Mark I (Female) tank A11

Mark I (Female) tank A11, His Majesty's Landship We're All In It, of A Company, Heavy Section, Machine Gun Corps; Somme area, France, November 1916

Basil Henriques claims that, soon after they arrived in France, crews were instructed to repaint their tanks in a more sober style. Surviving photographs suggest the result was by no means uniform but a typical scheme appears to have involved alternating patches of green, brown and ochre, sometimes outlined in black to create a sort of crazy paving effect. This was more along the lines of a disruptive pattern to disguise the shape than with the aim of blending with the landscape. Each crew had a letter and number, indicating their place in the company organisation, and invariably also selected a name for their particular tank. These names sometimes followed a theme but were usually frivolous at this early stage, often taking the titles of popular London shows or a play on words such as A Merry Car and Autogofasta. Some tanks of C Company were named after drinks including Cognac, Chablis, and Crème de Menthe while D Company were more varied with Daredevil, Dinnaken or Dracula. At this stage Heavy Section personnel wore the cap badge of the Machine Gun Corps.

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