September 2019 - Model Military International 13

D

uring the First World War

on November 20, 1917

the British launched an

attack south of Cambrai,

France on the German front lines.

In one of the largest masses of

tanks to be used in warfare at the

time was a female Mk.IV in No.

12 Company, D Battalion of the

First Tank Brigade, with the 51st.

Highland Division. This tank, coded

D51 and named “Deborah” under

the command of Lieutenant Frank

Heap, was part of a second attack

wave during an advance towards

the village of Flesquières.

Deborah made her way into

the village with its crew of eight

men, only to be knocked out by

a German artillery gun as she

headed to the north east outskirts

of Flesquières. Commander Frank

Heap and two crew men were

able to make their way back to

the British lines after abandoning

the vehicle, but five of Deborah’s

crew were killed in the event.

Throughout the duration of the

war Deborah sat on the village

road, only to be dragged into a

deep hole in the ground and buried

in 1919. There she sat forgotten

until researchers and enthusiasts

found where she was buried and

carefully excavated the tank in

1998. Since being re-discovered,
      D51 Deborah is now housed in a
      museum in Flesquières, and is
      featured in a well researched book
      by John A. Taylor titled “Deborah
      and the war of the tanks 1917”.
      My modelling project was to
      build the Takom 1:35 Mk.IV tank to
      replicate how Deborah would have
      looked hidden in Haverincourt
      Wood prior to going into action in
      November of 1917.

KIT CONSTRUCTION

Having recently built Takom’s

British Mk.1 Male tank, the

construction steps were familiar

to me as I worked my way through

putting together the chassis of this

Mk. IV. I added an upper support

to the four machine gun positions

in the form of a 1:4 inch section

of plastic dowel to secure the top

of the cylindrical gun shield. This

allowed the gun position to still

revolve, but kept it straight and

secure to the opening.

The various sections of the

commander’s hatch, driver’s “dog-

house”, and machine gun sponsons

were aligned carefully and test

fitted before gluing to minimize

any gaps. Although the fit of the

metal plates on the real tanks was

poor, I did fill any obvious gaps on

the model with Aves Apoxy Sculpt

two-part epoxy putty.

The tow shackles were all fitted

with retaining pins secured using

40 link-per-inch miniature chain. I

made a new pin for the front of the

vehicle since the kit supplied part

was too short in length.

Interior detail such as drive

chains, gears and Lewis gun

detail was left off to keep the

construction simple since it

couldn’t be seen.

Examining some of the photos

I took of Deborah in the museum

at Flesquières revealed two bent

metal hooks on the driver’s cabin.

It turns out these hooks were for

securing the fascene for transport,

and so I fashioned a couple of them

from bendable plastic. These hooks

are also noticeable on pictures of

other Mk.IV tanks that saw action

in the Cambrai battles. Securing

hooks for the fascene’s chains

were also added to the nose of

the tank and also the back of the

driver’s cabin from where the

fascene was released.

DEBORAH

Gary Edmundson depicts

Takom’s 1:35 scale Mk.IV tank as

it would have looked hidden in

Haverincourt Wood prior to going

into action in November of 1917.

The Lewis gun positions had the top

supported with styrene tubing. The styrene

strip was used to fill a gap. A