"...nice big belt, rakish hat, cutlass on one side, pistol on the other. Get in the car, and let's have some fun." Yeah, I miss living in Detroit, too.
In the epic 1962 movie 'Lawrence of Arabia' with Peter O'Toole, there are some epic shots of the Rolls Royce armoured car. It probably was a replica, but it looked impressive.
Indeed the Lawrence of Arabia 1914 RRAC was a replica, the give away is the single rear tyres each side instead of dual rear tyres on the real RRAC 1914. When the actor playing Lawrence bangs the body or turret in the movie to get the driver to advance, the sound is of very thin metal, probably 1.5 or 2.0mm thickness. Actual thickness of the WW1 RRAC steel panels is 8 mm and very likely manganese steel. I have visited the only remaining 1914 RRAC (which is in India) in 2001 and 2003 and reverse engineered it. David Willey very kindly allowed me access to the interior of Bovington's post War RRAC. I was also given unstinting assistance from David Fletcher, the then Bovington museum library. My thanks and gratitude to both of these men who have an infectious passion for all things armour.
4:40 The two armoured cars here are part of the Irish Free State Army and were used in the Irish Civil War (1922 -23). You can clearly see the badge with the FF which is the symbol still used by the Irish Defence Forces today. It also says Oglaigh na hEireann on it which is Irish for Irish Army.
I have the old "made for movie" replica RR Armoured car used in 'Empire of the Sun' and 'Micheal Collins'. It still has the vinyl FF badges from the Michael Collins movie - mostly intact under a few coats of paint. I've just had the FF artwork made again.
Boddington, absolutely fantastic museum. When I visited I noticed British ex servicemen were getting a special tour so I presented my Australian Veterans Affairs Gold Card ( for disabled returned soldiers) . Presto! Free admission and a personal guided tour “ you were a soldier of the Queen, mate” . Even as an Infantryman I really appreciated the value of this wonderful collection. Thank you very much to those wonderful volunteers, I really appreciate your hospitality. Cheerio, Bob.
A bit of Rolls Royce trivia: 1912 Rolls Royce cars failed badly at the "Katschbergstraße" during the annual "Austrian Alpine Rally". Back then, one of the most challenging car races. As they wanted their cars to be known as the best, they were quite upset and embarrased. (Other cars had less problems with the steepnes of the pass). After that, they built the "continental" model, with more Hp, better gearbox ratio, better cooling, more ground clearence etc. They even brought the car to Austria to test it beforehand. And when the 1913 race came, they were up to the challenge and managed to win most of the stages. In other words Rolls Royce started "modern car racing" by testing the car on the actual racing ground, modifying it for the specific challenge and fielding factory cars and drivers to win.
The 1912 or the 1913 model? both had the same engine size (7,4l inline 6) 1912: 60bhp 3speed manual gearbox, 1913: 75 bhp 4 speed manual, bigger cooler... The "emptyweight" of this line of RR was between 1223 and 1540kg (couldn't find exact data on that. In the english wikipedia you can find them by searching for silver ghost or rolls royce alpine eagles. Sadly the story is very shortcut there as is on the official RR website. I got my info from a few different car magazines and websites in german. (some were celebrating the 100th anniversary of the event and others dug up the info from their archives when RR showed a new model on the Katschbergstraße a few years back. The only english source that at least gives some info about the modifications id on Top Gear magazine) Oh and lastely: the 1913 winning car of James Radley still exists.
@nirfz How did they keep up compression for fuel? I know the model-T, has a fuel limit for hills; because the system is gravity fed getting below that limit kills the engine. The solution on the early Fords was to drive the car backwards up the steepest roads. I don't know the exact date when fuel pumps were added but I imagine it had to be pretty soon after the automobile was invented.
More on style... Ever notice how in WW2, the German officers has sharp well tailored uniforms? While the Americans had baggy ill fitting uniforms. Our uniforms were drab. The color was called "olive drab", so this was intentional. Look at pictures of General Bradley, he looks like he slept in his uniform -- baggy, wrinkled. The German army lost the war, but they looked good doing it. We got their scientists after the war. We should have gotten their tailors.
Hugo Boss actually didn't design the uniform, they produced it though. It's a common myth. I can't really remember the names, but it was actually two people that designed the SS uniforms. BTW, German tanker uniforms are designed by Guderian.
trust me,the germans were not stupid and what youre saying is silly,both american and german generals tried to blend in with the normal troops.youre talking about photo shoots,rem. patton and his ivory grip pistols? he didnt look like that on the front line.snipers look for generals
My grandfather was an officer in the Royal Air Force, posted after the First World War to Mesopotamia (Iran/Iraq) to keep the peace. His unit patrolled the desert with three of these armoured cars, named Lion, Tiger and Leopard. Imagine the heat inside these cars!
