Not forgetting of course the Citroen Kegresse which I believe dates from the
late 20's. This influenced both US and German designs.
Cheers, NIGE----- Original Message -----
From: <bolton8@juno.com>
To: "Military Vehicles Mailing List" <mil-veh@mil-veh.org>
Sent: Saturday, December 23, 2000 5:27 PM
Subject: [MV] HALF TRACK
> Gene & Mil-Veh List,
> I did not catch the History Channel episode you referred to, however
> after some archaeology in my library I would like to submit for your
> edification:
>
> Although not a tracked vehicle, the entire concept of a mechanical
> powered battlefield machine was sent in motion in 1770 when James Cugnot
> offered his 'steam carriage' to the French Army. Due to the steam
> engine's unreliability Mr. Cugnot's offer was declined. Across the
> English Channel that same year Richard Edgeworth patented a 'portable
> railway' to carry horse-drawn carriages across the roads of the day. It
> would be another century before these Saxon-French concepts would be
> combined.
>
> In 1801 Thomas German patented endless-chain tracks bearing wide plates
> for agricultural use which perfected the linked tracks we now know.
> Bringing it all together was a man named Fender from Buenos Aires who in
> 1882 took German's endless-chain tracks, installed them around a
> hexagonal sprocket with a square idler supported on bogie wheels.
> Unfortunately the engineering concept was so far ahead of 19th Century
> technology that it took a generation of development to catch up with
> Fender's idea.
>
> Having prefaced the original question with these morsels of mil-veh
> history I hope my following answer is correct. Using the basic
> understanding that a half track comprises a brace of powered track links
> in the rear for propulsion and a single or dual tired wheels in the front
> for steering, it was an American F.W. Batter who had a steam-driven
> 'half-tracked vehicle' on his drawing board in 1888, followed quickly by
> a G.H. Edwards' vehicle of 1890. The British followed suit in 1906 with
> the Armoured Ivel Tractor designed by Dan Albone of Biggleswade,
> Bedfordshire. This half track never got beyond military testing as it
> had a nasty tendency to overturn if overloaded.
> The first half-tracked vehicle to enter service in a nation's army and
> serve in "The War To End All Wars" was the American HOLT tractor of 1912.
> It was the 10-ton HOLT of 1914 that was used to pull heavy artillery
> into battery behind the lines. In October 1914 British Lt-Col Ernest
> Swinton observed one of these HOLT's in operation and was struck with the
> idea of armouring this vehicle in order to defeat the German's barbed
> wire and Maxim-08's. He submitted a white paper to the GHQ in France
> where he received a brutal rebuff from generals who were totally ignorant
> of modern technology. In that same year HOLT's overseas representative,
> Mr. Steiner, offered the tracked concept to the German Army. The
> Imperial General Staff responded with the classic rejection: "No
> importance for military purposes".
>
> With the first germination of this idea in 1770, through the
> development of the concept during the 19th Century, it wasn't until the
> 1930's that half-tracks as we know them were perfected. The American
> White Motor Company in 1938 tested the T8 half track personnel carrier
> and the T14 reconnaissance vehicle, which on 19 Sep 1940 were adopted
> respectfully as the M3 White Personnel Carrier and M2 Half Track Car.
> While Germany's Bussing-NAG developed the Sd Kfz 250 and Hanomag the Sd
> Kfz 251 around 1937. Of the 41,000 half tracks manufactured in the
> United States approximately 1,000 are still in front line service by the
> Israeli Defence Force.
> HISTORY PROPHECIES THE FUTURE
>
> MVPA22125
>
>
>
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Tue Jan 02 2001 - 23:13:25 PST