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KEY: Location markers are coloured from Green meaning exact to Red meaning
gone or unknown (details here)
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Unique ID:
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1569
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Added to Database:
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23 February 2011
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Last Edited:
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20 March 2012
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Type (ID):
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Little Willie (3100)
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Model (ID):
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Little Willie (3100)
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Location Category (ID):
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The Tank Museum - Public Areas (3000)
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Location (ID):
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Tank Story Hall (3004)
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Serial Number: |
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Registration: |
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Name: |
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Other Identification: |
“LITTLE WILLIE ~1915~” painted on hull sides. Plaque fixed on nose.
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Collection Reference: |
E1949.322. (Accession 32249, Entry 1949.1004).
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Links: |
Museum Vehicle Record
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References: |
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Associated Tanks: |
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Location History:
(see map) |
1: William Foster & Co. Ltd, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, East Midlands, Britain (Design parent and manufacturer of sole prototype September 1915)
2: Burton Park – Lincoln, UK (Trials ca November 1915)
3: William Foster & Co. Ltd, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, East Midlands, Britain (Returned after trials ca December 1915)
4: Hatfield House, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, East England, Britain (Trials January-February 1916)
5: William Foster & Co. Ltd, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, East Midlands, Britain (Returned after trials and driver training 1916)
6: The Tank Museum - Public Areas, Bovington, Dorset, South West England, Britain (Current location)
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Text in original Preserved British Tanks publication:
[No entry]
Text in Preserved British Tanks Update:
[No entry]
Text in original Preserved Tanks In Britain publication:
Little Willie was the first tank ever built, though it was constructed from non-armoured metal plate, and was also the only example of its type produced. It was originally created as the Number 1 Lincoln Machine during August and September 1915. However, the tracks and suspension behaved poorly in tests, so it was rebuilt with longer, curved tracks and tested in the new form in Burton Park, Lincoln in December 1915. Meanwhile an improved design was being worked on. Little Willie took part in two further demonstrations, on 29th January and 8th February 1916 at Hatfield Park, Hertfordshire. Both served to prove that only the competing tank design, Big Willie, was able to match War Office requirements. Little Willie was used for driver training for a while, before being removed to Lincoln and later to Bovington as part of the original Tank Museum collection. It was one of the original tanks preserved on the heath at Bovington, and it was used during the Second World War as a local strongpoint. It was put on the museum books in 1949.
Little Willie is displayed in the Museum on a turntable; it not fitted with tail wheels, its front plate is damaged and it is missing its floor, engine, fuel tank and most of its interior fittings. A plaque fixed on the nose reads:
WM. FOSTER & CO. LTD.
ENGINEERS
LINCOLN. |
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March 2011
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1: Front left view
Taken: 8 March 2011
Contributor: M. Foti
Photo ID: 6890
Added: 18 March 2012
Filename: 55287812...
Views: 174
Select/Has Priority: 21/0
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2: Front right view
Taken: 8 March 2011
Contributor: M. Foti
Photo ID: 6891
Added: 18 March 2012
Filename: 55287808...
Views: 168
Select/Has Priority: 21/0
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3: Overview
Taken: 6 March 2011
Contributor: M. Foti
Photo ID: 6889
Added: 18 March 2012
Filename: 55281907...
Views: 152
Select/Has Priority: 21/0
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4: Front right view
Taken: 6 March 2011
Contributor: M. Foti
Photo ID: 6892
Added: 18 March 2012
Filename: 55287818...
Views: 133
Select/Has Priority: 21/0
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