You guys are my inspiration, you make me want to make my own history channel so much. Love this, and will be sad when it ends. But it's awesome that you guys are doing world war 2. You really are some of the best on TH-cam. I thank you guys.
they are starting WW2 months after the end of WW1 so that they dont lose there viewers. They are doing it smart and I support everything this channel does :D HI from Saskatchewan, Canada
David Willy is an amazing story teller. He just opens his mouth and awesome comes out. I also like that Indy's ego isn't hurt by David kinda taking over and he just lets him talk without interrupting. Which is one of the many reasons this is my favourite TH-cam channel!
04:38 picture taken during Irish Civil War 1922. Central figure is Major-General Tom Ennis. The practice of nicknaming Armoured Rolls Royces was ended at wars end a year later. For a brief period in the Congo crisis 1960s, nicknames were applied to Irish Ford armoured cars.
with where the Vickers is positioned it looks like the driver is getting sprayed with spent brass. maybe some kind of bag was used to catch the spent brass, as was common on ww2 tanks?
I understand these vehicles were very common during the Anglo/Irish War and later with the Irish Civil War in the 1920s. Afterwards the Irish essentially stuck with armored cars within their military.
The Irish Free State Army acquired thirteen pattern 920 Rolls Royce armoured cars after the Anglo Irish Treaty, thy still have one in perfect working order that they use for parades and exhibitions.
Does anyone remember HistoryLine 14-18? It did have one or two scenarios in which the defensive deployment of armoured cars was definitely a key element in avoiding getting crushed by the initial German onslaught.
Until around 2000, the 1914 pattern RRAC was considered by notables in the armoured museum world including The Tank Museum Bovington that no examples of the 1914 pattern Rolls Royce Armoured Car (1914 RRAC) existed anywhere in the world. At about this time, David Fletcher, the then librarian at Bovington, (now retired) told me about an author writing a book on the World's remaining RR Silver Ghosts had travelled to India to check out Indian owned Silver Ghosts. They told that author about a 1914 RRAC on display at an Indian military museum. In 2001 and 2003 I travelled to India on business and took time out to track it down. It is indeed an 1914 pattern and is located at the Ahmednagar Cavalry Training Centre museum. I took a taxi from Mumbai to Ahmednagar (5 1/2 hours each way!). At the time of my visit, there were 48 amoured fighting vehicle exhibits, some quite rare (such as a Sherman with mine detonating flails and a German SDFZ 8 wheeled armoured car). Of the RRAC 1914 pattern, anything of value has long been pilfered. Brass, German Silver, radiator, dash instruments, etc. It was in an unloved condition though received a coat of paint every now and then. During it's post WW1 service with the Indian Army, its wheels and balloon tyres had been replaced with solid disc wheels and solid rubber tyres. It must have been excruciating riding in one of these post war modified examples. I spent a lot of time at the museum in the two visits, reverse engineering the body. 8mm plate steel, probably manganese steel. The body is like a giant mecchano set. It is held together with 3/8" Hex head bolts, 3/8" counter sunk screws, and hex nuts. BSW thread. These were not standard (modern) BSW. The hex heads and nuts were thicker and larger than modern BSW 3/8" fasteners. Steel angle is used to connect many of the armoured panels. The only curved panels are the turret, the rear turret hatch and two rear body panels. Turret runs on plain steel bearings on standard mild steel, curved u channel. There is no winding mechanism to traverse the turret, it is simply man handled into position. The Vickers MG pintle allows for fine adjustment. The chassis/drive train is pure Silver Ghost with of course, dual rear wheels and tyres, and the standard Silver Ghost 7 leaf rear springs increased to 11 leaves, the lowest leaf is 3/8" thick, the remainder standard Silver Ghost leaf spring thickness. Each armoured steel panel has a part number stamped into it. When I was at the museum, this RRAC 1914 pattern was painted light blue but why I don't know. I tool hundreds of photos during the two visits and created a complete set of dimensional drawings. The finish of some of the armoured steel panels is crude with edges looking like they have been flame cut with no attempt to clean up the rough edge. Notably on the edges of the sloped roof panels on the turret. At the time, I owned a defence engineering/manufacturing business in Melbourne Australia specialising in manufacturing modern armoured fighting vehicle components for the Australian Army's then Leopard MBT, M113A1 fleet, and ASLAV fleet (LAV-25). In 2001 after returning to Australia, I purchased a project rolling RR chassis of the period and me and my workers commenced building a replica out of steel. David Willey and David Fletcher of The Tank Museum were very helpful with the project. Unfortunately, the business was sold before the project was completed. It was about 3/4 complete. The new owner broke up the body and sold the chassis with its original doctors coupe body.
There is indeed; it is known as the 'Sliabh na mBan' and was one of a group of 13 supplied to the Irish Army by the British after Irish independence when the Irish Civil War broke out. At 4.40 in the video you can see a photo of two more 'Irish' RR's; one, 'The Big Fella' (named after General Michael Collins), decorated in the Irish Army cap badge. Check out the Óglaigh na hÉireann (Irish Defence Forces) website for more information.
@@Norvik_-ug3ge the Fianna Fail political party was formed after the Irish Civil War, the use of the 'FF' badge by the Irish Volunteers and then by the National Army pre dated that.
