VICKERS MK6B's resto

[colin jones]

Luckily I only need to make one as the other I have is the original. I sacrificed one of my G clamps to use the trapezoidal thread as a copy of the original.

[colin jones]

I have a couple of pics of the finished seat but for some reason they won't download.

[colin jones]

The drivers seats are complete apart from the leatherwork and ready for installation, but not just yet.

[Peter Samsonov]

Wow, great work so far! I am writing an article on early Canadian armour for Warspot.ru, and I'd love to mention your restoration efforts. Where did you get the tanks? Do you know their history up until that point? Any background information on them would be awesome.

[Mike Cecil]

Colin,

More likely a No. 101 (Aust) set, which went into quantity production by AWA in 1939/40. There is some info in Wireless for the Warrior Volume 1. The Vickers Mk6A Tanks ended up at the AFV School at Puckapunyal, and there is strong evidence that the WS 101 (Aust) was in use at the school at the same time.

Mike Kelly should be able to provide more details about the set and its Australian production. It was based (?) on the British WS No.1.

Magnificent job you are doing

Mike

[Mike K]

Would they have arrived from the UK with wireless sets installed ? I would say highly unlikely .

Not much room inside the turret for a wireless ! The 11 set and its ancillaries are fairly bulky and not easy to fit in the turret . The UK 11 set manual does describe a AFV installation with a intercom system option but no specific tanks are mentioned .

The 101 set was around for sure. Being a slim design it may have been used .

This pic is a scene up near Seymour . A 109 set in a carrier . I would discount the 109 set being in the MkVI as the 109 is too large.

A good read is " Tanks in the East" authored by Kerr , he was in the 9th Div cavalry reg. in Syria . He describes his units Vickers tanks going into battle with the Vichy French .

[colin jones]

Mike, I read somewhere that the tanks were fitted with a very limited amount of the No 7 radios and very few if any still exist. I was also told that there was under 100 of the radios made in total. If that was the case then I can certainly understand why there is next to none left. I am yet to verify the information. There would certainly be enough room at the back of the turret to fit a smallish type radio as the No 7 from what info I have was smaller that the 11 or 19 sets.