers with mechanical qualifications, and men were recruited from the motor-engineering trades. Swinton 'a next problem was to frame the organization of the Heavy Section, as the new unit had become called, and the outcome was six companies, each of four sections. After the men, another essential was to have a tactical system ready by the time the tanks arrived. For this, Swinton was prepared, and he had completed 4 lengthy treatise: 'Notes on the Employment of Tanks'. When a requirement was put to Swinton that the command of the Heavy Section in the field should be held by an officer who was familiar with warfare on the Western Front, he immediately suggested Lt-Col Hugh Elles, who had been in touch with the tanks since January as the representative of GHQ. Swinton continued to look after the Tanks throughout the war. Afterwards, the man who created the Corps moved into another venture-that of demobilizing the conscripts and the setting up of the Ministry of Labour Employment Offices. KC Miliary photographs of General Swinton make him look very stern, but his reputation contradicts this view. Your photograph seems. to offer a different side to the coin! How can you sum him up? Sir B L-H Major-General Sir Ernest Swinton was appointed with Hugh Elles to be a Colonel Commandant of the RTC in 1934 and thus the most junior of the E~r~c Colonels Commandant was, indeed, the most senior in association with the Corps, and in historical rating. In that capacity, most fittingly, Swinton led the March Past of the Tanks at the Royal Review held at Aldershot to mark the Silver jubilee of King George V. By the way, the Tank contingent of the Review was provided by your own Battalion, the 2nd. Swinton's contribution to the personnel of the Royal Tank Corps was equal to his contribution, decisive as it was, to the introduction of the tank. But the members of the Corps value him, perhaps, above all as a personality. He was, I am sure, never happier than in those speeches with which he was accustomed to enliven and adorn the annual Tank Corps dinner. He liked them to be called "Uncle Ernest's Hour!" More Liddell-Hart Interview Prologue Why Call It a "Tank" and not a "Landship?" Ernest Swinton and the Development of the Tank Lt-Gen Sir G le Q Martel Major-General Sir Hugh J. Elles Lieutenant General Sir Charles Broad, KCB, DSO Back to Table of Contents -- Wargamer's Newsletter #146 To Wargamer's Newsletter List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1974 by Donald Featherstone. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com