David Willey is a fantastic speaker, makes you think you are actually right there!!! It would be fascinating to hear his take on the German A7V Tank!!!
To the members of the Great War, when will you guys come to Australia?, there are many re-enactment groups down here who do Australian First World War, if you guys come here that would be great.
i love this show, but one suggestion i would have when doing stuff like this from a museum is to get more close up beauty shots. i would love seeing more detail close up of things like the tires, mirrors, lights, grill, trunks, machine gun port ECT. when he was talking bout the ditching beams underneath it would have been cool to see them instead of seeing him talk about them. keep up the great work. i look forward to seeing more in the future
+DCP Pap You do realize that all of the Tank Museum content was probably shot in one afternoon, at most a day (If David has that much free time on hand). It is not like they fly over to Bovington every other week. I can however highly recommend checking out 'Tank Chats' also by David Willey and David 'The legend' Fletcher on the Bovington's channel (th-cam.com/users/TheTankMuseum). If you really want to get in the smallest details and have hours to spare, you can always check out 'Inside the Chieftains hatch' (th-cam.com/users/TheChieftainWoT) and 'The Challenger - Inside the Tanks' (th-cam.com/play/PLslIWpE2CMxQWzLuTndHRpOvKkaTt0yDf.html).
I also highly recommend The Chieftain th-cam.com/users/TheChieftainWoT he does a lot of what you're asking for. And as an added bonus, he's an actual US Army armor officer as well as a historian so he's able to review tanks from an actual tanker's perspective and go into more detail than just its specs on paper.
There was nothing glamorous in the War Ministry selecting the RR chassis. It, the RR chassis, was chosen because of it's exceptional strength. There were other chassis manufacturers used but RR received the highest acclaim because the vehicles were used, very successfully, in many theatres of war but in particular by TE Lawrence in Mesopotamia.
If anyone wants to see another example of this A/C come to Ireland. Our defense forces have an example which is in excellent condition. It is normally housed in The Curragh military facility in Co.Kildare. I have to say, it's in better nick than the one in this vid. It was present at one of the key moments in Irish history, the death of Micheal Collins.
Canada was the first country to have a real armoured motor car battalion in September 1914! I saw a real Canadian armoured car from the First World War at the Canadian war museum!
Adamast But not a unit the was officially organized to be just armoured cars and the Canadian unit was organized in August but the cars were ready in September. But it could be debated as to who was first so it might be a tie.
What?!? No holder for a crystal flower vase?? I am shocked. Also, where is the wicker picnic basket?? I love the Brits. They knew how to bring style to war. Red coats, gold buttons, and shiny black boots, etc. We have only given the world ugly camouflage uniforms. Our military has no sense of style.
The Brits didn't invent any of that, if you want fancy looking fighting gear look at knights from basically any period, or the landsknecht. Or any professional soldiers from the Renaissance for that matter. Besides there was barely anything fashionable about the red coats back in the day, they used red dye because it was dirt cheap. And the Brits were also the first to use khaki and eventually dirty brown uniforms.
War is not a fashion show. The French learned the hard way in 1914 when they marched into German machine guns in bright red and blue uniforms. The Germans by then were wearing gray uniforms.
IslandThunder84 Those colourful uniforms did serve a purpose in their day, but when you have accurate repeating rifles, machine guns and artillery more devastating than ever before anything that gets you spotted can get you killed, shiny buttons, helmets etc. So yeah you can imagine what a red coat will do to you in a modern firefight.
My father used to drive these 1921 to 1929 when he was stationed in India whilst in the Roal Tank Corps, I followed his footsteps and joined the Royal Armoured Corps.
Peter from Poland Rolls Royce has a history of military products before they were known for luxury. The rolls Royce engine in the supermarine spitfire being another example.
No, Rolls-Royce became famous for their luxury cars in 1906 with the 40/50. It wasn't until the start of WWI, almost a decade later, that they started manufacturing for the military.
Perhaps a better question is, wich carmaker didn't produce for the military? (Especialy if we include license production when normal production can't cope with military demand.)
Could you please talk about John monash the Australian general I was trying to look him up but I imagine your better informed about this topic any way love your videos keep them up
So, to all those annoying revisionists saying that the French Renault FT was the fist "real" tank because it introduced the first tank turret: take note that the British had by that time already used a turret on this armoured car and simply _chose_ not to put one on their WW1 tanks.
It just seems like when he's with another historian particularly in the vehicle exposition episodes, he doesn't much want/cares to hear what they're saying (or he visibly seems to want to leave) and more or less the depth and nuance of each variant. Very great content but felt cut and dry in terms of enthusiasm.
Makes sense for a naval power of the dreadnought era to come up with an armored car whereas a continental power would be less interested until its efficacy was demonstrated and then take the lead in armored warfare
The Irish army had dozens of these. They were goig to be scrapped and some officers got together and saved thre. They are great driving museum pieces and still lok cool.
These were used to kill spectators at a football match in Dublin in 1920. The British army drove onto the pitch and fired into the stands. Estimated 11 killed and over 60 injured. How noble.
