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Mike Galer, from Derby Museum and Art Gallery, asked Bygones readers if anyone knew whether a First World War tank was given to Derby in recognition of its fund-raising efforts during the hostilities.

Leslie Simnett, 93, of Belper, provided the answer.

He said: “Yes, a First World War tank was presented to Derby. I remember its arrival on a warm sunny day in 1919 or 1920 at Normanton recreation ground, now Normanton Park. I would have been five or six.

“It approached from the Cavendish area. Perhaps it had spent its last night of military service at the nearby barracks. In those pre-Kenilworth/Warwick Avenue days, where Stenson Road curved away up the hill to Normanton village, there were fields. Cows used to stand behind the white railings, watching the world drift gently by.

“Between there and Burton Road were allotment gardens and then more fields. To reach the rec, one had to take the main path leading into the allotments.

“It was reasonably wide and composed of crushed cinders. There was a high, neatly trimmed hawthorn hedge on either side.

An Mk IV tank, similar to the one which was presented to Derby

“When the rec was opened in 1908, there must already have been a plan for a link road to Burton Road. The war was the likely reason for the delay until the late 1920s.

“My mother and I were among those lining the path when the tank arrived, trundling, lurching and grinding. The machine was not designed for negotiating narrow spaces and its driver’s view was limited to a letter-box slit.

“We all squeezed into the hedge as it passed. After slowly manoeuvring its way through the just-wide-enough gate, it came to rest facing the entrance at a 45-degree angle.

“I cannot recollect any ceremony taking place but I do clearly remember an invasion of little and not-so-little boys, all eager to fight mock battles, happy to bang their heads and graze their bare knees on this new-found plaything.

“The resident park-keeper, Mr Blanchard, normally much respected and obeyed, had temporarily met his Waterloo. I am hazy about what happened in the following years. A floral display of geraniums and the like comes to mind but I cannot picture the tank as part of it.

“Many years later, after its discreet disappearance and dismantling had begun, I heard that its fuel tank was found still to contain a fair amount of petrol which, when the engine had been removed, no-one had thought to draw off.

“Whether the Derby tank had ever seen active service seems doubtful. When the ‘war to end all wars’ ended, much of the armament became instant junk. There would be little point in transporting a useless mass of old iron from somewhere in France to the middle of England. I remember, at about the same time, seeing a stack of redundant aeroplanes at Chilwell depot as we passed by in a solid-tyred Trent bus.”

• The tank, a British Mk IV (not a German tank as previously captioned in a Bygones article), was presented to Derby in recognition of its fund-raising efforts to help pay for the production of Britain’s new secret weapon.

On September 15, 1916, the Mk IV was used for the first time near the village of Flers at the Battle of the Somme.

It was an historic moment for the world and heralded a new age of tank warfare.

But, though it offered unprecedented protection, the conditions inside were far from pleasant.

Each tank had a crew of eight men, compressed into a compact metal shell beside an engine that generated unbearable heat. The noise of the engine, together with the thunder of the tracks, weapons and enemy fire striking the armour, made speech impossible and permanently damaged the hearing of many.

Without suspension, the crew were thrown about inside, unable to see the lay of the terrain ahead of them and the atmosphere inside was a choking combination of exhaust fumes, hot oil, petrol and cordite.

Reg Wood, 91, of Sinfin, is one of a number of readers to point out that the tank was a British invention. Reg also knows what happened to the Mk IV on Normanton rec.

“I watched the military cutting it up with acetylene welders for scrap metal just before or in the early years of the Second World War.

“I used to live in the Normanton area and spent a lot of time on the park.

“When war broke out, there was an appeal for scrap metal. Coincidentally, we had a couple of bad winters and the heavy snow and icy conditions brought down a lot of the old cast iron guttering, which was taken off and melted down. So the weather must have been god-sent.”

Dennis Monk, of Fife Street, Derby, believes there was another tank on the recreation ground near Markeaton Brook.

He said: “There are also still a lot of the First World War tanks at Bovington Museum in Dorset and there is a memorial to the Tank Regiment at Pozier Ridge on the Somme.”

• Derby was given a German First World War tank

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