Legros on Tanks and Traction in WW1: Pioneers of Armour Special 1

The development of a complicated mechanical machine like a tank cannot take place in either a vacuum or be the product of just one man. Instead, it is the culmination of a series of steps and missteps, a series of developments and mistakes all of which are informed by the background knowledge, experience, and skills of those involved in the process. Lucien Legros is one of those men, a skilled engineer, friend, and colleague of Colonel Crompton who was working for the Landships Committee in 1915 developing the machine we know as tanks. Legros presented a paper on traction on bad roads and land to the Institute of Mechanical Engineers in 1918 whilst the war was still going on and in doing so provided a snapshot in time as to the level of knowledge applicable to the early development of these weapons. Whilst, his part in the development was formally over in Autumn 1915 his input, like that of Colonel Crompton helped shape why tanks that saw combat in 1916 looked the way they did. Further, his work also helped to shape the designs which he and Colonel Crompton worked on together even after they had both ceased working for the Landships Committee and all of that tank work was summarised by Legros in a review of tanks and tracked artillery in 1921 and 1922 in a series of articles on the topic in periodicals. By looking at Legros' writings on tanks both in 1918 assessing his level of knowledge during the war and also those articles published post-war it is possible to gain a more thorough insight into the challenges and level of knowledge which informed the development of tanks in these early years from one of the few men involved at the birth of this new weapon.

Author: Lucien Legros

Publisher: Independently Published

Publication Date: 44470

Number of Pages: 232 pages

Binding: Technology & Engineering

ISBN-10:

ISBN-13: 9798680043066