So I am assuming you are referring to the movie "Michael Collins" which showed a different type of armoured car called a Peerless armoured car" which had two turrets. In actual fact no armoured vehicle was used in the atrocity, it was used in the movie for dramatic effect. Unfortunately it has become a common myth If I'm correct I believe the perpetrators climbed a wall of the stadium and used rifle fire to carry out the attack. Which makes sense because if they had used machine guns on a crowd of people it would have been a much worse outcome.
6 ปีที่แล้ว
So did the gunner stay in after getting hit by an AT rocket or did he leave the driver for dead? *BF1 players know the feeling*
"We saw plenty of armored car action on the eastern front with the Belgians and the Russians and Germans..." Belgians at the Eastern Front? I don't think that any Belgian was there... They had enough to do at the Western Front.
"...nice big belt, rakish hat, cutlass on one side, pistol on the other. Get in the car, and let's have some fun."
Yeah, I miss living in Detroit, too.
SigEpBlue XD
I'd love to drive this beauty down Woodward at the dream cruise.
Yea i love doing drive bys with my *cutlass*
Lololol reminds me of when I lived in LA and Oakland xD
6:11 Jeremy Clarkson and i agree, "speed never killed anybody, suddenly becoming stationary, that`s what gets you"
When you have to attend the royal dinner at 9 but have to charge the German lines by 10
Let's have some fun lads
🤣
@@yseson_ right o
Indy: flo say samething!
Flo: Hiii!
Never gets old...
That's rich coming from Gary Oak lol
Eber Garcia agreed mate
I thought it very well-mannered and elegant of you to listen to David Willey with a care for what he had to say, well done indeed!
We could listen to David all day too.
I found your channel last month, and I'm working my way through the shows. It's history well done. Thanks much to you, your reserachers, and Flo.
In the epic 1962 movie 'Lawrence of Arabia' with Peter O'Toole, there are some epic shots of the Rolls Royce armoured car. It probably was a replica, but it looked impressive.
Indeed the Lawrence of Arabia 1914 RRAC was a replica, the give away is the single rear tyres each side instead of dual rear tyres on the real RRAC 1914. When the actor playing Lawrence bangs the body or turret in the movie to get the driver to advance, the sound is of very thin metal, probably 1.5 or 2.0mm thickness. Actual thickness of the WW1 RRAC steel panels is 8 mm and very likely manganese steel. I have visited the only remaining 1914 RRAC (which is in India) in 2001 and 2003 and reverse engineered it. David Willey very kindly allowed me access to the interior of Bovington's post War RRAC. I was also given unstinting assistance from David Fletcher, the then Bovington museum library. My thanks and gratitude to both of these men who have an infectious passion for all things armour.
If only they were as powerful in Battlefield 1.
Wish it worked like LAV's in BF3, where the driver could also use the turret
DANNYonPC me too Danny
Yes.
But they are still quite fun to drive, especially jumping over sand dunes!
Just have it be more armored and I'd be happy
4:40 The two armoured cars here are part of the Irish Free State Army and were used in the Irish Civil War (1922 -23). You can clearly see the badge with the FF which is the symbol still used by the Irish Defence Forces today. It also says Oglaigh na hEireann on it which is Irish for Irish Army.
As an ex Irish Defence Soldier I copped that and wondered if anyone else had. Well spotted S Ryan. Cheers
Does it not translate literally into "volunteers of Ireland"? Would these men have been on the government/treatyist side? Thanks!
I have the old "made for movie" replica RR Armoured car used in 'Empire of the Sun' and 'Micheal Collins'. It still has the vinyl FF badges from the Michael Collins movie - mostly intact under a few coats of paint. I've just had the FF artwork made again.
@@TheBluetoo99
What type of chassis is it built on and what kind of motor is in it?
It is Gaelic for 'Volunteers of Eire'. Gaelic is not Irish.
Boddington, absolutely fantastic museum. When I visited I noticed British ex servicemen were getting a special tour so I presented my Australian Veterans Affairs Gold Card ( for disabled returned soldiers) . Presto! Free admission and a personal guided tour “ you were a soldier of the Queen, mate” . Even as an Infantryman I really appreciated the value of this wonderful collection. Thank you very much to those wonderful volunteers, I really appreciate your hospitality. Cheerio, Bob.
A bit of Rolls Royce trivia: 1912 Rolls Royce cars failed badly at the "Katschbergstraße" during the annual "Austrian Alpine Rally". Back then, one of the most challenging car races. As they wanted their cars to be known as the best, they were quite upset and embarrased. (Other cars had less problems with the steepnes of the pass). After that, they built the "continental" model, with more Hp, better gearbox ratio, better cooling, more ground clearence etc. They even brought the car to Austria to test it beforehand. And when the 1913 race came, they were up to the challenge and managed to win most of the stages. In other words Rolls Royce started "modern car racing" by testing the car on the actual racing ground, modifying it for the specific challenge and fielding factory cars and drivers to win.
nirfz ..what are the specs of this vehicle. Engine, cut weight etc.
The 1912 or the 1913 model? both had the same engine size (7,4l inline 6) 1912: 60bhp 3speed manual gearbox, 1913: 75 bhp 4 speed manual, bigger cooler... The "emptyweight" of this line of RR was between 1223 and 1540kg (couldn't find exact data on that. In the english wikipedia you can find them by searching for silver ghost or rolls royce alpine eagles. Sadly the story is very shortcut there as is on the official RR website. I got my info from a few different car magazines and websites in german. (some were celebrating the 100th anniversary of the event and others dug up the info from their archives when RR showed a new model on the Katschbergstraße a few years back. The only english source that at least gives some info about the modifications id on Top
Gear magazine)
Oh and lastely: the 1913 winning car of James Radley still exists.
@nirfz How did they keep up compression for fuel?
I know the model-T, has a fuel limit for hills; because the system is gravity fed getting below that limit kills the engine. The solution on the early Fords was to drive the car backwards up the steepest roads. I don't know the exact date when fuel pumps were added but I imagine it had to be pretty soon after the automobile was invented.
More on style...
Ever notice how in WW2, the German officers has sharp well tailored uniforms? While the Americans had baggy ill fitting uniforms. Our uniforms were drab. The color was called "olive drab", so this was intentional. Look at pictures of General Bradley, he looks like he slept in his uniform -- baggy, wrinkled. The German army lost the war, but they looked good doing it.
We got their scientists after the war. We should have gotten their tailors.
There's a story (maybe apocryphal) that the SS uniforms were designed by Hugo Boss. Truly vile people but well turned out.
How much they loved their well tailored uniforms in Russia
Hugo Boss actually didn't design the uniform, they produced it though. It's a common myth. I can't really remember the names, but it was actually two people that designed the SS uniforms.
BTW, German tanker uniforms are designed by Guderian.
Craig Dillon
trust me,the germans were not stupid and what youre saying is silly,both american and german generals tried to blend in with the normal troops.youre talking about photo shoots,rem. patton and his ivory grip pistols? he didnt look like that on the front line.snipers look for generals
My grandfather was an officer in the Royal Air Force, posted after the First World War to Mesopotamia (Iran/Iraq) to keep the peace. His unit patrolled the desert with three of these armoured cars, named Lion, Tiger and Leopard. Imagine the heat inside these cars!
Great that you are remembering him.
Love this channel !
so true love ww2 never got in to 1 before i started watching im now more intresten in ww1 then 1
You guys are my inspiration, you make me want to make my own history channel so much. Love this, and will be sad when it ends. But it's awesome that you guys are doing world war 2. You really are some of the best on TH-cam. I thank you guys.
I wanted to do the same thing, but an ancient history one, the people behind this channel do an awesome work and deserve a lot more.
When would they begin with ww2. 2039, 2033 or earlier?
Didn't realize a Star Wars YTP channel I'm subscribed to is also a fan of The Great War channel. Small world.
they are starting WW2 months after the end of WW1 so that they dont lose there viewers. They are doing it smart and I support everything this channel does :D HI from Saskatchewan, Canada
pallas100
Indy will be old af when that happens
Such a lovely wacky thing
DANNYonPC sup boyo
Daddy? Is that you?
After a south african bf1 montage video. I see Danny yet again, but this time he's watching a TGW video. You are everywhere bud
Dannyyyyy moar fox stevenson!
DANNYonPC OMG Its DANNY!!!!
love that car it's beautiful looking
I can't get over how professional and captivating these videos are. Absolutely love them!
I want a Doug DeMuro review of it
Doug, the type of guy who reviews World War era vehicle...
He already done a ferret so idk why he hasn’t
David Willy is an amazing story teller. He just opens his mouth and awesome comes out. I also like that Indy's ego isn't hurt by David kinda taking over and he just lets him talk without interrupting. Which is one of the many reasons this is my favourite TH-cam channel!
04:38 picture taken during Irish Civil War 1922. Central figure is Major-General Tom Ennis. The practice of nicknaming Armoured Rolls Royces was ended at wars end a year later. For a brief period in the Congo crisis 1960s, nicknames were applied to Irish Ford armoured cars.
Please donate to Patreon so Indy can get a new pair of pants.
captainbadd, I vote for kilt.
captainbadd lol
Reggie Buffat: The Clan Neidell? (Rumoured to have been part of Blackadder's 'advancing orange hedge'.)
Trousers*
with where the Vickers is positioned it looks like the driver is getting sprayed with spent brass.
maybe some kind of bag was used to catch the spent brass, as was common on ww2 tanks?
Possibly. Or it was just uncomfortable for the driver, like other WWI vehicles.
Absolutely brilliant. Love history and you make it interesting .
That's a nice Drivey Bang Bang Box
damn runflatts in WW! AMAZING, here I was thinking that runflats were a modern thing
Thanks Indy. Enjoyed the program.
The cars in the photo at 4:38 appear to be in service with the Irish Free State Army
The massive logo is a giveaway
Will you also make a special about the Whippet? It's like the most forgotten tank of the war...
When we are back in the museum, yes.
Another great video guys! Really interesting, straight to the point and well put together! Salutes from The Netherlands.
I understand these vehicles were very common during the Anglo/Irish War and later with the Irish Civil War in the 1920s. Afterwards the Irish essentially stuck with armored cars within their military.
The Irish Free State Army acquired thirteen pattern 920 Rolls Royce armoured cars after the Anglo Irish Treaty, thy still have one in perfect working order that they use for parades and exhibitions.
*they still have one
Props to the camper guy making that looks smooth and transitional insted of Rocky jump into the back of that truck
Does anyone remember HistoryLine 14-18? It did have one or two scenarios in which the defensive deployment of armoured cars was definitely a key element in avoiding getting crushed by the initial German onslaught.
Until around 2000, the 1914 pattern RRAC was considered by notables in the armoured museum world including The Tank Museum Bovington that no examples of the 1914 pattern Rolls Royce Armoured Car (1914 RRAC) existed anywhere in the world. At about this time, David Fletcher, the then librarian at Bovington, (now retired) told me about an author writing a book on the World's remaining RR Silver Ghosts had travelled to India to check out Indian owned Silver Ghosts. They told that author about a 1914 RRAC on display at an Indian military museum. In 2001 and 2003 I travelled to India on business and took time out to track it down. It is indeed an 1914 pattern and is located at the Ahmednagar Cavalry Training Centre museum.
I took a taxi from Mumbai to Ahmednagar (5 1/2 hours each way!). At the time of my visit, there were 48 amoured fighting vehicle exhibits, some quite rare (such as a Sherman with mine detonating flails and a German SDFZ 8 wheeled armoured car).
Of the RRAC 1914 pattern, anything of value has long been pilfered. Brass, German Silver, radiator, dash instruments, etc. It was in an unloved condition though received a coat of paint every now and then. During it's post WW1 service with the Indian Army, its wheels and balloon tyres had been replaced with solid disc wheels and solid rubber tyres. It must have been excruciating riding in one of these post war modified examples.
I spent a lot of time at the museum in the two visits, reverse engineering the body. 8mm plate steel, probably manganese steel. The body is like a giant mecchano set. It is held together with 3/8" Hex head bolts, 3/8" counter sunk screws, and hex nuts. BSW thread. These were not standard (modern) BSW. The hex heads and nuts were thicker and larger than modern BSW 3/8" fasteners. Steel angle is used to connect many of the armoured panels. The only curved panels are the turret, the rear turret hatch and two rear body panels. Turret runs on plain steel bearings on standard mild steel, curved u channel. There is no winding mechanism to traverse the turret, it is simply man handled into position. The Vickers MG pintle allows for fine adjustment.
The chassis/drive train is pure Silver Ghost with of course, dual rear wheels and tyres, and the standard Silver Ghost 7 leaf rear springs increased to 11 leaves, the lowest leaf is 3/8" thick, the remainder standard Silver Ghost leaf spring thickness. Each armoured steel panel has a part number stamped into it. When I was at the museum, this RRAC 1914 pattern was painted light blue but why I don't know. I tool hundreds of photos during the two visits and created a complete set of dimensional drawings. The finish of some of the armoured steel panels is crude with edges looking like they have been flame cut with no attempt to clean up the rough edge. Notably on the edges of the sloped roof panels on the turret.
At the time, I owned a defence engineering/manufacturing business in Melbourne Australia specialising in manufacturing modern armoured fighting vehicle components for the Australian Army's then Leopard MBT, M113A1 fleet, and ASLAV fleet (LAV-25).
In 2001 after returning to Australia, I purchased a project rolling RR chassis of the period and me and my workers commenced building a replica out of steel. David Willey and David Fletcher of The Tank Museum were very helpful with the project. Unfortunately, the business was sold before the project was completed. It was about 3/4 complete. The new owner broke up the body and sold the chassis with its original doctors coupe body.
Serious reproductions used in the film Lawrence of Arabia. Two used by the British Crews operating with Lawrence and the Arabs.
I've always wondered how it looked battlefield 1 told me inside every vehicle is a dark abyss.
I like the way he says “Empire.”
"David, tank you very much"
Mage craft ....Here is another comedian!
I like that they have real vehicles in battlefield but they still have the unrealism that all bf games have
There is a RR armoured car in Ireland in the curragh camp
There is indeed; it is known as the 'Sliabh na mBan' and was one of a group of 13 supplied to the Irish Army by the British after Irish independence when the Irish Civil War broke out. At 4.40 in the video you can see a photo of two more 'Irish' RR's; one, 'The Big Fella' (named after General Michael Collins), decorated in the Irish Army cap badge. Check out the Óglaigh na hÉireann (Irish Defence Forces) website for more information.
They have it because it’s the one Collins died in
@@seanmccann8368 Is that not the 'FF' badge worn by Fianna Fail loyalist army recruits in 1932?
@@Norvik_-ug3ge the Fianna Fail political party was formed after the Irish Civil War, the use of the 'FF' badge by the Irish Volunteers and then by the National Army pre dated that.
@@seanmccann8368 I was mixing it up with the cap badge that the new Fianna Fail army recruits in 1932 wore.
Were MP18s very common to see mong German Stormtroopers? And what month did the German Stormtroopers start being equipped with MP18s?
David Willey is a fantastic speaker, makes you think you are actually right there!!! It would be fascinating to hear his take on the German A7V Tank!!!
th-cam.com/video/ztkKJUQB4rU/w-d-xo.html
HEY thank you so much Stu!!!!
even for today's fashion, this style is very eye pleasing.
Could you have waited like two more minutes I was watching Dolan Dark
Preston Garvey no, go help another settlement
Another settlement needs our help !
BLADE no
@@WesternGopnik1 ok
I've been to the tank museum!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!WOOOO Britain!
Hey, I know that guy from the Age of tanks documentary!
To the members of the Great War, when will you guys come to Australia?, there are many re-enactment groups down here who do Australian First World War, if you guys come here that would be great.
are you paying for the flights and getting around?
i love this show, but one suggestion i would have when doing stuff like this from a museum is to get more close up beauty shots. i would love seeing more detail close up of things like the tires, mirrors, lights, grill, trunks, machine gun port ECT. when he was talking bout the ditching beams underneath it would have been cool to see them instead of seeing him talk about them. keep up the great work. i look forward to seeing more in the future
+DCP Pap
You do realize that all of the Tank Museum content was probably shot in one afternoon, at most a day (If David has that much free time on hand). It is not like they fly over to Bovington every other week. I can however highly recommend checking out 'Tank Chats' also by David Willey and David 'The legend' Fletcher on the Bovington's channel (th-cam.com/users/TheTankMuseum).
If you really want to get in the smallest details and have hours to spare, you can always check out 'Inside the Chieftains hatch' (th-cam.com/users/TheChieftainWoT) and 'The Challenger - Inside the Tanks' (th-cam.com/play/PLslIWpE2CMxQWzLuTndHRpOvKkaTt0yDf.html).
I also highly recommend The Chieftain th-cam.com/users/TheChieftainWoT he does a lot of what you're asking for. And as an added bonus, he's an actual US Army armor officer as well as a historian so he's able to review tanks from an actual tanker's perspective and go into more detail than just its specs on paper.
He should have worn different pants.
awesome thanks for the suggestion! subbed to them now :D
Another great video as always.
9.53 The Picture is of fighting vehicles with Free State Irish Army markings.
There was nothing glamorous in the War Ministry selecting the RR chassis. It, the RR chassis, was chosen because of it's exceptional strength. There were other chassis manufacturers used but RR received the highest acclaim because the vehicles were used, very successfully, in many theatres of war but in particular by TE Lawrence in Mesopotamia.
According to T.E. Lawrence, "A Rolls Royce in the desert is worth it's weight in gold."
If anyone wants to see another example of this A/C come to Ireland. Our defense forces have an example which is in excellent condition. It is normally housed in The Curragh military facility in Co.Kildare. I have to say, it's in better nick than the one in this vid. It was present at one of the key moments in Irish history, the death of Micheal Collins.
Canada was the first country to have a real armoured motor car battalion in September 1914! I saw a real Canadian armoured car from the First World War at the Canadian war museum!
The Belgians had armored cars in active duty from august on.
Adamast But not a unit the was officially organized to be just armoured cars and the Canadian unit was organized in August but the cars were ready in September. But it could be debated as to who was first so it might be a tie.
You guys ever gonna make an episode on the a7v behind this car
i think there is an episode about it, where he was at the german tank museum
Love your show
What?!? No holder for a crystal flower vase?? I am shocked.
Also, where is the wicker picnic basket??
I love the Brits. They knew how to bring style to war. Red coats, gold buttons, and shiny black boots, etc.
We have only given the world ugly camouflage uniforms.
Our military has no sense of style.
The Brits didn't invent any of that, if you want fancy looking fighting gear look at knights from basically any period, or the landsknecht. Or any professional soldiers from the Renaissance for that matter. Besides there was barely anything fashionable about the red coats back in the day, they used red dye because it was dirt cheap. And the Brits were also the first to use khaki and eventually dirty brown uniforms.
War is not a fashion show. The French learned the hard way in 1914 when they marched into German machine guns in bright red and blue uniforms. The Germans by then were wearing gray uniforms.
IslandThunder84 Those colourful uniforms did serve a purpose in their day, but when you have accurate repeating rifles, machine guns and artillery more devastating than ever before anything that gets you spotted can get you killed, shiny buttons, helmets etc. So yeah you can imagine what a red coat will do to you in a modern firefight.
IslandThunder84 I love it when people take me seriously.
Craig Dillon I know right some people take things to seriously I wish they would just calm down huh
My father used to drive these 1921 to 1929 when he was stationed in India whilst in the Roal Tank Corps, I followed his footsteps and joined the Royal Armoured Corps.
I love WWI tech more so that WWII. Mainly because of how everything looks.
Did anyone try fixing a halftrack on to one ?. Maybe even a mudskid to the frontwheels like they had on some of the planes?
Fascinating.
Will the war end by Christmas though?
Idk
It did,Four Horribly Bloody Years Later.Can’t say the Kaiser didn’t keep his word.
It’s quite a pretty car. Also the Schnuck named A7V tank...a skin in bf1
If we all club together we can probably buy Indy a second waistcoat
A Rolls Royce Car used in a War? Who would of thought...
Peter from Poland Rolls Royce has a history of military products before they were known for luxury. The rolls Royce engine in the supermarine spitfire being another example.
No, Rolls-Royce became famous for their luxury cars in 1906 with the 40/50. It wasn't until the start of WWI, almost a decade later, that they started manufacturing for the military.
You got to have a car that can take the weight. It´s not like you have many candidates.
Perhaps a better question is, wich carmaker didn't produce for the military? (Especialy if we include license production when normal production can't cope with military demand.)
Could you please talk about John monash the Australian general I was trying to look him up but I imagine your better informed about this topic any way love your videos keep them up
He will get his episode, yes.
So, to all those annoying revisionists saying that the French Renault FT was the fist "real" tank because it introduced the first tank turret: take note that the British had by that time already used a turret on this armoured car and simply _chose_ not to put one on their WW1 tanks.
This episode of The Great War has been brought to you by Rolls-Royce. ;-)
I was the driver of one of these babies back in the winter of 2016
It just seems like when he's with another historian particularly in the vehicle exposition episodes, he doesn't much want/cares to hear what they're saying (or he visibly seems to want to leave) and more or less the depth and nuance of each variant.
Very great content but felt cut and dry in terms of enthusiasm.
I always get so excited when it’s David Wiley. Such a charming, informative king.
Makes sense for a naval power of the dreadnought era to come up with an armored car whereas a continental power would be less interested until its efficacy was demonstrated and then take the lead in armored warfare
These things get one shot by field artillery in BF1
The Tank Museum again, Yes!
That guy speaks so well, very natural and easy to understand. great job! You guys just get better and better.
the more I see of this war the more I think of everything as a death trap, except for the Sopwith Snipe
It was interesting
hahahaha, british racing green.
BOVINGTON TANK MUESEM LOVE THAT PLACE. Never been but I want to go soooo bad!!! (I’m in the US)
never say never
Hope you to come over to the U.K. and get to visit. We always welcome our american cousins and our clisest ali
The Irish army had dozens of these. They were goig to be scrapped and some officers got together and saved thre. They are great driving museum pieces and still lok cool.
Great stuff and . . . Hi Flo!
hi
I remember seeing these in Lawrence of Arabia 1962.Better suited for the Middle East i guess than foxholes and muddy trenches of France.
David Willey is awesome. Love this guy.
awesome
wh are all the pictures in the introduction german soldiers?
I drive these around in these loads in Battlfield 1 :D
Indy looked so agitated for some reason
He definitely seemed to not be himself. He blew his nose, so perhaps he was sick.
It was the pants.
Big night on the Charlie
I think its because David talks to the camera and ignores him, so Indy has nothing to do or say.
Yes, he is too dominant, don't like that guy
pretty useful in Company of Heroes WW1 Mod
hope you guys have a A7V vid coming up :X
yes, but it's not what you are expecting.
Was that rear seat in the bed original? Never seen that before either.?
@4:37 Not a picture of the British army, but a picture of the early Irish army.See the large Fianna Fail signs on one of the cars.
incredibly stylish things. it's basically a classic luxury car, they did nothing to hide the shape.
Wouldn’t it be cool if they did a series on the American civil war?
But what about tyres?
What mount was that camera on?
Such fluid movement.
These were used to kill spectators at a football match in Dublin in 1920. The British army drove onto the pitch and fired into the stands. Estimated 11 killed and over 60 injured. How noble.
So I am assuming you are referring to the movie "Michael Collins" which showed a different type of armoured car called a Peerless armoured car" which had two turrets.
In actual fact no armoured vehicle was used in the atrocity, it was used in the movie for dramatic effect. Unfortunately it has become a common myth
If I'm correct I believe the perpetrators climbed a wall of the stadium and used rifle fire to carry out the attack. Which makes sense because if they had used machine guns on a crowd of people it would have been a much worse outcome.
So did the gunner stay in after getting hit by an AT rocket or did he leave the driver for dead? *BF1 players know the feeling*
My AT rocket gun takes care of these bad boys rather quick
"our stuff didn't really matter, but at least someone used it!"
that's just so british...
Could The Great War do an analysis of the Battlefield 1 Gallipoli trailer?
"We saw plenty of armored car action on the eastern front with the Belgians and the Russians and Germans..." Belgians at the Eastern Front? I don't think that any Belgian was there... They had enough to do at the Western Front.
Were Rolls Royce armored cars used by " T.E. Lawrence " when he was leading the Arabs to fight the
Turks in the desert during WW I ?
yes
"A Rolls in the desert was above rubies" - T.E. Lawrence